Pre-Wedding Cruise

kdnyyfan

As a pre-wedding gift my parents are taking FI and I on a cruise. I did some research and ended up booking a 9 night on the Explorer of the Seas(Royal) out of Bayonne, NJ in feb. FI and I have sailed Norwegian and loved it and this will be mom and dads first cruises. any tips or opions on royal? also we will be stopping in san juan, st thomas, dominican and labadee-any must do things in those ports? thanks!

lls31

I have done this exact same cruise and it was wonderful!  You will love it!

LOVED St Thomas.  We went to Magen's Bay which was absolutely gorgeous.  Also did Paradise Point - highly recommend the Bushwacker if you like mixed drinks.

In the Dominican, we hired a driver for the day.  He took us to the beach for a bit and also to a beautiful waterfall.  He also took us to a cigar shop where we saw the locals actually making cigars.  The guys got some to take home and they raved about them.  

In Labadee, don't do the kayaking excursion.  While it was fun, we ended up getting harassed by locals.  By harassed, I mean that they followed us to the beach after the excursion was over.  They would not stop following us until we gave them some cash.  

Our stop in Puerto Rico was cut short, but we did a lot of sight seeing in Old San Juan on our own.  We had to stay close to the ship, so we did check out a fort that was close by.  I wish we would've had more time there, but it was still a great time.

I love Royal Caribbean and we enjoyed Explorer of the Seas.  It's not huge and it's very easy to find your way around.  The port in Bayonne is also great.  Everything moves pretty quickly.  I kind of expected a long wait, but we were on the ship in no time.

Enjoy your cruise!

alithebride

in st thomas take a cab to red hook and get the ferry to cruz bay, st john. imo a far far far nicer island than st thomas. there is also a charlotte amalie ferry but it's 3x more, takes 3x longer and runs only 1/4 as much.

in PR old san juan is right near the port which is fun to walk around. you can also visit the old fort.

where do you stop in the dominican republic?

Lilshell812

Paradise Point in St. Thomas was WONDERFUL!!!

Also, El Yunque rainforest in Puerto Rico is well worth the trek. Our cruise docked in Old San Juan and it was about a 1-2 hour drive to the rainforest.

Cafe Puerto Rico is also a great restaurant in Old San Juan. Our rainforest guide recommended it to us -- the mofongo is out of this world!!!

lls31

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_pre-wedding-cruise?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:b373cf1c-11d9-44f1-a98a-8188b593343bPost:23897664-e76d-40f9-a393-93c7006b1e18">Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise</a>:
[QUOTE]in st thomas take a cab to red hook and get the ferry to cruz bay, st john. imo a far far far nicer island than st thomas. there is also a charlotte amalie ferry but it's 3x more, takes 3x longer and runs only 1/4 as much. in PR old san juan is right near the port which is fun to walk around. you can also visit the old fort. <strong>where do you stop in the dominican republic?</strong>
Posted by alithebride[/QUOTE]

<div>If it's Samana, there is just about nothing to do there.  You pretty much have to take a cab or book an excursion.</div>

kdnyyfan

yes it's Samana. :-) and is the food good? bc I'm reading VERY mixed reviews on cruise critic and I'm afraid it will be horrible and obviously at sea its your only choice! We enjoyed the food on the NCL Jewel and told my parents how awesome and abundant cruise food was so I'd be very disappointed to hear otherwise on RC  thanks again ladies!

lls31

I personally loved the food on RC.  I've cruised with them twice and never had a bad meal.  But I have to mention that my last RC cruise was in 2009.  

The good thing is that if you don't like what you ordered, you can order something else.  Or you can order more than one appetizer, entree, etc to begin with.  

JoanE2012

I agree w/ a PP.....definitely take the ferry or an excursion to St. John.....so many people go to Magen's Bay and someone told me to go to St John's instead.  To this date, it's one of my favorite beaches.

kikirst33

Been on Royal, Carnival, NCL and Princess lines. There are some differences but to me they are more similar than different.

I belive you can do "anytime dining" on Royal however most people do the set dining times (early or late seatings).  I alwasy enjoyed the late seatings so that you don't have to rush back from the port days to make an early dinner (6:15 or so).

Sounds like a great cruise! Enjoy.

HobokensFury

I got nothing except you can come visit me in Bayonne. I'm new to town. LOL

kdnyyfan

LOL sure! can I park at your house for the week to avoid the $20 a day fee? I think that would totally be awesome lol In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_pre-wedding-cruise?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:b373cf1c-11d9-44f1-a98a-8188b593343bPost:f5fd8e16-4b4e-415e-b2fb-52040520124f">Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise</a>:
[QUOTE]I got nothing except you can come visit me in Bayonne. I'm new to town. LOL
Posted by HobokenBride2012[/QUOTE]

HobokensFury

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_pre-wedding-cruise?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:b373cf1c-11d9-44f1-a98a-8188b593343bPost:a2a53b7e-f2ad-4f4e-b10a-3891db25eb7a">Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise</a>:
[QUOTE]LOL sure! can I park at your house for the week to avoid the $20 a day fee? I think that would totally be awesome lol In Response to Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise :
Posted by kdnyyfan[/QUOTE]

I don't have a driveway otherwise I totally would let you.

kdnyyfan

lol well I certainly do appreciate that! <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" />In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_pre-wedding-cruise?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:b373cf1c-11d9-44f1-a98a-8188b593343bPost:b7a51c54-2bc0-467f-9d51-9f6cd9347c50">Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Pre-Wedding Cruise : I don't have a driveway otherwise I totally would let you.
Posted by HobokenBride2012[/QUOTE]