Booking onboard questions

[ABQrobin]

We are 18 days away from our next cruise..... Woo Hoo!

Me and DH are planning to book our next cruise for Feb'17 while onboard.

 

Here is the question:

Last August we had booked an eastern caribbean cruise and were so excited, all new ports for us: Glory to Grand Turk, HMC, St Thomas, and San Juan. BUT a hurricane diverted our ship and we ended up doing all western ports we had done before. Sad, but happy we avoided a hurricane.

I had promised my DH that we would do that itinerary but not during hurricane season.

 

Choices:

Splendor 7-day...St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Amber Cove(instead of HMC)

Magic 7-day....same ports

Conquest 8-day.....Grand Turk and San Juan with St Maarten and St Kitts

Sunshine 8-day..... same as Conquest

 

All of these are dates that work for us... end of Feb-early March. All are in the same price range for a balcony room.

 

So.... we are active people, can't sit on a beach for more than an hour. Need to sightsee, or snorkel, or kayak, or something. We are both photographers, so San Juan forts are something we both want. St Thomas-St Kitts-St Maarten = what's the best? We both love local culture and local food.

 

Which one would you do?

We aren't as concerned with the ship, they all work. We care more about ports.

 

So many choices....my head is spinning.

Edited August 9, 2016 by ABQrobin

[Schoifmom]

We are 18 days away from our next cruise..... Woo Hoo!

Me and DH are planning to book our next cruise for Feb'17 while onboard.

 

Here is the question:

Last August we had booked an eastern caribbean cruise and were so excited, all new ports for us: Glory to Grand Turk, HMC, St Thomas, and San Juan. BUT a hurricane diverted our ship and we ended up doing all western ports we had done before. Sad, but happy we avoided a hurricane.

I had promised my DH that we would do that itinerary but not during hurricane season.

 

Choices:

Splendor 7-day...St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Amber Cove(instead of HMC)

Magic 7-day....same ports

Conquest 8-day.....Grand Turk and San Juan with St Maarten and St Kitts

Sunshine 8-day..... same as Conquest

 

All of these are dates that work for us... end of Feb-early March. All are in the same price range for a balcony room.

 

So.... we are active people, can't sit on a beach for more than an hour. Need to sightsee, or snorkel, or kayak, or something. We are both photographers, so San Juan forts are something we both want. St Thomas-St Kitts-St Maarten = what's the best? We both love local culture and local food.

 

Which one would you do?

We aren't as concerned with the ship, they all work. We care more about ports.

 

So many choices....my head is spinning.

 

Give yourself a little extra time to decide. Book a placeholder cruise (any cruise at a Past Guest rate for sometime distant in the future) and then change it when you finally decide.

[Floating Lanai]

Would you rather go to st Thomas and and Amber Cove.

Or go to St Marteen and St Kitts.

 

The other two ports are the same on both itinerary.

 

I would prefer the 8 days instead of 7, so it would come down to conquest or sunshine.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BettyPC]

I vote for 8 day also!

[ABQrobin]

8 days vs 7 days.... doesn't make that big a difference to me as you still get the same number of ports, and just add a sea day. And the 8 day cruises are a bit more expensive for that reason...

[Floating Lanai]

That eighth day makes a huge difference from my opinion. I love it

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ourcruiseyears]

 

Choices:

Splendor 7-day...St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Amber Cove(instead of HMC)

Magic 7-day....same ports

Conquest 8-day.....Grand Turk and San Juan with St Maarten and St Kitts

Sunshine 8-day..... same as Conquest

 

We booked the Conquest & were disappointed to find it did not have a Serenity deck, namely the cushy lounge chairs! We really missed them during that cruise. Since we always go for the longest cruise possible, I'd pick Sunshine. :)

[ABQrobin]

We booked the Conquest & were disappointed to find it did not have a Serenity deck, namely the cushy lounge chairs! We really missed them during that cruise. Since we always go for the longest cruise possible, I'd pick Sunshine. :)

 

well, as I said, the ship thing doesn't make that big a difference to us. It really is about the PORTS.

 

So does anyone have comments about activities to do at St Maarten-St Kitts days? Or Amber cove-St Thomas.=? Any cultural activities of note?

We have read that St Thomas is supposed to be the most beautiful beaches in Caribbbean. They have several interesting sounding snorkel tours at St Thomas. Or are St Thomas-St kitts-St Maarten all the same? Similar or anything unique of note?

 

Amber cove is such a new port, reviews on all the excursions are so mixed, mostly negative. I am hoping they get all that worked out soon. Sitting by a pool would work for me for about an hour max. I would want to see some of the country, tour into LaPlata? Food? Here on CC there just isn't much on that forum except about the pool area.

[ourcruiseyears]

We took a catamaran excursion in St. Thomas over to St. John that was the most beautiful place we've ever been to in our lives. We snorkeled all over Caneel Bay; swam with turtles & saw the most diverse marine life ever. Our 22yo adventurous daughter says it's the best place she's ever been & the best thing she's ever done so far.

 

In St. Maarten we took the water taxi to the center of town & walked leisurely back to the ship. Tried the Guavaberry place, toured the museum, then hit a grocery store & came away with local buys for cheap prices. We also walked past rocky hill cliffs that goats were climbing on.

 

Have not been yet to either St. Kitts or Amber Cove.

[ABQrobin]

We took a catamaran excursion in St. Thomas over to St. John that was the most beautiful place we've ever been to in our lives. We snorkeled all over Caneel Bay; swam with turtles & saw the most diverse marine life ever. Our 22yo adventurous daughter says it's the best place she's ever been & the best thing she's ever done so far.

 

In St. Maarten we took the water taxi to the center of town & walked leisurely back to the ship. Tried the Guavaberry place, toured the museum, then hit a grocery store & came away with local buys for cheap prices. We also walked past rocky hill cliffs that goats were climbing on.

 

Have not been yet to either St. Kitts or Amber Cove.

 

excellent information, thanks!

that is what I have read about St Thomas in numerous trip reports - breathetaking beauty and great snorkeling. St Maarten and St kitts all I hear about is the nice beaches.

I am leaning towards the cruises with St Thomas for that reason. It just seems more up our alley.

 

Anyone else?

[tlayne]

I've been to St Kitts, we wandered around the port area and there was lots to see (I am a big people watcher).

 

St Maarten is the reason I am replying though. I know it's a beach, but Maho Beach is one of my favorite spots I've been to because it's right next to the St Maarten airport. My husband and I watched planes land and take off from one of the shortest runways in the world, what an experience. I have some amazing pictures from that, one in particular of my husband taking a picture of an Air France commercial airliner coming in for a landing.... except my picture caught the whole plane. It's one of my favorites from that trip. Also good people watching there because some will go stand right by the fence to feel the jets take off... doesn't always work out well for them. :p

 

[crusinpsychRN]

On board person will book you early saver unless you insist and get papers to make sure it's not ES. Be careful.

[sixb0nes]

I would do the Conquest 8 day cruise. In St. Kitts we had done a taxi tour with Jim & Rose taxi service - went to Brimstone Hill Fortress (great views), Romney Manor and a beach (can't recall name). We really liked this island and not for the beach - that was just okay. St. Maarten's - we had done a tour with Bernard's tours the first time, Maho beach the second time and just shopping near the port the third time. We love Maho Beach and not for the beach but for the airplanes.

[ABQrobin]

I actually got on that website that has the cruise ships port time tables on it.... had to check how many ships in port for each cruise to see if that matters. It did.... we found a couple of them had 4 or 5 ships in port at St Thomas, St Kitts, and/or St Maarten. Yuck. Took those off the list.

So now I have it down to 3 cruises.... much more realistic.

 

As far as them booking it as ES... why is that bad? Is it non-refundable? I think whichever one we book, we will keep it. All those itineraries have ships that are pretty full already, some have limited balcony rooms, which we want. Waiting any longer wouldn't be prudent.

[Banditswife]

I had a similar dilemma when booking our Feb 2017 cruise- so many choices. But we ended up booking the Splendor because it had 3 new ports for us, plus the Splendor was a new ship for us. I liked the idea of being able to do our own thing in Gr Turk, Amber Cove & San Juan. While we love the beauty of a beach, we won't just sit on a beach all day. We enjoy exploring. So you might end up on the same cruise as we are.

[BenjiRodney]

We are 18 days away from our next cruise..... Woo Hoo!

Me and DH are planning to book our next cruise for Feb'17 while onboard.

 

Here is the question:

Last August we had booked an eastern caribbean cruise and were so excited, all new ports for us: Glory to Grand Turk, HMC, St Thomas, and San Juan. BUT a hurricane diverted our ship and we ended up doing all western ports we had done before. Sad, but happy we avoided a hurricane.

I had promised my DH that we would do that itinerary but not during hurricane season.

 

Choices:

Splendor 7-day...St Thomas, San Juan, Grand Turk and Amber Cove(instead of HMC)

Magic 7-day....same ports

Conquest 8-day.....Grand Turk and San Juan with St Maarten and St Kitts

Sunshine 8-day..... same as Conquest

 

All of these are dates that work for us... end of Feb-early March. All are in the same price range for a balcony room.

 

So.... we are active people, can't sit on a beach for more than an hour. Need to sightsee, or snorkel, or kayak, or something. We are both photographers, so San Juan forts are something we both want. St Thomas-St Kitts-St Maarten = what's the best? We both love local culture and local food.

 

Which one would you do?

We aren't as concerned with the ship, they all work. We care more about ports.

 

So many choices....my head is spinning.

 

St Kitts Brimstone Hill Fortress has some amazing views and lots of photo ops. We have been there twice and loved it.

[wo5m]

I actually got on that website that has the cruise ships port time tables on it.... had to check how many ships in port for each cruise to see if that matters. It did.... we found a couple of them had 4 or 5 ships in port at St Thomas, St Kitts, and/or St Maarten. Yuck. Took those off the list.

So now I have it down to 3 cruises.... much more realistic.

 

As far as them booking it as ES... why is that bad? Is it non-refundable? I think whichever one we book, we will keep it. All those itineraries have ships that are pretty full already, some have limited balcony rooms, which we want. Waiting any longer wouldn't be prudent.

 

If your 100% cretin about what cruise you want ES is fine. It the Early Savor Rate. This goes back to the earlier post post about a "place holder" cruise. Its also known as a sleepers cruise. You book it with the Past Guest Rate. The Past Guest booking can be changed up until the final payment is due(I think) while early saver is locked the best part is the on-ship credit you get for booking on board follows you to the new reservation once you decice. Once you find the cruise you want you probably want to switch to the Early Savor or similar rate as on most cases it is cheerer than the past guest, but once your switch from the past guess rate you can NOT change it to a different cruise.

 

The general idea with the sleepers cruise is book the cheapest furthest in the future cruise you can find. You don't care where it goes, how long it is because you will not be on it. If it gets close the the final payment deadline and still haven't decided rebook it with a another cruise using the past guest rate again, the cheapest furthest in the future cruise you can find.

[ABQrobin]

I had a similar dilemma when booking our Feb 2017 cruise- so many choices. But we ended up booking the Splendor because it had 3 new ports for us, plus the Splendor was a new ship for us. I liked the idea of being able to do our own thing in Gr Turk, Amber Cove & San Juan. While we love the beauty of a beach, we won't just sit on a beach all day. We enjoy exploring. So you might end up on the same cruise as we are.

 

Yeah, we might end up on the same cruise! That is one of the three. My DH doesn't want to make a final decision quite yet, we still have 2 weeks to decide. The 3 ships are so different: Splendor, Magic (we sailed on our first cruise), and Sunshine. Splendor doesn't have a Guys, and my DH is rather addicted. Magic now has all the upgrades, lots of bells and whistles. Sunshine has more specialty restaurants.

 

If I were to choose today, based purely on itinerary, port times, and excursions I might pick Splendor. We'll see! I like the longer time in Grand Turk and shorter in Amber Cove, but since we haven't been to any of these ports it is all from reading others trip reports and looking at photos.

 

We're on the Liberty in 2 weeks, or first vacation with our son in 10 years and his first cruise. Going to Cozumel and Progreso, snorkeling and Mayan ruins... gonna be a blast. I plan to do a nice trip report when I get back.

 

thanks everyone for your help!

 

robin

[RecoveryDude]

I def think that 8 days is much better than 7. When I compared the Conquest to the sunshine ... even tho the ports are the same it's not the same itinerary ... the conquest gets into St. Kitts and San Juan at 7AM. I hate getting into ports THAT early. I much prefer the Sunshine getting into St. Kitts at 10AM and San Juan at 1PM - Plus, not leaving San Juan till 8 you might catch a sunset from the fort, great pictures. Also another plus for the Sunshine itinerary is that it has the two sea days AFTER you have just had 4 back-to-back port days, so you can have a couple days to rest and relax.

 

So my choice is the 8 day on the Sunshine.

 

I hear you about St. Thomas tho ... I love that island and I'm looking to book a cruise that goes there cause it is beautiful and has great shopping.

 

No matter which you choose, you will have fun!

 

Cheers!

 

Jeff aka Recovery Dude

[terri-eddie]

Check the prices and times on your flights to each embarkation port. Sometimes it's much more expensive to fly to one than another, and that is often the deciding factor for my husband and me, all other things being roughly equal.

[ABQrobin]

Check the prices and times on your flights to each embarkation port. Sometimes it's much more expensive to fly to one than another, and that is often the deciding factor for my husband and me, all other things being roughly equal.

 

Luckily for us, airfare won't be a factor. My DH travels a lot with his job, so he racks up enough credits that we usually get free flights on Southwest. Hotels for the night before, then transport to the ship are our only expense pre-cruise.

 

I appreciate everyone's comments on the itineraries and the ships. We are still stuck on the final four, and don't know which to pick. We both like both itineraries, the 8-day and the 7-day. The Sunshine would require we fly out on Thursday though, making it 7 vacation days from work so our least favorite. Magic and Conquest would mean 6 days vacation, and the Splendor would only mean 5 vacation days off work. That is about the only deciding factor we can come up with so far.

 

If we narrow it down to the 7-day intineraries... that would mean ports of Grand Turk, Amber Cove, San Juan, and St Thomas. I think we like the excursion options at each of those. Then we are down to the Magic out of Port C, and Splendor out of Miami.

Edited August 15, 2016 by ABQrobin