Hey everyone. After looking into literally EVERY all-inclusive in the Dominican Republic, and booking two different hotels, we scratched that whole idea and decided to go with
DCL, as their childcare is above and beyond ANYONE else.
I'm Lisa and will be sailing with my husband and our two kids, DS(2.5 by then) & DD(13 months by then). We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on the last night of our cruise. We honeymooned in PR, stayed right in Old San Juan, for a few days before spending a week in Antigua, so this will be quite the honeymoon redo- we didn't even realize all the similarities until after we booked! We were just excited to not be going to St Thomas/St Maarten again!
We will be heading in to PR a few days early as we LOVE PR.
This is my 7th DCL cruise, my 3rd on the Magic. I love the Magic! It was my first DCL cruise and I also sailed my first Transatlantic cruise on her, so you can probably see why. I really do prefer the classic ships over the newer ships. We will be planning to make a lot of use of the nursery this trip as we love to snorkel and that's out of the question with our little ones in toe. We're especially excited to see Barbados as my Grandfather lived there for quite some time when he was in the British military- we still have (very) extended family there. We're also excited because on a whim I checked the stateroom availability today and was able to secure a "sideways cabin" right on deck 5 so that'll be a huge help with our little ones, both in room layout and convenience to the nursery.
Also choosing late dining this time and planning to feed the kids in the room while we get ready and then dropping them in the nursery for the night so we can ENJOY our meals. We sailed on the Fantasy this past October with our DS when he was one and I was pregnant with DD and we tried early seating for the first time and hated it. We much prefer late seating- so much more relaxed for us and better/relaxed waiter service too.
If you don't have small kids, Runaway Beach in Antigua is amazing!! We were the only ones there the day we went. Gorgeous beach with a mix of calm waters at one end and waves at the other. Also rock formations you can climb and explore. It's really in the middle of nowhere though so more of the type of place where you take a cab and then set a pick up time. There's just one small restaurant with bathrooms. But if you don't mind seclusion, it's gorgeous!
Since you're going to get a ton of beach/water time on the cruise, if you're heading in early I highly suggest staying right in Old San Juan. So much to do and so walkable. Taking a trip out to the rainforest is fun too. Our favorite Old San Juan restaurants are El Jibarito, Raíces, & Princesa Gastrobar. El Jibarito is where the locals eat, great place. A lot of times they'll have a man singing and playing the guitar- the whole restaurant ends up singing along, we would have too if we had a clue what they were singing!! Raíces has a more touristy feel but we love it as the atmosphere is so fun. Princesa Gastrobar is super romantic, but you could probably bring kids. Outdoor restaurant built under the trees right along the fort walls by the Paseo de La Princesa. Really nice!!
As you can see, I'm really excited!