Any Caribbean Cruisers around with advice or tips for a first timer?

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Mam

Mam

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I'm off on a Caribbean cruise at the end of March courtesy of my wonderful daughter as an early 60th birthday present. I've never been on a cruise before and would be grateful if anyone has any tips or advice from best ways to travel to the port from hotel, to the best excursions or what clothing to take/best places to eat etc. I've had a look on the cruise critic forum but there don't seem to be many Brits on there so thought I'd try asking on here.

We're going with Royal Caribbean from San Juan and visiting Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Croix, St. Maarten and Antigua. Thank you everyone.
 
what a fantastic present from your daughter.
I can't help you as i've only ever done a.med cruise,also Royal Caribbean, I loved every.minute off it.
Sorry i can't help but have a wonderful time and an early.happy birthday.
 
We had our first cruise in 2005 and went with Carnival Cruises. The first week was cruising around the Carabbean. We went to Cozamol. Costa Maya, Belize and 2 other islands which I can't remember at the moment. The second week was a week in Orlando. This cruise was amazing and we are totally hooked on cruising now. Looking to book our 5th one anytime now. I can promise you there is nothing not to like on board. Eat when you want - sleep when you want and do anything else you want in between!. As to excursions we found Royal Carrabean to be quite pricey You can always find trips aound the ports but you must remember if you go about on your own the ship will sail without you if you don't get back on time but with an excursion booked on board the ship will always wait. At the ports there are always traders who rely on the cruise ships for their takings. I think it was Belize where there was an amazing Ammolite shop. If I were you I would just check when the hurricane seasons are. We went in April and had good weather all the time. On board shorts and t-shirts all day. Smart dress for the eveings but this is not always necessary as the buffet resurants are open all eveing on a casual dress basis. We don't do the dressy up thingy but a lot of people do.I would have thought you will be taken to the ship from the airport or from the hotel if you have an overnight stay. We don't do any other holidays now. We Love our cruises. Enjoy!!
 
Thank you norfolk dumpling. I think we're OK with the hurricane season at the end of March and this is why we decided not to go in August when it's actually my birthday, that was far too risky with the hurricanes:( We've got an overnight stay in San Juan before the cruise and were advised to arrange our own transfers from hotel to the port so hope that goes smoothly. My main worry is that I cannot walk far or stand for any length of time because of the dreaded arthritis, so I'm hoping there'll be a wheelchair available in the event of any lengthy queues or I'll be keeling over. :sweat: I think we'll book a couple of excursions with the cruise line before we go and then in a couple of ports maybe just take a taxi to the beach or shops, keeping a close eye on the clock. Thanks for the clothes tips as well, it's nice to have some idea of what to pack.
 
Sorry mam I forgot to ask which ship you are going on. We went round the Greek Islands on the Splendor of the Sea which is one of RC smaller ships. Still very nice but much smaller than The Independent. The other island we visited was Grand Cayman which was the place with the Ammolite shop (not Belize) I'm sure there will be wheelchairs available in the terminal. Check in is usually very straight forward especially if you check in on line. You are going about the same time as we went and the weather was in the eighties most of the time but I think in Cozamel (Mexico) it was even hotter but there is usually a breeze at sea. Oh dear - I feel another caribbean cruise coming on
 
Hi Mam, what a great cruise itinerary to look forward to. We've not done these islands, just the ones further north, east and west Caribbean. I think we went in March and the weather was hot, everyone will be out on deck sunbathing! If there are formal evenings folks do get dressed up or they won't be admitted to the main dining rooms for dinner. So a couple of lightweight long dresses / skirts and perhaps a little cover up as the aircon can be a bit chilly at times! But even on smart casual/semi formal, ladies dress up a bit, trousers and smart tops will be fine.

Haven 't sailed from San Juan but I don't think it should be far from hotel to port. If there are other cruisers staying there also, perhaps the hotel minibus can be booked for the shuttle....between you. I recommend taking a look at www.cruise.co.uk as it is possible to ask questions on this website and others will reply and help you out. Ship reviews are also worth looking at to give you an idea of what to expect. Which ship are you sailing on, our one experience of RCL was very good but it was just up to the Baltic a few years ago.
 
Mam said:
I'm off on a Caribbean cruise at the end of March courtesy of my wonderful daughter as an early 60th birthday present. I've never been on a cruise before and would be grateful if anyone has any tips or advice from best ways to travel to the port from hotel, to the best excursions or what clothing to take/best places to eat etc. I've had a look on the cruise critic forum but there don't seem to be many Brits on there so thought I'd try asking on here.

We're going with Royal Caribbean from San Juan and visiting Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Croix, St. Maarten and Antigua. Thank you everyone.
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Hi Mam. What a lovely gift! I bet you will love it. My husband and me went on a Princess Cruise from Sydney to New Zealand for our honeymoon. Although it was fantastic, and I hope I don't offend anyone, we were a bit young I think! We wanted to havr our meals just the 2 of us rather than share a table, ended up having to pay for the special restaurants in order to do this. Whilst I am the first person to loathe those "Brits abroad" eating egg and chips kind of holidays- Retired Americans on a cruise ship are much worse. I would have loved to have seen more Brits. Everything on board was expensive but the staff were amazing. The entertainment was to a high standard, if not to our taste.

Tip- upgrade to an outside cabin with balcony if you don't have one- so worth it.

Apart from that- it was spectacular- but not an experience I will repeat for at least 15 years! Still, Sydney harbour was breathtaking, our hotel- the 4 seasons in Sydney was the best I have ever stayed in and sailing out of the harbour was breathtaking. I got to see family in Port Chalmers which is now bitter sweet as they have passed away. A holiday of a lifetime, with only a few negatives.
 
Mam said:
We've got an overnight stay in San Juan before the cruise and were advised to arrange our own transfers from hotel to the port so hope that goes smoothly. My main worry is that I cannot walk far or stand for any length of time because of the dreaded arthritis, so I'm hoping there'll be a wheelchair available in the event of any lengthy queues or I'll be keeling over. :sweat:
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I asked my husband's advice about this, because he's a highly experienced traveller - he's done quite a bit of travel writing.

He suggests that you email the hotel about a week or so before you travel, explain the situation and ask if they have an arrangement to either get people to the port, or will book a taxi for you.

Similarly, he suggests asking the travel company about wheelchair provision and whether you can be whisked through any queue. Pound to a penny there'll be a chair available, and I'd bet you're not the only person who'd need one, but our UK access laws don't apply abroad.

Have a fantastic time, and happy birthday!
 
Thank you all so much, great advice and sublime, I'll definitely ask the travel company and hotel about shuttles/wheelchair provision and will pop and have a look on the cruise uk website. We're going on the Adventure of the Seas and my wonderful daughter, who doesn't believe in doing things by halves, has booked a grand suite. Apparently we get a sea view balcony with sun loungers, table and chairs as well as separate sitting/sleeping areas with a free concierge service and access to the concierge lounge. We also have priority boarding which hopefully will cut the queues a bit. Sacha, that's exactly the type of clothes I planned to take so I should hopefully be OK there. I think my shorts days are over and wouldn't want to frighten the other passengers with my 60 year old pins:) I was rather hoping to dine at a table for two as well Weathergirl, I think we may be making use of room service!
 
Wow, a grand suite, that sounds wonderful Mam. We've done a lot of cruising but never stayed in quite such luxury! I do though recommend the concierge service, on our last cruise with Celebrity we were straight through check-in (Southampton ), security and onto the ship. And there were some rather nice extras, flowers, wine, fruit bowl, afternoon canapés etc. You may even have your own butler?

The Adventure is the same grand class of ship as the Navigator we sailed on to the Baltic, a very big boat but easy to navigate I found. The same central "Main Street" runs through 3 or 4 of the lower decks with the lifts and staircases at either end, with good viewing points overlooking the activities going on down there. So it's easy to orientate yourself and wheelchair friendly, should you need one. We had fixed time dining, there was no choice then and it may have changed, but we requested a table for two and had the same one throughout.

Lucky you. :sun:
 
WOW WOW WOW Mam, what a wonderful daughter you have to book that for you, a grand suite, it all sounds amazing.

I hope you have a brilliant time, you deserve it :flower:
 
Thank you Barbs, you're quite right, she's very special. It's always been just the two of us as I was divorced when she was just three years old, so we're very close and best friends as well as mother and daughter. I'll bore you all with the details when I get back.
 
And photos Mam, is she going with you. Its not long to go now, you must be getting excited.

You'll have a ball :glass:
 
Yes Barbs, it's just the two of us going. I am excited but apprehensive about leaving the dogs, they are going to a near neighbour who just boards for people she knows. I know she'll look after them and I'll take their own food and special throws etc. but I've never left them for this long before and Jonathan has separation issues bless him so he's a particular worry. I can see my mobile phone bill is going to be astronomical with me ringing to check up on them all the time.:sad:
 
I think the dogs will be fine and well looked after, and will get spoilt rotten when you return home.

Are you heading soon Mam, you lucky duck. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy yourself. Its going to be a holiday of a lifetime .
Take lots of photos to show us all, and safe journeys. :hi:
 
Hope you have a fabulous trip. Don't want to be a killjoy but are you certain the ship can put in at the quayside in each port or will there be any tender transfers. I am doing another cruise this year and its a fabulous experience. If you have not cruised before I suggest you pack some Steron (sp?) for seasickness, the chances are you won't need it but it would be a shame to have the holiday ruined. Reiman's applied once a day to prevent burning is another must. If you have movement difficulties I suggest you make them known to the cruise line in advance just in case.
 
I'm off on 23rd March so not long to wait now. Thanks for the advice on seasickness tablets Lorraine, I don't suffer from motion sickness but I'll take some just in case. Plenty of sun cream packed as well as big hat with floppy brim and fan to cool me down. The ship does dock at each port so no tenders to worry about and our suite is midship near the elevators so hopefully not too much walking. The full dining room menu is also available from room service (included in the price) so I can make use of that if I don't feel like walking at all. I've bought myself one of those seat on a stick things so that I can take the weight off the old pins when I need too. I'm going to look a right sight :blush: but I'm determined to be comfortable. Nervous but excited now. :happy:
 

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