Tell me about Southern Caribbean out of P.R.

[mitaxi]

Please tell me what is the earliest realistic time to book a departure flight.. have read that San Juan airport can be very hectic,..

[MiniMom57]

our "wrong" excursions:

 

In Aruba we went to DePalm Island.....their website makes it look a lot bigger and nicer than it is, the food was terrible, and it is located just off shore from a HUGE factory of some sort (electric plant or oil refinery or something similar!!!:eek:). Don't confuse this with Palm Beach.....very different places.

 

In Curacao, we went to the aquarium. It is very small and not very impressive (I think there are better fish tanks at the local pet store!). They do have sea lion and dolphin encounters there, but we didn't do those. We went there under the impression that we could use a beach on the premises......again the website was misleading! When we got there (with our beach gear in tow) we were told we could not use the beaches, as they are private and for the resort guests only. To top it off, our cab drivers were not friendly at all.:mad:

[Tex_Jen]

The airport can be hectic with all the cruisers coming in. If you have a later flight, they will probably not let you check in until about 3 hours prior to your flight. Once you get that done, the airport is really not bad. Realistically, anything after 12 noon should be good. I have found that San Juan really is easier to navigate than say, Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale tends to have more ships emptying out to the airport and they have a smaller airport. People talk about how bad San Juan is, but frankly, after my Fort Lauderdale experience, San Juan is a picnic.

 

Jen

[Az's Cruising Nana]

We just returned from the Serenade So. Carribean itinerary. It was the best cruise by far for us. I would do it again in a second.! We stayed at the Raddison Plaza in the Condado pre and post cruise. It was very centrally located and I would recommend it to anyone. Have a great time. Sue

 

BTW Mach1 flying out and in to MT is indeed difficult. I feel your pain. Now in Phoenix but ex- Missoulian.

[MercedMike]

We did this cruise on Serenade of the Seas and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Check our review and pics at

 

Southern Caribbean on Serenade

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Suzanne74]

We are going to fly in two days early too. We leave March 23 but my daughter is off for school Good Friday so we will fly in that morning and stay 2 nights. I can't look at airfare that far out yet but it looks promising. I also heard you can sometimes get good deals booking two separate flights. One RT into FLL and then another RT into San Juan. This is ONLY if either one of those distances is showing great rates. I know I can get to FLL for $39 or $49 via Southwest with a good DING rate. I would just have to hope Spirit or someone else offers a great rate from FLL to San Juan. Hopefully we find a good rate to not have to worry about that.

 

If we were only there one night I would look at the Ritz or Embassy Suites but since we are there two we will probably book the Hilton since it is on the beach. Start the pre-cruise tan :D

[pghcruisers]

My family and I travelled on AOS last August and it was one of the best cruises we have ever been on-{the prices are lower to compensate for the air to PR, but we got great deals on Jet Blue.} I thought this ship was so beautiful and there was so much to do on and off the ship. I booked a hotel on Priceline and stayed the day before and day after and it worked out great. Good Luck to all who choose AOS- you will fall in love with her.

[Corby44]

We did both southern itineraries a couple years ago as a b2b. Serenade from Saturday to Saturday, then RCI put us up at the Sheraton Old San Juan on Saturday night, then took us to the Adventure on Sunday morning. That was one of the best trips we ever took.

[hayesktrm]

We aren't leaving until July 13, 2008...that's a long time to wait.

 

As far as the clothing optional beaches, last night I was warning my 14 yo DS that there were some beaches where we were going next summer that were clothing optional so we might see a few nude people. My husband chimes in and says, "and 2 of them might be your parents." The look on his face was priceless. He ran screaming out of the room. Now, my DH was kidding, but it was very funny.

[Scorpiorose]

Great information eveyone! We're going March 08, which seems like a long time. A B2B cruise sounds fun! Not sure we can get the time off though! I was thinking about coming in two days early to enjoy SJ! Keep the information coming!

 

I will cross those excursions off the list, it sure helps! We just did VOS in mex. riv. and it was the same story.....good grief.....the jungle tour in Mazatlan ended up being a dirty river tour! See that bird on the tire over there......disappointing but we still love Mexico!

[Suzanne74]

I have heard renting your own jeep or doing a jeep excursion in Aruba is the way to go. They have automatics, the island is small and safe. I think if you do the research and find where to go, this could be a great excursion.

[w8ing2cruz]

We've been to Aruba a couple of times and I would suggest just hopping a cab to Palm Beach (high rise area). We have rented a jeep and drove the whole island - very bumpy and dusty. Since the natural bridge has fallen down :eek: there really isn't much to see on that side of the island. If you do want to venture out I would suggest Baby Beach - no facilities but some of the best snorkeling in Aruba right from the beach. If you want maximum beach time then just grab the cab to Palm Beach.

In Curaco we took a cab to a beach called Cas Abo (sp?). It was maybe 1/2 hour and this place was absolute paradise. Small beach - not crowded, fabulous snorkeling, little beach bar for cocktails. This is definately a postcard beach!! You don't pay the cab driver until they come back and get you.

[Let'sGo!]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is an exceptional price.

 

We're looking at booking the AOS for March 2. But airfare is running about $500 pp. Add that with the price of a hotel stay, and we'll end up paying almost as much for airfare as for the cruise!

 

I figure that's why AOS is in the more affordable range. They know we have to pay for the flight in to San Juan.

 

I'm just going to keep an eye out on the airfare prices and see what happens. I like someone's idea about booking two separate trips -- one to Florida and another to San Juan from there.

[Minoushka]

we did aos last march 06

loved the balcony cabin/promenade/casino and mr lucky's chinese takeout

laughed my head off

loved the skating show do not miss it -found it better then on freedom but both were great

food was excellent

service from lubo topnotch

 

book a rainfiorest tour if flight is late we did had a great old man really explaining everything about puerto rico and the rain forest

he was a wealth of information

brought us back to the airport on time for our afternoon flight

it was a super experience

booked it directly with rccl

luggage was taken care of so not to worry

highly recommend this tour with frank

 

loved curacao

great shopping lovely beaches

 

st thomas coki beach or ferry to st john and trunk bay -gorgeous for swimming and snorkelling

st maarten always a delight

 

enjoy

[Clarkk W Griswald]

I have heard renting your own jeep or doing a jeep excursion in Aruba is the way to go. They have automatics, the island is small and safe. I think if you do the research and find where to go, this could be a great excursion.

 

We did this when we went to Aruba and had an absolute blast! We just walked off the ship and rented a jeep at the pier. But beware, the maps they give you are pretty much worthless. But we just drove the perimeter of the island, and actually followed some of the others that were on the more expensive jeep excursions. If you get an open jeep like we did, just remember to apply your sunscreen all over. My ears got really burnt. And also, with an open jeep, we got dirty from all the dust on the barren side of the island. Lucky for us, we were there before the natural bridge collapsed. But, IMHO, it's the best way to see the entire island!!

[TravlGrl]

[quote name='cnybob']We just returned from crusing on the AOS on March 25th. Ship is by far the best ever. We were in a promenade cabin and since I am over 55 we got a half price rate for it..$499 pp. Booked online thru RCCL website. Snorkeling in St Thomas was awesome.[/quote]

Which Promenade Deck were you on? I am currently booked on Deck 8 of the Promenade on AOS, but am thinking about switching to Deck 6 for better viewing. Curious if you can recommend any cabins on Deck 6 in this category?