hlauburn

The cards haven't been available lately. Is there usually a certain day they come up or do you just have to keep checking at random?

Need a $500 card to book an excursion! We leave in less than 40 days!

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If you have been to San Juan within the past year, and took a trolley to the Forts, etc., did you have to wait very long, or did they seem pretty full when you tried to board, or did you have to wait for the next one, etc.

 

 

 

I guess, if we took the trolley to the Forts, we could walk back, right, as I believe it would be downhill.

 

 

 

 

 

How close are the forts to each other, and is one that you would recommend seeing, etc., then the other?

We will be visiting in March and I've been doing a little research. I found a couple people who recommended not trying to board at the main port trolley stop, but instead walk a little bit to the left (as you exit the port), and catch the trolley at the stop right before the main port one. Less people boarding and a much shorter wait.

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Yes, the beach is at Pamela's restaurant at UNO hotel and beach club. I checked out their website before I booked it. It looks like a nice place, so it should be a nice and relaxing way to spend my day. I'm sure San Juan has a lot of historical destinations, but for this trip, I'm just interested in the beach.

Do you actually eat at Pamela's or at the beach club? Or are they the same place?

Thanks!

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Interested to hear feedback on this one too...

We have been twice and both times the water was really calm.

 

 

 

 

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Great pic! So where exactly is this beach and how do you access it from the ship/dock?

Thanks!

Sailing on the Magic in March and just logged on to the website and I was able to pick a time. It wasn't there last time I logged in, but after hearing the announcement today, I went back to check and sure enough it was there.

I picked the 11- 11:30 time...is that generally the earliest time slot? Still hoping to get FTTF.

Thanks for the info. I am booking this excursion through Island Marketing for our cruise next Friday :)

Please let us know how it goes!

Have a great cruise :)

Who do you book the cabanas through?

It was great and we had a great time, plenty of beach, we were placed all on our own and loved it. I think it was MORE than worth it especially with 6 drinks and a meal! That normally cost more than double anywhere else!

 

 

 

I just went to their site and saw that food is still included, You should look again on the right hand side in the highlights sections.

 

 

 

We paid $21.00 from Old San Juan, when we were ready they called us a cab which came in 5 minutes. They did tell me that they might include transport in the future but you should ask them if they did. I like the fact that i could take a taxi, that way i left to the beach when i wanted to.

 

 

 

I definitely recommend this excursion in San Juan if you have already toured the Old City. Pretty inexpensive for what you get.

Thanks again!

I guess the "meal options" threw me off - like it was "optional" (meaning you get it if you pay [emoji2]).

I read one report of the ride to the beach being a little sketchy - was that your experience? Did the taxi drivers seem to know where you wanted to go?

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Considering this tour through Island Marketing. Has anyone been lately?

If your looking to go to the beach walk around and rent chairs Isla Verde/Carolina is a good beach. Not to many facilities though.

 

I bought a beach package through Island marketing and was more than happy. Good food, drinks and includes chairs and umbrellas. https://puertoricocruiseexcursions.com/excursion/san-juan-beach-break/

 

I Cannot remember which hotel has a day pass. Not my kind of thing, i do not need a pool and would prefer to have less people around me.

Can you tell me a little more about the beach break excursion? I looked at the website and it seems really nice! I assume food is not included, but drink are? Do you remember about how much transportation was from the port and is it pretty easy to get there and back?

Thanks!!

Can you access the "non-rocky" beach from Margaritaville? I see people in beach chairs....I assume you can rent those?

Both! :) These are the two ships I've been debating as well. So....we booked the Magic for Christmas and are going to do the Vista next October.

Haha...nice idea, but we have other trips planned, so can only commit to one cruise right now. :)

We are having a tough time decided on what sailing to do next year. A little background: just sailed the Breeze in March (Spring Break) and loved it! We live in N FL. Cost is pretty much the same. 2 adults, 2 kids (12, 8). We have the Magic booked, but I'm still going back and forth.

So here are the choices:

Magic - March 2017 (Spring Break)

~ Departs Port Canaveral (very short drive for us, and very easy port)

~ 7 nights to St T, Grand Turk, San Juan, Amber Cove (3 ports we've never been to, but none are particularly "must dos" for us)

~ An "older" ship

Vista - late May 2017 (Summer)

~ Departs Miami (longer drive for us, and we found the port/parking/drop off pretty hectic :eek:)

~ 6 nights to 2 of the same ports we went to on Breeze (but liked a lot and wouldn't mind going back to)

~ NEW ship!

Any thoughts/feedback/suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks!!

We have sailed RC (without kids), Disney (with kids), and also Carnival in the past. Last Saturday, we returned from a trip on the Breeze. It was our first time sailing Carnival in several years. Being Spring Break and having young kids, I was a little concerned about the "party atmosphere" that people say Carnival has. It turned out not to be the case at all, and we all really enjoyed the fun activities onboard. The cruise director did a great job getting everyone involved in the activities.

Lots of music, lots of dancing, lots of activities - and a lot of lively fun.

We can't wait to sail again next year!

Looks like that promotion is gone (or a good April Fool joke).

 

Was looking at booking last night , this morning the price increased and the $49 deposit was gone.

Yep. :rolleyes: I called my TA and he pretty much talked me out of the reduced deposit anyway, but it was very tempting.

I didn't like the idea of booking a year out and the deposit being totally lost if we had to change/cancel, but I guess that's the risk you take for a small deposit.

Now you have the definitive answer:D

Haha...thanks!

I have a friend you ALWAYS books on reduced deposits and she says she's never had to pay a full deposit in order to get a price drop. She claims it's because she booked through Carnival directly and that they have all sorts of different promotions and terms.

I started to call Carnival but the reduced dep deal is gone now, so guess it doesn't matter...:cool:

I've seen this topic come up many times but can't seem to get a definitive answer.

If you book the reduced deposit deal and your price drops between now and final payment, is it true you have to pay the full deposit before they'll give you the price drop?

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The way it reads to me is you are assessed a $50 pp fee if you cancel before final payment. So if you only paid a $49 pp deposit, there is nothing to apply to a future cruise. :confused:

Looking at booking with the Early Saver reduced $49 deposit deal going on now. Wouldn't be sailing for almost a year, so just wanted to clarify the rules. This is the "fine print":

Deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable. Changes made to the reservation may result in the assessment of cancellation penalties or service fees. All cancellations that occur prior to the final payment due date will receive a non-refundable and non-transferable future cruise credit in US dollars in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee.

So even if you cancel before final payment, you basically you lose everything?

Do it! Just got back from the Breeze and it was absolutely worth it! Just the dedicated Guest Services line alone was worth it to us...walked right up every time, even when the "regular" line was 30 people long.

Is a repeat really a bad thing? Whe sailed the magic last summer and choose the breeze this summer for that very reason. It was awesome why not do it again same itineraries and everything.

A repeat wouldn't be that bad...at least in the sense that the ships are similar.

Unfortunately, Breeze will be in TX so that's not an option for us. And the Magic won't be doing the same itinerary anyway. As far as we are concerned, HUGE benefit of sailing out of Port C instead of Miami too.

Just got off the Breeze this past weekend and had a great time! Looking into options for next Spring Break and the Magic seems like a good possibility for us - we are just 2 hours from Port Canaveral and frankly, as nice as Miami is, we found the port very crazy and chaotic. :eek:

My concern is that the Magic will feel like a "repeat" of the Breeze (but it would be almost a year apart). That week the Magic goes to Amber Cove, San Juan, St T (been there several times), and Grand Turk - any feedback on those? My girls will be 8 and 12 and like anything adventurous and involving water and/or animals.

Any thoughts, feedback, advice etc would be great! :) Thanks!!

Anyone know if/when the Magic will be getting the HUB app??

Just got off the Breeze today and we were at Mr Sancho's on Thursday. The AI has tons of tables that all have umbrellas (you're "assigned" one at arrival). The beach chairs don't have umbrellas, but I did see a sign that said you could rent them, but that was on the pay as you go side, so not sure about AI. They do have a Facebook page and they reply very quickly if you ask.

We spent a lot of time going between our table, the water inflatables, the pools, and the bars that we didn't really spend much time at the beach chairs. There are a lot of shaded/covered areas to escape to if you want to get out of the sun.

We absolutely loved it there! Have fun!