RCVoyager

We did San Diego (actually out of a port in Mexico just south of the border) on the Carnival Spirit a few years ago.  Great cruise.  Inexpensive.  Cheap upgrades.  12 nights (first 5 at sea).  The ship was repositioning from the Caribbean to Alaska in April.  The next cruise was 12 night Hawaii to Vancouver.  We chose the Southern Cruise for the warmer weather the first few days vs the cooler weather the last 2 or 3 days of the Vancouver Cruise.

It was awesome, but I will say, since they don't do it every week, there were a few problems and mistakes.  For instance, we had to check-in at the San Diego Carnival Pier and then bus across the border to the ship.  One bus, thankfully not ours, picked up a load of passengers at San Diego International.  The driver misunderstood the directions and showed up with a bus load of passengers at the ship.  They had to recross the border two more times to go back to San Diego and then back to the ship to get everyone correctly signed in.  I heard they gave each a $50 on board credit.  Should have been a lot more.  It took about 1.5 hours each time they crossed.

But it was an awesome trip.  We got a an upgrade to a suite for like $200.

I can see both sides of this issue.  Prayers to your family and it would be nice of RCCL to offer up something nice to your family.

I don't know.  My daughter and I had the same reservation number.  I do recall that she was still 17 when I made the reservation.  I had to wait until after she turned 18 several months after I made the reservation in order for the system to accept her application.

I'm not the most internet savy guy on the block and it worked flawlessly for me. 

One last thing, I'm not sure why you have to involve your TA.  If you have an account on RCCL's website, your cruise should be there under "My Cruises".  Once you click on the appropriate cruise, you should see a tab for "Bring a Friend".  The first page of "Bring a Friend" is the rules page.  From there you can click on "Bring a Friend History".  From there you can input the information (it's a very short form).  Once completed, it showed all four of my "applicants" as "pending" until about 14 days before sailing.  After that they showed as "Approved" in "Bring a Friend History".  When I boarded, the $100 credit was there.

It's first time adult RCCL cruises traveling with you in your stateroom or others on your reservation number or others.  I'm sure there is a screening process RCCL uses before approving.  In my case it was 5 cabins with separate reservation numbers booked at the same time by me directly with the cruise line.  There is a chance they give extra scrutiny to TAs.  How easy would it be to book strangers on a cruise and tell one about the other?  Then they could ask for the credit without knowing each other.

Your TA is incorrect.  I just received a credit for my 18 year old daughter in my stateroom.  $25 credit on the Adventure of the Seas last month.

That is correct.  First time RCCL passengers who are adults on the same sailing with you.

I don't know when you have to register for the credit, but yes, you can get OBC for a second adult in your stateroom.

I traveled with a party of 10 in 5 cabins last month.  I received 4 $25 credits because there were first time RCCL cruisers (adults only... children don't qualify) in four cabins including my own.  

If you log into the RCCL website, go to my cruises, you'll see the "Bring a friend" tab.  I put the info in right after we booked a year ago.  It's status was "pending" up til about 2 or 3 weeks out at which point it was approved, and indeed I had a $100 on board credit at the time our cruise started.

I don't know about the RS, but I love the Adventure of the Seas.  What itinerary are you taking?

I just received Bring a Friend credit for my 18 year old daughter in my same cabin.  I don't know about booking numbers and such, but booked at the same time on the same booking number, I received the credit.

Hey Jane.  What ports are you going to?  What are you doing in San Juan?

With regard to the Adventure, I love that ship.  Perfect size and a great layout.  Yeah it's showing its age a little, but it's still great.  I hope you both have a great time.

Our family of 5 and extended family of 10 just sailed on the Adventure a week ago.  San Juan is great as always.  St. Martin is showing some wear.  Curacao and Bonaire were ok.  Aruba was great as always.  The ship needs its upcoming refurb... but it's still a great ship with a great layout.  The thing that sets it apart is the value.  $1480 pp.  5 cabins (3 balcony), all taxes, tips, air from Chicago and 1 night at the Sheraton Old San Juan.  Yeah it's a longer flight than Florida, but we didn't mind.

We were on the ship last year.  We went to St. Croix.  What an awesome place.

As someone mentioned, lots of people from Puerto Rico on the ship.

If you put a GPS on me, it will have the same location as the Adventure of the Seas in about three weeks!

I've been tracking it on Marinetraffic.com.  I can't find it today.  Anyone know where it is?  Thanks.

Correct.  But they don't observe daylight savings time, so in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, it's the same time as Eastern Daylight time.

Has anyone done this?  Is it a good tour?  Can you do it cheaper locally?  We are traveling with a group of up to 10 and thought maybe we could cut out the middle man.  can anyone offer any pointers?  Thanks.

The thing that makes me so mad is Immigration.  I have to buy a Passport for myself and my family and be subject to questions or have my stuff searched.  Meanwhile the border is wide open.  Non citizens can come and go as they please.  I don't know why we put up with this.

The Sheraton Old San Juan has a luggage room to check-in luggage.  I don't know if it's just for their guests, but I know they have it, and it's convenient to Old San Juan.

Take a cab to the park (Chakanaub (Spelling?)).  You can swim, snorkel, swim with dolphins, eat, drink, rest.  It's a nice place.  Also, the last time we were there, we rented scooters.  It was a fun day.

I don't think the beach in St. Croix is really that unique with the amount of sea glass that is there.  But, I don't really know where to find it on other beaches.  I'm on the Adventure to St. Martin and the ABCs in June.  Anyone know where to find sea glass on those islands?

It's really easy, inexpensive, and has everything you need.  It's so close that it's within sight of the ships.  It may be crowded if it's a busy ship day when you are there.

It's broken glass that has been worn down and rounded off by the sea.  Some of it is very old.  Most of it is not.  In the fort in St. Croix there is a small museum devoted to it.  The woman there, I don't remember her name, has the history of it in St. Croix.  There is a multi colored pottery that is very old from there.  We found one piece of it.  The greens and browns, although pretty, are likely beer bottles and not old.  However, the blues, reds, and yellows are old.  Regardless, there is lots there, and we have a beautiful jar full of it, and it's a conversation piece when friends visit.

We want to go back to get more.

I love the history of the islands.  I like to visit the forts.  San Juan is my favorite, but as mentioned, stay out of La Perla. 

Last year while on the Adventure of the Seas, we went to all islands I'd been to before... except the last day.  We stopped at St. Croix.  I wasn't looking forward to that port because of preconceived notions of it not being very good.  Turns out, it was great.  There is a cool fort right off the end of the pier.  Then we snorkeled and picked up a ton of sea glass that is now displayed in a cool jar on our back porch.  We loved St. Croix.

Personally, I put NCL at the bottom of the list of mainstream cruise lines.  The poor food in the MDR forces you into the premium restaurants.  We typically like to treat ourselves to one night of premium... not 7.  The MDR reminds me of eating at Bob Evans 7 nights in a row... not something I want to do.