SDI April 9, San Juan, Port activities

[landraceem]

Hi. We are scheduled to cruise on the SDI out of San Juan April 9th. I am curious about the excursions. Are excursions something that can be booked prior to sailing or only once we start our cruise? We have not been to these ports before (Nevis, St Barts, St John, St Martin, Saba) and so don't know if we would be better off trying to arrange private tours in advance.

 

The schedule that only shows departures and arrivals as "morning", "afternoon" or "evening" suits our sensibilities much more than the set times of our previous large cruises. However, it makes it harder to plan land-based activities with local vendors.

 

Any advice would be helpful.

 

Also, if you are on the April 9th SDI cruise, give a shout.

[ctbjr1309]

Hi. We are scheduled to cruise on the SDI out of San Juan April 9th. I am curious about the excursions. Are excursions something that can be booked prior to sailing or only once we start our cruise? We have not been to these ports before (Nevis, St Barts, St John, St Martin, Saba) and so don't know if we would be better off trying to arrange private tours in advance.

 

The schedule that only shows departures and arrivals as "morning", "afternoon" or "evening" suits our sensibilities much more than the set times of our previous large cruises. However, it makes it harder to plan land-based activities with local vendors.

 

Any advice would be helpful.

 

Also, if you are on the April 9th SDI cruise, give a shout.

 

To my knowledge excursions can not be booked in advance and must be booked onboard.

 

I would caution against scheduling land based activities with local vendors in advance as the schedules can tend to fluctuate depending on a number of factors. There are times when the yacht will skip a port all together or arrive or depart at a time other than originally planned due to weather or other conditions.

 

Just one example, last month we went to bed expecting to arrive at Saba the next morning by 9 AM but woke up to learn that we had diverted to St. Thomas enroute so that a passenger could be taken to a hospital for an xray (turned out he was ok) and we then continued on to Saba where we arrived about Noon. Obviously, if we had booked something for that morning at Saba, we would have been no shows.

[vandrefalk]

Landraceem, I agree with Ctbjr -- be careful about booking with local vendors in advance. On our cruise, there was one port we skipped entirely (St. Vincent) and another we made a day late (this one was due to weather so we stayed an extra night at Bequia). I've also noted that there is no shortage of folks wanting to give private tours once you are ashore. You might also consider that SD tours are pretty varied -- and usually not crowded (give the age mix of the passengers).

In either case, have a wonderful time!

Vandrefalk

[Jim Avery]

Anyone have any recent experience in good hotels near the sites in San Juan? Are going a day early for the April 16th and would like some info on where to overnight.

Thanks,

Jim.

[landraceem]

We went to tripadvisor for advice and got the marriott stellaris pre-cruise and the caribe hilton post-cruise just to try a few different ones. I would guess it all depends on what you want to do while there. We wanted to be able to get to the sights as well as to lay by the pool with a drink to decompress before our cruise begins.

[Jim Avery]

Hi Landraceem:

What was your opinion of the two you stayed in? which best? Either one near to Old San JUan and the sights? Thanks for info.

Jim.

[its_my_dime]

Hi. We are scheduled to cruise on the SDI out of San Juan April 9th. I am curious about the excursions.

 

In general, we have found that two couples in a taxi can replicate a ship's tour at a much lower cost and with more comfort.

 

But: if a ship's tour is late getting back to the ship, the ship waits for it.

If your cab is late, the ship may not wait.

 

In that regard, whenever you get off the ship, even if you are just going to town or the beach, always bring with you:

 

-a major credit card;

-one day's worth of essential medication, if any;

-some cash in small bills (US$ are fine);

-the ship's itinerary.

 

You never know when, for whatever reason, you may have to stay overnight and fly to the next port to meet your ship.

[landraceem]

Jim Avery,

 

We have not stayed at the Marriott or Caribe Hilton yet. Our stays are in April before and after our April 9 SDI cruise. I will let you know.

[Zimmy]

Jim, we stayed at the Caribe Hilton prior to our 1/2 SeaDream I cruise. The rooms are nothing special, very standard but perfectly acceptable. But we felt that the pool and beach areas were quite nice. And it is a short cab ride to Old San Juan.

[Jim Avery]

Thanks for the info Zimmy. We are hoping to stay in Old San Juan. Most are requiring a 2 night stay this far out. Will keep trying.

Jim.

[carlylecat]

We booked the Sheraton for our November cruise, it is directly across the boulevard from the port and at the edge of old san juan so we can walk about

 

stayed at marriot pre-cruise and previous trips at the ritz, marriot was horrible, ritz much better but no where near old san juan

 

caribe hilton we had dinner at the mortons there and it did not look great and is outside of town as well in that beach area between the airport and old san juan

 

they are building a new renaissance down from the hilton but i dont think it will be close to being open in time for your april trip

[Jim Avery]

Carlylecat:

Sheraton worked just fine. Ready to go now. Thanks for the info.

Jim.

[AdeleMc]

I book with 3rd party vendors all the time for shore excursions without a problem. Just depends on what type of activities you have in mind. You do need to be aware of ship's time vs island time as "sometimes" it can vary, but probably not on your itinerary. If you have purchased travel insurance and for some reason the ship is delayed or misses your intended port of call, insurance will reimburse you for the missed shore-excursion. Some vendors Shore-Trips for example will refund you if the ship is delayed or does not make port call regardless of travel insurance. If you know what you want to do, then a cab and another couple is a good idea. If you are unsure, then go with a local or 3rd party vendo. Just my opinion.

 

P.S. Just got off SD II this week, LOOOOVVVEED IT!!!