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Southern Caribbean Cruise

cgmiller63

By cgmiller63,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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loadpipes

loadpipes

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We are doing that cruise in April I did a lot of searching we are staying at the Sheraton in Old San Juan which is right across from the port there are a lot of things to do and see in Old San Juan a couple of old forts Bacardi rum factory just to name a few

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FreezingInMichigan

FreezingInMichigan

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I just booked a trip on the Carnival Valor which departs San Juan, PR and stops St. Thomas, USVI; Barbados; St. Lucia, WI; St Kitts, WI; St. Maarten, NA.

I need a hotel recommendation for San Juan and suggestions for tours/activities. It will just be me and my husband.

 

We were just on this itinerary in November and loved it. We spent our pre-cruise time at the Chateau Cervantes. It's a small boutique hotel and I highly recommend it. From the hotel we walked to to Ft Cristobel, all over Old San Juan, and even to the port with our luggage.

 

http://www.cervantespr.com/new/

 

 

~ Sheryl

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NS-Cruiser

NS-Cruiser

Posted
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I just booked a trip on the Carnival Valor which departs San Juan, PR and stops St. Thomas, USVI; Barbados; St. Lucia, WI; St Kitts, WI; St. Maarten, NA.

I need a hotel recommendation for San Juan and suggestions for tours/activities. It will just be me and my husband.

 

 

When are you going?

 

We did this itinerary in 2012 on the Victory, and loved it so much we are going back again.

 

We are booked for this itinerary on March 30 2014, and are flying in (arriving late) on the 29th. So we are just staying at the Airport Hotel (a place to lay our heads for the night) then heading to the port mid morning on the 30th to check in and drop off our luggage, then go exploring around old San Juan for the ret of the day, and back on board by 8:00 ish.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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bonniemari

bonniemari

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I 2nd the Sheraton Old San Juan. Nothing like getting up early with your morning cup of coffee and seeing your ship sail in right across the street. Easy walk across the street to board the ship.

 

We did this cruise and it was my 3rd most favorite cruise, Hawaii & Alaska were 1 & 2. I trying to decide between doing it again or the 8 day on the Freedom to Aruba.

 

St Lucia-Cosol Tours-best tour ever

Barbados-we went to the Rum factory and hung out at the beach there.

St.Kitts-we were so tired by the time we got to St Kitts we opted to just do a short city sightseeing tour. Which we really enjoyed.

 

We didn't go to St Marteen on our cruise we went to Dominica & Antigua. We did a party boat/beach day in St Thomas.

Edited by bonniemari
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lukydog

lukydog

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Southern Caribbean was one of my favorite cruises...you are going to love it! We also did Cosol's tour on St. Lucia & it was fantastic. On St. Marteen we did Bernard's tour...very good...best part was the stop at Maho Beach where the planes fly over & land directly behind you...will blow you away! On Barbados did the Five Star Catamaran thru Carnival and really like it also. Have a great time on your cruise!!!

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marym933

marym933

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The Sheraton Old San Juan is close, but just an okay hotel. It is under renovation. We had issues with no hot water the 2 days we were there.

 

Do the forts in Old San Juan. Take the ferry and taxi to the Bacardi factory. There is no need to buy an excursion to go there. In Barbados we did a catamaran sail with Calabaza. Swimming with the turtles was awesome! We toured with Roosevelt Taylor from Island Paradise tours in St. Kitts and "Snoop Dog" from Joe Knows St. Lucia tours. I would recommend both of them.

 

We have been to St. Thomas and St. Maarten many times, so we just shopped there.

 

These islands are beautiful! Have an awesome cruise!

Edited by marym933
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NS-Cruiser

NS-Cruiser

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Thanks everyone for the recomendations. We are very excited! We depart April 6th from San Juan but we are flying in on the 5th so we will be able to explore San Juan for a few hours before the ship sails.

 

 

If you are in town only one night then the Sheraton in Old San Juan is out of the question... They only accept 2 night reservations on Friday or Saturday nights. Sunday can be a one nighter when you get back to San Juan. We will be leaving the ship as you are boarding.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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kathy884

kathy884

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We are doing this same cruise in March. I would have loved to stay at the El Convento or Sheraton, but they weren't in my budget. For a double queen with a view the El Convento was over $400 a night and the Sheraton was over $300 a night. We wanted to be closer to $200 a night and booked in the Condado area at the newly renovated Best Western that is really in the heart of the area just across the street from the Marriott which has the best beach in that area. It will be an easy cab ride to the port. And if we want to do more time in Old San Juan (we are staying two nights before the cruise, there is a public bus stop right by the hotel that can take us to Old San Juan.) There are lots of shops and restaurants (casinos and clubs too if you are into that). Our partial ocean view double queen room with a balcony with tax is just over $200 a night. // We booked two tours in advance for the cruise (Went with Small Cats Catamaran in Barbados for a short three hour snorkeling excursion -- think it would be fun to snorkel with the turtles, but wanted to do a short excursion not a four, five, or six hour one.) // In St. Lucia we booked the island tour with Cosol tours that a previous poster recommended.

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ctmedica504

ctmedica504

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Just an additional option, we utilized Priceline for hotels for our pre-cruise and post-cruise stay. We leave this weekend so I can't speak for it yet but the reviews we've read of the hotels have been good and we've had friends and family that have stayed at both. Pre-Cruise we're staying a night at the Verdanza Hotel in the Carolina area near Isla Verde just a few minutes from the airport and near the hotel. We figure we're flying in late after working the night before so we're okay with a quick trip to the hotel. Especially seeing how by the time we check out in the AM we can board the boat and still have the entire day to explore Old San Juan and its a short cab ride away. We got the hotel for a great deal doing the name your own price, just over $100 a night. Post-Cruise we got the Intercontinental San Juan again same area in Carolina but right on the best part of the beach, again for just over $100 a night which is a steal!

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Pami1968

Pami1968

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I second the priceline suggestion. I wanted a real resort to stay in when I fly in ahead of my cruise, just the one day/night. Used priceline, went for 4 star hotels and ended up with the Marriott Stellaris, which while I haven't been there yet, has outstanding reviews and all the amenities I wanted. For only $150, which is roughly half the quoted rate on Marriott's site, or any others. It does require a small leap of faith, but if you know what/where you want, you will likely be fine with the outcome.

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funinthesun1964

funinthesun1964

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We loved the Southern Caribbean cruise. The ports are great, although you will be very tired at the end of the cruise! At least I was!

 

I would recommend you stay in Old San Juan area. We stayed in the Condado area and while it was interesting to see, I would have rather stayed in the area of OSJ, where all the happening stuff was going on. I would look on Priceline or LMT - last minute travel and see what your options are. Enjoy!

 

ETA: I would definitely go for the forts, lots of walking and steps, but something to see. Beautiful scenery. Also, many shops in the city.

Edited by funinthesun1964
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kteachcruiser52

kteachcruiser52

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We were just on this itinerary in November and loved it. We spent our pre-cruise time at the Chateau Cervantes. It's a small boutique hotel and I highly recommend it. From the hotel we walked to to Ft Cristobel, all over Old San Juan, and even to the port with our luggage.

 

http://www.cervantespr.com/new/

 

 

~ Sheryl

 

We were booked at the Chateau Cerventes for our cruise in March and we received an email which said it was now closed. We are now booked at the Sheraton old San Juan across from the port. Post cruise we are staying at the Intercontinental on Isla Verde as we wanted a nice beach after the cruise.

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kteachcruiser52

kteachcruiser52

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We are doing this same cruise in March. I would have loved to stay at the El Convento or Sheraton, but they weren't in my budget. For a double queen with a view the El Convento was over $400 a night and the Sheraton was over $300 a night. We wanted to be closer to $200 a night and booked in the Condado area at the newly renovated Best Western that is really in the heart of the area just across the street from the Marriott which has the best beach in that area. It will be an easy cab ride to the port. And if we want to do more time in Old San Juan (we are staying two nights before the cruise, there is a public bus stop right by the hotel that can take us to Old San Juan.) There are lots of shops and restaurants (casinos and clubs too if you are into that). Our partial ocean view double queen room with a balcony with tax is just over $200 a night. // We booked two tours in advance for the cruise (Went with Small Cats Catamaran in Barbados for a short three hour snorkeling excursion -- think it would be fun to snorkel with the turtles, but wanted to do a short excursion not a four, five, or six hour one.) // In St. Lucia we booked the island tour with Cosol tours that a previous poster recommended.

 

When we were notified the hotel we had booked at (Chateau Cerventes) had closed we were able to book the Sheraton OSJ for March 1 for $179 through Travelocity. We were able to book for just 1 night. I had read they had a 2 night minimum. As the price was low and I didn't need to book 2 nights, I am assuming they had a lot of rooms left.

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jazm2011

jazm2011

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Thanks everyone for the recomendations. We are very excited! We depart April 6th from San Juan but we are flying in on the 5th so we will be able to explore San Juan for a few hours before the ship sails.

 

That's the same date we're on this itinerary. Join our roll call!!

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