Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    
    hi,
      although we're not on the same line you are..i can tell you about
    our flight to San Juan
    
    we leave Boston at 6:30AM and after a stopover at JFK we arrive in
    San Juan at 12:45
    
    coming home is bad though..the ONLY flight out that day (on TWA)
    is at 6:00 PM won't be in Boston till 11:00...
    will be tough getting off the ship at 10:00 or so and hanging around 
    with our luggage all day waiting for out flight to leave!
    
    al

    
    Hi,
      My husband and I took our first cruise, 2 years ago on the Song
      of Norway. All I can say is it was Fantastic! The food was excellent,
      the service was excellent, and the Viking Crown Lounge is a great
      place to watch the sun set. 
      
      The ship is small in comparison to many others, but to us, it 
      was still huge.
    
      As far as the flights go, we had a night flight out of San Juan also.
      What we did was go to the El San Juan hotel,(we had been there on 
      a pre-cruise package) and got a day room. It was expensive, but
      there was another couple going on the same flight as us, and the
      4 of us shared the room. I could not have hung around in an airport
      all day, with the major hangover I had from closing the Disco on
      board ship the night before.
      I think the room was $100. for the day. You had use of all the hotels
      ammenities, pool, beach etc. Most of the hotels will give you a
      day room if they have vacancies. We spoke to other passengers who
      were going to other hotels for the day.
    
    Have Fun
     
      

    We are sailing out of San Juan on the RCCL Sun Viking on March 17. Our
    ship's arrival and departure times in San Juan are the same as the
    Song of Norway. We just received our airline and cruise tickets last 
    week. We are flying out of Boston on Sunday afternoon on American
    Airlines, departing at 3:37 PM, arriving in San Juan at 8:32 PM.
    
    Returning we are also on American Airlines departing San Juan at 
    10:55 AM, arriving in Boston at 2:07 PM.
    
    I was hoping to have some time in San Juan, but I guess all we'll see
    is the airport.
    
    Linda 
    

    By the way, those are non-stop flights, too.
    
    Linda

Hi,

Re:  .1

We took the RCCL Song of Norway a couple years ago.  One thing you do not have 
to worry about is hanging around with your luggage.  The cruise line should take
care of bringing the luggage to the plane for you.  You won't have to worry about
it - jsut bring a cary-on bag with you.  What we did was pack up our beach stuff
in a bag, and bring that on the plane with us home.  Then when the ship dropped
us off at the airport, we just took a cab to a beach and hung out all day there
till our flight.  We went to a beach behind one of the hotels, but didn't actually
get a room there.  The beach had showers on it, so when we were done, we could
get most of the sand/salt off.

re:  .0

We took a lot of the tours offered by the ship and liked them a lot.  The only
one that wasn't so hot was the Martinique tour of the island and rain forest.
All they did was put us in a cab, with a driver who spoke only French, and gave
us a book to read about the sites we were going by.  Pretty island, but we couldn't
really follow where we were.  A great tour was on St. Maartin - the snorkel tour.
They drive you (the bus driver spoke English) from one side of the island to the 
other where you take a little boat to a small island and spend a few hours there
snorkeling and drinking punch.  It was great.  I had never snorkeled before, and 
had no problems - they teach you what to do.

Enjoy!
Sharon

    HI LINDA,
    
    MY WIFE AND I ARE TRAVELING THE SUN VIKING ON MARCH 31ST AND OUR
    AIRLINE SCHEDULE IS EXACTLY AS YOURS. PLEASE SEND ME A NOTE ON
    DELNI::HYDE WHEN YOU RETURN AND LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKED OR DISLIKED
    THE SHIP, ETC. 
    
    HOPE YOU HAVE FUN AND ENJOY.
    
    
    FRED
                                                               

    
    This is the first chance I have had to get into this note
    since returning from our cruise on the Song Of Norway,
    April 14th.
    
    Sunday April 7th we flew non-stop from Boston to San Juan
    Puerto Rico.  It was an afternoon flight so we didn't
    get into SJ until 8:00 pm.  The bus ride was another 
    30 minutes to the ship.  We made it on the ship just
    in time for late seating for dinner.
    
    The Song of Norway - even though it is an older ship was
    very clean the service was wonderful.  Never have
    we been treated so well anywhere.
    
    When we originally booked the cruise we asked for an upgrade and 
    were bumped up 4 categories for the same price.  We
    were given a larger inside stateroom with a double bed
    and a single bed.  We didn't mind being on the inside because
    most people who had windows looked out a lifeboats anyway.
    Also our cabin was under the gift shop which was perfect because
    it was only open when we were out at sea and that was only 
    during dinner hours.
    
    Our Cabin Steward David - made sure that we always had
    ice in our cabin (my husband hurt his back and had to
    ice his back down 3 times a day).  He just did all the
    little things that made it special.
    
    We were originally assigned to early seating for meals,
    but were able to have that changed the Monday to the
    later seating.  The folks that we met at our table were 
    so nice.  There were 8 of us at the table and 6 of us made 
    fast friends.  By the middle of the week, we were unseparable.
    Our waiter Rueben from Jamaica was the so kind.  By the second
    day he knew all of our likes and dislikes.  It was hard saying
    good bye to him.
    
    The evening dinners always had a theme, Italian, American
    Caribbean, Oriental etc.  The wait staff would wear costumes
    for the occasion, and would perform a song at the end of 
    each dinner.
   
    Monday we were at sea.   It was also the night of the 
    Captain's dinner, which was very nice.
    
    Tuesday was Martinique.  We got off the ship and walked up
    the street away from the cabbies (they all drove Mercedes
    Benz) until we came to a guy named Tony who had a Mercedes
    mini bus.  He was asking $1.50 per person for a lift into
    town - the cabbies wanted $5.00.   So he took 10 of us into
    town and told us that he would take us on a tour up to the
    rain forrest beginning at 11:00 for $25.00 per couple.  The
    ship wanted $28.00 per person for their tour.  So we looked
    around town and then went on Tony's tour.  His english was
    excellent.  He stopped for pictures etc.  He was very nice.
    We were fortunate.  We talked to people who had paid cabbies
    $90.00 for the same tour (that was for 3 people).  So you
    really have to be careful.  Later on after the tour we took
    a boat over to the tourist hotel area.  We spent the afternoon
    at the Meriden Hotel.  It was beautiful.  On the way back our
    boat didn't come - we were running very late and didn't know
    if we were going to make it back to our ship.  We saw a group
    of people who were coming back from the beach to go on the
    Calypso Party Boat.  Their day was over, one man recognized
    us from the ship and told us to go on board with him.  Not to
    worry, they won't check.  Well he was wrong - because they
    did check and realized that instead of 93 there were now 100
    people and somehow there were 7 people that were not suppose
    to be there.......oops.   But it took us directly to the ship
    and we made it with 10 minutes to spare.... 
    
    The next day(Wednesday) was Barbados.  It poured all day.  We went on
    the Jolly Roger and it didn't matter if you got wet because
    you were in your bathing suits anyway.   Everyone had a great
    time.   We went shopping in Bridgeton and bought some waterford
    crystal for half the price you pay here in the states.
    
    Thursday was Antigua - it was so pretty there.  We went to 
    the Royal Antigua (something like that) it was a Ramada Inn.
    Very pretty place - beautiful beach that was in a cove.  Then
    later on we went shopping.  Not too many good buys in Antigua,
    just t-shirts.  But we did pick up one of those kodak disposable
    cameras that are waterproof for about $13.00.  We saw them here
    for $25.00 at underground camera.
    
    Then Friday it was St. Maartin.  We went on the snorkling trip
    that brought you by bus over to the French side.  I wasn't
    very impressed with the snorkling.  The water was cloudy and
    there weren't many fish. The current was strong and it forced
    me from 10 feet of water over the reef into about 1 foot.  I
    got cut up pretty bad - not a pleasant experience.   In the after
    -noon we went shopping.  Great buys on watches at Columbia
    Emeralds.  But electronics were more expensive than in the
    states.
    
    Saturday we were in beautiful St. Thomas.  The morning we went
    to Coki Beach next door to Coral World.  The snorkling there was
    great very colorful - and calmer water.  Then on to Megans Bay.
    I could have stayed there all day.  It is a great beach because
    if you need a break from the sun there are plenty of trees to 
    provide shade and picnic benches.  They had facilites that included
    a shower.   Also there was a waitress.   In the afternoon - more
    shopping.  Great buys on liquor and China.
    
    On Sunday morning we were back in San Juan.  We took a tour of Old
    San Juan and then spent the afternoon at the Sands Hotel Casino.  We
    checked our bagage with the bell boy and spent the afternoon at the
    pool.   The ship tells you, that there is another hotel and for 
    $35.00 a person you can spend the day there....save your money and
    go to the Sands.
     
    Jeanne