qbren2u Posted April 13, 2008 #1 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We are looking at 3 cruises for 2009, during Easter. RCCI Adventurer Southern Carribean, Princess Crown Princess Eastern Carribean, and Carnival Glory Western Carribean. My kids will be 5, 8 & 9. We sailed with RCCI this year and loved it but are concerned with the cost of departing from Puerto Rico. Does anyone have any opinions on these cruises? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted April 13, 2008 #2 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Cost is a HUGE consideration with flying out of SJ. Also, I would start reading AOS reviews. Some love it. And sail the ship over and over again. While some say that they will never return. It has alot to do with time of year. And also some say there are many Quinceaneras (15th bdays) booked on that ship. If you want a first hand account, read this thread. It was started by someone who has been on AOS 3 times. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=691783 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyx2 Posted April 14, 2008 #3 Share Posted April 14, 2008 my husband and I fly to Sj and went on AOS about 2 yrs sgo. The flight was long and PR was a mess getting our of on our return flight. So many people at airport getting off ships and landing getting to ships. I would definetly not recommend it with kids. We have decided SJ is not worth the extra port that you get. Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I&MsMom Posted April 14, 2008 #4 Share Posted April 14, 2008 The Glory western was our first cruise, and we loved it. As for San Juan, while others do have less than stellar experiences, everything went very smoothly for us, and we loved sailing out of San Juan, also (but we did it with Carnival). Whatever you decide, enjoy!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted April 14, 2008 #5 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I see no reason to fly out of San Juan with so many cruise options out of Ft. Lauderdale. The Caribbean is spectacular year round and you don't need to do the deep Caribbean to enjoy plenty of fun in the sun. I wouldn't do a cruise out of Miami though. The airport is horrible and is far from the port. Ft. Lauderdale is only a $ 15- five minute taxi ride from the airport. There are cheaper flights into Ft. Lauderdale also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted April 14, 2008 #6 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I wouldn't do a cruise out of Miami though. The airport is horrible and is far from the port. Ft. Lauderdale is only a $ 15- five minute taxi ride from the airport. There are cheaper flights into Ft. Lauderdale also. The airport in Miami is 8 miles from the Port of Miami...lol. ;) And Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) has horrible reviews (at least from those on RCCL). They say that Port Everglades is unable to handle a big ship. So I am worried about how they will handle Genesis. But for a smaller ship, Port Everglades is probably fine. But as far as cost, I can get direct flights to Orlando and Miami for $117pp. And I am all the way up here in PA. So cost has never been a concern when flying into Orlando or Miami. I have priced FLL and it seems to be a little more expensive. Just by a few dollars but not by much. I think any option out of Florida is a better option than SJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boulders Posted April 14, 2008 #7 Share Posted April 14, 2008 We are just off the AOS through San Juan a couple of weeks ago. This also happened to be Easter week. Our airfare was almost as much as the cruise! I have never seen such bedlam at an airport as I did at the San Juan airport on debarkation day. Luckily, i had done the valet checkin, so I didn't have to stand in a line - but OMG! those lines were hundreds of feet long. The flight was also 2-3 hours longer than from FL. I would personally choose a ship departing from FL instead of SJ. I can't speak for the Carnival ships, but the AOS was not quite as nice as the Navigator of the Seas that we had taken last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icyhill Posted April 15, 2008 #8 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Here's my 2 cents. We sailed on the AOS for our first cruise late March. It was awesome!! I'm not sure where you are from, but being from Minnesota, we have to pay lots to fly anywhere it seems. I paid not too much more per ticket this year to fly to San Juan than I did last year to Orlando. One of my favorite things about cruising is the ports. So, I loved visiting such a diverse bunch of islands. Curacao is one not to miss that most ships don't head to. My kids are 7, 8 & 15. All absolutely LOVED the kids programs. We found the ship's public facilities in great shape. Our balcony & ocean view cabins were a bit dated and worn, but very clean and well taken care of. Our room attendant, Jacqueline was incredible. There were many Puerto Ricans on board, but they were just like the rest of us Americans, except spoke Spanish more than English. We had no problems with any staff or guests. As far as the San Juan airport, all went very smoothly. We brought way too much, in way too many suitcases. We found helpful porters in the airport and at the dock to help us!! Getting onboard was a snap too. We stayed at the Caribe Hilton, which was very nice, but expensive. There are a couple options in San Juan that are less expensive, but didn't have rooms when I needed to change from 1 to 2 rooms a couple months out. One hint for the Hilton is to get the web prepaid rate and go up to the executive rooms. They are very nice and include a fabulous lounge with breakfast, snacks, it's own concierge and all day free pop, water and expresso/coffee. We stayed 2 days ahead (again being from MN, weather doesn't always cooperate in the spring). We loved the forts in San Juan too. The kids were perfect ages to enjoy them. You'll have a great time whichever you choose!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted April 15, 2008 #9 Share Posted April 15, 2008 The airport in Miami is 8 miles from the Port of Miami...lol. ;) And Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) has horrible reviews (at least from those on RCCL). They say that Port Everglades is unable to handle a big ship. So I am worried about how they will handle Genesis. The Miami airport is very bad. I can attest to this. It was horrible as of January 2007 when I last flew home and all of the luggage on our flight was sent to the wrong airports (200 passengers!) on a NON-stop flight. Travel time to and from Miami airport is 25 minutes (yes, for 8 miles)- thorough one of the ugliest parts of the city. Conversely, Ft. Lauderdale airport is lovely. I have flown in and out of there at least 20 times (my sister lived in Florida) and have had no problems. The port is literally 5 minutes away. Takes no time and little money. As for the port- the port of Ft. Lauderdale is huge and well run. I don't know what makes you think big ships won't get in there- RCL Independence will be sailing out of there and it is 160,000 Tons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted April 15, 2008 #10 Share Posted April 15, 2008 I don't know what makes you think big ships won't get in there- RCL Independence will be sailing out of there and it is 160,000 Tons! I didn't say it couldn't "get in there" I said they won't be able to handle a large ship with that many passengers. Just look at this thread from cruisers who have gone out of FLL on a larger ship. Nightmare comes to mind. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=729615 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted April 16, 2008 #11 Share Posted April 16, 2008 We did Royal Caribbean, Radiance of the Seas in April of 2006 (91,000 Tons). There were no problems. We did Millenium (91,000 Tons) out of Ft. Lauderdale in May of 2005 and again no problems. I also did a cruise in January of 2007 (Oceania Regatta 30,000Tons) in Miami and there were no problems. I think that with larger ships one must wait in long lines to embark and disembark. I personally would not be interested in a ship over 100,000 tons for this reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefancy@cs.co Posted April 16, 2008 #12 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Don't forget that even Port of Miami is not really that far of a trip from FLL. (they are about 25 miles apart on I-95. And there are shuttles from both airports that will go to either port. So you have the option really of using either airport for both ports. Spirit Air offen offers 9.00 (or around that) airfares from lots of places. My whole family is going from FLL to DC for about 160.00 ROUND TRIP (thats for all 4 of us combined!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted April 17, 2008 #13 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Don't forget that even Port of Miami is not really that far of a trip from FLL. (they are about 25 miles apart on I-95. And there are shuttles from both airports that will go to either port. So you have the option really of using either airport for both ports. Spirit Air offen offers 9.00 (or around that) airfares from lots of places. My whole family is going from FLL to DC for about 160.00 ROUND TRIP (thats for all 4 of us combined!!!) WAIT! Am I reading this right? $9???? Holy cow! And you say DC, as in Washington DC? We fly out of Dulles or Baltimore all of the time. Now I need to go check prices :eek: :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluefancy@cs.co Posted April 17, 2008 #14 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Yeah, unfortunately Spirit flies out of National Airport in DC and the days offering the super low fares are limited. I think they offer rock bottom fares on the website every Weds. Its probably not enough to plan a whole cruise vacation around, but always worth checking out. I also got a Swest flight to Phila to Fll and Back for 110.. pp and that one WAS on my schedule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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