Kikkycat

Thanks Lisa!

My sister and I will be in Aruba in mid-November this year with Jewel OTS. We've discussed day passes at an AI, but I know it'd be just as easy to do a pay as you go day. What I don't know is how busy to expect the resorts to be at that time. The information on the cruise timetable site says we'll be the only ship in port, but I know from past experience that they're wrong quite often. And I'm guessing that Nov 12th (I think that's the date) is not prime vacation time anywhere. Can anyone provide info on how busy Aruba is that time of year please?

Just saw pictures of aft corner balcony on the revamped Navigator and it looks like it only has 2 chairs and a small table. Are there no longer loungers on these balconies?

Which deck? 7388 in late February had two loungers as well as two chairs.

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I know the ship parks way out.

 

How long is the tender ride in?

 

Are the tender boats pretty decent size?

 

And is it a scary ride in???? Lol

20-30 minutes. The tenders hold maybe 100 people so they're decent size and not scary.

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We toured with Victor on the regular Fun and Sun tour and had a great time. It was our first visit to the island.

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They are used to weigh down the shower curtain thus keeping it from "flying in" and sticking to your wet body

If you are sailing on either Royal Caribbean or Celebrity, you will not need it for a shower curtain, since the shower is entirely plexiglass. However, they would be helpful for closing the drapes to your balcony if you have one.

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Thanks for the hammock tips Jimbo! Just wondering, that blue area with the RC symbol below the balcony, I'm pretty sure thats the top of the dining room, but does anybody walk or hangout on that?

There is a crew area around the perimeter on deck five in the rear. We had 7388 on our first cruise on Adventure. We saw some crew members back their on their phones or smoking but they were always quiet. On Liberty a few years ago I saw the occupants of the Royal Suite walk across the blue area to the back railing. They were strongly chastised and didn't venture back there again.

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Anyone have pix of this one? Haven't seen any yet! Thanks!

Those of us using the Cruise Critic app don't see subject lines in individual posts. To which aft cabin are you referring?

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Please clarify. Carnival uses the pier in Old San Jaun for embarkation. Are you saying they use an adjacent pier in OSJ for their day stops (different from the one they use for embarkation)?

Yes, they are adjacent. Rarely are there enough ships in town at the same time and they need to use additional piers. If that were to happen then there is a chance the pier customarily used for Carnival embarkation might be used. But that is not a common occurrence.

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Was reading through this thread and I have a stupid question. We will be in San Juan next year on a Carnival cruise as a port stop, not our embarkation port. While in any port, we usually buy alcohol that we can't get in the US and expect CCL to hold it for us until the last night of the cruise. Never a problem but this has me wondering how they will handle that since it is also an embarkation port. Will the ship still hold it or will we be treated like we are trying to smuggle booze on at embarkation? We have not been in SJ yet so have no idea what the set up for security is like. I would think that getting back on the ship would be the same as any other port, but I have been wrong before. Any insight on this? Thanks.

Day stop pier is different one than the embarkation piers.

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Hi Steve,

You'll love that corner aft even more with a hammock!:D (My only regret is that the hammock didn't have a built in Kindle holder and drink holder.) Buz bought the hammock on Amazon - about $20 and the name of it was La Paz something. It's woven cotton as he didn't want nylon or poly (too sweaty.) He also bought a hammock hanging kit at Academy for about $15 that supplied the ropes.

 

He's tall enough (6'1") that he was able to just kind of toss the ropes through the holes in the beams you see below. He didn't have to stand on a chair to reach the openings, but that could be done. (But use the sturdy one from inside the cabin!) This was 7388 on Navigator, but I think that Voyager class and Freedom class ships have the same structure on the aft, so it should be pretty similar on Freedom.

 

If you need more info, he'd be delighted to advise you (he's quite proud of his hammock installation!;)) you can email him at goodrich@telepath.com. (He's upstairs mudding sheetrock in our soon-to-be-redone guest bathroom right now, so I've been instructed not to interrupt him.:eek:)

Judy

 

 

I was wondering if you got any grief from your stateroom attendant about the hammock, or if they even mentioned it.

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Thanks for the info Jimbo! Looks awesome, although I'm not sure I'm McGyver enough to do it right

Explorer of the Seas Cabin # 7688.........don't forget your hammock !

 

I have 7388 on Navigator next winter for a week and will have an opportunity to get a hammock in Cozumel prior to that. What do I need to hang a hammock on the balcony?

Hi everybody!

We are booked on Serenade of the Seas, Cabin AFT 8168 for a Transatlantic

from New Orleans to Barcelona from April 26 to May 12 / 2014.

Very excited! Does anyone who has had this cabin on same voyage have pictures or information?:) Please share. Thank you

We had 8168 on Serenade on our second cruise (first time on Serenade). Loved it! It doesn't really wrap around at all though. It's a nice-sized but odd wedge-shaped balcony. Both my profile pic and cover pic were taken there. I don't have any pictures on my phone though, sorry.

Love this thread, but its raising concerns about what we have let ourselves in for! We had our first ever balcony on the Serenade two weeks ago, its was on the side way up front but we loved it that much that we've become instant balcony snobs :D As soon as we got back we upgraded our cabin on next years cruise on the Adventure and have been lucky enough to book 7388 aft corner balcony. Will this mean we will become instant aft balcony snobs, and will we have to invest in a hammock? :eek:

 

Pam

Yes and yes. 7388 on Adventure was our first cruise. No balcony since - and we've had some nice ones - has come close. My best friend and I have 7388 on Navigator next February and I'm so excited about it!

Just off Adventure a couple days ago and we had 7390. The balcony was easily big enough for five or six chairs (if they weren't all loungers). There were three chairs and a small table on it. One sea day we had room service breakfast out there and moved the coffee table from inside. Plenty of room and plenty of shade most of the time. Talked a bit with the gent in 7392 . His balcony appeared about the same size as ours...it's the cabin that's bigger in that instance.

Just received the San Juan Water and Beach Club for $115 for Feb10th. I've been trying for a few days. Started at $100 with zone 9 for resorts and 4* and went up to $110. Today I started at 105 resorts in zone 9 added 4* for 110 then added zone 1 for 115 and finally was accepted. I haven't heard much about this hotel. Reviews on trip advisor look good. We are staying post cruise and have a 6:45 am flight so being close to the airport will be nice. I was hoping for Old San Juan area but we will still visit that area.

We stayed at the Water Club a couple of years ago post-post cruise (we had a blizzard hit home the night before we were supposed to leave PR and used Hotwire to book "emergency" lodgings). The rooms are on the small size, but comfortable. The staff was very nice. The pool area wasn't terribly interesting but there's a lovely beach across a very small street.

We aren't looking for a cruise on Equinox until Jan. 2014, so hopefully they'll have the kinks ironed out. I'm unfamiliar with what the "old" Michael's Club is/was like as we've only been on Royal Caribbean thus far.

DH and I are researching a future cruise on X and having this facility would guarantee our business. We're looking at Equinox. I looked through the deck plan online and it mentioned Michael's, but I don't know for a fact it does have it. We are both beer snobs to the bone. Having a lovely tripel from Boulevard Brewing and DH is having a Founder's Breakfast Stout while we research (dear X - if you can add one single more beer to that list, make it Founder's)

Both Sheratons have casinos. The one in Old San Juan is called Sheraton Old San Juan and it near the Carnival pier. It is a 3.5* hotel. The other Sheraton is called Sheraton Puerto Rico. It is the hotel closest to the pier used by Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess, although it's not walkable. It has a convention center. I've read that it is 4*. Marriott Stellaris is resort category. There are other Marriotts, such as the Courtyard hotel. Which Marriott interested you?

Priceline bid

2 nights, Jan. 27-29, 2013

First attempt:

San Juan only (zone 9), Resort: $95. Rejected

Second attempt:

Added zone 8, Rio Grande, Fajardo, Resort: $97. Rejected

Third attempt:

Kept the same 2 zones, added 4*, $98. Rejected

Fourth and successful attempt:

Zones 8 and 9

Resort, 4*, 3.5*

$99

Won: Gran Melia Resort.

2 nights at $99/night.

Taxes and fees: $31.10

Total:$229.10

Didn't I read recently that the Sheraton Puerto Rico (aka the convention center) is a 4 star also?

When you bid on Priceline, I don't see an option where you get to choose hotels to bid on... just #stars and location. Is this correct?

That is correct. You don't know for certain what hotel you're getting until you've paid for it. But you can have a very good idea, or at least narrow the possibilities, by researching this thread and betterbidding.

Sounds good. I'll check it out. Looks like it's $96 today on hotwire for Jan 28. Staying 1 nite pre cruise at isle verde and 2 nites post cruise which we have decided where yet. We Would like to try a different part of the island for once. Do you rent your car from the airport?

Yes, we went with Hertz and DH is a gold club member.

Nice ! How do you plan on getting there? Taxi or rental car? Any idea how much it will cost?

We're renting a car. For the less than 24 hour period, it'll be about $35 - far cheaper than a taxi or their airport shuttle.