Yikes! Just Booked Vision ~ Spanish Immersion!

[maxs mom]

Hi Everyone!

 

Just booked a B2B on Vision Feb 8th and 15th out of Colon. Not many CCer's around for those two! Got great rates on a JS. Love those islands! Maybe we will be speaking fluent Spanish at the end of the two weeks like those guys on the Volkswagon commercial! LOL!!

 

Anybody been on this cruise and have any advice?

[Merion_Mom]

Hi Everyone!

 

Just booked a B2B on Vision Feb 8th and 15th out of Colon. Not many CCer's around for those two! Got great rates on a JS. Love those islands! Maybe we will be speaking fluent Spanish at the end of the two weeks like those guys on the Volkswagon commercial! LOL!!

 

Anybody been on this cruise and have any advice?

 

Pimsleur. :)

[maxs mom]

Pimsleur. :)

 

LOL! Carol! Had to Google that! :o

[GMoney]

May I ask - how was the (relatively) last minute airfare?

[Hoopster95]

Hi Everyone!

 

Anybody been on this cruise and have any advice?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showt...9#post41127199

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1957394

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1944034

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1953730

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=41202181#post41202181

 

You're going to have an extremely awesome time!

Fire away with any questions you have, but maybe already answered in the threads above.

 

Hire MyfriendMario for a day tour on your b2b day. You'll be off the ship super quick (compared to any American port it's a breeze as customs is super quick), and also getting back on was about 60 seconds from entering the door of the terminal to going up the escalator. I did exactly this, visited Gatun Locks/Rainforest. You may choose the Embara Indian Village which was one of my favorite excursions!! (Did this when I got off the ship)

[vanvleckeren]

I'm doing an immersion cruise out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I can't wait. I think and hope I'm going to love it.

[PCWalton1]

Jane,

Have fun and I am looking forward to the review. :)

[At Sea 4Ever]

I'm doing an immersion cruise out of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I can't wait. I think and hope I'm going to love it.

 

Would you mind explaining what exactly is an immersion cruise? I see them sometimes but for whatever reason we end up not booking those.

[Mouse's Shadow]

Some friends just did a Spanish immersion cruise in November. They had a great time. The only problem they had is that RC made their air reservations for the same day as embarkation. Needless to say, they didn't make it to the ship. They were put up in a hotel then flown to the first port of call. Otherwise, they said it was wonderful.

[emeraldcity]

I'm afraid I didn't learn much Spanish, but I had a fabulous time. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you have, but I suspect if you want to read my Journal, you won't have a lot of questions that it doesn't answer. ;)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1621018

 

Keep an eye on cabin pricing ... you may get a chance to upgrade for peanuts. At the time that I upgraded from a balcony, the total cabin price difference between a JS and a GS was $100 ... guess which one I picked. :)

[maxs mom]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. We are looking forward to these cruises. Have been to all the ports before....except for Bonaire. Aruba and Cuarcao many, many times. We lived in Mexico for two years, so the Spanish Immersion part does not bother us. I am so looking forward to getting back on a "smaller ship" after cruising on the bigger ships for a while!

 

GMoney.....the airfare was not great, but cheaper than flying to San Juan! The cruise fare was so cheap....it didn't matter!

 

Hoopster.....your posts have been very helpful!! Thank you!

 

Vanvleckeren....Hope you enjoy your cruise as well!

 

Bill.....check back around the end of February!

 

At Sea Forever.....An Immersion cruise is when your cruise departs from a foreign country and most of the passengers are from that country. This cruise will be probably around 75% Hispanic and the first announcements and most entertainment, etc.....will be in Spanish. We are not fluent in Spanish, but have a respect for the Hispanic culture and enjoy it very much. I was an ESL teacher for many years and most of my students were Hispanic. And like I said....we lived in Mexico City for two years.

 

Mouse's Shadow.....we made our own air reservations for that reason. Always do. I like to be in control of that. We'll go two days prior.

 

Emerald City....Thanks so much for that link to your diary! I'll be sure and read through it as soon as I can! Very helpful!!

 

Keep it comin', y'all!

[maxs mom]

If there is anyone on either of these two sailings, please go over to the roll calls so we can chat!!

[pollux]

Airfare from California is:

$1000 for this cruise..

[maxs mom]

Airfare from California is:

$1000 for this cruise..

 

Wow! I believe it, though. Airfare is just getting out of hand. That's why we started driving to the ports in New Jersey and Florida from NC. But that is so tiring. Our airfare from NC was not quite that much! Thank goodness.

[Hoopster95]

Have been to all the ports before....except for Bonaire.

Hoopster.....your posts have been very helpful!! Thank you!!

 

You're welcome! :D

 

Bonaire is super small. Unless you're a diver or snorkeller, there's not a whole lot to see or do. The shopping area outside the ship is tiny, and the "town area" is approximately 3 blocks long, and that is it.

 

So if you do like at least snorkelling, check out the reviews of "The Woodwind", very highly rated on TripAdvisor. This ended up being one of my top 10 favorite excursions ever in all my cruises. You can book on-line, but one of the owners, Dee (the wife), has a booth set-up when you get off the ship alongside some of the other excursions.

 

The sail on the catamaran is awesome, they serve you unlimited water/punch/beer, the snorkelling itself was at least 1 1/2 hrs in the water if not more, we swam with turtles (pictures too)!!!! The pro photographer sells his underwater pics on CD for $25 that's it. Dee was our underwater guide in the water, very attentive, and taught my girlfirend how to dive for the first time. Then sailing back they served us a large lunch, and the staff take the time to walk around the catamaran as you're chilling out to talk to you... all the while basking in the sun on the catamaran as they pull up closer to the ship and to shore. A great day.... all for $50 per person. Ya, one of the best value excursions anywhere. They got one of my biggest tips I ever gave on a tour.

[Con5421]

We're from The Netherlands and our flight was only 495 dollar. And the cruise was a very good price. So we so glad to go to Aruba, Bonair and Curaçao.

[grand isle joe]

.....you should look into staying in a Holiday Inn before the cruise?......you know what happens as the commercial attests......:D......

[maxs mom]

Hoopster....The Woodwind Snorkel trip looks great. Might check into that. We are professional beach goers!! Looking onto Lac Bay and the Spice Club. Might do one each week! I'll try to talk my husband into the Woodwind thing.....he's just not a snorkeler and would sit on the boat.....so not much fun for him. We'll see.

 

Con.....what an awesome price!!! You should be right at home on those islands! I love your country, by the way!

 

Joe....Lol!

[PuterMonkey]

I say just roll with it and have fun :)

[FOXTROT]

We did this cruise in Nov. We had a great time. You can not beat the itinerary. The Captain was very entertaining as he tried to learn Spanish & dancing. The only draw back is, if you like to dance practice your merenque, salsa & samba. The bands are really good but that is what they mostly play. On the third day they they finally playrd a rumba & chacha.

[maxs mom]

I say just roll with it and have fun :)

 

Oh....don't worry......We know how to do that! Looking forward to it!

[maxs mom]

We did this cruise in Nov. We had a great time. You can not beat the itinerary. The Captain was very entertaining as he tried to learn Spanish & dancing. The only draw back is, if you like to dance practice your merenque, salsa & samba. The bands are really good but that is what they mostly play. On the third day they they finally playrd a rumba & chacha.

 

Glad to hear that you had a good time! Love all those ports!!! I am thinking the Captain when we are on will be Captain Lis. We met her right before she became a Captain several years ago. So we may have a different Captain than you did. Love salsa dancing, so we should be good!

[Con5421]

Hoopster....The Woodwind Snorkel trip looks great. Might check into that. We are professional beach goers!! Looking onto Lac Bay and the Spice Club. Might do one each week! I'll try to talk my husband into the Woodwind thing.....he's just not a snorkeler and would sit on the boat.....so not much fun for him. We'll see.

 

Con.....what an awesome price!!! You should be right at home on those islands! I love your country' date=' by the way![/font']

 

 

So far a way from home, but still we're in The Netherlands. I so happy that we can speak dutch. And go to eat frikandel or bitterbal at Spice Club.

[nanwel]

Did this cruise 2 yrs ago also in a JS - was a great trip! Met lots of great people on it. A lot of people that could only cruise if they did not have to fly to US to start their cruise.

We stayed in Panama for the night prior and took the old highway via taxi to the canal, then on to the port. Stopped once and went to an open bar and got a drink to go - not 100% what it was - juices of some kind and rum - was good! Taxi was not overly expensive, but he was great - drove us around some interesting spots in Panama first.

On the way back we took the new highway - boring any road anywhere type of highway!

Loved Bonaire - only walked around ourselves, did not do an arranged tour. There is a large inlet with a drawbridge - if it is up for ships, you have to take a ferry boat accross - it was fun - free, and lots of locals on board. would love to go back there someday.

The conceirge put an invitation to the Suite club in our room, and we used it for breakfast and pre dinner drinks everyday! Hope they are as generous with your trip - it really made it extra nice!

Enjoy!!

[maxs mom]

Hoopster.....Just put in a request for the Woodwind for the first week. Thanks for the recommendation. I hope they have room for us. Sounds nice.

 

Con....what is frikandel and bitterbal? I'm all about trying new foods and drink!!

 

Nanwel.....thanks for your comments! That's interesting about your being invited to the Concierge Lounge! Must not have been too many D+ on board. We are pretty high up on the D+ ladder, so we already get that wonderful perk. Looking forward to it.