Has anyone done- Carnival- Southern Caribbean- Puerto Rico Port

V

virgin_cruiser

Guest
hi,

I will be doing a acruise for the first time ever at the end of march with my Girlfriend and I wanted to get some insight . We will be leaving the Puerto Rico Port, for southern caribbean itenary as follows:

Sunday, Jan 11 San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:00pm View Shore Excursions

Monday, Jan 12 St. Thomas, USVI 7:00am 5:00pm

Tuesday, Jan 13 Dominica 10:00am 6:00pm

Wednesday, Jan 14 Barbados 8:00am 5:00pm

Thursday, Jan 15 St. Lucia, WI 8:00am 5:00pm

Friday, Jan 16 Antigua 8:00am 6:00pm

Saturday, Jan 17 St Kitts, WI 7:00am 4:00pm

Sunday, Jan 18 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00am


Here are my questions.....

1) Is alcohol/ any drinks included in the prices given.

2) What does it mean to prepay for tips? how would the people know you already paid for tips

3) Are there internet stations on the cruiseship?

4) Why are the stops on the islands about 8-10 hours long but the excursions only last way less, like 4 hours>??

5) If I dont want to do an excursion, would it be easy to just get a cab and have them take me to local beaches on my own? or even rent my own car?

Any other tips for cruising in general and specifically this cruise would be great.

Cheers
 
S

SandyBeach

Guest
1. If you are talking price of excursion...then possibly. (The description will say if any alcohol is offered and how much it costs if any.) If you are talking price of the cruise...then no.

2. Carnival automatically puts the requested amount for tips on your sail and sign card when you check in. It works out to about $10 per day per person....for your room steward, your wait staff in the dining room, and an additional 75cents or something like that for those working the Lido Deck Restaurant. (You can also give additional to those you think deserve it at the end of the cruise, and sadly you can have them take the tips off your s&s card, too.)

3. Yes, there will be internet stations. I'm not sure of the cost.

4. Some of the excursions will be short and some will be long. You'll need to look at the time for each one. This serves a variety of people. There are those who don't want to be gone all day and those that do. Also the short excursions give people time to shop at the pier at their leisure.

5. You might want to check further here at C@ for information on each port and which companies are best to book by yourself. There are plenty of people who do that. Just remember to stay on ship's time and not the time of the place you are visiting. They want you back at the ship on time, otherwise you might have to find a way to get to your next port besides the ship.

Friends of ours just did this cruise in December and loved it. It is a busy cruise though, with no sea days. We did a similar cruise - one of the ports has changed - back in 04 and loved it, too! Dominica is beautiful, been there twice now. Make sure you pick up some brown sugar in Barbados!
 
C

Cruizer

Guest
virgin_cruiser said:
hi,

I will be doing a acruise for the first time ever at the end of march with my Girlfriend and I wanted to get some insight . We will be leaving the Puerto Rico Port, for southern caribbean itenary as follows:

Here are my questions.....

1) Is alcohol/ any drinks included in the prices given.

2) What does it mean to prepay for tips? how would the people know you already paid for tips

3) Are there internet stations on the cruiseship?

4) Why are the stops on the islands about 8-10 hours long but the excursions only last way less, like 4 hours>??

5) If I dont want to do an excursion, would it be easy to just get a cab and have them take me to local beaches on my own? or even rent my own car?

Any other tips for cruising in general and specifically this cruise would be great.

Cheers

1) Alcohol is not included in the price of the cruise. Very few excursions include alcohol in the price of the excursion.

2) If you prepay your tips, it means you pay your tip before you board the ship. You have to establish an on board account. I believe that prepaid tips show up as a credit against your on board account.

3) Yes, there are Internet stations on the ship. However, they are expensive (33¢ to 75¢ per minute) and slow (like dial up speed).

4) The excursions are as long as they need to be. You may find some longer excursions, but most are half day. You can pick one long one, two short ones, or one short one and spending the rest of the time exploring on your own.

5) You can ask a cab to take you somewhere. However, make sure you get back well before the ship leaves. If you go off on your own and don't make it back in time, the ship will leave without you. If you are on a ship sponsored excursion and the excursion is late for some reason, the ship will wait for you. You can rent a car if you want, but I recommend you do the research first. Renting a car in Mexico for example has risks that you don't have when renting a car in the United States.
 
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