Well you never know till you try it!budget conscious, 1st Cruise experiment. Luxury, but cheap(ish).

[cornishfrogboy]

I have had enough of Disney, Orlando, Florida and even to a certain extent, the USA.

I have become totally hacked off with 20% gratuities and the greed associated with them.
Time for change.. but not a total change..

We don’t simply moan, rather we vote with our feet. We now look to other things.. Next January, it is Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, 20 days, private tours etc etc. That is all now in place and the anticipation is tremendous. We are clearly divergent from the ‘Same old, same old’ of the past.
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1270207 If you are even remotely interested.

October 2025 and we have now booked a Cruise that commences on the 12th. It is Southern Caribbean with Princess for 14 days. It is our first Cruise and other than where to be and when in order to embark, I know absolutely nothing at all about Cruising.. but will do and soon enough. I am actually very determined to work this vacation within a sensible budget. My budget is £7500 total including all Hotels, Trains, Car Hires, Flights, Food, Trips etc. £7500 for 24 nights away!

CRUISING?
I have only sailed on Warships.
I know nothing about best currencies or Cards to take, for when ashore.
I know nothing about dress code expectations on a Princess Cruise.
I know nothing about how food is dished up, booking tables etc.
I know nothing about how to get drinks on board.
I know no tips, tricks and tactics to gain best value from my Cruise investment.
I know nothing about things to consider taking.. other than mask and snorkel!
I know less than nothing about any of the Islands that we will be visiting, what to do, whether to book tours in each case etc.
Crucially though, I do know where I can get sufficient help tips and advice to ensure an awesome trip….. Namely, Here.

It is my intention to plot out the Vacation on this post. It will cover what we have, where we are going, for how long and on which dates. I then invite every seasoned DIBBER to post whatever they like in order that I can over the many months, refine and perfect this vacation until it runs like a Rolex watch (rather than a Rolux one purchased for €20 in Playa de las Americas).
As each element is ‘grown’, then this first post will also grow, as I make amendments and add detail, change the plan, delete stuff.. It will be a working copy if you like 😃.
It is my hope that by the time I travel, this Vacation will be as well organised as any of my other, USA visits.

And so, to the start.

WHO ARE WE?
(as this may affect advice given).
I am 65 at travel and Mandie will be 52. We are not heavy drinkers, but will enjoy Cocktails (or Mocktails). We are looking for History, Culture, Beaches where snorkelling is good and in general, relaxation. We haven’t done too much relaxation in the past!

We are viewing the boat as primarily a means of transport that will deliver us to a new destination each morning, but also as a base for evening dining/drinking and also for breakfast. Remember, there is a budget, but with luxuries within.

And so, to the plan..

GETTING TO LHR.
This will be by Train and booked nearer to the time. On arrival, it will be the bus to the Renaissance Hotel, Bath Rd, a Superior Room with a Runway View at £116.86. There will be no breakfast as our flight is at 1235 and with Lounge Access as it is at Club Level.

The Hotel.

Note the view from a Superior Room & Window!

The BA Club Lounge.

FLIGHTS
We will depart LHR to Washington DC on 08 October and 3 nights there before a flight down to Puerto Rico the night before the Cruise. This flight is Club Level, 1235-1540 and is now booked at a cost of 80,000 Avios and £375 for the pair of us. This will be our first Avios Booking and our first ‘Club Class’ experience. To say that we are excited is an understatement.

A BA Boeing 777 - 200.

A Club Class Suite as fitted in B777 - 200

With all of the above in mind, I will be requiring the following, further flights.


I will be seeking Reagan (preferably with JetBlue) or Dulles (With United) to Puerto Rico on or about 11 October 2025. Directs from both are certainly available for this year..

After the Cruise, I will be seeking Puerto Rico to Boston on or about 27 October 2025. Directs are viable and flown by JetBlue (several flights) and Delta.

If I cannot get those flights, then I will obviously look to other options.

WASHINGTON.
It is our intention to book a guided tour of the Capitol as a highlight, provided that it is available. We will not stray too far from the Mall area.
We will also want to climb the Washington Monument and this can be booked at 30 days out.. cost $1.
We will then fly from Washington to Puerto Rico on 11 Oct.
I am signed up to the Capitol visitors center and can book my tour from 4 months out.

PUERTO RICO.
We will fly there on 11th Oct to preposition for our Cruise on 12th October.

THE CRUISE.
This sails from Puerto Rico for 14 days from 1900 on12 October 2025. We have opted for a Balcony Cabin (unallocated) and the ‘Plus’ drinks package. We have $250 on board spends as I am ex Military (Thankyou for the tip, Omega1).

We have ordered watch type straps for our ‘Medallions’ at £5.97 for two (Thankyou BEVS97).

Here is the route map.

Here is the Cruise Itinerary

I will now list those places in the itinerary by date and duration. These paragraphs can be filled as and when I know what I will be doing!

PUERTO RICO 11 October 2025. 1 day to fill.
Currency is US Dollar.

Ships in port
Grand Princess (2600 pax).

We are aware that the Cruise Terminal is not too far from the Airport in San Juan. It seemingly makes sense to stay close to that terminal. Elcambron beach sounds good, with a Coral Reef and a very good reputation for Snorkelling.
We are currently looking at Costa Bahia Hotel Paseo Caribe. It is 6 miles from the Airport Terminal and around 1 mile from the Cruise Port.
It works out at around £140-£150 per night with a Suite, Ocean View and Breakfast.

Not yet booked as in early stages.
The ship then sails from the Cruise Terminal at 1900hrs.

TORTOLA 13 October 2025. 0800-1800.

Currency is the US Dollar

Ships in port
Grand Princess (2600 pax)

No idea.. yet.

ST KITTS 14 Oct 2025. 0800-1800.

Currency is East Caribbean Dollar

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax).

The Brimstone Hill Fort and National Park looks good and is near to the Cruise Jetty. (Thankyou, JAF).
Look into a train ride (Recommended by Lynda L).

DOMINICA 15 Oct 2025. 0800-1800.

Currency is the East Caribbean Dollar

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax)

No idea.. yet.

GRENADA 16 Oct 2025. 0800-1800.

Currency is the East Caribbean Dollar.

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax).

No idea.. yet.. but look at Grande Answ beach recommended by Lynda L.

BARBADOS 17 Oct 2025. 0700-1900

Currency is the Barbadian Dollar

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax)
Rhapsody of the seas (2416 pax).

Carlisle Bay would appear the favourite, just 5 ship lengths away from the cruise terminal and with 6 shipwrecks, some very close to shore and a very good chance of encountering Hawksbill Turtles.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...-Barbados.html
This one looks good as it departs from the cruise terminal, has complimentary drink and puts you over a wreck. £26pp or thereabouts.

AT SEA 18 Oct 2025.

Even less than no idea.. yet.

SAN JUAN 19 Oct 2025. 0700-1800

Currency is the US Dollar.

Ships in port
Queen Elizabeth (2092 pax).
Grand Princes (2600 pax).
Rhapsody of the seas (2416 pax)

No idea.. yet.

ST THOMAS 20 Oct 2025. 0800-1800

Currency is the US Dollar

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax).

Honeymoon Bay looks good on Water Island. You get the Ferry from Crown Bay Marina, which costs $15pp and takes 10 minutes.
Dinghy’s beach bar and grill hires out Kayaks.

ST MAARTEN 21 Oct 2025. 0800-1800

Currency is US Dollar or Antilles Guilder

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax).
Celebrity Reflection (3046 pax).

I want to get blown away by Aircraft Jet Efflux on Maho beach! This is over 10 miles from the Cruise Terminal and therefore must be taxi or organised trip.
Cruise 118 do a Jet Blast beach trip £53pp see great salt pond and Cole bay hill

ANTIGUA 22 Oct 2025. 0700-1700

Currency is the East Caribbean Dollar.

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax)
Regal Princess (3560 pax)

Nelson’s Dockyard looks a possible (Thankyou JOCAT).

ST LUCIA 23 Oct 2025. 0800-1800

Currency is the East Caribbean Dollar

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax)
Celebrity Reflection (3046 pax)

No idea.. yet. Vogue Beach is nearest and around a 25 minute walk from the cruise terminal, around the Airport perimeter.

BARBADOS 24 Oct 2025. 0700-1900

Currency is the Barbadian Dollar.

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax)
Celebrity Reflection (3046 pax)
Carnival Venezia (4090 pax)

No idea.. yet.

AT SEA 25 Oct 2025.

No idea at all.

PUERTO RICO 26 Oct 2025. 0600

Currency is the US Dollar.

Ships in port.
Grand Princess (2600 pax).
Rhapsody of the seas (2416 pax).
Star Pride (312 pax)

No idea. If that Beach is good enough, then a return to the beach from 10 October.

26 October 2025. Fly to Boston.

BOSTON/ NEW ENGLAND.

We will arrive late afternoon on the 26th in Boston Logan and will immediately pick up a hire car, driving the short distance to Salem for the evening and night.

27 October will be a good look around Salem and then a leisurely drive to Portsmouth.

New England 28 October 2025

New England 29 October 2025

New England 30 October 2025 Possibly a visit to the Whydah Pirate Ship Museum, the Ship of Black Samuel Bellamy at West Yarmouth.

31 October 2025 and we Fly back to LHR on the 2300-0930 flight with BA. Those tickets were 30,000 Avios plus £100 for the pair and in addition, a total of £160 for exit row seats (one with a door intrusion). A Train will then convey us to Falmouth/Penryn.

A Boeing 787

Exit row seats.

Well that is it! The full extent of everything I know about this vacation. Any input on any aspect whatever will be extremely welcome. Thankyou in advance..

COSTS SO FAR.. A RUNNING UPDATE.

GETTING TO AND FROM LHR etc.
Renaissance for 1 night prior to flight. £116.86.

FLIGHTS
LHR - IAD Club and LOG- LHR economy £475 + 110k Avios.
Seat selections 30a and 30b (Exit row) £160.

CRUISE
£2120 pp including $250 ‘spends’ for Balcony, Drinks, Gratuities etc. £4240 divided by 14 = £302.80/night.. not bad for Upgraded accommodation, food, alcohol .. & gratuities.

OTHER SUNDRIES
Wrist bands for room keys on cruise £5.97

RUNNING TOTAL THUS FAR.
£4997.83

[JAF]

It is easy enough to get about in Miami using public transport and the buses and metro operate a transfer fee so you pay on the first bus/metro and then the ticket is valid as a transfer to another bus or metro.

Princess has a formal dress code for formal nights and for a 2 week cruise will be 3 or 4 nights however, whereas when we started cruising people did observe a more formal evening attire but now a lot of people just wear a pair of reasonable trousers and a shirt. We have seen some individuals wear shorts and tee shirts and sometimes be allowed into the main dining room and other times refused and directed to the Horizon buffet. We always use any time dining which is turn up when you want when the main dining room assigned to you is open but it is possible and sometimes a good idea to pre book a time if you know when you want as we have found at certain times there can be long queues for the dining room and then they will give you a buzzer.

Some of the speciality restuarants can also get booked fairly quickly so again if you have a date or place you definitely want then would book ahead.

Princess operate on board on a medallion basis so it is possible to order drinks via that on the app on the phone and then the waiter will find you (that doesn’t always work very well though). They have now started charging for some services but this came in after our last cruise with Princess last year so not exactly certain how this works. The Princess plus drinks package is fine for non heavy drinkers as it also includes juices, soft drinks and speciality teas and coffees. Must admit we were still going to the bar to order drinks as it was often quicker than those who ordered by app.

Regarding currency everything on board is billed to your account and assigned to the credit card on account at the end of the cruise. This will be in dollars.

On shore you can use USD in all the ports on your list however, islands which have a local Caribbean $ currency we pay in that on our credit card as the exchange rate is normally better.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by JAF

It is easy enough to get about in Miami using public transport and the buses and metro operate a transfer fee so you pay on the first bus/metro and then the ticket is valid as a transfer to another bus or metro.

Princess has a formal dress code for formal nights and for a 2 week cruise will be 3 or 4 nights however, whereas when we started cruising people did observe a more formal evening attire but now a lot of people just wear a pair of reasonable trousers and a shirt. We have seen some individuals wear shorts and tee shirts and sometimes be allowed into the main dining room and other times refused and directed to the Horizon buffet. We always use any time dining which is turn up when you want when the main dining room assigned to you is open but it is possible and sometimes a good idea to pre book a time if you know when you want as we have found at certain times there can be long queues for the dining room and then they will give you a buzzer.

Some of the speciality restuarants can also get booked fairly quickly so again if you have a date or place you definitely want then would book ahead.

Princess operate on board on a medallion basis so it is possible to order drinks via that on the app on the phone and then the waiter will find you (that doesn’t always work very well though). They have now started charging for some services but this came in after our last cruise with Princess last year so not exactly certain how this works. The Princess plus drinks package is fine for non heavy drinkers as it also includes juices, soft drinks and speciality teas and coffees. Must admit we were still going to the bar to order drinks as it was often quicker than those who ordered by app.

Regarding currency everything on board is billed to your account and assigned to the credit card on account at the end of the cruise. This will be in dollars.

On shore you can use USD in all the ports on your list however, islands which have a local Caribbean $ currency we pay in that on our credit card as the exchange rate is normally better.

See more...

That is all very helpful, Jaf.

In your opinion, given that we eat medium price point at best and are certainly not fine diners, do I need to pack my Dinner Jacket? I truthfully have no clue. We like decent food, average wine and occasional table service.

[JAF]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

That is all very helpful, Jaf.

In your opinion, given that we eat medium price point at best and are certainly not fine diners, do I need to pack my Dinner Jacket? I truthfully have no clue. We like decent food, average wine and occasional table service.

See more...

DH used to but now, especially in the Caribbean, decided not to bother any more but just wear smart trousers and shirt and possibly a tie.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by JAF

DH used to but now, especially in the Caribbean, decided not to bother any more but just wear smart trousers and shirt and possibly a tie.

See more...

Mine can stay in the wardrobe, then. 😃

[spenners]

We are cruising for the first time in Sept 2024 from Miami on Royal Caribbean. It’s only a 5 night cruise to see if we like it. DH not taking a jacket, just long trousers, 1 pair, and polo shirts. If we are not allowed in the restaurant, but all the forums suggest we will be OK, we will go to the buffet. DH has the deluxe drinks package as he is a drinker, I have the beverage package so I can have Coke freestyle drinks and Mocktails.

[ERICSMUM]

What NOT to take ! (Basically anythng that heats up - fire hazard)
-an iron
-clothes steamer
-electric kettle
-hair tongs
-candles
- I’m not sure about hairdryers but they are supplied in the cabin.

[myaquarium]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

What NOT to take ! (Basically anythng that heats up - fire hazard)
-an iron
-clothes steamer
-electric kettle
-hair tongs
-candles
- I’m not sure about hairdryers but they are supplied in the cabin.

See more...

Jumping in this thread. Doing a small tui cruise in the med next feb. Bit concerned about the iron.
I like to iron my polos and shirts. How is this going to happen. I take it I won’t be able to pack one either

[Pep]

Originally Posted by myaquarium

Jumping in this thread. Doing a small tui cruise in the med next feb. Bit concerned about the iron.
I like to iron my polos and shirts. How is this going to happen. I take it I won’t be able to pack one either

See more...

There will be a laundry room where an iron is provided anyone to use in there or you can pay for a press service

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Pep

There will be a laundry room where an iron is provided anyone to use in there or you can pay for a press service

See more...

I tend to take Polos, Surf Shirts, Chino’s, Shorts, Hush Puppies and of course, my trusty Reef Flipflops.

Being ex military, I will always do any (rare) ironing myself as when I actually take to an Iron, I seek perfection.