Ask Me Help Desk - Cruise - NY, San Juan, St. Thomas Grand Turk

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise next month. We will be cruising with Carnival from NYC to the eastern Caribbean with stops at San Juan, St Thomas and Grand Turk.

Since this will be our first cruise and since we haven't been in Caribbean for more than 20 years and never visited those spots before, I'm looking for any advice, suggestions etc on how to make the most of this experience. What to bring in terms of clothing, what to do on board, on shore etc.

I did book a snorkeling excursion for St Thomas. And will probably go snorkeling on Grand Turk too. But Linda doesn't snorkel, so I have to do things for her too. She like sightseeing and museums and such.

Thanks for any input.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise next month. We will be cruising with Carnival from NYC to the eastern Caribbean with stops at San Juan, St Thomas and Grand Turk.

Since this will be our first cruise and since we haven't been in Caribbean for more than 20 years and never visited those spots before, I'm looking for any advice, suggestions etc on how to make the most of this experience. What to bring in terms of clothing, what to do on board, on shore etc.

I did book a snorkeling excursion for St Thomas. And will probably go snorkeling on Grand Turk too. But Linda doesn't snorkel, so I have to do things for her too. She like sightseeing and museums and such.

Thanks for any input.

I have no input but I'm packing my bags in case of the unfortunate event that your wife gets the flu and is too sick to go. I'll meet you on the pier.

(I overpacked when I took a cruise. I would check the availability of landry facilities on board and your wife should definitely pack two "evening outfits" as well as more than one bathing suit and very, very comfortable (translation - old) walking shoes. Puerto Rico is take your breath away beautiful. I did a wonderful architectural tour in PR of old houses, old neighborhoods, mansions - spectacular.)

Lucky you!

I've never cruised on Carnival before, but I've been on Royal Caribbean, which has most of the same excursions and features.

As for what to do on board, there will be a variety of activities to keep you busy. No doubt your ship has a casino, so if you gamble, you can keep busy there for a while! Most ships also have a game room with cards and board games, if that's your thing. During the days at sea there will also be guest speakers doing presentations on various topics (scrapbooking, gemstones, napkin folding, etc) and usually there will be an art show. There is also always the pool, hot tubs, spa, shopping and lots and lots of food.

St. Thomas is a great place, and the port has a TON of shopping. If your wife is a shopper, be prepared to get dragged around! When I was on St. Thomas, we did this thing called "Sea Trekking" where we donned a big helmet full of air and walked around on the sea floor. VERY cool. Snorkeling should be great too. Try and coax your wife into the water - she might like it!

San Juan is also a really cool island. There is the historic district you can visit (there will likely be walking tours you can join), there is a rum distillery, and there's a rain forest. I went to the rain forest, and it was pretty cool. We got rained on (duh), so bring an umbrella. One thing I always wanted to do in San Juan but never have was take a kayak tour to the bioluminescent caves; not sure if that is up your alley, but it certainly sounds cool.

I've never been to Grand Turk, but like the other islands, there will be a ton of stuff to do. Carnival should have an online list of the excursions you can book, and I recommend doing this online before the trip.

With regards to clothing, what you typically wear in the summer is fine for the ship and most of your shore excursions. For dinner, most of the time they don "theme nights" where you dress formal (suit for you, dress for your wife), then there will be a "smart casual" night where you will want to wear a tie, and the rest are casual, where you wear a collared shirt and your wife a nice dress or something. They should send you info about the dress codes.

I agree with Jillian and Judy. Definitely do a tour of Old San Juan and also the rain forest.

I haven't been in the Caribbean for years but IIRC St. Thomas is the best place for shopping. How much will you pay me not to tell your wife? :D

You will definitely have at least one night on the ship requiring formal attire.

I'm second in line after Judy if your wife can't make it!

A tie!! The only time I wear a tie is weddings and funerals :) I thought this was supposed to ber a vacation!! :D

Seriously, I was aware of that. I'm planning on bringing a light colored suit and a sport jacket.

We did look at the shore excursion offered. We booked one snorkeling trip. Unfortunately not all the excursions listed seem to be available. I made the mistake of printing out the full list before checking what was listed for my cruise. I'm really pissed because initially we were supposed to go to Tortola instead of Grand Turk and they have this excursion where you can get in the water with dolphins and I really wanted to do that. Ah well maybe another time.

I remember seeing something about those caves, but I'm not sure I can get Linda into a kayak. We do plan on walking around the historic district in San Juan. But the guided tours we saw don't seem to be listed anymore so we may go it on our own. I am planning on including a gambling budget with a STRICT limit.

Keep those suggestions coming in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottGem

A tie!!!! The only time I wear a tie is weddings and funerals :) I thought this was supposed to be a vacation!!! :D

Seriously, I was aware of that. I'm planning on bringing a light colored suit and a sport jacket.

When we did our cruise (11 years ago for our 10th anniversary) there were 2 formal nights. At both of them there were many men wearing tuxes and women in full-length gowns. I suggest at least one dark colored suit and something very fancy for your wife.

The formal night varies. You won't be out of place if you are in a suit, but there are people who wear a tux. Carnival is a nice line, but it's not on par with say, Cunard, where you would be out of place NOT in a tux. A light colored suit and sport jacket will be fine. I wore a long gown on the first cruise I went on, then for the others I wore something more like a cocktail dress. Neither time did I look out of place, or feel over/under dressed.

Since the cruise is only a month away, some of the excursions you were looking at might be booked, or they might be closing them until the cruise date. You can book once you are on the ship, but you have to wait for a rep at the Reservations desk with 500 other people. San Juan is a nice enough place you could wander around on your own without much trouble. Catch a cab at the docks and go to Old San Juan. IF you tell the driver what you want to do, they'll take you to the right place. San Juan is a very cab-friendly place.

Swimming with dolphins is VERY cool; I did it in Curaçao a few years ago. You can see if you can find a tour operator that doesn't do business with the cruise line and book through them if there is one offered on the island. The upside is it will probably be cheaper than booking through the cruise line... the downside is if they don't get you back in time for departure, you miss the boat! You can also swim with Dolphins at Sea World in Florida, if you want to make another trip that's not AS far away.