Colleen8580

We are cruising with my parents who are in their 70s and one of our stops is San Juan.  They are ambulatory however "slowing down" and have some underlying health conditions.  I am concerned about them pushing themselves too much trying to keep up with a tour group.  I am also concerned about them trying to walk uphill somewhere, especially if it is hot.  The only "accessible-non wheelchair" tour through our cruise line is sold out.  My dad is really wanting to see the forts (even if just from the outside) and other historical sites.  It sounds like the old trolley would have met our needs perfectly but unfortunately its not running anymore.   Are there taxis or uber available at the old san juan cruise ports that we could use to get to places that are uphill?  or companies offering private tours when we get off the ship or any companies we could pre-arrange transportation?  Looking for the best way to help my parents see the sights while "taking it easy". 

We are booked on a cruise in February that has changed the itinerary so we are now only in St Lucia from 2PM-8PM.  St Lucia is the port we are most looking forward to visiting on this cruise.  Is it better to visit St Lucia during the day as in February once we got off the ship after docking at 2PM we would only have a few hours left of daylight.  Would this be enough time to go to the Pitons, etc? Is there anything to do there after the sunset? We are still before final payment so have the option to cancel and switch to a different cruise.

I was on the Getaway last year at time of the World Series game 7 and couldn't find the game playing anywhere, not even on the tvs at O'Sheehans. Later I met another person from Chicago who told me they were able to get the game on a tv in the fitness center and about 50 people had gathered in there. I found out the Cubs had won when one of the dueling piano players at Howl at the Moon announced it.

20 Days until Allure! :D

I'm on October 29 Allure and we just received the confirmation yesterday that San Juan and St Thomas were changed to Costa Maya and Cozumel. My co-worker who is on November 4 Harmony has not heard yet. You might not know until a few weeks before.

Thank you all for the information!

We are sailing on Allure in October and considering buying the 3-meal dining package. Ideally we would like to use use it for Chops, the Brazillan place, and the Bottomless Brunch. However, with the package you can not reserve your dining times until you are on the ship and they pick the first one for you (but sounds like maybe you can switch if you don't like it?). It looks like it does not make sense to use the package for Giovani's Table or the mexican place since they are cheaper and I didn't really care for Giovani's Table when I sailed on the Oasis a few years ago. Anybody have experience with the dining package and if its worth it? Is there any difficulty with getting reservations at the places you want to dine at times that are not super early or super late or conflict with other show reservations? Any difficulties in using the package to book the bottomless brunch once on board? Its just 2 of us so not a large group.

We weren't able to go to Alaska this year but are still planning for the future. I would still be interested to hear about your balcony on Explorer of the Seas. Have a great trip!

Thanks all for the great advice and information. We are considering just getting one balcony and having the other rooms be inside. I'm going to start looking into the different ports/glaciers to decide which itinerary is best for us.

Our family is planning to on an Alaska cruise Summer 2017. We will most likely need to go in the mid June-mid August time frame because one of our family members is a teacher. I have heard that Princess is the best line for travel to Alaska but I have also heard that a balcony room is a must. Looking at the currently posted prices, the only cruise line we could possibly stretch our budget to afford a balcony would be Carnival. Should we go with Carnival just to get the balcony or base the decision on other factors and settle for an inside if another line better meets our wishes otherwise? Will we be able to see the glaciers from the decks if we do not have a private balcony?

Also, if the teacher decides she is not able to come I have noticed prices in May or early June are much more affordable. Would it be worth going earlier in the season to be able to afford the balcony?

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely check out the recommended books.

I am starting research for a family cruise to Alaska we are planning for 2017. We will be an intergenerational group and at the time of the trip will be ages 3-70. I have noticed some itineraries are roundtrip from Seattle or Vancouver and others start or end in Seward or Anchorage. We will have 11 in our group and most live a day's drive from Seattle so it seems it would save us a lot of money to do a round trip from Seattle or Vancouver than to buy plane tickets for 11 people to or from Anchorage. Are there any differences between the Northbound/Southbound trips vs roundtrip? Would we be missing anything by doing the round trip?

I've never been on a singles cruise but am thinking of taking my first. I am considering either of the VTG Halloween 2015 cruises on Princess or RC. I did the exact itinerary of the SC Carnival cruise last year and would like to see new places so I am not as interested in that option. What is the average age range on the Halloween cruises? I am 34 and I don't mind the idea of going with people of all ages but would definitely prefer a trip that has a good number of people late 20s-40ish. Would either VTG trip be more likely than the other to have a younger crowd?

I'm booked on the Breeze departing next Saturday and have already checked in so was a little confused. I figured it was an e-mail error but tried to call to make sure I was still confirmed on my Breeze sailing and couldn't get through. Back to back cruise would have been a nice surprise :)