January 21, 2018 Wonder - San Juan, St. Kitts, Martinique, Antigua, Aruba

keenercam

Loves Mickey!
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Hi, Everyone! Welcome to the thread for the January 21, 2018 7-night sailing of the Wonder to some beautiful islands in the Southern Caribbean. My name is Cam and my husband is Howard. We are really looking forward to this cruise to all new ports for us.

I am happy to keep a roll call here and to reserve the first several posts for information re: the various ports. As anyone researches the ports and shares information, I will copy the information on the relevant post or will post a link to the information.


I know we are more than 14 months out, but I'm sure the time will fly. Looking forward to getting to know others here. :)

ROLL CALL:
cara.reimer - 2 adults and 2 kids (9 and 10) - interested in FE
crystalsnowseekins - with DH, DD11 and DD8
falynsue - 2 adults and DD15 and DS10
gecco - +1
jplum13 - 2 adults & 2 girls (9 and 12)
keenercam (Cam & Howard) - sailing without adult children. 12th DCL cruise
kewz1 (Kristen & Kevin) - sailing without grown children. 8th DCL cruise
kmronnie3 (Karen)- with DH and DD14
mbung - with DW, DMom, DDad, DSister, and 14 yr old
mom4fun - with DH and DS
Pokeyb13 - with DD13 and DS9 - interested in FE
surran12 (Bill)- with DW, DS10, DDalmost7
 
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Sunday, January 21, 2018 - San Juan

See post #8 (by rahrah) about Feast of San Sebastian, which may impact travel plans/hotel selection
 
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Friday, January 26, 2018 - Aruba

See post #7 (by Stacy's a freak) for information re: port and beaches
 
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Not on your cruise but I have been to Aruba more than a dozen times as my family has had a timeshare there since the 90s. If anyone has questions about Aruba, I would be happy to help. If you are planning on getting off the ship in Aruba, I can say that it is a VERY safe island and the locals are wonderful. I encourage you to get away from the port and get inland a bit (whether by excursion or by taxi). The port has just the usual shops and a restaurant or two but going to Eagle Beach or Palm Beach are good ideas (just a 5-10 minute taxi drive from port). Or renting a jeep and driving around the very small island (just 19 miles by 6 miles) to the other side of the island where the surf pounds the rocky coast is a must :)
 


We just did this cruise in January 2016. We had a blast. However there is one really important piece of information that I wish we had know before we went on this cruise.

We flew in on Friday before the cruise because we wanted to spend 2 nights in old San Juan. When we were picked up at the airport our driver said he had good news and bad news for us.

The good new was that the festival of San Sebastian was this weekend. It is a street festival that last from Friday thru Sunday. They setup 4 stages through old San Juan and they have local musical artists performing most of the time. There is dancing in the streets, impromptu parades and people come from all over. It is like a G rated Mardi Gras. There is stuff going on all afternoon and well into the evening.

The bad new is that old San Juan is closed to all traffic. He can only drive us to the edge of the city and we will have to walk to our hotel from there. So he dropped us off, and we had to climb a steep hill and walk about a quarter of a mile to our hotel, dragging our cruise luggage along behind us. When we left for the ship on Sunday, the hotel said they could use a golf cart to drive us to the temporary taxi center. But we had to do it before 10:00 am. The streets get so busy that you cannot even drive a golf cart through them after that. That meant we were in line for the cruise terminal before it even opened, and our boarding time was like 2:00 pm. The Disney Wonder was berthed on the other side of the channel from old San Juan, so once we were out of the city, there were no problems.

I thought the festival was a lot of fun. Our hotel had balconies right on one of the main streets where all sorts of stuff was going on. Fortunately we were far enough from the music venues that it was not a problem. We went to one stages in the evening. Huge crowds. If you like that sort of thing it is great. We had more fun at the hotel watching all of the street activity.

We won't be on this cruise with you (we are taking the one before it). The San Sebastian dates are not set for 2018, but I bet that it will be the weekend this cruise leaves. My advice is if you have kids who love the beach, stay outside of old San Juan. If you want to be in the middle of an event like this, arrive early on Friday before traffic is shutdown and stay in the old city.
 
Thank you so much, Stacy! I love port-specific advice, especially since I've never been to Aruba. :)
 
Wow, Rahrah, that is vital information! Thank you! I'll make a note to keep checking for the festival dates and will add it to an earlier post to be sure everyone is aware of it.
 
So excited for this cruise! This will be our third Disney cruise. Hoping we can organize a group to do fish extenders because my DD (13) and DS (9) loved doing that on the last cruise!
 
We booked this cruise on opening day. It will be DH, DS and myself. This is an itinerary I've dreamed about doing for awhile!
 
We just did this cruise in January 2016. We had a blast. However there is one really important piece of information that I wish we had know before we went on this cruise.

We flew in on Friday before the cruise because we wanted to spend 2 nights in old San Juan. When we were picked up at the airport our driver said he had good news and bad news for us.

The good new was that the festival of San Sebastian was this weekend. It is a street festival that last from Friday thru Sunday. They setup 4 stages through old San Juan and they have local musical artists performing most of the time. There is dancing in the streets, impromptu parades and people come from all over. It is like a G rated Mardi Gras. There is stuff going on all afternoon and well into the evening.

The bad new is that old San Juan is closed to all traffic. He can only drive us to the edge of the city and we will have to walk to our hotel from there. So he dropped us off, and we had to climb a steep hill and walk about a quarter of a mile to our hotel, dragging our cruise luggage along behind us. When we left for the ship on Sunday, the hotel said they could use a golf cart to drive us to the temporary taxi center. But we had to do it before 10:00 am. The streets get so busy that you cannot even drive a golf cart through them after that. That meant we were in line for the cruise terminal before it even opened, and our boarding time was like 2:00 pm. The Disney Wonder was berthed on the other side of the channel from old San Juan, so once we were out of the city, there were no problems.

I thought the festival was a lot of fun. Our hotel had balconies right on one of the main streets where all sorts of stuff was going on. Fortunately we were far enough from the music venues that it was not a problem. We went to one stages in the evening. Huge crowds. If you like that sort of thing it is great. We had more fun at the hotel watching all of the street activity.

We won't be on this cruise with you (we are taking the one before it). The San Sebastian dates are not set for 2018, but I bet that it will be the weekend this cruise leaves. My advice is if you have kids who love the beach, stay outside of old San Juan. If you want to be in the middle of an event like this, arrive early on Friday before traffic is shutdown and stay in the old city.
We just did this cruise in January 2016. We had a blast. However there is one really important piece of information that I wish we had know before we went on this cruise.

We flew in on Friday before the cruise because we wanted to spend 2 nights in old San Juan. When we were picked up at the airport our driver said he had good news and bad news for us.

The good new was that the festival of San Sebastian was this weekend. It is a street festival that last from Friday thru Sunday. They setup 4 stages through old San Juan and they have local musical artists performing most of the time. There is dancing in the streets, impromptu parades and people come from all over. It is like a G rated Mardi Gras. There is stuff going on all afternoon and well into the evening.

The bad new is that old San Juan is closed to all traffic. He can only drive us to the edge of the city and we will have to walk to our hotel from there. So he dropped us off, and we had to climb a steep hill and walk about a quarter of a mile to our hotel, dragging our cruise luggage along behind us. When we left for the ship on Sunday, the hotel said they could use a golf cart to drive us to the temporary taxi center. But we had to do it before 10:00 am. The streets get so busy that you cannot even drive a golf cart through them after that. That meant we were in line for the cruise terminal before it even opened, and our boarding time was like 2:00 pm. The Disney Wonder was berthed on the other side of the channel from old San Juan, so once we were out of the city, there were no problems.

I thought the festival was a lot of fun. Our hotel had balconies right on one of the main streets where all sorts of stuff was going on. Fortunately we were far enough from the music venues that it was not a problem. We went to one stages in the evening. Huge crowds. If you like that sort of thing it is great. We had more fun at the hotel watching all of the street activity.

We won't be on this cruise with you (we are taking the one before it). The San Sebastian dates are not set for 2018, but I bet that it will be the weekend this cruise leaves. My advice is if you have kids who love the beach, stay outside of old San Juan. If you want to be in the middle of an event like this, arrive early on Friday before traffic is shutdown and stay in the old city.
Which hotel did you stay at? The festivities sound like a lot of fun but I can see where that would be a problem. I understand that Disney uses Caribe Hilton. Would that be a good choice to stay at?
 
We stayed at the Gallery Inn in San Juan and will do so again in 2018. It is a love it or hate it kind of place. It is safe to say it is unlike any place you have ever stayed. There are huge differences in the rooms (they all have names, not numbers). We stayed in one of the least expensive rooms. It was right off the court yard / garden. It had no window, but being deep inside the building, it was quiet (kind of important that weekend). If you are interested, your best bet is to read the reviews on the various travel web sites.
 
Hi Cam!

Add Kevin and I to the roll call, please. Like you we are traveling without our grown kiddos. This will be DCL cruise #8 (or #7 if our Sept 2017 cruise falls through).

Very excited to be cruising to all new ports with sweet friends!

Kristen
 
Hey there,

Just booked yesterday. Just the 2 of us as well. Kids are all grown up. We were in San Juan on the Fantasy in 2014. Can't wait!
 
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Hey there,

Just booked yesterday. Just the 2 of us as well. Kids are all grown up. We were in San Juan on the Fantasy in 2014. Can't wait!

Welcome!

Is there anything you'd recommend doing (or not doing) in San Juan?
 
Does anyone have any information on what month will be the best time to book airlines?
 
Hi Everyone! We just returned in November from our first Disney cruise and loved it so much we just booked this cruise as our 2nd!! It will be four of us 2 adults and 2 kids ages 9 and 10 and we would also love to do fish extenders as well!!!
 

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