Anyone taken this Itinerary?

[Cgoic001]

Hello I am from Miami and I would like to take my kids on a cruise for 2015 sprig break. The cruise I have been eyeing is the carnivalcruise that departs from Dan juan PR and goes to St Kitts, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Thomas and Barbados. Have anyone done this cruise? Any reviews? Comparison? My other choice is one that leaves from Ft Lauderdale which is close to home but is double the price of my first choice. (Ft Lauderdale to st kitts, st maarten, grand Turk and PR.

 

I would love to go on the cruise that leaves from San Juan. But my worry is when should I start looking for flights to get the cheapest deal, should we only pack carry on ( I would be worried my luggage would get lost)? It is okay to get to the San Juan the same day the cruise leaves? (It departs at 10pm) or should we arrive a day early?

 

Thanks!

 

Lastly should I pick my 1st choice. Any excursions you recommend? ( 2 adults, 2 kids (8)(10)

[snc_cam]

Great itinerary from San Juan. But you really need to add in the airfare and see what the difference in price is once you factor that in. Also, when we fly in for a cruise, we always go the day before. So with this, have to factor in hotel, food, taxi/rental car. You may find that the cruise from FLL is cheaper. And that itinerary is nice too.

[KenMo]

I would arrive a day early.

 

We cruised from San Juan several years ago.

 

We flew in the day before. Our plane had a problem and we were stuck in MIA (an unscheduled stop) for about 8 hours.

 

We were supposed to arrive at SJU around 2pm. We got there after midnight. Had we flown in the same day, we would have missed the ship.

 

It is always wise, if at all possible, to fly in a day early. You never know what could happen.

[elliair]

Sometimes we fly in the day before and sometimes we fly in the same day. Depends on what port we're leaving from. Don't forget to get trip insurance. If you happen to miss the ship for some reason, you are covered. Even if you're worried about lost luggage, you will be covered for that as well if yours should get lost.

[OCruisers]

Is the one out of Ft. Lauderdale on a much better ship?

LuLu

[pghsteelerfan]

We did this itinerary out of San Juan on Valor in May 2013 and LOVED it! I personally think this is the best itinerary. If you can do this itinerary, I highly recommend it. The scenery of these islands is spectacular and we really enjoyed our balcony as we sailed into each one in the morning. We don't have kids and most of our excursions were beach/snorkel oriented. We did fly in a day early and stayed in Isla Verde Beach area in San Juan. Our hotel was a five minute taxi ride from the airport. We were on the beach at 1:30PM and spent an enjoyable afternoon there. The next morning we checked out at 11:30AM (checkout was at noon) and got a taxi to the ship. The exact cost is escaping my memory right now but it was a 20 minute drive. We breezed right through check in/security, dropped off our carry-ons then spent the afternoon at Fort El Morro and in Old San Juan before getting back on board. As others mentioned, I wouldn't risk flying down the day of and the bonus is that extra time in San Juan - so much to see and do. I did a review of our cruise and the link is in my signature if you want more details. The cruise out of Fort Lauderdale you're also considering is also a great itinerary and we've been to all of those islands and would recommend it. We were on Liberty out of Miami (before she moved to Port Everglades) for a Western Caribbean cruise this past April on a last minute decision when we booked one month out. One of the reasons we chose Liberty out of Miami, and the week we went, was because it was the cheapest airfare. We found the flight prices to be extremely high since it was right around Easter/spring break. If you book flights earlier, it may be less expensive. We wanted to go out of Tampa on the Legend, but the airfare from here to Tampa was over $200 more, per person, than it was if we had flown to San Juan. You have a tough decision but I'm sure you'll have an enjoyable cruise either way.

Edited August 3, 2014 by pghsteelerfan

[Onceuponatime]

We cruised out of San Juan in 2011 for our honeymoon..going to all of those ports. It was amazing! And we originally booked it because it was a substantial savings over anything leaving from Florida that week. After adding in airfare, hotel, etc. it ended up costing more. But, it was such a great experience that I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. However, if you are trying to determine which would be better for the $$ don't forget to add in all the incidentals.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We cruised out of San Juan in 2011 for our honeymoon..going to all of those ports. It was amazing! And we originally booked it because it was a substantial savings over anything leaving from Florida that week. After adding in airfare, hotel, etc. it ended up costing more. But, it was such a great experience that I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. However, if you are trying to determine which would be better for the $$ don't forget to add in all the incidentals.

 

We did the Victory in 2011 for our honeymoon also, no regrets! We arrived same day, spent a night after the cruise. I'm doing the opposite in 2016, just to be safe, and those post-cruise tours are super cheap which includes airport drop off.

 

If you are going to stay relatively loyal to Carnival, I think this is the best Southern Caribbean cruise. :)

[Honolulu Blue]

Hello I am from Miami and I would like to take my kids on a cruise for 2015 sprig break. The cruise I have been eyeing is the carnivalcruise that departs from Dan juan PR and goes to St Kitts, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Thomas and Barbados. Have anyone done this cruise? Any reviews? Comparison? My other choice is one that leaves from Ft Lauderdale which is close to home but is double the price of my first choice. (Ft Lauderdale to st kitts, st maarten, grand Turk and PR.

 

I would love to go on the cruise that leaves from San Juan. But my worry is when should I start looking for flights to get the cheapest deal, should we only pack carry on ( I would be worried my luggage would get lost)? It is okay to get to the San Juan the same day the cruise leaves? (It departs at 10pm) or should we arrive a day early?

 

Thanks!

 

Lastly should I pick my 1st choice. Any excursions you recommend? ( 2 adults, 2 kids (8)(10)

 

I did the Valor out of San Juan in March and June of this year. I loved both journeys. Since those were the only cruises I have taken so far, I don't have anything to compare it to. You can find some reviews on this board by searching for "Valor" and plenty more at the main CC site. It generally gets good reviews.

 

My opinion is that if you can live for a week or 8 days with just carry-ons, you should try to do so. I think it's less worry, less aggravation, and less to pack for the return trip. And I flew into SJU from a lot further than where you'd be coming from and survived it, so I certainly don't think it's essential to arrive a day before. Of course, a proper exploration of San Juan and Puerto Rico requires several days, so it's fine if you want to see the sights beforehand (or after).

 

As for excursion recommendations, what are your interests? If you're interested in overall island tours, I've taken all the Carnival ones in all the locations and I recommend them all. They're not the only good choices. Feel free to explore the Ports of Call sub-forum for other suggestions.

[Nic6318]

Hello I am from Miami and I would like to take my kids on a cruise for 2015 sprig break. The cruise I have been eyeing is the carnivalcruise that departs from Dan juan PR and goes to St Kitts, St Maarten, St Lucia, St Thomas and Barbados. Have anyone done this cruise? Any reviews? Comparison? My other choice is one that leaves from Ft Lauderdale which is close to home but is double the price of my first choice. (Ft Lauderdale to st kitts, st maarten, grand Turk and PR.

 

I would love to go on the cruise that leaves from San Juan. But my worry is when should I start looking for flights to get the cheapest deal, should we only pack carry on ( I would be worried my luggage would get lost)? It is okay to get to the San Juan the same day the cruise leaves? (It departs at 10pm) or should we arrive a day early?

 

Thanks!

 

Lastly should I pick my 1st choice. Any excursions you recommend? ( 2 adults, 2 kids (8)(10)

 

hi

 

just wanted to add my thoughts...we did this itinerary a while back and really enjoyed it.

But...I found that a 7 day cruise with stops at 5 islands that you have never been to before tends to exhaust you. Naturally you will want to experience the most you can so you will be getting up early for 5 days in a row getting to your excursions. No real downtime or as much opportunity to enjoy the ship.This also gets expensive ( don't know if that is a concern )

 

You know your family, so this is just something to consider. Should be a great trip otherwise, but I found that I needed some down time after to recuperate.:)

 

Have a great time

Ian

[OCruisers]

We now fly in a day early ... BUT we would be comfortable with taking an early flight from Miami to San Juan in the SPRING.

LuLu

[Grannycb]

San Juan! We see if there are multiple flights on our carrier going to San Juan. If yes, then we take the earliest one available on the day of the cruise. If something happens to that early flight we can still make it on a later one. Trip insurance is a must no matter which cruise you take. Make sure to include the air in the insurance.

[Moo's Mom]

Did this several years ago. It's a port intensive trip. Had a wonderful time but needed a vacation after my vacation!