bcarney

Soooo... how much was the drugs package, and did they get the 20% early booking discount? ?

Adventure has the round, hard plastic doors and not shower curtains. I hate those skin-sucking curtains.

Nov. 19, 2018 Serenade of the Seas

I wouldn't mind Hooked replacing Chops on a couple of ships! (let the flames begin!)

My next RC cruise is an 11 day. The drink package is into 4 figures at that point, so I'll be passing on it.

Given the website issues of late... who wants to be the first person down the waterslides and up in the balloon that's coming soon to CocoCay?

Dang, that made me quickly log in and see if I could get that for my next cruise. Sadly it wasn't offered. Probably would have been pricey regardless, as it's an 11 day cruise! LOL

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/free-trolley-old-san-juan/ has a map with route numbers, etc.

I'd also suggest Parrot Club, and the last time I was there we stopped at Cafe Puerto Rico and were blown away with the quality of the food and reasonable (IMHO) prices. Have a meal on the island. It's not like you get the opportunity to do that every day.

Can you PM me the company you used? We'll be there in November and I'd love to do the airboat ride with the family. Thank you.

Don't freak out when you get back and you've gained a couple of pounds even though you've stuck to the diet. They use a ton of salt in the food, much more than most people do at home, so chances are you're just retaining water. Water weighs over 8 pounds per gallon, so just a little bit will really "tilt the scale". It will be gone in a couple of days when it's flushed out of your system. Avoid the "bacon" appetizer at Chops Grille, it's covered in a sauce that contains a lot of sugar. I did Atkins back in 2000 and lost over 70 lbs, and stuck with it until 2006. The weight has crept back, but it's taken over a decade (and the addition of 2 kids). I started Low Carb again at the beginning of the year and have dropped 15 so far. Stick with it, it works!

Let me know if the rum tasting is something other than Brinley's - curious as to what other brand are sold there. AFAIK they don't distill on St. Kitts anymore. $39 for the drinks package?!?! That's an incredible deal!

I'm doing an 11 day rum cruise on Serenade this coming November that goes to the Southern Caribbean. Ponce, Puerto Rico is one of the stops, and I've not been there before so I'm quite excited! http://www.rumrenaissancecruise.com If you look closely I'm in the background in some of the photographs.

Jewel (and Adventure) typically start boarding between 10:30 and 11:00am. It all depends on how quick Customs is with the previous sailings passengers. If you get there too early you have to wait outdoors in the sun; arrive later, and lines can be long, so it's a coin toss. Sailing is either 8 or 8:30pm; I've boarded before, hung out in the Diamond lounge, ditched the luggage, and the headed back into Old SJU for a rum enthusiasts event at La Casita Rones and made it back before sailing. Both sail from the Pan Am pier, so a taxi is required.

It's amazing that I can remember my way to one specific bar I've been to once, on an island 2,500 miles away, yet I can't seem to remember to pick up milk on the way home from the office.

This is all pre-hurricane so may be dated, but... It's really hard to accidentally wander into La Perla; there's only two streets into the area, both exiting from the walled city area (and one goes underground so it's real obvious), and one stairway down the old city wall. I had no issues walking around Old San Juan after dark. Even alone when my wife and kids were at the hotel. And Old SJU is really kind of small; one time I started walking down one street and the next thing I knew I was on the other side of town near the cruise ship port. It's only about 8 blocks by 10 blocks or so, and it's really obvious when you've left the area. It may be different now, but I never felt unsafe. Granted, I was back at the hotel by 11pm, but I felt comfortable walking around by myself. Just be aware of your surroundings like you would anywhere, and you'll be fine.

You have got to be kidding me. Some of the room still have that coral pink and seafoam aqua from c. 2001 in them? Awful.

TGfF - Thank God for Facebook. I looked on my timeline and saw that "Naked Fisherman IPA" was one of the IPA varieties (they had 2 and both were good). My wife liked the Passionfruit Ale as well.

Assuming you are docked at Pt. Seraphine and not the industrial area across the bay, just get off the ship, and walk straight through the shopping area. When you get to the last shops, you'll see Rum Therapy on the left. Stop there to "rehydrate". Then continue on about 40 feet into the grassy area and there will be a wooden structure which is the brewery's tap room. They had I think 8 styles on tap. Actually I hesitate to call it a taproom as you kind of expect some of the brewing to take place there; this is more like a regular bar that happens to be run by the brewery. If you are docked on the industrial side, they have water taxis for a few bucks that will take you to Pt. Seraphine. When they drop you off you'll be at the north side of the peninsula. Head towards the shopping area, and it will be the first structure you'll walk by, on the right if you stay on the sidewalk. (note that they were extending the dock when I was there in November so the drop off location may have changed since then). I looked on Google Earth to see if I could get a birds-eye view to explain, but the images there were taken before the structure was built. If you look there now you'll see a big grassy area north of the shopping area with the red roofs - the taproom is a new wooden structure in the middle of the area, it's the only building there. I had an IPA that was splendid, I wish I could remember the name of it, and they had a stout with Cacao nibs that was worthy of the trip.

How do I put this... Spirit? I'd rather cancel my entire vacation and go to my office than fly on Spirit, anywhere, at any time.

Gone on Adventure this past November. When you arrive to the table there is a small assortment of bread waiting for you. Sad, in a way...I understand why, but it's one more cost-cutting measure that is quite obvious to anyone that's taken a cruise in at the last year or longer.

My wife will attest that I'm cheap and stingy, and if something isn't up to par I write it off completely and never "waste" my hard earned money again. I've been on Adventure 6 times, and I'm quietly trying to persuade my wife to make it 7 this summer when the kids are at camp. Adventure gets a big thumbs up from my household. Ignore the negative reviews, some people just like to complain - me included, sometimes. But overall, Adventure is tops in my book. And that southern itinerary is icing on the cake. Enjoy!

It could be someone in the position I'm in... the way things are working out, we'll hit 140 on our next RC cruise which is an 11 day Serenade sailing. This will be our first on Serenade. I'd much rather have one from Adventure, which we've sailed on 6 times thus far (45 of my total days at sea). Unless I win the Lotto I can't book a JS for the 4 of us between now and the Serenade sailing, so it looks like I'll have to find someone willing to swap. And to make it worse, with Adventure moving to the northeast it's future itineraries hold no interest for me so it's unlikely I'll sail on her again for the 210, 280 etc. levels. :(

The web server's date settings may be based on server time, which is on UTC/GMT, so the midnight rollover is 7 or 8pm Eastern depending on the time of year.

Be careful and read the fine print for the MSC terms carefully, especially way down at the end. IIRC you have to book the cruise directly through their casino program (and not a TA) for OBC.