Lovestotravel

Thanks for this review @NJCruisers!!  The hotel prices in SJ are CRAZY high, but I was just able to book with Condondo with our Hilton Honors as well.  I got nervous after booking, because reviews on TripAdvisor are not great.  I feel a bit relieved reading your review!

Thanks for the feedback.  Our TA is strongly recommending it, because of not flying in the day before.  I know they won't hold the ship, but supposedly would get us to our next port (Aruba) if we missed sail-away from PR.  It isn't much cheaper using A-2-S, in fact we are paying a little more than I find with Southwest.  BUT, our TA is pretty adamant that we should do it.  

I am happy to report, that we cancelled our May 31 cruise on April 20th (after RC cancelled all sailings through June), and today we have received almost our complete refund.  We are a few hundred short, but so far 4 credits have been deposited to my card, with the largest being the full cruise fare.  So, less than 30 days and we basically have our refund.  I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but we booked with a TA and she handled the refund request. 

I am happy to report, that we cancelled our May 31 cruise on April 20th (after RC cancelled all sailings through June), requested a refund not FCC, and today we have received almost our complete refund.  We are a few hundred short, but so far 4 credits have been deposited to my card, with the largest being the full cruise fare.  So, less than 30 days and we basically have our refund.  I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but we booked with a TA and she handled the refund request. 

Yes, that is a good proactive feature, as long as they wash it each time!  And, I always check the mattress seams.....with a flashlight.....my kids think I am nuts. ?

You won’t lose your deposit. You will either get a fcc or potentially a full refund. 

This!  Get your luggage held at your hotel early in the morning Sunday (space is sometimes limited because lots of cruisers take advantage of this).  Then go explore and go to the port in the afternoon.
Barrachinas also offers luggage storage which you could take advantage of both before and after the cruise.

Hello! We are heading on FOS at the end of March. We fly into San Juan Saturday evening, and we set sail on Sunday. We are hoping to explore San Juan before embarkation (because we won’t have a lot of time on Saturday), but we aren’t sure the best way to do it. 

Would it be best to arrive to the pier early on Sunday, check in with our bags, and then grab a taxi back to Old San Juan? Is there a better way to plan this?

Now looking after disembarkation - on a previous sailing, we signed up for the excursion where we could explore San Juan before our flight with airport drop off, but because of our flight time this trip (2:30pm) we aren’t able to do the same excursions. Any suggestions for what to do between disembarkation from the ship and an afternoon flight?
 
 

oops... yeah I paid to learn the big words so I use em. ?

+1 for @Matt for doing a lot of the prep work and guiding us to MEI!!

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

You're not wrong, and it's why I always try to explain how not all TAs are the same.  

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

WEll, first I have to remember my password so I can even log-into the app!!!  Ha!  From my computer, Google conveniently remembers for me, and I cannot put my hands on where I wrote it down!  ?‍♀️?‍♀️?‍♀️ 

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

I think this is super important to note, that "all GOOD TA's" should do this.  We have TA (not an MEI agent), and I had to repeatedly reach out to her, to ask her to re-price when I would see others saving money on our fb group.  Once she acted like it wasn't a thing. Finally after pushing her, she did it and saved us a few hundred.   But, I am certain if I had another agent, we could have saved more.  And, she only did it after me practically begging her to do it.  She also didn't know how OBC worked.  SOOOOO, I have learned a lesson! I will only use a TA in the future who comes recommended from this blog!!

It only pops up on the crew interface - like so they can verify someone isn't using your sea pass card to get a drink. No one else will see it.

The best thing about checking in early is you will not forget to do it later.

Do it on the app - scan your passport to get Expedited Arrival and you can take your pic right from the app.

Thank-you for the info!  If it is going to be used multiple times and pop up all over the place, I am going to work on getting a nice one!  Ha! 

Thank-you for the info!  If it is going to be used multiple times and pop up all over the place, I am going to work on getting a nice one!  Ha! 

Just a reminder, we do not all have to agree on the situation.  Please keep the conversations civil and free of any personal insults or attacks.

You know those days when you're tempted to list your children for sale on Facebook? Just saying my answers may be skewed a little today. ?‍♀️
We cruise to vacation together without always having to be together...it's nice to ship the kids off the AO so DH and I can have a little grown up vacation time too.
Right now I would take any ship...going anywhere...as long as it was solo.
On a side note...Anyone need a helping hand or two around the house? They can take out the trash, unload, the dishwasher, work in the yard...anyone? No? Serenity now!