Honeymooners & 1st Time Cruisers - need advice

[rianthelion]

Hi there,

 

My fiancé and I are going on our first cruise the week after our wedding for our honeymoon. We both have never been on a cruise, and quite frankly, had no desire to because of stories you hear in the news. But with the prices of all-inclusive resorts being WAY out of our budget, we started looking into cruises and realized we could go for a week, and it would still be within our budget! When we discussed it and finally made the decision, we both not only had a peace about it, we were (and still are) very excited! We have begun to create a honeymoon registry and therefore are looking into excursions to book, preferably outside of Carnival. One reason being because they are expensive. Another being that I have also heard that they are usually very crowded. And I haven't looked lately but I am sure their excursions are starting to get booked out (if not already) - we are departing in March. I am hoping to finish up our online honeymoon registry within the next couple weeks, which means I would love to know what excursions we are doing in order to find out how much they cost and include that on our registry. If anyone has ever cruised one of these ports before, any advice on what to do would be appreciated!

Its a Carnival cruise to:

Half Moon Cay

St. Thomas

San Juan

Grand Turk

 

Thank you in advance!

[Sauer-kraut]

There are all wonderful helpful ideas over on the PORTS OF CALL boards about 3/4 down the main boards page. You can look for Bahamas and then read all about what is offered on the island and recommendations for private tours if you want to go in that direction.

 

Half Moon Cay is the private island so basically a beach day. Bar service is just like on the ship, you sign for the drinks. The bbq area is large with lots of picnic tables, you really don't need an excursion for this island.

 

Grand Turk is lovely ... oh the water is that perfect blue and white sands! You dock just off the beach, there is a Margaritaville right outside the little shopping area, or just keep walking to the LEFT and enjoy the beach there, we snorkeled right off the beach and saw enough to make us happy. If you keep walking down the beach to the left you will come to a bar area with drink specials and music. If you continue down the same direction you will come to Jack's Shack where there is also a beach bar.

 

San Juan is nice you don't really need a tour, unless you want to go to the Bacardi Factory. Just take a cab to Old San Juan and walk around the city there, go to El Morro Fort and enjoy yourselves. Very easy to DYI.

 

St. Thomas has a lovely beach but it is quite a distance from the docks. St. Thomas is also the big shopping mecca and depending on where you dock you can walk into town. Many people suggest Magens Bay as a great beach, there are also guides in the Ports of Call board where you might find walking tours for free.

 

ALSO!!! Join your ROLL CALL for your sailing, sometimes people who are on your cruise have booked private tours and would like to fill extra seats bringing down the costs to share. Do your research, look online for the island's tourist information pages and go enjoy!!

[L&D32214LuckyUs]

Hi! We are also getting married in March. We are cruising with Celebrity. My family is also doing a honeymoon shower. Are you using a website? If so which one? I couldn't find anything I really liked or trusted.

Thanks!

Lauren

[L&D32214LuckyUs]

Oh and in St Thomas you def want to go snorkeling! I came face to face with sea turtles. I can't remember which place we used but I will try to find that info and send it your way!

[beachbum53]

I would like to echo Sauer-kraut's response about visiting the Ports of Call board. We have referred to it many times when we couldn't decide on what to do while in a particular port. Something to keep in mind is, if you do book an excursion independent of the cruise line, do your research ahead of time and choose someone that comes highly recommended and has a good reputation. You wouldn't want to book some fly-by-night outfit that wouldn't get you back to the ship on time. Nothing will ruin your cruise like returning late and missing the ship.:eek:

[Colorado Kat]

Grand Turk is wonderful! When you get off the ship, there is a beach area with free chairs. Or the Margaritaville pool. Just buy a drink and sit and use the pool as long as you want.

 

If you want to go snorkeling, check out Grand Turk Divers. Very nice people.

 

Half Moon Cay is a wonderful beach day. Amazing sand.

[Monalis]

Congratulations... now this isn't advice for the ports (never been to any of the ones your going to and am immensely jealous :p) but make sure that the name that your reservation is in is the same as the one that is on your documents (ie birth certificate/drivers license or passport) A lot of newlyweds don't think about this and book the cruise in their married name. If you have already done this, just make sure you bring along your marriage license to show the "bridge" to the name change.

 

Have fun, enjoy yourself, and keep an eye on that S&S account daily so you don't get a shock at the end of your cruise.

[rianthelion]

Hi! We are also getting married in March. We are cruising with Celebrity. My family is also doing a honeymoon shower. Are you using a website? If so which one? I couldn't find anything I really liked or trusted.

Thanks!

Lauren

Congratulations! March is a good time to get married I'd say :) I signed up with Wanderable. I did my research and came to the conclusion that I believe they are the cheapest around. Only thing is, there is a little more effort to put into it if you register with them. There is a 2.5% fee charged to all credit card transactions, but that is inevitable, and actually the cheapest I could find. Here is their website: https://wanderable.com/

 

We definitely want to go snorkeling at some point on the trip, so if you remember who you booked through, do let me know :) Thank you for your reply!

[rianthelion]

There are all wonderful helpful ideas over on the PORTS OF CALL boards about 3/4 down the main boards page. You can look for Bahamas and then read all about what is offered on the island and recommendations for private tours if you want to go in that direction.

 

Half Moon Cay is the private island so basically a beach day. Bar service is just like on the ship, you sign for the drinks. The bbq area is large with lots of picnic tables, you really don't need an excursion for this island.

 

Grand Turk is lovely ... oh the water is that perfect blue and white sands! You dock just off the beach, there is a Margaritaville right outside the little shopping area, or just keep walking to the LEFT and enjoy the beach there, we snorkeled right off the beach and saw enough to make us happy. If you keep walking down the beach to the left you will come to a bar area with drink specials and music. If you continue down the same direction you will come to Jack's Shack where there is also a beach bar.

 

San Juan is nice you don't really need a tour, unless you want to go to the Bacardi Factory. Just take a cab to Old San Juan and walk around the city there, go to El Morro Fort and enjoy yourselves. Very easy to DYI.

 

St. Thomas has a lovely beach but it is quite a distance from the docks. St. Thomas is also the big shopping mecca and depending on where you dock you can walk into town. Many people suggest Magens Bay as a great beach, there are also guides in the Ports of Call board where you might find walking tours for free.

 

ALSO!!! Join your ROLL CALL for your sailing, sometimes people who are on your cruise have booked private tours and would like to fill extra seats bringing down the costs to share. Do your research, look online for the island's tourist information pages and go enjoy!!

Wow, your reply was so helpful, thank you! This gives me a little more insight into what the ports of call are like! Just a question about joining the roll call...how does that work exactly?

[rianthelion]

I would like to echo Sauer-kraut's response about visiting the Ports of Call board. We have referred to it many times when we couldn't decide on what to do while in a particular port. Something to keep in mind is, if you do book an excursion independent of the cruise line, do your research ahead of time and choose someone that comes highly recommended and has a good reputation. You wouldn't want to book some fly-by-night outfit that wouldn't get you back to the ship on time. Nothing will ruin your cruise like returning late and missing the ship.:eek:

Oh my goodness, that is my biggest fear - I would hate to be stranded! I will do my research before I book with anyone, thank you for your advice! :)

[rianthelion]

Grand Turk is wonderful! When you get off the ship, there is a beach area with free chairs. Or the Margaritaville pool. Just buy a drink and sit and use the pool as long as you want.

 

If you want to go snorkeling, check out Grand Turk Divers. Very nice people.

 

Half Moon Cay is a wonderful beach day. Amazing sand.

Thank you!! I have emailed Grand Turk Diving to book with them - they have great reviews online! I appreciate the advice!

[rianthelion]

Congratulations... now this isn't advice for the ports (never been to any of the ones your going to and am immensely jealous :p) but make sure that the name that your reservation is in is the same as the one that is on your documents (ie birth certificate/drivers license or passport) A lot of newlyweds don't think about this and book the cruise in their married name. If you have already done this, just make sure you bring along your marriage license to show the "bridge" to the name change.

 

Have fun, enjoy yourself, and keep an eye on that S&S account daily so you don't get a shock at the end of your cruise.

Thank you for the heads up! Thankfully I did think about the name change and how that will relate to documents before I booked and I am just keeping my maiden name until after we get back from our cruise. That will make things so much easier! :)

 

I'll remember to keep my eye on that S&S card balance - good token of advice :) No one wants to come home broke after their honeymoon! Thanks so much!

[L&D32214LuckyUs]

I will defend check them out thanks so much!!!

[T&Dcruisers]

Hello!

We registered our honeymoon cruise as well. Don't stress too much about what excursions and whatnot that you register for. Whatever gift amount people buy you all just goes into a pot and is then applied toward your cruise. So if someone buys you a photo package or a bottle of wine at dinner you do not have to use that gift for a photo or bottle of wine. It'll just go toward your balance or onto your onboard account. Enjoy!

[Tiggertastic]

ROLL CALL - you asked how it works

 

click onto the roll call for your cruise and say hello and tell them you are on the cruise and on your honey moon and also looking for excursions

 

they will have a meet organised and you can register to go along and meet the people you chat with on the roll call

 

Also you can book private trips with them to save money

 

you participate or not as much as you like - read it through from the beginning and you usually find some good tips etc

 

all those people are on the same cruise as you

[Colorado Kat]

Thank you!! I have emailed Grand Turk Diving to book with them - they have great reviews online! I appreciate the advice!

 

Daniel from Grand Turk Diving is wonderful. Very sweet and helpful. Tell him Kathy from the whale shark trip suggested him.

[bmckim]

We went on basically the same cruise for our honeymoon last year except Nassau instead of HMC. All the ports are nice, and no real excursion needed. We took the skyride in St. Thomas, and rented a Golf cart in Grand Turk. What is your speed? I am a planner, so have no problem researching the ports. Also we liked exploring and walking around in ports.

 

Check out my wife's review linked below to see some of the stuff we did. She took lots of pics.

 

Enjoy!