Cruises from Puerto Rico

[Ottakee]

Tell me all you know about cruises from Puerto Rico. Like 5-7 day island hopping type cruise. We were thinking Hawaii but now might be thinking a cruise for our 25th anniversary.

 

Tell me the good, the bad, etc. Never been on a cruise.

[Lanny]

Have you seen major cruise lines advertising cruses that originate in PR? If so, that IMO would get you close to a lot of islands they might potentially visit. Also, you would originate in warm weather, which might not be the case in FL depending upon the time of the year.  I assume you are not talking about "Windjammer" cruises on the old sailing ships.  I think it would be an advantage, depending on the islands you are interested in visiting, to originate in PR.  You need to look at the ships reputation, the itinerary, etc., etc.  I would also consider ships leaving from FL  because most of them, but not all of them, originate there.  I would suggest that you spend time exploring web sites that specialize in Cruises.  When you are ready, speak with a Travel Agent like my Cousin in CA.  She is Cruise only.  Also, PR is a great place for you to spend some time. Old San Juan, the Rain Forest,  Luquilo Beach, etc.  

 

ETA: I know someone in MI who was (I think) in PR last week on their vacation. They had been down there a couple of years ago. Not sure which year, but recently. 

Edited April 10, 2017 by Lanny

[NotSoObvious]

FWIW, we just did an 8 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale (we live near the port) to Puerto Rico, St. Kitts, St. Marten, Haiti, and I feel like I'm missing one. In any case, I would much rather spend a week in Puerto Rico than on a boat to any of those islands. I know that's not what you asked, but it's what I can offer. :) Puerto Rico was fantastic and there is so much to do! We loved the rainforest and wished we had more time to spend there. We talked to some other tourists and they said they just rented a car and spent a week driving around the island, beach hopping and seeing the sights. 

 

Some people love cruises. I do not. It's so many people in a small space. The rooms are less comfortable than a hotel. You are expected to spend more and more money every time you turn around. I was not a fan of the food. It was heavily salty and got old after a while. I'm not a party person, so the group activities and scheduled environment just didn't do it for me. During the days in port, you really only had time to go to one thing. The ports have several cruise ships coming in every day, so you can imagine how touristy and obnoxious the surrounding areas are, with people trying to sell you stuff. The boarding and disembarking was ten times worse than an airport. We were on Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas. 

 

For me, the only really nice thing about cruising is that you don't have cell phone access and can be shut off from real life, just about. There is fun kid stuff to do, but I was really disappointed in the teen activities, as some of the teens showed up with cigarettes and were inviting my 14 year old daughter back to the room to drink alcohol they stole. My kids liked the independence though and spent most of their time in the ice rink, the pool, or eating. They had a great time. It's just not the way we usually spend vacation. It was like binging for a week on junk TV or something. Fun, sure, but...

 

I know a lot of people love cruising and will heartily disagree with me. ;) But that's my opinion and perspective.

 

If you are looking for a more adult cruise, after speaking with a number of regular cruisers (who, in all fairness, were also disappointed with our particular cruise ship), they recommended either Princess or doing an Alaska cruise. We didn't hear a single negative thing about the Alaska cruises, no matter the cruise line. People also had really positive things to say about Disney cruises, but I'd rather poke my eyes out.

 

 

[SKL]

I think you will love cruises.  My first was from San Juan PR and hit 7 or 8 Caribbean islands.  It's nice to be able to see and do so much without packing and unpacking between each stop.  :)

 

A few tips I give first-timers:

• Find the all-day buffet and coffee spots.  The fancy restaurant gets tiresome pretty quick.  Food is all included.
• If you are taking kids, use the kids' camp on board.  It's included.
• Get a massage while your kids are in the kids' camp.  Or use the workout room - I hear it's nice - I didn't try because I was busy getting massages.  :P
• Internet connectivity can be limited / expensive, so check the rates and plan accordingly.

There really isn't much to it once you book your tickets and your shore excursions.  Cruises are the least stressful vacations I've done.

[PeterPan]

We had some friends just do this and they LOVED it. As the others said, what made it extra nice was to fly in a few days early and spend some days on PR too. They had been to PR before, so they knew they enjoyed it. They said 2 weeks (one on PR, one on the cruise) was actually kinda long. Not that they didn't enjoy it, but they missed home, etc. 

 

But yeah, sounds like you've got a good idea going there! I think they went with a balcony on the cruise. They loved having the balcony, so I'd try to spring for that. :)

 

Alaska would be good too! We flew there and rented an RV for two weeks. That's super fun too, parking with a glacier view...  I was pretty wistful about the cruise ships. You can take day cruises that go to the same glaciers as the big cruise ships go to. So I think if you want to be on a cruise ship, do Alaska that way. If the cruise part is optional, well there are other ways to do Alaska, lol. But it's all good. 

Edited April 10, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[zoobie]

If you've never been on a cruise, I might not risk it for a big anniversary. If one of you winds up desperately sea sick, it would SUCK. (My friend's husband and child were so, so sea sick on her 40th birthday vacation present from her parents. She spent the whole time caring for them.)

[Ottakee]

Thanks for the input. Lots to consider.