EeyoreFan1967

Even if there is a pool for suite guests, there’s no guarantee there won’t be screaming and splashing. Many suite guests have children who would be permitted in the pool area. You may want to consider an all inclusive adults only land resort in the Caribbean.

 

 

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Yes we are considering this, thanks for the suggestion!

You appear to be making a rookie mistake of comparing only cabin price. That Regent fare includes things like airfare/air credit and much much more that you'll pay for on those mass market wannabes.

 

 

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Yes, this is why when I looked at the Haven, I thought, what the heck, we might as well book Regent it's really not that much more...but it's still ALOT for us...and then I considered celebrity which is significantly less and now there is a sale to make it pretty much all-inclusive except for the airfare.

I personally do not consider Oceania a luxury line. We have sailed with them 3 times in suites. As far as the Haven, it was nice but the minute you leave you are on an NCL cruise. IMHO Celebrity in a suite gives you a great value.

Yes, that is what it looked like compared to others going upon my limited research, that the Celebrity Suite is a great value. Thanks for your input.

Perhaps you should. There is a great difference between snobby and snotty. Serving of shade aside, I would recommend Seabourne, Silversea or Regent for the level of exclusivity you are inquiring about. Of course the average fair for Celebrity suite-class or NCL Haven suites will only afford a lower category stateroom on a real luxury line which begs to inquire if you're actually seeking a luxury cruise experience or just enjoy being the big fish in the small pond.

I'm not even sure what you mean by "being a big fish in a small pond" but my husband and I would love to experience a romantic vacation in the Caribbean without too much screaming and splashing around a pool (we have been there and done that many times and there is a wonderful time and place for that...but now we are empty-nesters ready to celebrate that fact). We are considering an all-inclusive resort on an island but we also like the experience of cruising and having entertainment of many kinds and many dining venues available to us. The Haven sounded like the perfect solution, so I started researching...and I heard even those pools can be overrun with screamers and the cost was high...When I started to research the price I realized we could do Oceania for the same or less as the Haven (for a lesser cabin) or a suite on Regent for a just little more. But the Celebrity suite is much less and I was hoping for maybe some quiet space around a pool or open deck, but all the private space seems like it's inside in restaurants and lounges. Not a bad thing, may still book it. Thanks for the help!

Thank you for the clarification. OP, have you considered the MSC Yacht Club? We have dear friends that enjoy the Haven, and have been VERY pleased with MSC Yacht Club.

Thank you for this suggestion! I will explore the possibility.

How could you ever consider putting Haven and Celebrity Suite in the same category as luxury Regent (or a premium line like Oceania or Azamara)?

 

 

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I know that that they are not in the same category, but I priced out a Haven suite and the price was not THAT different for what you seem to get on Regent. The Celebrity suite was less. I don't really know what any of these experiences feels like because I haven't done any of them and this is why I'm asking this apparently ridiculous question. Thanks for all of your patience with a silly naive idiot such as me. I will continue to weigh the options...

Currently, No. The new ship the Edge may have these facilities. It debuts in 2019 or 2020.

Edge will and I understand it’s inaugural is scheduled this year.

 

 

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Haha maybe that is why the Edge suites are priced at double the cost of Infinity or Silhouette (at least for the sailings I'm seeing). Thanks for the info!!

Yes there are! As a matter of fact if you walk all the way aft on any deck, crawl over the railing and walk another five feet there is a private saltwater pool for those who need a designated space undisturbed by the humble masses who occupy the less expensive real estate.:evilsmile:

Thanks for the warm welcome to the Celebrity board. :hearteyes: Maybe I should stick with the Haven lol!

Hello Celebrity experts!

We are considering booking a Celebrity cruise for our next vacation and we are wondering if any of the ships have exclusive pool or spa areas for suite guests only (like the Haven on NCL)? We are trying to choose between The Haven, Celebrity Suite or Regent. Does anyone here have experience with these and can offer some comparison?

TIA! Eeyore

BWI has both Southwest and Jet Blue flying to San Juan, so the prices are a little more reasonable. We also look at Tue and Wed fares and sometimes the savings for my family of four is more than the extra hotel nights! everyone arrives and departs on Fri, Sat and Sun, so consider other days.

 

Also, if we purchase flights on Southwest, we check prices often. SWA will give you the difference as a credit. Last year, we had three drops, which was enough to purchase one way to FLL for our next cruise.

Yes we adore Southwest!! No direct flights from NY though, at least not yet! Would consider driving to Philadelphia but BWI is way too far and would add too much stress.

We've done several cruises out of San Juan in the months of March and April. We always arrive one day before the cruise and use Hilton Honor points. We like leaving from San Juan because the cruise is already starting in the Caribbean. Less sea days and more ports. We just consider the price of the airfare part of the cruise fare.

Looks like a win/win! Thanks for the input!

I absolutely LOVE cruising from San Juan! I have cruised from SJ 10 times since my first cruise in 2003. We will be on Freedom from SJ in January of ‘19. I am excited to try a new ship!

 

I can’t even tell you how much better sailing from SJ is for me and my family. I have sailed from Miami, Bayonne, and Norfolk, VA (Baltimore has now replaced Norfolk) with RCL. SJ is my favorite by far. Below I have listed several points and tips that I have learned over the years.

 

- The cruise fare tends to be lower from SJ than from other ports. I find that it more than makes up for the slightly higher (for us) airfare and price of the hotel. Do the math.

- We fly from BWI. Airfare on Southwest is very reasonable and is a non stop flight. The flights are also considered domestic. No pesky customs to go through at the airport coming home.

-I book airfare the very day they release the itinerary. I find good prices when I do this. Have I mentioned how much I love Southwest? You have to do a little sleuthing to figure out when your dates will be released, I find it on the “travel tools”section of the SW website. Troll the airline sites to get an idea of how much the fare is. It will be easier to see when prices are best when you have a general idea of what they should be.

- No matter what time of year we go, it is always warm. Even FL can be cold in January. Not SJ! Always warm! In the summer it tends to be cooler than my home town in MD! Maryland is always hot and humid in summer.

- The PORTS! You just can’t beat the ports! SJ sailings tend to be port intensive which I love. The southern ports have so much to offer. My favorites: Dominica, St. Lucia, Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, Barbados. I have been to many more. There isn’t a bad one in the bunch, IMO.

- San Juan itself is a destination. Whenever possible, I try to get there 2 nights ahead. It is so much fun there. It is very safe for tourists. Just about everyone speaks English. It is sort of like being in south FL, but better. There is tons of history, beaches, rain forest, and more.

- I love to stay in the Condado area of San Juan. I have stayed in the Marriott, La Concha, the Condado Hilton, and Holiday Inn Express. The Isla Verde area of SJ has a better beach, but the area isn’t as good for other amenities. I have stayed at the Intercontinental in that neighborhood.

- It may be more economical to rent a house if you have a large group. The internet rental by owner sites can be great. I have used them several times with great success. If you rather stay at a hotel, try Priceline or Hotwire. I was able to get 6 rooms for my large group once at a deeply discounted price. We ended up getting Marriott Stellaris. I used Better bidding website to accurately predict which hotel I would end up with. Do your research and it may work for you.

-Old San Juan is a joy to explore. The entire area is pretty small. It is so nice to meander thought the cobblestone streets and shop in the stores. For a history buff, the forts are fantastic. You can get to the old town by bus for 75 cents from either Condado or Isla Verde.

- I would never, EVER cruise between mid-August and late October. There is just too great a risk for hurricanes. No thanks.

- Renting a car is easy but due to the recent hurricane, may traffic lights are out. I probably would not attempt it at the present time. I have done so in the past.

-The hurricanes have had.a devastating effect on PR. However, the tourist areas remain safe and hospitable for tourists. I have close family in PR and current, local information. It is most definitely safe to travel there, at least to the SJ metro area. They badly need for tourism to return to normal.

 

Wow! That was A LOT! Hope this helps!

Wow thank you for all of this amazing input! Copied and pasted to a planning document for future use...even if we don't book this particular cruise, this is something we will definitely do in the future!

We are also big fans of Southwest, but there are no direct flights from the NY area to SJU. BWI is too far to drive without too much of a hassle to be worth it. The greatest thing about SW is the ability to cancel or change, when planning so far ahead, this is really key! I might book them anyway with a layover when the rates come out, since we can always change them if needed.

NYC to SJU is a high traffic route with lots of flights. Prices tend to be fairly competitive in May as schools in NYC haven’t let out yet with families returning to the island for the summer. You should be alright.

Thanks. This is what I was hoping!

We have cruised out of San Juan 5 times and will be doing it again in three weeks. We have taken our kids on 3 of the 5 cruises. Flights and hotels can be expensive but if you do your homework and spend a little time monitoring prices, you should be able to find reasonable rates. You don't need to stay at the expensive, resort properties. There are plenty of the less expensive chain hotels that you can get a reasonable rate at. Start checking hotels now. If you find a good rate, book it now and then keep watching for a better price. Most hotels will allow you to cancel up to 48 hours in advance.

 

I strongly recommend flying down the day before your cruise departs, too many things can go wrong to chance flying in the day of. Let San Juan be part of your vacation. Depending what time your flight arrives, you'll have time do some sightseeing in the afternoon. The ship does not leave until 8:00 or 8:30 at night so you'll have time to do more sightseeing the day of departure if you want. And last, book your flight home in the afternoon. That will give you time to do more sightseeing before you have to get to the airport.

 

We love the Southern Caribbean itineraries and sailing from San Juan allows us to get to the southern most islands. Puerto Rico is in the Caribbean, we consider it a bonus port for the cruise.

Yeah ok I'm pretty much sold! Thanks for your input. Now...to convince the hubby! Gonna have to show him this thread!

I tried to attach a picture of RCCL SITE 12/7/2018 Navigator of the seas

 

 

 

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Ah thank you! I was confusing you with someone else who was not sailing on royal so I was looking for a non royal itinerary. This looks like a fabulous cruise but is not offered during our vacation week!:(

Not sure if this helps.....

 

 

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It was like half metal / half railing.

 

The view from the balcony was high enough to miss the obstruction that the other balconies receive.

 

 

This is view from deck 7 aft corner on Explorer which has the same steel structure in the back.

 

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I'm sure I could live with either of these rooms! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pics!

Just booked May 2019 myself on Freedom!! We’ve sailed on Adventure three times out of San Juan. Flights are a little more and a hotel is a little more than I can Hotwire in Florida however the itinerary is not to be beat!! Honestly the only reason we took a break from that route is because we were having kids, and adventure of the seas does not have a nursery. Next May my son will be five and my daughter will be three, so not only do they not need a nursery, they will be ready for a port intensive itinerary. If it is in your budget to spend just a little more I very highly recommend sticking with freedom and southern Caribbean. Freedom is one of my favorite ships so I am even more excited that it is moving to San Juan.

 

I actually was surprised at how much the state rooms were, because I used to get much better deals on adventure. But I have not looked at the southern Caribbean routes in a couple years. I’m hoping prices come down, or kids sale free promotion comes out before final payment.

 

My personal favorite stops in all the Caribbean are Antigua and Barbados. Hard to find a ship out of Florida going to Barbados!

You are making me think again. I had pretty much eliminated the idea of this cruise but now I really really want to go for it!! I have never been to most of these ports, including Antigua or Barbados! GAH! Maybe prices will come down, but I thought we'd get a great deal with the WOW sale? IDK I have never seen this itinerary before. May 25 is a holiday week, that might drive prices up a bit.

It does alternate 5 day then 9 day we are on Dec 7th

 

 

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Weird. I cannot find any 9 day cruise on any line that's not Royal departing from Miami on December 7, 2018 OR 2019. Maybe you will have an uncrowded ship! The mystery...

And me too-Love Freedom and love the Southern Caribbean but after booking and looking at air etc we changed to Symphony

There doesn't seem to be a Symphony sailing at the time we are free - May 2019! If we decide to go without our offspring, we will consider it. What am I say, if we go without the offspring the price will only be half! Haha. Rather go with them than save the money...they're only going to want to travel with us for so long :(

Corner aft balcony on Freedom

Deck 10 - Cabin 1400

"Pole" Cabin

 

 

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Thanks for posting this! What can you see from inside the cabin looking out the door? Is there a view from inside or mostly metal?

Thank you all for your input. It looked like there would be too much obstruction from the deck plans, but I didn't want to believe it!! Truffles2 those pics are beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks, we paid $500 total for a large oceanview room! Decent airfare on JetBlue and got a great AAA rate for 2 nights pre cruise stay. Looking forward to it!

Incredible!

We are doing our next cruise out of San Juan. Got the hotel at a good price but we have a LE discount. It was prohibitive otherwise. It was almost $1300 for 3 nights. Halved with discount.

 

The airfare was steep so we waited until we could do it on miles at least one way. So cost for to was $600 with upgrade on JetBlue.

 

I can see why I would not do this without discounts or miles.

Yes, BUT, if we can wrap our brains around Puerto Rico is a destination in itself and we are lucky to spend some time there...and approach it that way, then it's justifiable?

We will be sailing out of San Juan for the third time this summer - the ports are so much better. This time 21 family members will be joining us :D

Yeah...the itinerary is astounding, I didn't know there was such a thing until I stumbled upon this...and YIKES!! 21 family members?! I don't think I know 21 people! Haha have fun!

I believe Serenade is also doing Southern Caribbean cruises out of Port Everglades.

Thanks, Bob! I will check it out!

I'm booked on that one. Not a big fan of 5-night cruises but it was so cheap I couldn't pass it up! Will be spending a couple days pre cruise in San Juan.

Enjoy!

........

I don't understand why this cruise is not showing up on the RCCL website:

https://book.directlinecruises.com/web/cruises/details.aspx?referrer=CruiseCriticCheckFares&pid=1004484&utm_source=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&utm_medium=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&utm_content=CruiseCriticMetaSearch&brn=0.09236584049294046614a4ab47c34cf39b5c0493d56aee46104375

 

OP......I think this is the destination you want. You would have to all fly to Ft. Lauderdale, but the ship returns to NJ. It is also 12 days and maybe too long for you.

Thanks for this tip, but it is the wrong time for us. We have very....unique...windows. They're not short, so theoretically we COULD do 12 days, but the timing has to be exact.

We're doing the Freedom to Aruba in June, and flying in a day early (well, actually 2 days before cruise),

so we can see Old San Juan. We've cruised out of San Juan twice before, but never did see anything.

The flights are more, but the cruise price was good.

Sounds heavenly!! Enjoy and report back!

If you can get to PHL with reasonable effort, Frontier flies to San Juan. I saw a very low cruise fare out of San Juan to Bayonne, I think it was 5 nights for $215, inside cabin. I thought, yeah but the flight would be prohibitive. Only $105 on Frontier. Unfortunately can't make the date work for me.

Thanks for this tip! I will check out the fares. The thing about Frontier, though...it costs as much to bring your luggage as it does to book a seat! But every tip helps and I will price it out. I have nothing against driving to PHL to save some $$!

Fortunately we landed on a great Plan B. We are now sailing out of Port Canaveral, but a longer cruise for less money. We are sailing right after 4th of July so it will be HOT!!!! But still, two of the stops are San Juan and St. Kitts, so some different ports. Unfortunately not with Royal (don't kill me, I still love them!) but we did use those future cruise credits to book two new cruises on the Mariner when she gets back to Florida. Can't wait to see her upgrades!!

Good for you! I have no personal ties to Royal and personally I'm gonna search for the cruise you're talking about because that week works for us also! Our May 2018 cruise to Alaska is not on Royal either. We choose by price, itinerary and when the dates work for us :)!

We are doing the Jewel the end of April and the airfare and 2 nights hotel and 1 night after the cruise came to over $1,000 and then add the cruise on top. We were going in November on Freedom for the ABC islands but changed to the Navigator out of Miami 9 night and 2 days before and much less than San Juan.

Thanks for this input. I think we might be looking at budgeting at least $1500 for San Juan. Can't decide if it's worth it for the itinerary. I must search for that 9-night one from Miami. Wonder if it's around for my dates? I think no because I did a pretty extensive search.

There is quite a bit of ship superstructure on the aft end of Voyager and Freedom class ships. Generally the higher you go, the less view obstruction.

 

This is from Voyager, but is very similar to Freedom:

 

https://voyager-class.com/pictures/cabins/aftbalconies/aftbalconies.html

 

Note that the stateroom numbers are different for Freedom.

Bummer! Why, oh why did they build it like this? (Rhetorical question, frustration lol)

But thanks!