ron57nie

We were on this cruise as well. So many here jumped to the conclusion that the OP had no doubt misunderstood what the captain really said, well he said it, and it was broadcast to every room on the ship, he took full responsibility and did not "lie" about why and what happened, in fact I found his forthright explanation a breath of fresh error. The op's question was "is this fair"? Everyone's fair is different, for me it felt fair. the best whale sighting I have seen on Alaska cruises were in the inside passage, they were close and plentiful, but I have seen them, they haven't and likely never will. If he never said many people would not even know what they missed. Another fact is about half the passengers did a 14 day circumnavigation around Japan and the trans pacific 16 day follow on. The 16 day transpacific was 1/2 the price of the first 14 days. A OV room was under $1000 for the 16 days so think $100 off your next cruise, nothing i would jump at. For the room we booked for 30 days we should get around $800. Enough to do something, although at this point i haven't seen anything posted to my account. It also said you must book it and use it within a year. My point is not everyone will get any significant benefit from this offer. Finally, when someone has 40 posts, it took a lot for them to post something, those of you with many thousands of posts are often quick to pounce, back off a bit please!

flying into PUJ and we have not made transfer plans yet, however we will probably do a private car or a taxi, i do think it is a ways. Yes fly into small destinations is not cheap, but when you figure the total price for the cruise and the air it is overall competitive, and there are ports here that are rarely included in most itinerary which is a big draw for us.

We are booked and got a flight from Charlotte, our closest big city for just under $700 but non stop, so it was a bit more expensive.

sorry i was thinking Statendam not Amsterdam. agree with others about size.

Been on both ships in the last year, similar in size and the ships are quite new, but the crowd will usually be younger on HAL. The entertainment on HAL suits our needs better, the main stage is disappointing but the music walk has Rock and roll, a bit loud but 60's through 80's. BB King which to me is more Motown than blues and a piano bar with 2 player who complement rather than duel. The music in these venues has been really top notch and I think they are putting money here instead of the stage. Princess had more traditional stage shows and that's where we spent our time on the Sky. The venue musicians were hit and miss and were usually just a guy or gal on a guitar or piano. We did have a steel drum team on one of the Sky cruises that was quite good and played music that we know. So the crowd on HAL will be older than even your oldest, think 68 avg age and there is probably little to keep a 4 yrs old happy, but to us the venues are great. On Princess more likely to be similar in age to the older passengers but still skewing a bit older. We're 65 and like older music so HAL is our first choice but we go on both as well as Celebrity.

Well there are not many cheap flights anywhere in the US, especially when leaving the country. Did see the $439 flight from FLL to PUJ. Leaving on the 12th from FLL returning to FLL on 26th. For us that's not a bad price, we don't have the competition like Europe or Australia. Our airports are at max capacity and its a suppliers market.

check out Jet blue, it often doesn't show up on big websites and you have to go directly to their website. remember you need to add bags to the flight. also extra if you want a special seat but i see nonstops from $439 USD. that is FLL to PUJ

The cruise has virtually a port every day and several ports are seldom visited ones like, Grenada, St Vincent, and Guadeloupe. the when looking for a room I saw over several categories almost all the room were vacant. Maybe we'll have the ship to ourselves.

well we booked it, hopefully we'll be ok...very very few cabins sold, strange

Surprisingly low fares from the US plus low cruise price makes it tempting. Was a bit worried about the entertainment being different, but I think your right. Thanks

Thank you . This cruise actually starts in the DR and never gets to the US so I expect that the crowd may be different.

not my strong suit...but thanks

no one has done this?

Been looking at the cruises leaving from Dominica Republic on the Sky and wondering if anyone has done this, how it was and what was the passenger mix. Did the cruise cater to Spanish speakers or was it similar to cruises leaving from Miami or FLL? I know its an older ship but the last reviews are horrible...was your Sky cruise really that bad? Thank you