NandK

Thank you so much everyone! Yall have eased my mind lol

Hi,

My husband and I are sailing on our first cruise together and I'm trying to make an action plan for the day we board the ship. Our cruise documents say that we can board between 12pm and 7pm. I would like to board the ship after cabins are ready so that we don't need to hassle with our carry ons for several hours. I believe all our travel documents and online check in are in order but I still can't shake the "what ifs".

I am wondering if we show up to board around 2pm if that would be enough time in case there is an issue with our online check in and we have to do it all over again?

How long does it take to board the ship?

How long does it take to start check in over at the terminal if something was wrong with the online check in?

Rooms should be ready by 2pm right?

Our flights have been changed several times by the airline so I'm a little concerned that our flight numbers won't match as well.

Am I over thinking this?

Do you know if through airbnb rental has electric and water? So much of the island has none.

YES! I asked the hosts about the condition of everything and what was working. The one we booked in the Condado area has electricity (not on generator), water and WIFI. Some of the others I was looking at have all of those as well and a few had water and electricity but no WIFI and I think only one said they were on generator.

I have been reading that the airport is fine and taxis are available. The only problem is that hotels are very limited, you can check other posts to determine which hotels are honoring and accepting reservations from cruise passengers. Many people have decided to fly in the day of the cruise rather then deal with any problems and allow the remaining hotel rooms available for relief workers.

We booked an Airbnb because I was tired of sitting on the edge of my seat with the hotels. I completely understand the need for the rooms for relief workers, I just didn't want to be biting my nails for another month wondering if our room will be there when we arrive.

I'm sailing out of Puerto Rico on the 30th of December. We had made reservations and flights for 4 nights pre-cruise before the storms were known about. I had been going back and forth on canceling and re-booking to fly in the day before our cruise considering the damage that's been done. I finally decided the other day after speaking with locals to go ahead with our original plans. The beach we'll be staying on in Condado has been tested and is safe to swim in, the touristy area of San Juan I'm told is ready for visitors. The bio bays are dark (don't book a bio bay tour), Culebra and Viequez are still struggling, El Yunque is not in good shape and unknown when it will re-open. I'm not sure about the beaches on Culebra and Viequez if they're safe to swim in yet but I would imagine if your cruise is offering an excursion on a Catamaran or something that it would be worth it by Dec. to visit the beaches there. I'd suggest avoiding any of the excursions that take you into the center of the island where it was hit the hardest.

All that said, I haven't seen any of this first hand. It's all coming from what I've been obsessively reading online and from what I've been told by the Airbnb hosts I've spoken to.

Thank you for your reply! This helps me out a lot!

I know there's tons of threads on this already but I've been skimming through them and can't seem to find my answer. I'm about to buy the premium non alcoholic packages for my husband and I. Before I do, I just want to make sure it will be the most cost effective. I'm looking to find out an approximate cost of a Red Bull, can of pop and a bottle of water on board WITHOUT any sort of drink package.

I understand that drink prices can vary from sailing to sailing so, I'm not looking for an exact price. I know that a can of Red Bull will cost more onboard than it will if I buy a can at a quick-e-mart but my question is how much more? $1 more? $2 more? $6 more?

I also checked out the menus on the website of the family in the FAQ's section and this information is not on their site.

Thank you very much for your input.

I am sailing on Dec 9. Booked at Coral Princess since last April...called to be sure today & was told it was cancelled. Hotels.com originally told me it was still confirmed but I should email to check. What? They found me a room (generator power only) at Holiday Inn Express down street from Coral and cheaper. Just needed a bed at that point! Just happy we got one!

 

 

Here is a copy of the email....

 

 

Dear Fredricka,

 

Due to the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria, we have no electricity in the hotel and have been told it could take months for it to come back. Due to this, we are only providing accommodations for FEMA, soldiers and federal employees. It is with great regret that we have to cancel all upcoming reservations until further notice.

It seems like your reservation was made through Expedia, so we advise you to contact them to cancel your reservation penalty free.

 

Thank you for your understanding and we hope to have you as our guests in the near future.

 

Warm regards,

Margarita Bermúdez

Front Desk Agent

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The Holiday Inn Express cancelled our reservation for the 26th of December. They told me the government has taken the entire hotel for disaster relief workers. You should call the hotel and confirm that you actually have a reservation because from what they told me they are not taking or honoring any regular reservations.

I am sailing on Dec 9. Booked at Coral Princess since last April...called to be sure today & was told it was cancelled. Hotels.com originally told me it was still confirmed but I should email to check. What? They found me a room (generator power only) at Holiday Inn Express down street from Coral and cheaper. Just needed a bed at that point! Just happy we got one!

 

 

Here is a copy of the email....

 

 

Dear Fredricka,

 

Due to the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Maria, we have no electricity in the hotel and have been told it could take months for it to come back. Due to this, we are only providing accommodations for FEMA, soldiers and federal employees. It is with great regret that we have to cancel all upcoming reservations until further notice.

It seems like your reservation was made through Expedia, so we advise you to contact them to cancel your reservation penalty free.

 

Thank you for your understanding and we hope to have you as our guests in the near future.

 

Warm regards,

Margarita Bermúdez

Front Desk Agent

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The Holiday Inn Express cancelled our reservation for the 26th of December. They told me the government has taken the entire hotel for disaster relief workers. You should call the hotel and confirm that you actually have a reservation because from what they told me they are not taking or honoring any regular reservations.

It's a 7 day cruise. I was thinking we'd be able to use wifi calling? With the wifi package. I would think that would be convenient so if we were to split up during the day at sea or at night for whatever reason we could easily call each other.

Hi,

I've been trying to figure out the whole this vs. that for our cruise in December but am having a little trouble. We booked with a pre-paid certificate which includes on-board credit of $150 each person and a classic alcohol package. I can still change these to the other options if I decide to do so.

Here are my questions

1 - drink package - this is included but am wondering if I should change it to gratuity or wifi? I don't drink, my husband does but I don't think he's going to drink much if at all. But it'll be new years so he might let a little loose who knows. If I change it to one of the other options would I then need to purchase a non alcoholic package once we get on board? Can he just get an alcohol package and I get a non alcoholic package?

2- pre-paid gratuity - Is it worth it? If we don't choose this option how is it calculated/paid at the end?

3- Wifi - I'm told it's been upgraded on the Summit. Is it worth it?

4- On board credit - I image we could use this to book an excursion or buy stuff in the gift shop or even eat at a different restaurant one night. My question is will the $300 we get for that be better spent on one of the other package options?

It looks to me like all of these are more cost effective to add on before we board the ship but I'm not sure because I can't seem to find any straight forward pricing structure. This is my husbands first cruise ever and this is my first time booking one so we're both newbies and appreciate all the help we can get. Thank you!