lauraodonnell86

See you guys onboard! Celebrating my bday!

Hello from a fellow Kansascitian! We are leaving from San Juan on January 6th for the 9 night sailing! We originally had this booked but recently the 9 night was lower in price than this one so we decided we'd like a longer cruise! We have done the Southern Caribbean many times as we sail every year from San Juan for our anniversary in January. Here are a few of my recommendations! I will preface this by saying we are mainly beach people so they will be pretty beachy St. Croix - We always go down to Rainbow Beach which is a beautiful beach with a nice restaurant as well with delicious food! It's a very short/cheap taxi ride from the port and has always been our go-to for St. Croix. It's been several years since we've been here but we've always loved it in the past. They do have water activities for rent there on the beach but nothing pushy which is nice! St. Thomas - This is where we got married 14 years ago on Serenade of the Seas! We usually take a taxi to Meghan's Bay which is gorgeous as I'm sure you've heard but I will say the taxi is quite expensive and there is an entry fee to the beach ($5/person if I remember right). It was worth it for us though and a beautiful area! We recently walked around the port area and found a restaurant called Tickles which had beautiful views and great food! St. Maarten - Recently, we have been walking to Great Bay beach which is about 20 mins depending on how quickly you walk. It's a nice walk but you can also take a water taxi or regular taxi over there if you prefer not to walk. We used to book this excursion every year though Shore Excursioneer https://www.shoreexcursioneer.com/st-maarten/beach-bum-orient-maho.html It is such a great tour and you get to see 2 different beaches including Orient Beach and Maho Beach (which is awesome to see the planes). Drinks are also included in the $45/per person price. I just don't think you can beat that price for everything this tour includes! Another fun day we had was renting a kayak through this website https://www.caribbeanpaddling.com/ and using it to get over to Pinel Island. It's a gorgeous island to hike around and see hermit crabs, huge turtles, and iguanas in the wild! There are also 2 restaurants on the island. There is a ferry to the island if you wish to not kayak or paddleboard. St. Lucia - If we aren't going to the beach (usually Rodney Bay), we love doing this zipline tour https://adventuretoursstlucia.com/zipline-tours-in-st-lucia/treetop-canopy-adventure/ The guides are so amazing and will take pictures of you with your phone as you come down the zipline and are just so fun! We haven't done this tour for several years but it was such a good time! St. Kitts - We love taking a taxi to Carambola Beach Club. It's a gorgeous beach and lots of good spots for great snorkeling on your own. The taxi is fairly cheap from the port and it's a beautiful place to spend the day. There is a charge for the chairs/umbrella but I can't remember how much. You can take a stroll down to the left of the beach and find yourself on a black sand beach which is really neat! There is also a restaurant on site where food/drinks can be purchased. Barbados - Our FAVORITE spot! We never do anything else when we go to Barbados but go to Boatyard Beach Club. It is a short taxi ride there and only about $5/person. https://www.theboatyard.com/adventure-beach That is the link that will tell about it but with the $35 entry fee (used to be $25), you get a welcome drink, chairs and umbrella, access to all of the water activities including a water trampoline and rope swing, a snorkeling tour to see a boat wreck and sea turtles, and transportation back to the ship when you are done! Even with the increase in price, I really feel like it's still a great deal. The food from the restaurant is delicious and the sand is POWDER soft. Such a great place! Sorry this was a little long winded but I am passionate about the southern Caribbean I have pictures of all things I mentioned here and would be glad to post them if you are interested in anything particular, just let me know! I hope this helps you out a little bit with ideas and I KNOW you will have an amazing time no matter what you decide to do! Laura

Thanks for the amazing blog! I will 2nd what everyone else said! You were funny and kept my attention as I read through all 16 pages! I'm excited to meet you on the Freedom GC!

I hope you guys have a great time! It's so fun to get away with friends every now and again! I'm looking forward to following along. I'll hold down the 911 calls while you all are cruising ?

I love this whole blog so much! Sometimes I get bored reading through live blogs but your posts are fun and easy to read! So excited to be on board soon! Can't wait to check out those little overlooks! Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

Excited to follow along as I am boarding Oasis December 8th! Have a great time!

If you like beaches, we love going to the Boatyard which is about 3-5 mins taxi ride from the port. The entry fee is $25/pp and that includes a beach chair and umbrella, ocean trampolines, a slide and rope swing, and a free boat ride to a shipwreck and swimming/snorkeling with sea turtles. Included in the price is your return taxi back to the ship! The water and sand is absolutely perfect and it's our one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean! Here is the link for more information https://www.theboatyard.com/adventure-beach Have a great time whatever you decide to do!

Have you already visited Honfleur and how was it? We are headed to La Havre next August and looking for ideas.

Oh you know it! ? I'm still holding out hope that Hillary will be with us!! ?

Sounds great! We are easy! I just wanted to walk around a bit since I've never been there before.

@twangster Thank you so much for all of the information and pictures! This will be great for my sister and I to do a little exploring! Yep, I am on Jarvis's cruise! The price was too good to pass up! I look forward to cruising with you again!

I am visiting Labadee for the first time in December. Recently I found a map (which I have attached) that shows a few "paths" that are marked leisure, moderate, and strenuous. Does anyone know if these are hiking trails? Along with having a beach day, we would like to do some hiking/exploring around the island and I just wanted to see if anyone had been on these paths and also find out where they lead. Thank you for any help you can give! ?

I'm glad the others here let you know the difference between the 2 companies. I used https://www.caribbeanpaddling.com/ not Caribbean Paddle. Hopefully you got everything worked out. This is a great company and I wouldn't want anyone thinking badly about them.

@AshleyDillo You are so awesome! Thanks for recommending that! I can't wait to go back in December!

We enjoyed doing the RC excursion to Blue Water Beach. It was a nice beach and the one we bought had lunch included which was jerk chicken. It was delicious!!!

We always bring our own snorkel gear. I don't remember seeing a place to rent it. I think you will really enjoy it!

Yes I would definitely do this. A couple years ago, a junior suite was cheaper than what we had originally paid for a balcony. Even though it was after final payment, I called and they gave us a "free upgrade" to the junior suite since we had paid more for the balcony. It was the only time we've ever booked a suite of any kind ?

Hey there! As a 911 dispatcher, I get 144 hours a year and have been here for 14 years. At 15 years, I will get a little more but I can't remember what it is exactly. We can also accrue up to 180 hours of comp time so that is a great benefit. Our sick time is separate from everything else and we accrue 3.34 hours a pay period. I have a little more than 1,100 hours so I should be set if anything happens. It caps out at 1,440. Obviously, we run a 24/7 operation so I'm working most holidays but that gives us the opportunity to earn more comp. And that equals more vacation! WOOT!

Thanks @twangster. I will go ahead and post them on here so that @Lovestotravel, @pezgirl, and @KathyC can see them! ? In order of the attachments: The West Deck in Aruba -- on our walk to The West Deck in Aruba -- Palm Beach in Aruba -- Karel's Beach Bar in Bonaire -- Coco Beach in Bonaire -- view from our table at Perla Del Mar in Curacao -- Mambo Beach in Curacao Hopefully that works!

Bummer! I wonder if I attach them differently if they will show up? Let me know if you can see this picture in Aruba on our walk to the restaurant! I can't wait to meet you either! It's gonna be such a wonderful time! I'm bringing my sister along to witness the craziness ? We would love to live in the warmth no matter where it is ?

@Lovestotravel I'm sorry the pictures aren't showing up for you! I'm not sure why! Hopefully they are showing up for others. Yes, Perla Del Mar is in Curacao. It is delicious!

@Lovestotravel You really can't go wrong but with those options and the price difference, I would go with the ABC option! I just wrote a fairly detailed post about what we love to do on that itinerary. Here is a link to it! Let us know what you decide!

@pezgirl Oh goodness! I guess I will get up on my stand now. Hahaha!! These are some of the best islands you will ever visit!! Apologize now if this is a little long.... First of all, like @CruisinUpinLife said, I would highly recommend going to Pinel Island. Below I have attached another page where I talked more in depth about it and added some pictures. Curacao, we absolutely love this island. We have been twice and are going back in December. I have attached a map of the area below from https://cruisecrocodile.com/cruise-port-information/willemstad-curacao/#curacao-cruiseport. The blue bus on the right hand side of the picture shows where you need to pick up the city bus. I'm not sure about the blue bus on the middle/left side of the picture because we haven't taken it from that location. Both times we visited, we walked from the cruise ship through town to the city bus and rode that for $2 a person to Mambo Beach. Mambo Beach is a wonderful, relaxing beach. There is an entry fee of $3.50 per person and the chairs are also a small fee but I can't remember exactly what it is. I believe $3 or $4 per person. When you are ready to leave, there are city buses waiting right there. Note: the city buses are small and the public transport bus is big. The public bus is $1 per person but it takes a while for them to fill it up so we went with the city bus. The walk from the cruise port to the city bus is about 25 mins depending on how fast/slow you walk. We use it as a good time to take in the beautiful, colorful buildings along the way! I added the map so you can use that to navigate from the cruise ship, across the pedestrian bridge, to the left along the water, and then a right which will take you to the public transportation area. The first time we did it, we had to ask a few people along the way but everyone was very friendly and helpful. There is a taxi stand closer to the cruise ship but if I remember right, a taxi is $40 to Mambo Beach. Since we are usually there later at night, we love eating dinner on the island. We have gone to Perla Del Mar twice now and it's amazing. It is a Steak and Seafood restaurant. It is located in the Waterfront Arches which is to the right of the pedestrian bridge. There are 5-6 restaurants all on the water and I would recommend eating dinner there! We never feel unsafe walking around after dark. I attached a picture of the view from our table at Perla Del Mar! As you walk back to the ship you will walk through Rif Fort which is an awesome little places with bars and restaurants that all lit up at night with live music sometimes. Aruba - it is only about a 5-10 min walk to get to the city bus stand. You can buy a round trip ticket to Eagle or Palm Beach for $5 per person. Great deal! We prefer Eagle over Palm because it is a bit quieter and not as busy. I will warn you that the chairs and drinks are going to be expensive but we just plopped our towels in the sand fo freeeee ? We were in Aruba late in January so we decided to get cleaned up after the beach and head to dinner on the island! To the right from the cruise ship, we walked for about 15 mins along the road (on a nice sidewalk) and ended up at The West Deck. I would recommend to make a reservation because they were quite busy! It is right on the water and had amazing food! It was a beautiful walk back to the ship and is a really nice area. No feeling unsafe at all here either after dark! Bonaire - the place we want to live eventually! We have fallen in love with Bonaire and actually stopped in and spoke with a realtor in January to see what it would look like to move here in the future! We took a taxi to Coco Beach in January because we didn't have any other plans. It was $2.50 a person each way. We just put our towels in the sand because we wanted to be in the water most of the day and we brought our snorkeling gear because there is some of the best snorkeling here in Bonaire! I would recommend bringing water shoes as the beaches here are quite rocky. After hitting the beach, we were ready for a drink on the boardwalk near the ship! We love visiting Karels Beach Bar which is just a 5 min walk to the left as you get off the ship. It is over the water and offer beer, coffee, and a limited food menu. Well, sorry again about the length of this post but as you can see, I am passionate about these islands and helping people have a great time without breaking the bank! I hope I have given you some good options! Let me know if you have any questions or need any further clarification!

Old San Juan is about a 15 minute drive from the Condado area so to walk would be about an hour according to Google. I don't think I would attempt that walk but some may! But a 15 minute Uber should be pretty inexpensive in San Juan so you could spend some time there! We didn't visit Old San Juan when we were there in January because we have done it in the past. I'm sure others can recommend places to visit/eat there.

@pezgirl I haven't stayed at any of those hotels but the AC Hotel is near the Marriott Stellaris and we walked by it and it looks really nice. It is a great area to walk around for restaurants and just to check out the area. It's also a close walk to the beach! I love the Condado area.