Conference abbott::cruise_travel

        Jim,

        RCCL is my favorite cruise line for excellent service, food and
        entertainment and San Juan is our favorite port to leave from.
        I have never cruised on the Monarch but my husband and I toured 
        it in Boston a few years ago.  It was quite impressive.
        St.Thomas is the shopping mecca of the Caribbean so if you enjoy
        shopping that's the place to do it.  If you decide to shop and not
        take a tour, be sure and ride the new gondola to the top of the 
        mountain overlooking the pier.  It is beautiful and worth the time.  
        Have a "bushwacker" in the outdoor bar which overlooks the ships in 
        port.  We have enjoyed several excursions in St.Thomas.  We took one 
        on an RCCL cruise called "Buck Island Sailing and Snorkeling" tour and 
        it was wonderful.  We sailed on a 34 ft. sailboat with Captain Z and 
        Ana to Turtle Cove early in the morning before it got crowded later in 
        the day.  Captain Z loved what he was doing and showed us a wonderful 
        day of diving and sailing.  If you're beach people, don't miss beautiful
        Megan's Bay.

        St.Maarten is our favorite stop because we always take the excursion
        "America's Cup Sailing Regatta".  It is a modified version of the 
        race that you can crew on and the 12 meter yachts have competed in
        the actual America's Cup and so have some of their crew members.
        They have the True North, Canada II and recently acquired the original
        Stars and Stripes.  It is an experience you will never forget.
         
        We also enjoyed Antigua and found it to be a clean and friendly 
        island.  I guess in your itinerary Martinique and Barbados would
        be my least favorite because the locals were a bit agressive 
        when trying to get someone to buy whatever they were selling but
        since we've only been to those two islands once, I would not judge
        it on that one impression.

        If this is cruise is your honeymoon, be sure and let your travel
        agent know.  We have seen RCCL do a lot of little things for 
        honeymooners, anniversaries, and birthdays that make it very 
        special.  We have received flowers in our cabin and a special
        cake, wine, and a note from the Captain.      

        Bon Voyage,
        Patty        

    Jim, All of the ports are good ones. Best shopping will be St. Thomas.
    Also in St. Thomas, right by the dock is a tram that gives some
    spectacular veiws.
    The other highlight for me was sailing on an America's Cup Yacht in St.
    Martin. They 4 12 meter boats that were used in the cup races and you
    can crew in a modified cup race. I have seen all ages and abilities on
    board. My wife and I have done this twice and would'nt miss another
    chance.
    
    Enjoy your cruise. Jim

    re: 517.2

    I think I know you..sounds like we have a lot in common!

    On our last cruise (November) we found that there is some GREAT 
    shopping in Dutch Sint Maarten.  On a $/gram basis, we found better 
    gold prices that we found in St. Thomas.  
    
    Have a great cruise.....
    
    -jer

	Thank you all for the tips...I'll keep them all in mind.

	To answer .1, this is indeed the honeymoon.

	I'll continue to peruse the notes in this conference for
	advice for first time cruisers, but if you can think of
	anything that I must know you can plop it in here.

	Thanks again.

		jim

    Since your trip will be a honeymoon, I think I'll post this funny story
    here.  
    
    A guy who worked for me went on a cruise for his honeymoon about three
    years ago.  He said the cruise was great, but he never thought to ask
    for double or queen size beds, so he spent his honeymoon in bunkbeds! 
    He said it was an experience he'll never forget!!!
    
    So, be sure to ask for the right accomadations!

    re: 517.6  That is probably the "best" advice you will receive.

                     

    Also, you may want to peruse NACAD::holiday-travel for other insights
    as to what the ports offer...
    
    SteveS

    Hello...
    
    We went on the Monarch of the Seas about 2 years ago. The only port I
    wouldn't get off at again was Martinique. Barbados and Antigua were
    great as was, of course, St. Martin and St. Thomas. We had about 6
    hours to spend in San Juan once the cruise was over since our flight
    didn't leave til later on that afternoon. We hadn't planned on it but
    we took a tour of San Juan since we didn't really want to spend all
    that time in the airport.
    
    You can't go wrong on RCCL, especially on a ship such as the Monarch.
    It really is something else. There were only a few small things that
    could have been better, but since it's your 1st cruise, things like
    that won't matter a bit.
    
    Have a great time. We sure did!!!

    JIM, We sailed the Monarch a year ago October, I agree with the note on
    Martinique, do not go into the town, either enjoy the ship or go to the 
    beach. If you have the opportunity go on the Jolly Roger in Barbados
    and Antiqua you won't regret it. Orient Beach on the French Side of 
    St Martin is one of the most beautiful, however bathing suits are
    optional its about 50/50. When you go to St Thomas they have an
    excursion to a beach in St John for snorkeling and swimming . This is
    a partially guided tour and very enjoyable. 
    
    The ship had delicious food, excellent entertainment, and fantastic 
    service. 
    
    The only problem we had was that we arrived back in San Juan before 10
    in the morning. If possible plan on staying in a hotel that night and 
    fly back the next day or take one of the excursions that will drop 
    you off at the airport in time for your flight(Not the tour of 
    Old San Juan). 
    
    Have a great time.  George

Well, the cruise to the Carib has come and gone and we had a great time.
Many thanks to all of the noters who gave us advice and tips--they were 
invaluable. Here's a short report....


Flight down was crowded but was on-time and fine.  We arrived in San Juan
around 7:30 and got stuck in traffic so did not board the ship until 
about 9:00.  There were no lines and walked through the pre-boarding
process.  It was well organized and we got right to our cabin, which was small
but very cozy (I had a made it a point to let them know we were honeymooners
so the bed was together. 8)

On Monday, we hung out at the pool.  We decided to change 
our 2nd seating to main because we are early morning 
risers and just could not see starting dinner at 8:30.  We were really
pleased with the change -- we liked our new dinner companions right off
and were happier with the 6:15 time.  We always had plenty of time 
to arrive back on board from the excursions and get ready for dinner--
and we usually had time for a  glass of champagne in the Viking Crown.

On Tuesday, we arr in Martinique, which as foretold, we would be disappointed
with.  We did skip the town and hopped a ferry to the beaches, which were also
disappointing.   Next time we'll stay on the ship in Martinique. 

Barbados (Wed) was the next stop -- we loved it. We took the Jolly Roger 
excursion in the afternoon after shopping in the morning.  
The J.R. was GREAT -- really fun. I highly recommend it.  
On the sail back, the rum punch flows freely and the
dance music is very loud.  We approached our ship singing YMCA.  

On Antigua (Thu), we did the catamaran/snorkeling adventure, which was mediocre.  
In fact, Antigua was all basically mediocre.  Our most favorite stop 
was St. Maarten (Fri).

In the morning we went out on the America's Cup Sailboat excursion.  
We did this excursion because of the rave reviews that we saw in this conference,
and you were right -- IT IS FANTASTIC.  These boats are actual 12 metre 
racing boats (in fact we sailed on the Dennis Connors' Stars and Stripes)
which you actually sail (after instruction).  My wife handled the 
Port Back Stay and I was the grinder.  It was a beautiful day 
and breezy so we flew across the water as we raced against two Canadian boats.
In the afternoon we went to Dawn Beach which is the perfect CArib beach.

ON St. Thomas on Saturday, we went shopping, then went to 
Meaghan's Bay Beach which I did not like much -- not after DAwn Beach.  
Next time we'll go to St. John's as suggested.


The ship was great -- great food, great service.  Everything was just perfect.
The one complaint that we had was our waiter.  He was really unhappy in
his job and told us that he had to work too much -- all the meals plus the
midnight buffets.  During his time off he said he had to stay in his cabin.
We think he may have been trying to make us feel sorry for him to get a 
larger tip.  We commented on his behavior at the end of the cruise.

But that was the only problem -- we had a wonderful time and are looking
forward to doing it again sometime.

	Jim