New2cruise1483

As mentioned elsewhere, Business and First class fares don't vary much. While on a given day/flight, coach can vary widely, Business and First seems to rarely move much. I wouldn't wait to book- you are likely only limiting your choice of seats.

 

"Worth it" is a strictly personal decision only you can decide. We are in a position, after many years of flying coach only, to now fly First and Business, only. And we don't regret it a minute. As you get older, and the body takes a beating from things like coach flight...Business or First is definitely worth it to us.

Well I just went for it and booked our first business class flights :). Yay no being stuck in the middle seat for me!

It would not be worth the drive to Seattle to save this small amount of money, especially adding time, gas, wear and tear on your car and parking. I also must note I hate that drive.

 

I'd just book from GEG. The price seems reasonable to me.

I'm with you when it comes to making that drive. We go over there regularly to visit my mother who lives a ways north of there and I always dread it. Even though we would fly instead of drive, the savings wouldn't be enough to warrant the extra hassle. I'm just trying to decide if I want to pull the trigger now or wait.

No one knows if it's worth it to you, but you. I didn't see any flights next November, GEG-SJU, that don't have at least two connections. It's harder to enjoy the business experience with several small hops. I picked the dates Nov 4 - 19th, and see coach on AA is $569 versus business at $920. To me, the extra $700 for two people is just not worth it.

 

IME, prices for business tend to be much more stable than economy prices. If you want to book, I'd book when I saw a price I was comfortable with.

Fly to anywhere from GEG can be a real nightmare with all the plane changes we would have to make. I'm just looking at trying to find a way to be more comfortable in the way. We will be flying out in November 5th and returning on the 20th

AA offers pretty good value on SEA-SJU round trips in premium cabins. (I haven't checked out of GEG and don't know if you'd be willing to drive to Seattle.) For this coming November, round trips in first/business are $793 and coach is $474 - $525 for the same days, which is a steal considering it's a bloody long trip. I'd book flights right now; the fare has been known to spike up to over $1000.

 

Try to go for itineraries that don't change planes in Charlotte or Philadelphia. Those routes will likely involve former US Airways planes, which are lacking most amenities in first/business class, like any in-flight entertainment etc. Instead try for plane changes in Miami, Dallas or JFK, where you'll have higher odds of getting ex-AA legacy planes. AA is integrating US' fleet, so things might change on this front by November, but it's worth considering.

 

(Note AA calls its front cabin "first class" within the 50 states but "business class" to the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico, but it's the same seats and service.)

I have looked into flying to SEA. I need to factor in the cost of the flight to GEG and also a hotel stay since we would need to fly into Seattle the night before our flight to SJU. I'm mainly looking at making the entire trip more comfortable, especially not being stuck in a middle seat. Thanks for all the other tips as well! I will try to keep that in mind and need to check prices out of SEA again because I don't recall seeing them that low.

Have you tried contacting them and seeing if there's anything they can do to reschedule your flights? I've had this happen and called and told them that the changes THEY made to my itinerary were impossible, and they helped me get into different flights that would work better at no charge since they were the one who changed my itinerary. It never hurts to call and see what they can do to help you. Best of luck :)

Oh sorry I forgot to mention the airline! We are looking at American

I'm starting to look at flight options for our cruise out of PR in November. We will be flying from Spokane, WA. I've been debating on business class for a couple of reasons 1) it looks way more comfortable with two seats instead of three. Since BF likes this window, I always get stuck in the middle seat and I HATE it. Very cramped and have to climb over somebody if I need to use the restroom, so with business class, we could both get what we want. 2) I can get it for a fairly decent price right now.

Now for my second question, how early do you book your flights? I've booked far in advance before, and it became a nightmare with them changing our itinerary and me having to keep calling them and having them fix it. However, I'm also afraid of waiting too long and not getting the flights that I want and have the prices sky rocket.

Booking our flights is one thing I despise ( right along side flying itself:p:D), because I always stress when to buy, pricing and all that. So any input will help tremendously! Thanks in advance :)

I'm sure you all will have a great time :). May I make a suggestion though and maybe wait a few more years to take her when she will be able to remember and treasure it more? At that age it may not mean as much to her compared to when she is older. However, if your simply trying to make some wonderful family memories together. I say go for it!

Thanks for the tip. Where do you find these? Amazon? We may have to fly in to San Juan an extra day early, so we will be heading there for dinner one night if we end up down there for an extra day. Or if not, then at least get a pina colada :D. Do you have to make reservations there or can we just show up?

I THINK there is a Sheraton close to the Pan Am pier, but you would still need to take a taxi to the pier do to a highway there. Like a previous poster noted though, San Juan hotels are not cheap :(.

The Barrachina is home of the pina colada. Delicious!!!!!

O yummy yummy yummy!! I will definitely find this place!

I was just browsing and saw your question about laundry. I personally do the hand wash thing, but I did a quick search on Yelp and there is one in OSJ.

 

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Maybe find that place with the famous Pina coladas while you wait [emoji3]

Thank you! I will check it out :)

There is a Marshall's very near where the ships dock in Old San Juan. You can get underwear there. :)

Great! Thank you for the helpful input. Who knows, maybe it will be a good excuse to buy a couple of cute things while I'm not vacation ;):D

The equipment was included in the price, along with some DELICIOUS rum punch :D

Take most reviews with a grain of salt. I rarely read them anymore, unless I want to see pictures of the ship or try to pick out any objective information.I sailed on the Adventure in September with my Mom and Sister,and we absolutely LOVED her! So, to each is own :)

The only clothes we have talked about replacing are socks and underwear, which are very cheap. I can tolerate shorts and shirts being washed by others, but NOT my underwear. Just not something I am comfortable with. We have a lot of luggage, we usually travel very very light because we hate checking bags for various reasons. The possibility of it being lost, the extra hassle of checking a bag and also waiting around in an airport after an entire day of traveling (flights from our closest airport to SJU are around 12-13 hours with one to two plane changes) to wait and find our bag. If I find a place that does laundry for our other clothes cheaper than the ship though, I will be happy.

Surely it can't be more expensive to wash than buy? I shudder at the waste. Have you considered taking a small pack of detergent and washing stuff in the sink?

If I can find a place to wash my own clothes, I may do that. However, I really don't like the thought of anybody but us touching our unmentionables lol. I really don't care for hand washing things, I usually wind up with a mess, plus I would rather be out enjoying the ship :). I'm just looking at doing things in port between cruises.

Thank you for the help everybody! Are most of these places (except the mall) within walking distance of the pier?

So my BF and I are going on our first B2B on the NCL Gem in November, and we are trying to keep our luggage as light as possible. So one question is, are there any laundry mats close by the pier that we could use to wash our clothes from one cruise, to get them ready for the next one? I know they offer laundry services onboard the ship, but they are expensive, and honestly don't feel comfortable having my clothes washed with however many strangers clothes lol.

My next question, is there a store close by to buy things like socks and underwear? We were talking about just taking what we need for one week, and then just throwing them away and buying new for the next week. Weird I know, just trying to minimalize :D. Any input welcome! Thanks in advance :)

LOL you won't. Trust me, you are going to regret it. Especially changing cabins and downsizing from an aft balcony to an oceanview.

Actually we have an ocean view the first week and the aft balcony the second week lol. I'm hoping that maybe the prices will drop and I can score a balcony later lol

Well do to trying to save money since this is a B2B, we went with an obstructed ocean view on deck 8. First time without a balcony and first time not in a suite how will we ever survive!:eek::D.

So we already have cruise booked on November 13 on the Gem out of Puerto Rico, and we have an aft balcony booked for this cruise (our first cruise not in a suite so this is going to be a BIG adjustment for us lol :D). We've decided to turn this trip into a B2B, and book a cruise for the 6th out of PR. So for this additional cruise I'm trying to decide on an Ocean view or a balcony. The price difference is about $800.

I'm looking at deck 8 cabins and am worried about that deck having extra foot traffic and being nosier, does anybody have any input on this? I'm not talking about the aft balconies on this deck, I've read enough to know better lol. I'm also having a hard time booking a cruise without a balcony, but like the idea of a cheaper cabin since this is a spur of the moment cruise. Looking forward to everybodys' input! :)

We ended up at the Boatyard back in September and really enjoyed it. It does have a party atmosphere to it, but we found the food to be good. I have also heard good things about Harbour Lights which is down a little ways from the Boatyard.

As far as swing with the turtles, I highly recommend going out with Neville. Just ask one of the locals on the beach, and they will hook you up with him. Just be very insistent that he is who you want, as there are several boats that go out there. He charges $20 per person and you are out for about an hour. First you swim with the turtles which come right up because they are use to being fed, and then he will take you to the ship wrecks out in the bay. My mother couldn't get in the water with us, so he brought the turtles over to the boat for her to see. It was also my sister and mine first time snorkeling, and he was great with us!

Whatever you choose to do, I hope you have a great time in Barbados :D

I have to say yes! Very well worth it. We went on an Alaskan cruise on the Pearl last May,and the ship was so crowded, it was nice to have somewhere quiet to retreat to. It was also nice to be able to step outside our cabin into the Haven and have breakfast in the morning and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere in there.

I just thought of another comparison lol. Not sure if it matters to you, but I found the muster drills to be different. On NCL, we usually just meet at a venue for our muster station. On our Adventure cruise however we mustered right at the life boats. Just another difference I thing I would throw out there lol