Just back from the Galaxy 10 Day S. Carib..

[iflyrc5]

We got home from our 10 day Galaxy S. Carib at 2:30am today. I will be doing a review with some photos soon but if you have any questions about the ship (don't know much about the Bars) or ports or tours just ask and I will try to give an answer. For 2 quick answers - about 1/3 of the windows in the Stratosphere are clear - the others are fogged and I only saw the roof over the aft pool open on one day and the weather was 85 and sunny every day.

 

More to come.:) :) :)

[eden]

Am looking forward to your review. We will be on the Galaxy in March. Can you tell me what pier you departed from ?Am wondering how far it is to walk into Old San Juan if we book the Marriott Resort?

Thanks in advance !

[iflyrc5]

They use the Pan American Pier which is across the Bay from Old San Juan. The taxis are by zone and it would probably be about a $15 cab fare (2 people - no luggage) from Old San Juan to the Ship. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Candoda and it was $15 there for 2 people with 4 bags.

 

One issue we had was that the documentation said boarding was not until 7pm (10pm sailing time). I called the 1-800 number in the documentation on the morning we boarded and was told we could board at 6:30pm. I called the port number listed in the documentation 7 times from 8am-noon and got no answer - finally at 1pm I got someone to answer the phone - they said boarding would begin by 2pm. Talking to folks on the ship boarding actually started at about 1:15pm. We got there at about 3:30 after touring Old San Juan and the Fort and were in our room within 10 minutes of get out the taxi. One thing is they insist on is that you file out the disembarkation form with your flight time as part of the boarding process so you will need that information. Other than that line to get ship card took 1 minute and then a 4 minute wait to get on the ship. Most of our time was looking up our return flight info. The luggage was at our door within 90 minutes of boarding.

[del88]

Hi.

 

We were on the Galaxy in 2004 and absolutely loved it. We're boarding her again in a few weeks.

 

We're also staying at the Comfort Inn Condado pre-cruise. How did you find the hotel and its neighbourhood? Are there any restaurants within walking distance? I read on a tripadvisor review of the hotel that there was a Walgreens within walking distance of the hotel...can you confirm this?

 

Was it difficult getting a taxi from the hotel to the ship? There will be 8 of us. We will need two or more vehicles, but we were hoping to find a van-style taxi to get us and our luggage to the ship. Did you see any of these type of vehicles picking up people from the hotel?

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Looking forward to your review.

 

Diane

 

:) :)

[drk]

Looking forward to your review as we sail the same itinerary in 10 days!!

 

A couple of quick questions...do you know if they let passengers off the ship after they had boarded in SJ? DW would like to know what nights were formal and if there were 3 as this is such a port intensive cruise?

 

Thanks.

[ninkb]

I join those who can't wait to gather tidbits from someone who has just returned from the S. Caribbean Galaxy cruise. We wish you didn't even have to sleep, or work, or whatever holds you back from telling us all about the cruise. Thanks so much for reporting in.

 

:):):) ninkb

[seagopher]

Hi

What information do you have on the tours, did you take the cruise line tours or on your own?

How was the food?

We will be on this 10 day March the 7th.

Looking forward to your review.

Thanks

[Lsimon]

Thanks for the comments iflyrc5!

 

Do you recall when & what time the muster drill was? We'd also like to know about the formal nights.

[iflyrc5]

Hi.

 

We were on the Galaxy in 2004 and absolutely loved it. We're boarding her again in a few weeks.

 

We're also staying at the Comfort Inn Condado pre-cruise. How did you find the hotel and its neighbourhood? Are there any restaurants within walking distance? I read on a tripadvisor review of the hotel that there was a Walgreens within walking distance of the hotel...can you confirm this?

 

Was it difficult getting a taxi from the hotel to the ship? There will be 8 of us. We will need two or more vehicles, but we were hoping to find a van-style taxi to get us and our luggage to the ship. Did you see any of these type of vehicles picking up people from the hotel?

 

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

Looking forward to your review.

 

Diane

 

:) :)

 

The Comfort Inn is a short block from the beach. It is not fancy, very small lobby, nice outdoor pool and clean and the staff is very friendly. We will stay there again if we cruise out of San Juan. The breakfast buffet is fine with ceral, rolls, toast, fruit, etc. They have a room to store luggage. We came in the day before our boarding and got there about 3:30pm. Walked out to the beach area and Ashford Dr. is the road along the beach. When walking toward the beach turn right onto Ashford - in about 1 block Ashford forks at a little park - take the left fork (along the Beach side)and the Walgreens is about 2 blocks on the right side. Prices are the same as in USA. There are places to eat all along Ashford in both directions and the area was busy at night and seemed safe. On the morning of our cruise we took a city bus to Old San Juan after storing our luggage at the hotel. You walk out to Ashford, turn left - then walk about 100 feet on the beach side of Ashford to the bus stop. You can take the B21 City bus down to Old San Juan for $0.75 (you need to have 3 quarters). Bus runs about every 20 to 30 minutes. When in Old San Juan there is a free trolley that runs all over that area with about 25 stops. Only problem is it is often full. We walked all over Old San Juan. Streets are very narrow and sidewalks are about 3 foot wide max. Made it up to Fort El Morro which is well worth a visit. We picked up the trolley at the Fort and rode it down to the harbor area. Walked along the harbor and then found the bus terminal which is just off the harbor area and took the bus back to the hotel. Only problem was how to tell the driver you want to get off the bus - there is no cord to pull - later found out you will see a yellow strip along the edges of the bus - this is a switch to alert the drive you want to get off.

 

As for taxi - there is a Holiday Inn Express next to the Comfort Inn and there was always about 4 taxi (they are almost all mini vans or full size vans) sitting there. Just walked across the street and got our cab. Cost is by zone and for 2 of use with 4 bags cost was $20 with tip. Trip to ship was about 32 miles but took about 15 minutes because of traffic. We arrived at the Galaxy at 3:30 and were in our cabin within 15 minutes.

 

One other thing - when you come out of the airport terminal - look for the small orange color booth. That is were you get your taxi. Tell them how many people, how many bags and where you are going. They will fill out a sheet with the price of the cab then get you with a driver. It took us 1 minute from walking out the door with our luggage to having the luggage put in the cab - very good system!!!! Trip to Hotel was $17.50 plus tip.

 

Hope this answers some of your questions:)

[iflyrc5]

Looking forward to your review as we sail the same itinerary in 10 days!!

 

A couple of quick questions...do you know if they let passengers off the ship after they had boarded in SJ? DW would like to know what nights were formal and if there were 3 as this is such a port intensive cruise?

 

Thanks.

 

Yes you can get back off but there is really nothing close to the Pan American Pier - you would need to take a taxi to get anywhere.

 

The documentation said 3 formal, 2 informal, 5 casual. We had 2 formal, 3 informal, 5 casual. Formal nights were St. Maarten and first sea day. Informal were Tortola, Grenada, Curacao.

[del88]

Thanks so much for the info iflyrc5! It's great when you can get such details from other travellers!

[del88]

Hi again.

 

Sorry to sound so impatient for your review, but someone in my group is really interested in swimming with dolphins and has asked me to find out if you or others you met on the Galaxy participated in this type of activity? If so, in which port?

 

Hope your review will include info about the ports and the activities you enjoyed in each.

 

 

thanks again!:)

[Lois R]

Hi

What information do you have on the tours, did you take the cruise line tours or on your own?

How was the food?

We will be on this 10 day March the 7th.

Looking forward to your review.

Thanks

 

Hi seagopher, please come over to the roll call and say hello:)

[iflyrc5]

Hi again.

 

Sorry to sound so impatient for your review, but someone in my group is really interested in swimming with dolphins and has asked me to find out if you or others you met on the Galaxy participated in this type of activity? If so, in which port?

 

Hope your review will include info about the ports and the activities you enjoyed in each.

 

 

thanks again!:)

 

We did not do a tour with swimming with the Dolphins but did talk to a person on the cruise that did it and they enjoyed it. More will follow but in short - we did the Americas Cup sailboat racing in St. Maarten and loved it -we used to own a sail boat so really like this one. In Aruba we did a snorkeling tour off the ship that was excellent. In St. Lucia we did a private tour with COSOL - it was outstanding and only $45 per person for over 5 hours with food and drinks. In Grenada we did a private tour with Mandoo - also excellent.

 

Also suggest that you go to the Port section of Cruise Critic for the ports where it is offered and ask your questions there - that is were I found out about COSOL and Mandoo.

[Lois R]

Hi..glad the OP had such a good time:)

I am sailing on March 7th too and it is nice to read some good

stuff:D ;)

[del88]

Thanks iflyrc5! We'll search the ports section for more info on dolphin swim excursions.

 

8 out of 10 in our group have already booked with Cosol...we're looking forward to his tour...great to know that someone who recently went on it had a good time.

 

I know this really isn't the forum for ports/tours questions, but please indulge/forgive my few questions about Cosol...

 

How did you find the roads during the tour? I've read that some have found it very windy and others have taken motion sickness meds.

 

Was Jalousie beach as nice as people say? Both good snorkeling and swimming?

 

How much time before boarding did Cosol have you back at the pier?

 

Thanks. :)

[iflyrc5]

Thanks iflyrc5! We'll search the ports section for more info on dolphin swim excursions.

 

8 out of 10 in our group have already booked with Cosol...we're looking forward to his tour...great to know that someone who recently went on it had a good time.

 

I know this really isn't the forum for ports/tours questions, but please indulge/forgive my few questions about Cosol...

 

How did you find the roads during the tour? I've read that some have found it very windy and others have taken motion sickness meds.

 

Was Jalousie beach as nice as people say? Both good snorkeling and swimming?

 

How much time before boarding did Cosol have you back at the pier?

 

Thanks. :)

 

Cosol is really the owners nickname - he has 7 Toyota vans that are all very new and hold about 12 people each. On our visit there were enough passengers for 3 vans. You travel in caravan style but there is plenty of space at each stop. We were lucky enough to go with Cosol but I am sure that all the drivers/tour guides are excellent. Yes - the roads on most of the islands are very narrow and windy and St. Lucia is no exception although Grenada was probably even worse. If a person is prone to getting car sick then it would probably be good to take something for it. I don't have trouble with motion sickness and was in the back of the van with no problems.

 

He was very careful about getting us back to the ship with plenty of time. As I recall we got back at 4pm with last boarding at 5:45pm. Because our port time was only from 10am to 6pm he had to cut the tour short. He left if up to the group if we wanted siteseeing or the beach stop - our group chose the siteseeing. We did stop at the beach for about 10 minutes and it is beautiful. Very protected - snorkeling was on the right side of the small pier. Not very busy for beach or snorkel area. Beautiful white sand and very clear water with lots of shade just off the beach. I will be posting some photos soon on my pbase site.

[iflyrc5]

Attached are 2 photos of the Beach where the Cosol tour stops

[mamaday]

Thanks for the info. We leave in 10 days and our plans include the Cosol tour in St. Lucia. We want to snorkle and our time frame is also 10-6. If only some of the people want beach time will he switch the groups around? Also what snorkle trip do you do in Aruba? Which other islands have good snorkeling? Thanks:o

[Lsimon]

Also what snorkle trip do you do in Aruba? Which other islands have good snorkeling? Thanks:o

 

For snorkeling in Aruba you might want to look at the MiDushi excursion - it is offered through Celebrity on our 3-28 cruise so I presume it is for your cruise as well. Look at both their website, midushi.com and the reviews in the Aruba port of call forum here on Cruise Critic.

[iflyrc5]

Thanks for the info. We leave in 10 days and our plans include the Cosol tour in St. Lucia. We want to snorkle and our time frame is also 10-6. If only some of the people want beach time will he switch the groups around? Also what snorkle trip do you do in Aruba? Which other islands have good snorkeling? Thanks:o

 

I don't know if COSOL will split the group or not - it probably depends on the size of the group that wants to swim since the vans hold about 12 people. I would ask him at the start of the trip or email him ahead of time. I seems to be very accomodating and wants to make sure folks really enjoy themselves. We did the "Sail and Snorkel" tour at Aruba through Celebrity that was run by Red Sail . It was a very nice Catamaran called "Rumba" that held about 50 people but you did not feel cramped at all. They provided the equipment - an open bar with all the soft drinks you wanted and after the swimming was over that started serving Rum punch - I am normally not a rum person but ended up having 3. The trip was listed as 3 hours but we were out 4 total. We got on the boat about a 100 yard walk from the ship. There were 2 snorkel stops - first was close to the beach in about 12 feet of water - lots and lots of fish there that came right up to you - second was out in 60 feet of water over a wreck of a WWII German ship. Not as many fish and there was more current and the water was a little more rough but still not bad for a beginner snorkeler.

 

 

Where our ship docked in Curacao there was a Hotel/Casino about 1/4 mile to the left that had a nice beach were we also snorkeled. Just walk out to the street, turn left, go about 1/4 to the Hotel. If you were off the ship there was not charge. Nice beach with some small fish - good place to snorkel if you have you own equipment or just swim.

 

Don't really know anything about snorkeling at the other ports - suggest you check the port section of cruise critic - lots of info there.

[iflyrc5]

For snorkeling in Aruba you might want to look at the MiDushi excursion - it is offered through Celebrity on our 3-28 cruise so I presume it is for your cruise as well. Look at both their website, midushi.com and the reviews in the Aruba port of call forum here on Cruise Critic.

 

I saw the MiDushi boat at the snorkeling stop we made by the wreck. It is like an old small sailing ship. Don't know how many stops they made but I think it was a longer trip.

[reklawr]

Cosul does GREAT tours in St Lucia.

We took one of his tours last March and St Lucia is so beautiful!

[mamaday]

Thanks for all the great info. We leave in a week so it's great to hear your experiences.:o

[If only]

We also just got off the Galaxy Jan 14/08 had an amazing time with the whole family(11 of us) They did not want to come home their favorite islands were Barbados & Aruba probably because it was also the best for snorkeling.

The kids ages ranged from 5 to 11. Yes, some furniture was a little worn but the staff more than made up for it. Overall the ship was very clean. The shower was very hot to warm but could be worse, could be cold!!!

The Galaxy is going into dry dock in April for approx 30days. The entertainment production shows are all new & great. The rest of the entertainment would depend on what age group your were, but it was ok.

 

A good time was had by all:)