MKSglitz

Am I reading this right?  Upon disembarkment when you carry off your own luggage, you DO NOT  have to fill out a customs form?  

I totally agree with you Suzanne.  I too can fly cheaper to San Juan then to Florida, especially during the winter months when I tend to cruise,   In Michigan, our "snowbirds" (people who migrate to the south to avoid the harsh winters, and there are many) head south and the airlines know that so they adjust fares to take advantage of the exodus.  No savings on airfare here, ever!

22 hours ago, Suzanne said:

It's cheaper for us to fly to San Juan then it is to fly to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. We live in Houston.

Plus we get to go to better destinations. Sailing out of Galveston means going to Mexico...been there, done that.

We recently flew into San Juan and sailed on Adventure, it was the easiest embarkation and disembarkation we have ever experienced.

We looking into more cruises out of San Juan....better bargain for us.   Plus we are all for helping this beautiful place get back on their feet.

  I wouldn't think about sailing out of any other port than San Juan.  We cruise in January and I live in Michigan, so I can go from frigid weather to sunny, warm weather within 8 hrs!  We usually fly in three days earlier and start off our vacation with a mini vacation at one of the ocean view hotels on the Condado strip and soak up those wonderful rays.  Love the smaller ships and the fares are lower which gives us the opportunity to stay in San Juan longer.

  Could be because the cruise sold-out.  I tried to check a pricing on a cruise that we had already booked (to see if it had a price drop) and it disappeared off the schedule.  When I went to a  random travel website to check out cruises on that particular ship in that particular time slot, they posted it as a sold -out cruise.

The doorman at the Marriott can hail a taxi for you.  The taxis are waiting in Marriott's the parking structure so you'll get one immediately.  You'll go through customs when you disembark from the ship.  And to save yourself some time, immediately upon entering the airport, go thru the agricultural scan where your luggage will get an all clear sticker. Then go check in at the ticket counter with your luggage. Here's an interesting point, once you clear TSA, there are many stores in the concourse where you can buy  duty free liquor (as much as you'd like) and carry it directly onto the plane as long as you remain on the same airlines should a connection be necessary

We stayed at the Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino this past March and they do have a  outside fresh water shower  to rinse off the  sea salt   It is located to the left of the stairs leading to the beach area.  Very, very nice beach.  There is also  a nice restroom  just past the restaurant off the pool area  to change your clothes.

I've been waiting to read a review of the new cabin with the panoramic view of the ocean on the Adventure of the Seas.  Anyone stay in that cabin yet?  Is the Adventure the only ship that has that type of cabin?

I'm hoping someone will have an answer.  I am Diamond Plus.  For the past three cruises I have requested a table for two in the Main Dining Room.  Every time that I have contacted RCCL during the upcoming year before the cruises with other business questions, I asked them to check to make sure that we are down for a table for two.  Every answer received was "yes".  Upon boarding the ships  we always stop at the Main Dining Room to check out our table.  The host has yet to tell us that we have the table for two.  We have been seated  at a table for  SIX each time every time!  Of course the situation is remedied the next day, but that is not the point. Someone once told me to contact the C&A Society directly  a week before boarding to be reassured of our request.  Did that, and it still didn't work.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to how or to whom I should speak with to avoid this repeated hassle? 

Thanks and enjoy your vacation with the family.  Looking forward to your updates,

1 hour ago, KLAconQueso said:

Checking in from San Juan!!! Currently sitting in Vaca Brava sipping a mojito. Initial thoughts: 

Old San Juan is beautiful and walkable 

the air BnB we picked is worth every penny. If you are spending at least two nights in San Juan pre cruise, I would gladly recommend it. Shoot me a message. 

Am happy. 

1 hour ago, KLAconQueso said:

Checking in from San Juan!!! Currently sitting in Vaca Brava sipping a mojito. Initial thoughts: 

Old San Juan is beautiful and walkable 

the air BnB we picked is worth every penny. If you are spending at least two nights in San Juan pre cruise, I would gladly recommend it. Shoot me a message. 

Am happy. 

Never stayed at an air BnB.  More information about the residence and possibly some pictures, please.

Does anyone know if the dinner menus are identical in the Windjammer and Main Dining Room?  I thought I read somewhere in this blog that they are.

Everyone was so excited about " mworkman's" visit from the upgrade fairy that my previous question seems to have been overlooked.  When/If the "upgrade fairy" visits you, is there any additional monies or service fees involved that one would have to pay?  It's hard to believe that RCCL would give you a two bedroom suite for nothing.

When you are upgraded, do you have to pay anything?

I had reservations made well over a year ago for a stay at the Condado Hilton for March 7-10, three days before our scheduled cruise on March 10, 2018.  I was notified several months ago by email that my reservation was canceled.  I immediately started to research other hotels that were opened.  We like to come in three days ahead a time to avoid flight cancellations or delays due to weather.  (I live in Michigan)  Made reservations at the Stellaris Marriott Resort in San Juan.  They have been opened and have welcomed guests since the beginning of December.  I would caution anyone with reservations to doubled check with the hotel chain to make sure that your reservation still exists.

Beautiful portrait!  Beautiful family!  And you are absolutely right.  Difficult to get everyone together at one time.

When you book excursions 2 months out from sailing, do you just put it in your "cart" and "check out" closer the sailing dates in hopes that there  might be a price reduction?  Or do you immediately "check out" upon booking that excursion?  Don't quite know when you are being charged for the excursion.  If you "check out" immediately upon making the choice, can you still cancel and re-book for the lower price?

9 hours ago, enjoylife5 said:

Hi there. I took a few months off of following all of my cruise sites, so Im behind on all of the cruise news. I booked a cruise leaving San Juan in March and just received word today that my hotel reservation through Hilton has been cancelled due to hurricane renovation. It suggested changing to another Caribbean destination. I kinda figured By March things would be up and running better?  I also noticed the last time i was on cruise planner there weren’t a lot of excursions options for my itinerary. Does this mean the ports will have limited options too? 

 My final payment is due this week and I’m just trying to gather opinions/info as to the current state of San Juan and whether I should switch to a different itinerary while clean up continues?  I’ve really struggled to find a decent air fare to SJU and may have to stay there a day or two before and after to get the fare down. You are my experts. I appreciate any advice. 

I too received the email cancelling our reservation at the Hilton in March.  We usually do a three day pre-cruise stay in San Juan.  I hustled to find a hotel in the Condado Plaza area so that we could enjoy an extra three days  and avoid having to change our flight.  I found that the Marriott Stellaris Resort and Casino down the road from the Hilton has been opened for business since Dec. 1st..  I spoke to a person at the front desk of the Marriott and she said that the situation in that area is pretty much doing well.  That being said you need to know that we usually stay on or around the hotel property and just relax since we've been to San Juan many times and there is nothing new for us to see. We just like to escape the cold weather and enjoy the sun.  

Really?  I didn't think that you could  purchase a bottle of any liquor and consume it during the cruise. If so, I need to look into that.  Any liquor that we've ever purchased on board is held until the end of the cruise and then delivered to your cabin

Just wondering if anyone out there received an email from RCCL announcing  future Caribbean bookings for the winter 2020  because I never did.   I only knew about it by reading the blog.  It said that the ships deployment schedule for the winter of 2019-2020 would take place sometime the week of Nov. 13, 2017.  Well we know how that goes.  Checked my email throughout the day on the 13th and needless to say, no email was received.  Checked my email on Nov. 14th.  Still no email.  Decided to go to RCCL website and plug in the Jan. 2020 since that is what I was interested in (had already booked 2018 and 2019) and there it was - Freedom from San Juan in Jan. 2020.  Call to book my cruise and the RCCL rep didn't even know that bookings had opened. No one told her either. Well, to date, I still haven't received any email and I am a Diamond Plus.  Was anyone notified?

I've only redeemed my points in the past to get an additional discount on our cabin.  We rarely use that RCCL credit card for anything else other than RCCL purchases.  They double the points when it is used that way. I redeem my points several weeks before final payment so that I know a record of it is  in the system.  When I call RCCL for that final payment, there it is. Easy peezy!

$99 per person.  Having been there before, how would you rate it on a scale from 1-10.  

Looking for feed back from anyone who has been to Pinel Island.  Is it worth the price of the shore excursion or not?

What is making the Spectrum of the Seas a Quantum "Ultra Ship"?  In other words, how is it going to differ from  the other ships in the Quantum class?

Just how much of a discount do you really get when you book a guarantee cabin?  Is it substantial?  Will these guarantee cabins be a thing of the past with RCCL no longer offering last minute discounts to fill empty cabins just before sailing?