cath32

I've never sailed on Royal Carribean before and am looking to book a cruise out of San Juan Feb 2019. Is the current sale a good one for that or is it better to wait?

TIA!

I have done the carnival zoo excursion a couple of times and really enjoyed it. The zoo is very nice and all wildlife native to Belize.

You might also wander over to the 'Ports of Call' boards and check out all of the Belize information there!

I'm a big fan of the zoo. Done the ship excursion a couple of times. The tour guides give you lots of information about the country on the drive to the zoo. The zoo itself is all wildlife native to Belize in their natural habitats. It's very well kept and makes for a fun day.

We have also enjoyed Café Mallorca and Bombanera.

Two more ideas that we have also enjoyed...

- Waffle-Era

- Spoons Food Tour - the morning one!

Have you done the walk along the water that goes around the outside of the walls around the base of El Morro. This is a beautiful walk!

Try the Don Ruiz coffee shop near El Morro.

My hubby and son love the coffee there (I'm not a coffee drinker), and my son bought pre-packaged coffee beans last time we were there. That was pre-hurricane though....so not sure of the current state of the coffee shop.

We booked the Lickrish food tour and took it last week.

It turned out to be just my husband and I with the guide. It took us about 25 min to walk to the meeting place from the ship. Our guide was ready and waiting for us with cold bottles of water. We went to 6 different locations for food and interspersed our stops with historical info about Barbados. Those samples at each location add up and we were really full by the end. If you do this, don't eat a big breakfast! The tour lasted about 3 hours and we just walked back to the ship after.

We have been to El Junque and really enjoyed the hike down to the waterfalls. It was several years ago, and we were staying in Puerto Rico for several days pre-cruise so I can't comment on the feasibility of doing this trip on arrival/embarkation day.

But, we did rent a car from the airport and returned it to the Sheraton Old San Juan right across the road from the cruise ships. I think it was Hertz. Something to consider if you do try and fit this in!

We enjoyed Raices!

There is a really nice walk the goes outside the walls of the city along the harbour and around the point and then you can get up to the front of El Morro From the end of the walk.

Basically you turn left when you get off the ship and just keep going straight. The roads just turn into the sidewalk that is the path. It is a paved walking path. I find it very peaceful with lots of cats and iguanas for company!

We did the spoons tour a couple of years ago and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't remember too much. We started at a coffee restaurant near El Morro that we have returned to every time we've been in San Juan since. I remember a delicious pastry somewhere along the way. We finished in a restaurant around lunch time with delicious fish tacos. I'm sure there was more.. I just don't remember.

We did a similar upgrade once, and I am one of those that didn't like the balcony with no cover. You couldn't sit out if it was raining, and I like some shade for more of the day. I also didn't like people looking over from above.

Our very first cruise in 2010 was the western Caribbean with extended family. My immediate family essentially matched yours.

In Cozumel we went to Chakanaab National Park and swam with dolphins. We booked privately and took a cab from the port. Everyone loved it. I'm sure much has changed since then, but I believe there was snorkelling off the shore there. There were lots of other things to do at the park, so you might want to check out what is currently available.

In Roatan, we stayed at the port. We did the zip lining that is right there and the family loved it. At the time, it was private but it might be through carnival now. We then just walked to the beach for the afternoon.

In Belize we did the carnival excursion that was Altun Ha with the river cruise. This was more for Hubby who really wanted to see Mayan ruins. We all enjoyed it but it was the least favourite for the kids. We have since done river tubing (through Carnival) and the kids enjoyed that. I personally love the excursion to the Belize zoo - but never had kids with me for that one.

Our fourth port didn't match yours - Grand Cayman - where swimming with the sting rays and snorkelling was a huge hit.

Does this help?

www.carnival.com/cruise-transfers/new-orleans.aspx

We have cruised out of San Juan multiple times, although not on the Fascination.

I can't remember what time dinner is served, but you can get back off the ship once you have boarded.

Last cruise, we decided during dinner to get a few more supplies, and hopped off before dessert to head across the road to the CVS before debarkation!

We usually stay at the Sheraton Old San Juan, but last time, we didn't like the price and got a reasonable price at the Caribe Hilton through Hotwire.

From there, we walked into Old San Juan for the day. I can't tell you distance, but we like to walk and it was very do-able.

We ate at El Hamburger (mentioned above) both nights. It was maybe 15 min or so from the hotel on the way into Old San Juan.

Are the balconies on the empress deck covered?Is there anything I should know, good or bad, about these cabins?

TIA!

You should see 'priority' on your cruise documents indicating platinum status for this cruise!

All the little things like strawberries and such are nice and good, but the only thing I value as Platinum status is the FREE LAUNDRY.

 

 

Nothing else to me really matters.

 

 

Good luck

I SOOO agree with this. It allows us to fly with carry-on luggage only.

We did this on our very first cruise in 2010 - but from Tampa.

We flew to Tampa and stayed at a hotel with airport/ship shuttles. At the end of the cruise, we rented a car to drive to Orlando. We got a really good deal at the animal kingdom lodge, so dropped everything off and returned the car to a nearby off-site location. They shuttled us back to the hotel.

But, we mostly took advantage of non-park activities including a lot of balcony time watching the animals. I believe that the only park time was my 2 teenage sons going to animal kingdom for the day.

As a previous poster indicated, park tickets get much cheaper the longer the duration, and we had been to Disney in the past.

We then used the magical express to take us to the Orlando airport for our flight home.

If believe that flying kites in that big green space is very popular. That would be fun for kids too!

I'm not sure if these will fit into your time frame, but have you considered any of the food tours? You get a walking tour with some of the history of old San Juan as well as some food samples along the way. We did the Spoons food tour a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

has anybody done them?

Lickrish Food Tour - https://www.lickrishfoodtours.com/

Barbados Island Tour with Lunch and Wildlife Sanctuary - https://www.viator.com/tours/Barbados/Barbados-Island-Tour-with-Lunch-and-Wildlife-Sanctuary/d30-46563P5

Thanks in advance!

If you want something a little more organized, consider one of the food walking tours. We really enjoyed the one we did with Spoons.