Epic: Planning

Booking

I booked this in 2024. A cruise out of San Juan was attractive to me because it allows me to get to some ports that I can’t get to on a 7-day cruise out of Florida. At the time it was going to be all new ports with the exception of St. Maarten which I visited on Carnival Magic in 2023. Since booking this cruise I added last year’s Norwegian Encore cruise which took me to Tortola and St. Thomas. This will be my first time to St. Lucia, Antigua, and Barbados.

Flights

I have been flying with Spirit as my primary airline for about seven years now. I used to upgrade to the exit row aisle seats. For a few years I’ve been booking the big front seats which have changed to go big and now Spirit First. Usually Spirit flights aren’t available until six months out and the premium seat prices are outrageous until about three months out. This time I was getting nervous as we approached one month out with prices still not to my liking. I normally pay $350-500 round trip in the good seat. In this case it had been that much or more each way.

Finally 25 days out I booked my flight to San Juan. It’s an early flight the day before the cruise that gets me into San Juan by noon. Spirit First was still too rich for my blood but I booked Premium Economy. Premium Economy seats are behind the Spirt First seats. They don’t include checked bags, drinks, Wifi, or a premium seat. These are standard seats that either have additional legroom or the seat next to them blocked off. In my case it has additional legroom. It also includes 1 carry-on bag, 25% off of snacks and drinks, and priority boarding. which means I can still bring my big backpack. 

Back in August when I flew from Jersey to Dallas on Spirit I signed up for the Spirt Credit Card on the plane. I did this to rack up their big bonus mile offer knowing they flew direct from DFW to San Juan. I had two trips to San Juan planned in 2026. I plan to cancel the card this summer before the annual fee hits me.

This impacts my booking decision in a couple of ways. Spirit First carries slightly less value to me this year because as a Spirit credit card holder, I get two free checked bags. Also the additional legroom seat in Premium Economy is more attractive to me than the upgrade to the exit row because I can pay for Premium Economy with points. I can’t pay for an upgrade to the exit row seat with points. Also Premium Economy includes a carry-on which means I can bring my large backpack.

I had 71,500 Free Spirit miles to work with. I spent 12,500 on my premium economy seat to San Juan. That left me with 59,000 points to use on my return flight and my second trip to San Juan.

We got down to two weeks before this trip so I was getting a little nervous. Flight prices fluctuated a lot. I decided once they moved to the point where I had enough points to book premium economy for both trips, I would just book it. That happened 12 days before this cruise so I booked it. I have an aisle seat in premium economy on a 7:45pm direct flight that gets me home at 11:30pm.

The only way I could get home earlier with Spirit would be a flight that leaves at 4:30 and connects in Fort Lauderdale. That one would get me home at 10pm. But premium economy was listed as sold out on that flight. I was going to have to book regular economy then pay to upgrade to a exit row seat to get additional legroom. They only had one exit row seat available on the first leg and you can’t use points for a seat upgrade. So I would’ve had to pay $100+ to upgrade my seat on both flights. I decided just to take the direct flight with premium economy and spend the day in Puerto Rico.

San Juan Plans

I’m not a big Old San Juan person. I’ve been there twice as a port stop. The first time I did the forts. I like that kind of stuff. The second time I went to the umbrella street. It was under construction so the umbrellas were down and the street was tore up. But I stopped by Barrachina and tried their overrated, overpriced Pina Colada from a machine. I could stop by to see the umbrella street now that it’s not under construction anymore, but I’m sure I’ll have another opportunity with San Juan as a port stop in the future. 

This cruise leaves from the Pan American terminal so there’s no reason for me to go to Old San Juan. I decided to make the first day there a beach day.

On debarkation day I have a 7:45pm flight. I decided to rent a car and spend the day at En Yunque National Forest. I got a midsize SUV from Alamo for $67. They have a skip the counter option where you do all of the paperwork online ahead of time and go straight to your vehicle. I picked that option. The keys are supposed to be in the vehicle and I have a barcode for the gate agent to scan.

San Juan accommodations 

Hotels in San Juan were running pretty high. They started at $300 for bad places, $400 for decent places, and $500 for the best places. I quickly turned to Airbnb where I can use reward points from my work to pay for the stay. 

This cruise is sailing out of the Pan American port which is across the Bay of San Juan from Old San Juan. My first thought was to look for a place that was either near the cruise port or the airport. Ultimately I decided if my flight got in with enough time in the day I would look for a place on the beach which is also near the airport. If I ended up with a late flight, I’d go for a cheaper place near the airport or cruise port.

I probably should’ve booked a refundable place faster. I missed out on a couple of places by waiting until my flight was booked. I never thought I would be waiting until 25 days out to book my flight. I ended up finding a place in the Isle Verde area. It’s not far from the airport and a short walk to the beach. I was trying to keep the price under $200. This place cost me $180 which I paid for with reward points.

Ports

Tortola

I have been to Tortola once before. I did the Discover Tortola tour and was lucky to get the Transformers Tour Bus. I highly recommend that for your first time in Tortola. This time I wanted to see something different so I booked Virgin Gorda and The Baths. They had 9am and 11am tour options. I picked 9am because I read that the baths can get crowded with more than one ship in port. We are the only ship until 10am when the MSC ship gets in. This way I’ll have a 1-2 hour head start on anyone from that ship. I expected to pay $79 after the $50 shore excursion discount but it only came to $71.10.

St. Lucia

There were only two excursions for this port. I booked both of them. The Historic Island Tour is a three hour bus tour that leaves at 9am. That will get me back to the ship in time for lunch. That’s a $59 tour that cost me $9 after the $50 shore excursion credit. Then at 1:15 I have the St. Lucia Trolley Train tour. That tour cost $49 which is free after the $50 shore excursion discount.

They changed the Trolley Train Tour time on me. I had to call the excursions desk because the website has been giving me an error trying to book my last excursion. While I was booking an excursion over the phone they informed me that my Island Tour conflicts with my Trolly Train. Apparently the Trolley Train was moved from 1:15 to 11:45. So I canceled the Trolley Train and I’ll be looking for something to do in the afternoon.

Antigua

Based on reviews I went with a local tour guide and booked an Island Tour with Lawrence of Antigua. I believe it’s going to be a total of $75 with a $60 tour and $15 entry to the National Park. That is paid on the day of the tour. There is an optional 1-3 hour beach break at the end.

St. Marteen

In St. Marteen I booked two tours. Historic Phillipsburg by Trolly Train at 9:30 then Ultimate Island Tour and Explorer Cruise at 12:30. With shore excursion discounts the Trolly Train cost $8.10 and the Island Tour and Cruise cost $31.10.

Barbados

In Barbados I booked the Coast to Coast Scenic Drive. With the Shore Excursion discount it cost $35.10.

St. Thomas 

Last year in St. Thomas I did the skyride to Paradise Point and a tour that took us up to Mountaintop and gave us time to explore downtown. This time I want to visit St. John. Norwegian has a few tours for St. John. They have St. John on your own, a St. John walking tour, and St. John Island Tour. I went with the St. John Island tour which was the most expensive option at $139. But after my $50 discount and my discount for my loyalty level, it only cost $80.