Voyager- March 5- San Juan- Semi-Live

[SoonerDan]

Hey all!

 

Lots of firsts on this cruise for us 

 

First cruise out of San juan

First attempt at a semi-live 

First time to do guarantee cabin

 

Looking forward to sharing it with all of you. 
Would love any questions or things you want us to watch for or find out. 

[Crazy planning mom]

Are you already in San Juan?

[Jimbo]

Just now, Crazy planning mom said:

Are you already in San Juan?

hope so.............

[SoonerDan]

23 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Are you already in San Juan?

Yes. We arrived around 3pm today

Left Oklahoma around 6:30. Went through Charlotte. Airport was a breeze. $20 Uber to our hotel (Courtyard by Marriott) and went out tonight to Distrito T-Mobile for some food and music. Had a great night. 
 

some yummy Mufongu. First time to try it and really enjoyed. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by SoonerDan

[SoonerDan]

21 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Are you already in San Juan?

I don’t think I would be brave enough to fly in on same day. Especially living in Midwest. 

[SoonerDan]

Booking and Pre-Cruise 

 

This is a sort of make up cruise for us. We have always wanted to sail out of San Juan and have actually cancelled out of here twice. Once due to schedule and then during pandemic. 
 

We had JetBlue credit (pandemic) burning a hole in our pocket and about to expire so we set out looking for a deal. 
 

We came across this sailing and jumped at the $90/day balcony guarantee rate. The next day it dropped to $78 and we got it even cheaper. Although that was a process. 
We called in and asked for the lower rate and they didn’t wanna honor it. Called back and instead of giving us credit which would have totally been fine with us, as we paid in full at booking, they insisted the best option was to cancel our original booking and rebook at the new price, as we had booked within 48 hours. It took about an hour on phone to get it all worked out. Seemed over the top, but saved couple hundred. 
 

We are fairly new Diamond members and usually do 7 nighters. We also usually do larger ships. Our first cruise was 2005 on brand new Mariner and we have been mainly Oasis class the last few years. Going to “smaller” voyager was a consideration, but we really wanna go out of San Juan.

We are also big sea day people. So this will be first cruise where we stop each and every day. 
We have booked all our own excursions and because of ship times will be doing only MDR this cruise. We usually do 3 night dining and have done UDP.  So lots of change for us. 
 

We were assigned our room about 30 days out. We don’t love our cabin (it’s connecting) but know the risk we took. We did call the morning it was assigned and agent said we couldn’t switch even within category (which we understand is routinely done once assigned) and by the time we were going to call back the last two rooms in our category were gone. 
We would likely still take the chance as it was a $900 difference between guaranty and pick your own. 
 

We grabbed a great deal on American into San Juan the day before (sit on left side of plane; great views of fort and port on approach). We will use our JetBlue credit on way out. 
 

We used Bonvoy points to book Courtyard by Marriott Miramar.  It’s a nice property though the pics online look more luxurious than it really is. If we had to do over we would stay in Distrito T-Mobile because we found it to be quite fun and lively when going out last night. 
 

A couple of days before we left home, we got email from RCCL advising port will be really busy on departure and that they recommend carrying luggage off yourself on departure. So super interested to see how that plays out. 
 

We are very excited for this adventure. Next stop embarkation. 
 

 

 

[soccer2010]

1 hour ago, SoonerDan said:

Booking and Pre-Cruise 

 

This is a sort of make up cruise for us. We have always wanted to sail out of San Juan and have actually cancelled out of here twice. Once due to schedule and then during pandemic. 
 

We had JetBlue credit (pandemic) burning a hole in our pocket and about to expire so we set out looking for a deal. 

What excursions do you have planned? Thanks, John

[SoonerDan]

2 hours ago, soccer2010 said:

What excursions do you have planned? Thanks, John

St Thomas- taxi to red hook- ferry to St. John. Will likely end up at trunk bay because we are creatures of habit. If we can find a vendor to rent us a jeep for the day we will do that. Most require multiple day rentals 

 

 

St Croix- beach day and turtle snorkel 

 

St Marteen- maho beach. Always maho 

St Lucia- full island land and water tour

St Kitts- beach day at Carembola beach club 

Barbados- full day catamaran and snorkels 

[SoonerDan]

Boarding and early Day 1

 

so for all the doom and gloom about boarding and such in SJ, we have thoroughly enjoyed it 

 

We walked out of the hotel at 10:30 after spending 10 minutes trying to get the elevator to cooperate. (We saw the same folks three times). We finally went to a service elevator and it was a breeze. 

There was a taxi at hotel which gave us a ride for $10 each. It was more than Uber but it was immediate and the driver knew the port was our thinking. 
 

We arrived at the port at 10:45 and there were already a healthy number of people in line. We had noon boarding time, which didn’t matter. 
 

The porter experience was the best we’ve ever had. The chaos we are used to at ship arrival wasn’t there. Folks lined up- the head porter took your bags- asked if you had electronics and passports and then gave instructions to go to a line. 
 

There were two lines- regular guests and key/suites/pinnacles 

 

At 11 they opened the terminal. Everyone was so kind. We were in second group let in after pinnacles and because we did our paperwork it was super easy. 

confirm passport and set sail outside 

security at door 

examine our set sail passport once more 

scan passport to account 

one more look at the escalator at set sail only 

on the ship. 
walked on board at 11:24 

 

first ice cream- 11:45

 

 

This is contrary to what most have said- but we found the windjammer today to be the best we’ve had in quite some time. We really enjoyed it. And we’ve been fairly critical of its direction the last few years. But today was very enjoyable. 

 

the day and guests have been super chill. This late sail away is kind of interesting, but so far we like it. It seems the later departure spreads out the arrival and mood on the ship is very mellow. 
 

we had to adjust our table because we had been confirmed for table for two but were at table for 8. Quick and easy with host. 
 

Baggage delivered by 2 and room ready to go. 
Typing this beside the solarium pool. 
 

Excited/nervous to try the new menus. Dinner in a couple of hours 

[wnycruisefam]

Thanks for doing this!  We will be on this cruise in less than a month :).  Looking forward to hearing all about your cruise - enjoy!!

[Daycare Provider]

Thank you for the updates.  We are doing a B2B in April..we too will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott at the end of our cruise.

[JamesEM]

Following along. I will be sailing a b-2-b 4/2 &4/9, looking forward to your reviews.

[cruiseguy1016]

OP - I'll comment on the self-assist debarkation. We got off the ship just prior to you getting on. We left our stateroom around 7:15 to carry our own luggage off. The line for customs was a little long but not too bad. If you use a porter to carry your luggage (we didn't), you will go to the front of the customs line. We got out of the terminal, grabbed a cab (plenty of them available) and headed to the airport. We made a quick stop at our pre-cruise hotel because I had left my jacket in the room and wanted to grab that to have when we got back home to snowy New York state. Once at the airport we sent our luggage through the Agriculture scan and then headed to check in for our flight. We flew Southwest and there were no passengers in line so we zipped right through. We have TSA Pre-Check so security was quick. We were through security and walking to our gate at 8:40. I don't want to hijack your thread but, If you have questions about OUR experience, let me know, I'll be glad to try to help you out.

Edited March 6, 2023 by cruiseguy1016

[Daycare Provider]

14 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Following along. I will be sailing a b-2-b 4/2 &4/9, looking forward to your reviews.

We will be with you 4/9

[Td6462]

I am curious to see your observations as the week goes on. I do hope things have gotten better since our B2B on Voyager in November when she first arrived in SJ. 

[Daycare Provider]

How were the first two ports of call?

[Vacationdreamer<><]

We will be doing our first VOTS in May out of Galveston.  Any info you share will be delightfully read!

[teddybear231]

Following along...please post lots of food pics + menus if you can 🙂 

[SG65CB]

I'm on this cruise with you. I was also worried by the RC email warning about port traffic so we left the hotel early, arrived at the port around 10:45 (there was no issue with traffic) and despite a noon boarding time we were sitting in the Windjammer at 11:30. I looked at the road to the ship a few times but didn't see any traffic problems. If you want to avoid lines to check in just arrive 1:00 or later, after the initial rush, and you should be able to board quickly. 

 

I agree with you the Windjammer food is good and there is plenty of variety. At times in the morning there has been a very long line to get in for breakfast. If you're in a suite and there is a long line you can just go to Chops next to Windjammer.

 

First day in St Thomas was cloudy with periods of rain. St Croix weather was very nice.

 

 

[SG65CB]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:49 AM, cruiseguy1016 said:

OP - I'll comment on the self-assist debarkation. We got off the ship just prior to you getting on. We left our stateroom around 7:15 to carry our own luggage off. The line for customs was a little long but not too bad. If you use a porter to carry your luggage (we didn't), you will go to the front of the customs line.

 

Did you notice if there was a separate line for suites?

 

[cruiseguy1016]

10 hours ago, SG65CB said:

 

Did you notice if there was a separate line for suites?

 

 

No, I did not notice. Getting off the ship was very fast. We got a little delayed at Customs but it wasn't too bad, probably not any worse than other times in San Juan.

[Daycare Provider]

Can you please tell us what the shows were?  Was Quest happening?

[kenny]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:27 PM, SoonerDan said:

Hey all!

 

Lots of firsts on this cruise for us 

 

First cruise out of San juan

First attempt at a semi-live 

First time to do guarantee cabin

 

Looking forward to sharing it with all of you. 
Would love any questions or things you want us to watch for or find out. 

Thanks for posting this, getting excited about our April 2 VOTS!

[cruiseguy1016]

4 hours ago, Daycare Provider said:

Can you please tell us what the shows were?  Was Quest happening?

 

OP hasn't been back so I'll post what happened last week.

Night 1 - No show

Night 2 - A comedian

Night 3 - Royal Caribbean singers and dancers

Night 4 - No show

Night 5 - Two Funny Guys (comedians)

Night 6 - Royal Caribbean singers and dancers

Night 7- Comedian

 

The ice show was on two nights & Quest was happening.

 

All of the shows for THIS week are in the app.

Edited March 9, 2023 by cruiseguy1016

[Daycare Provider]

Thank You for sharing...All this information is getting my excited for April.