Thursday, August 5, 2010

flying our way to a cruise...

dylan and i are big, big fans of air miles! i'm obsessive about checking our account, watching our points go up, and getting extra points where ever possible.
we even roll deep with a gold card, and not gonna lie, we feel kind of special when we hand that baby over to be swiped.

we now have enough points for a cruise!! we are beyond excited! at first we were looking at the western caribbean. but then after looking at a few options, it really only stays around the florida and mexico area; great, but we're going on a mostly free cruise, i want to up the ante.
and then we looked at the eastern caribbean, and while it goes to bahamas, grand turk, and st. thomas, it's way outta our points range.
now if we get to go where i want (and by i, i totally mean we) it will be the southern caribbean--that's where it's at! it would be a 7 day cruise, and take off from san juan, puerto rico. although flights are a bit more than say, departing from florida, getting to see puerto rico for a few hours before departure would be pretty awesome. let me break down the itinerary:
depart from san juan on sunday. 
monday-st. thomas; 
tuesday-dominica; 
wednesday-barbados; 
thursday-st. lucia, WI; 
friday-st kitts, WI; 
saturday-st.maarten; 
sunday-back in san juan

taxes and fees are 231$, and of course, we still have to pay for a flight (all meals, except drinks are covered, and i know there would still be other expenses on the boat and when we're at each destination daily) but to be able to see this...
st lucia via
st thomas via

dylan wants to go in february, on reading week, when there is snow here. i get the point; to escape the frigid cold and then be lying on a beach a day later. but me? i would prefer to go at the end of april, or beginning of may. we would both be done school and this would be an amazing getaway as a grad present to myself :) and i will definitely be in need of a vacay after 2 years of a college for a diploma and 4 years of university for a degree..i worked hard darnit! and did i mention that neither me or dylan have ever been anywhere hot, like domican, cuba, europe, nothing!! EVER! (ok i went to florida/disney world twice when i was really young, but that's it)

here's where i have a (few) questions. who has been on a cruise? would you recommend one? what's your opinion on an inside cabin or spending a bit more to get an 'ocean view'? i mean, you're not spending much time in your room anyway, right? did you spend more money on the ship/on the destination sites than you expected? anything we should be aware of? it will be carnival cruises we go on (as much as we would like norwegian cruise line, they're also out of the point range), but is carnival still good? are there a lot of kids generally? ok, i think that's all the questions i have!

13 comments:

Petite Gorgeous said...

I would like to do the Alaskan cruise or the one from the west cost to British Columbia :).

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Oh man that is going to be SO fun I LOVE cruises! I've never been to any of those places but my dad was in Barbados for 3 months on business (I know, such a rough life) and he LOVED it. Enjoy!

Bo said...

So much fun. I've always wanted to go on a cruise!

I'm a huge fan of points too...I just flew free to the Bahamas last month with sky miles.

Love the site...found you through 20sb!

Miss Innocent said...

that looks so exciting! :)

Punky said...

I've never been on a cruise so I can't honestly answer any of your questions...but I hear most of the money is spent on destination sites and shopping and eating off the boat.

You are so lucky! Enjoy it!

Brittany said...

LUCKY! I want to go on a cruise SO bad!

Kerry said...

i just found your blog and i LOVE it! One of my favs so far! :) that cruise looks amazing!

Holly said...

Hello! I found you on 20sb and think your doggie and little site in general are super cute! :) We just got back from a cruise last month!
We went to Hawaii with Norwegian and had a great time. We were worried about having an "interior" room. It felt small at first, but by the end, it was super-cozy. You get used to it, and honestly- we were RARELY in our room. If it is a matter or 50 or so dollars to upgrade, then that's one thing. HOwever, with NCL, it was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive to upgrade and would NOT have been worth it.
As far as spending money on the ship- NCL charges a certain amount of gratuity per person per day...that showed up on our invoice. We were not surprised at all by our "invoice" at the end of the week b/c we KEPT TRACK of what we were spending. Just keep in mind that the room card is tied to your CREDIT CARD. When you drink/go on an excursion, etc., you are spending money! Our neighbors' bill was nearly 5,000 because they just didn't think to pay attention. Alcohol, in my opinion, is the biggest culprit when it comes to $$$ on ships. Just be careful- set limits BEFORE you leave your room and you will have a GREAT TIME! :) Enjoy it!!!!! WE love cruising!

Sorry this was so long.... Holls

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Ahhhhhh, I'm so jealous. That's awesome! I was just talking to my mama tonight about how I'm dying to go to St. Lucia!

Unknown said...

i've never been on a cruise but it sounds super fun! i would go if i could! and that would be the perfect grad present to yourself :)
xoxo, jamie
also...i left an award for you on my blog!

Katie said...

I've been to St. Thomas, Samia Bay, and Tortolla!! All BEAUTIFUL!!! I want to go on another cruise but Steve thinks he may get bored on the boat... Im like hell no you wont theres soo much to do!
I'm totally freakin jealous over here!!

I loved my cruise ship, yes the days at sea can drag because your waiting to be on a island but theres usually so much to do on the boat its fun!!! We can an inside cabin with no windows which throws off your sense of daylight and time like crazy, and if which really stinks is that you drink on the boat and at the very end you get your bill for allllll your drinks.. so you have to be aware of how much you buy bc I've heard of bills being crazy amounts bc of that.
But I'd def recommend a crusie!!! They are sooo fun!

Anonymous said...

Hey there...I was cruising around the blogosphere and popped by your little site. I read your posts and immediately stopped at this one. You are actually coming to my side of the world. I live in Trinidad. That's the most southern of all the Caribbean islands. I've been to every Caribbean island, so I KNOW you are going to enjoy it. St. Thomas and St. Lucia are my fav...but Barbados is also very beautiful too. Take extra insect repellant; and extra sunscreen (I've lived in this area my whole life and I still get horrible sunburns - the sun is really hot here.) Don't eat ANYTHING from any vendor off the side of the street (unless a reliable local tells you otherwise or you see other locals buying from there) Because of the location the tides in the Caribbean are pretty strong, so be careful when swimming...but mostly, enjoy it. It's a really gorgeous place, it's a vacation that you'll completely enjoy. Anything more you want to know feel free to ask.

Marie The Things We Find Inside

kELLY said...

Hi! (new follower)
we went on a cruise for our one year anniversary in 2009. we did carnival to the western Caribbean. Drinks are very expensive. i don't know if you do alcohol, but a long island was $11.00! crazy. we had fun; and yes, there were a lot of kids, but they had an adult only deck. Make sure to get there earlyearly if you want a spot though! :) Our cruise had a sushi bar for free before dinner and we devoured it. haha. we tried to go to the places not right off the port to buy souvys. it's cheaper if you go into the kinda shady shacks, but roed (pronounced red.. our last name is roedding) grew up in africa, so i feel safe with him :)
well... i hope you have a blast! it is very very fun :)

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