The Official "I leave to go on a cruise in one week" Thread

[DBillyP]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:33pm

Hello all! I just wanted to share my excitement about going on a cruise. I leave one week from today for San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I will spend two nights before boarding the Celebrity Constellation. We stop in St. Martin, St. Lucia, Grenada and Aruba. It will be my first time aboard a cruise ship, so I am very excited.

Thanks for letting me share!

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:35pm

Enjoy your time away to relax and unwind! Don't forget the sunblock!

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:39pm

and the condoms!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:43pm

Yes, condoms, even though I'm sure you can find them onboard.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:45pm

And, I've met DBilly in person---he's gonna need em!!

[DAME]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:45pm

Dbilly,
Take a good can of lysol disenfectant with you. I just saw the primetime live report on health in cruise ships. Remove the bed covers at once since they are NEVER washed. While in Puerto Rico visit butterfly peeople in Old San Juan. Stay away from the jewlery stores there ( all over priced). If you are gay do a googe search on Gay San Juan. Check out el Yunque. While on the ship don't sign up for any of the on land excursions. When you get off the ship on each port you can get the very same excursions from the same companies for less than half.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 1:53pm

Thanks for the advice Dame, et al and the compliment jrb!

It is actually a gay cruise, run by Atlantis.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 2:00pm

I look back on the cruise I took as one of the most excruciating experiences of my life. But then again, I have never been a fan of artificial, pre-packaged anything. Especially pre-packaged "fun" where all the employees spend all their time asking you if you're having "fun."

Were I you, and I am not, I would go early and enjoy San Juan. It's a fantastic city and I spent 11 days there last month.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 2:01pm

When you get to St. Martin, the boat will dock in Phillipsburg, on the Dutch side, which is strictly a tourist trap. Leave Phillipsburg immediately!

Take a cab to the French side, to Marigot for general sightseeing or to Grand Case, if you want a world-class French meal. You can also go to Orient Bay, the nudist resort, or Cupecoy, the "gay" beach--although "gay" on St. Martin may mean less than a dozen gay sunbathers in total.

There are beautiful beaches all around the perimeter of the island, but for the best use of your limited off-ship hours, take the cab to Friar's Bay, on the French side, and go to Kali's Beach Bar. The beach and the view are extraordinarly beautiful, and you can rent chairs and umbrellas and snorkeling equipment. Kali is a Rasta man with an American wife, and together they have turned the beach-shack barbeque into a wonderful restaurant: Enjoy the sun, then at lunchtime enjoy a bottle of good French rose with Kali's ribs or grilled fish, then enjoy some more sun until the cab takes you back to the ship. (If you give the cabdriver a specific time, he will come back and get you.)

[DBillyP]

Posted: 3/4/05 at 1:10am

Thanks Pal. I will have to pass this along to a friend who is going on a Windjammer cruise a few weeks after I go on this one. He wanted me to scope out Dutch versus French.