December 1st, 2017 - 5-Night Eastern Caribbean Repo Cruise from San Juan to Miami

Thats awesome! My mom was on an Alaskan cruise over this past summer, and said it was something that shouldn't be missed.

Also, Jenn is finding out about the cruise (if she hasn't figured it out already) this weekend. I got her a DCL pin to surprise her with as my way of letting her know.
 
Have fun with the surprise reveal! Even if she has a hunch about the cruise, I bet she'll be super excited!
 
I actually just got the DCL planning guide in the mail today, so I'll give her that with the pin. Should be alot of fun to watch her realize that we are going on a DCL cruise.
 
Jenn loved it!!! She is super excited for the cruise, and has been looking at pictures, videos and reviews since her birthday.
 


Jenn loved it!!! She is super excited for the cruise, and has been looking at pictures, videos and reviews since her birthday.

Awesome! Only 286 days to go until we set sail! I may or may not occasionally spend hours online looking at DCL stuff!
 
Hi! We have this cruise booked as a 40th Anniversary trip with our 2 adult kids and their partners. My husband and I are also sailing on the 12/6 magic cruise out of Miami after this one for a much needed rest after family time lol .... our kids are 25 and 23. We love the itinerary and leaving from San Juan. This will be our 3rd dcl cruisenout of San Juan and our 19th/20th dcl cruise overall. Looking forward to getting to know y'all
 
Welcome to the cruise!! We'll be sure to pick your brain about San Juan. We're planning on going down the day before and spending the day playing tourist.
 


Alrighty folks...let's look alive! According to my DCL app, we only have 268 days until we set sail. I've been watching a few other threads about things to do and places to stay in San Juan, for pre cruise adventures. I wonder where everyone is?? I know the ship isn't this empty...
 
Woohoo!!! Is it November 30th yet? Seriously, this trip can not come soon enough!!!

I think linetbo might have the best suggestions. I would suggest Castillo San Cristóbal or a trip to the rainforest. Either could be a lot of fun and educational, but then, I happen to enjoy a bit of education when I'm on vacation:). I was going to include a picture of the Castillo, but its too big. Sorry!

I do have a few questions, but I'll post those later. I've been helping the DW with a paper for her entrepreneurship class (not writing it, just helping her organize her thoughts) and we are both exhausted. Glad I've already taken that class!

In other news: we are planning our first trip to DL in May! Technically, I went to DCA when I was 15, but it was a terrible, horrible time had by all, so I don't count it.
 
Woohoo!!! Is it November 30th yet? Seriously, this trip can not come soon enough!!!

I think linetbo might have the best suggestions. I would suggest Castillo San Cristóbal or a trip to the rainforest. Either could be a lot of fun and educational, but then, I happen to enjoy a bit of education when I'm on vacation:). I was going to include a picture of the Castillo, but its too big. Sorry!

I do have a few questions, but I'll post those later. I've been helping the DW with a paper for her entrepreneurship class (not writing it, just helping her organize her thoughts) and we are both exhausted. Glad I've already taken that class!

In other news: we are planning our first trip to DL in May! Technically, I went to DCA when I was 15, but it was a terrible, horrible time had by all, so I don't count it.

Is it too early to start packing? Is it wrong that some of the stuff I never unpacked? Ask away with questions...

We love DL...I think we prefer it over WDW. We're heading there in April to catch the Main Street Electrical Parade one last time.
 
Its never to early to start packing! and based on the lovely snowstorm that is heading for us...is it too early to fly to San Juan???LOL!

First question: Is the formal night optional or is it "mandatory"? The FAQ page on the DCL gives information for a 4 and 7 night cruise with regards to formal nights, but I could not find anything on a 5 day cruise. This is sorta a moot point either way (We plan on dressing up), but I'm curious.

Next question: Currently, we are on the main dining plan. While we are not big drinkers, we will most likely have some wine with dinner, and then head down to After Hours to relax after the days activities and enjoy some music and dancing. Would it be better for us, in your opinion, to move our dining time to the later time as, from what I have read, the main dining is more for families? *Caveat to this: Would getting a 3 wine bottle package be better than purchasing per glass/bottle? I know the price differences make sense to get it, I would be concerned about traveling home with a bottle or two and having it break (soft-sided luggage).

Ummm. I think thats it for right now. I'll probably have some more down the road...
 
You guys get the snow and we get the rain and chilly temps. I say chilly because to me, rain and 30s is colder than teens and snow. If you head to SJ now, I don't want to see your hotel bill...

Formal night: I believe it's now known as "dress up optional" night. o_O Dressing up fancy is entirely optional on that evening. The only time dressing up is required is in Palo, and they've even relaxed the dress code there too. I usually wear a fancy dress and my husband usually dons his tux with mickey vest and bow tie. You'll find an assortment of dress every night..some people go all for dinner and some people just barely crawl into the dining rooms meeting the requirements of shirt and shoes/no swim suits/etc :sad2:

Dinner: While cruising pre-child, we did early dining once and didn't care for it for a few reasons: tons of kids, seems more rushed (they have to get you fed and out to get the late crowd in), busier dinning rooms so it's louder. After that experience, we stuck to the late dining before our daughter came around. On our first cruise with our daughter we did late dining and two nights she slept through dinner and the other nights (even though it was well past her bedtime) she did well and ate with us. I digress... Generally, the early diners enjoy the show in the WD Theater after dinner, and then I believe most of the club activities begin after 9pm when the area becomes adults only.

Wine: We're not huge drinkers--just a few glasses at dinner throughout the week, so I'm afraid I can't help you very much in regards to the wine questions. I'm assuming it's cheaper in the long run to just buy the bottle, although I do believe there is a corking fee in the dining rooms (or maybe that's just if you bring your own). I would be concerned with having to bring a bottle home in the luggage...We've packed up fragile things a few times--usually wrapped up in a few layers of clothes and then placed in a cowboy boot and this has worked well.
 
Thank you so much for your answers!!! I truly appreciate it. I think that the dress code policy is changing across all cruise lines. On Carnival, formal night was very hit or miss. Some people were in tuxedo's and others in shorts (yes they actually let them into the main dining room). HAL was better, but on formal night, there were still people we saw that had "are they really wearing that on formal night???" attire. DW and I are the same way. She'll be in a long gown and I'll be in a suit at the minimum. We have been lucky too with bottles not breaking, but normally we are traveling with more clothes/luggage as well.

I will agree with you on rain and 30s being worse than teens and snow. What will be fun though, is driving in the mess that will be created by this storm. I'm sure you deal with this as well, but does everyone forget how to drive when the weather gets just a bit bad??? And work just emailed me that they are closing the home office tomorrow and everyone is working from home. I guess they are supposed to get up to 24 inches... ouch!
 
We used to laugh in Alaska when the first snow would hit and it'd be horrible for the first week because everyone seemed to forget how to drive in the snow. Now that we live in Georgia, we refuse to go anywhere if it threatens to "snow" because we're worried about everyone else and their driving. Although, if we do get anything, it tends to be more freezing rain than snow.

On a random note about packing....my husband is planning on getting a specialty drink at Trader Sam's that comes in a Nautilus sub (we're going to WDW for two days before the cruise and then staying at his folks' house about 2 hours from port), and I'm wondering how in the world he plans on getting it back to GA since we're flying. I'm thinking about just suggesting that he leaves it with his parents and gets it next time we drive down to WDW.

All this cold weather talk is making me wish time could speed up so we could go on this cruise! If only we had enough money and time off to book a cruise to scratch this need to cruise itch.
 
Just booked our pre cruise stay at the Embassy Suites. It was $140 for the night plus the good ole resort fee, so it came in just under $200. That seemed to be the going rate for all the hotels.
 
That's not bad. I was quoted, by DCL, around $300+ if we wanted to stay the night before. We are flying in that Friday, and other than a very short layover in Atlanta, I'm not expecting any problems, either weather or travel wise...
 
Just booked our cruise! This is our second cruise with Disney and we did the fish extender last time and it was a blast! Our son loved it. Will be following this for good ideas.
 
Just booked our cruise! This is our second cruise with Disney and we did the fish extender last time and it was a blast! Our son loved it. Will be following this for good ideas.
:welcome: We're so glad you're joining us for this cruise! Feel free to post any questions, comments, or ideas! Once the thread gets more active we'll start up a FE list!
 
Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! Nothing new here, other than enjoying the countdown timer on the app. :)

Welcome oulsu1!!!
 

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