Fun Ship Destiny and Southern Cruise

[CruiseDad]

So my daughter just got her assignment for the Destiny sailing out of San Juan and Barbados That means we are ready to book, looking at Jan 27 out of San Juan.

Any tips for sailing out of San Juan? Probably flying out of Boston.

Several Ports I haven't been to. I'll go the Port section also but it looks like an overnight stay in La Romana, can that be right. What's to do there over night? Never been to Dominica or St Kitts either. Any advise on these?
Thanks
CruiseDad

[tncruiseman]

I've sailed out of San Juan twice, once on Destiny and once on Empress of Seas. You will definitely want to fly in at least the night before the cruise. Even with the ship departing late evening, you don't want to take the chance on a flight delay. I haven't been to those ports either and would not hesitate to book a cruise out of SanJuan on Destiny again.

[baby doll]

We are going March 2 same cruise and been doing research on the islands. Just google the name and pull up the tourist pages and they give some insight. Kitts is a poor island and not much to do, but we are going to take the scenic rail tour. LaRomana the Kandela Show when we get in and the next day soane Beach Catamaran. Go on the Carnival tours sight and by going through them gives you some pictures of the areas too. Would be interested to hear your experiences cause we go after you. A cruise to us is paradise and an adventure wherever it goes

[penny3333]

Hi Cruisedad, LaRomana is in the Dominican Republic. If you're sailing out of San Juan or Barbados, the Dominican Republic is nowhere near either of those. St. Kitts is a pretty island, the Batik tour is really fun and they have some nice casinos, and the snorkeling isn't bad. Dominica is a beautiful island, very much the nature island, that is it's name. If you like snorkeling, the champagne reef sail/snorkel is awesome. It's one of the best snorkels in the Caribbean that I've taken. Do not try the champange reef snorkel from the beach, it's not an easy beach to get to. There is also a great tour to the Emerald Pool, and I believe that tour was called Trafalga Falls. In Barbados we always do the Tiami catamaran sail/snorkel. Their catamarans are in top shape and the crews are great. If you do the one that includes lunch, it is yummy. They have a sauce that is called Bajan Pepper sauce. If you like hot and spicy, it's awesome! It's a mustard base sauce with mango and scotch bonnet peppers. They will take you on a snorkel with the turtles and then to a beach for swimming and rum punches. Flying in the day before is much better, but we have done 2 out of San Juan where we flew in the day of our cruise. The only trouble we had was the luggage didn't arrive. It did catch up to us in St. Thomas, but it was a bit of a pain. The Embarkation process was much better organized than Port Everglades in San Juan. I've never embarked in Barbados, so I'm not sure about their process. Hope this helps a little.

[Casanova frankenstein]

Nice!!!
Actually if you go to the "La Romana" can you post some comments about it?
I have never been on Dominican Republic but I love the carnival Destiny and I want to know if this port of call is worth the try...

[CruiseDad]

Originally posted by penny3333:
Hi Cruisedad, LaRomana is in the Dominican Republic. If you're sailing out of San Juan or Barbados, the Dominican Republic is nowhere near either of those. St. Kitts is a pretty island, the Batik tour is really fun and they have some nice casinos, and the snorkeling isn't bad. Dominica is a beautiful island, very much the nature island, that is it's name. If you like snorkeling, the champagne reef sail/snorkel is awesome. It's one of the best snorkels in the Caribbean that I've taken. Do not try the champange reef snorkel from the beach, it's not an easy beach to get to. There is also a great tour to the Emerald Pool, and I believe that tour was called Trafalga Falls. In Barbados we always do the Tiami catamaran sail/snorkel. Their catamarans are in top shape and the crews are great. If you do the one that includes lunch, it is yummy. They have a sauce that is called Bajan Pepper sauce. If you like hot and spicy, it's awesome! It's a mustard base sauce with mango and scotch bonnet peppers. They will take you on a snorkel with the turtles and then to a beach for swimming and rum punches. Flying in the day before is much better, but we have done 2 out of San Juan where we flew in the day of our cruise. The only trouble we had was the luggage didn't arrive. It did catch up to us in St. Thomas, but it was a bit of a pain. The Embarkation process was much better organized than Port Everglades in San Juan. I've never embarked in Barbados, so I'm not sure about their process. Hope this helps a little.

Thanks Penny, I did a snorkel tour many many years ago in Hawaii and don't know why I haven't done one yet in the Carribean. I think we shall do one of them in Dominica. I may want to do the Bicyle tour in Barbados if I can find something for my wife to do, last time she took a spill off the bike.