Booking

I have been trying to book this itinerary for five years. Back in early 2019 on Carnival Vista I remember Cruise Director Matt Mitchem saying ABC was his favorite. Ever since then I’ve been keeping an eye out for it.

Prices on this cruise were typically high. I tried to book it for December 2021 but they wanted about $2,300 just for a basic upper/lower interior. I ended up booking a Western Caribbean cruise on Vista instead.

When Carnival had their Spring Sale of 2022, this was the first itinerary I looked for. I ended up booking three cruises during that sale including this one. I was able to get a 4J (interior with a picture window) on deck 9 above the bridge for under $1,000.

At the time of booking, I wasn’t looking at the times we were in port. But knowing what I know now I probably would. I’m very happy to be in Aruba and Bonaire from 8am-10pm. We are in Curacao from 8am-5pm.

During my research I come across other cruisers who don’t arrive in Aruba until 1:30 or who leave at 3pm. Both of those itineraries would make Aruba more challenging than what I have.

Airfare

One thing I like about cruising out of Miami is I know I have two airport options for my favorite airline, Spirit. In this case I’m flying into Fort Lauderdale and out of Miami.

Since I’m flying in on the day of the cruise, I wanted the earliest flight possible. That’s a 5am flight from Dallas-Fort Worth that gets me into Fort Lauderdale at 9am. I have a 10:30am arrival time at the port so by the time I collect my bag and catch an Uber/Lyft, it should be about that time. 

Frequently with Spirit the flights area early morning and late afternoon. On the return I usually have to wait for a 2 or 3pm flight. This time I was able to get an 11:30am flight out of Miami that will get me back to Dallas at 2pm.

The base cost of these flights were $30 and $80. It was a total of $150 after taxes and fees. I always check a bag. Normally I pay $35 each way for that. Now it’s up to $50. That brought my total up to $250.

I always do seat upgrades to at least an exit row aisle seat, if not a big front seat. The exit row aisle was $20 one way and $30 the other. That brought my cost up to $300.

As usually happens I start looking at that big front seat, which is really a first class seat without the service, and I end up booking it since it’s only another $50 each way. With that I get myself a window seat in the front row of the plane and a big, comfortable seat with an armrest big enough that I don’t have to worry about anyone touching me.

That brought my total ticket cost up to $400. But that $400 is for the best seat on the plane with a checked bag. On a higher cost airline that would’ve been the cost of just a basic seat.

Onboard Purchases

I loaded this cruise up back in the spring of 2022. I believe that was when they had the 10% spa code that worked for everything. That’s when I added Cheers and Wifi to this cruise.

Just before the specialty dinner increase of 2022, I purchased three nights at JiJi and one night in the steakhouse.  I know that’s a lot of JiJi but it is one of my favorite restaurants on Carnival and they only have it on Vista class ships. The last time I had JiJi was December 2021 on Vista. The JiJi dinners cost me $18 each and the steakhouse was $38. I saved about $10 paying with 10% off gift cards. Since then there have been two price increases on specialty dining so JiJi would be $25 and the steakhouse would be $49. 

Ports

Aruba

In Aruba I was looking at excursions. There were no excursions that covered everything I wanted to do. One of them did one side. Another did the other side with them overlapping at the lighthouse only.

I looked into public transportation. The bus seems to be a decent option. You can buy one way passes or a full day pass. I was considering the full day pass but then I read a review that mentioned they had to wait so long for the city bus that they ended up taking their version of collectivos. Those are vans with “autobus” on them that apparently come around more frequent than the buses but aren’t included in the day pass. I’m a big of the collectivos in Mexico.

When I looked deeper into the public transportation it seemed like I was going to have a hard time getting to some of the sites I wanted to see with them. At this point I was considering doing an excursion to one side of the island and public transportation to the other.

When my Bonaire planning led me to renting a car, I decided to look into it for Aruba as well. I found a lot of good reviews for Jay’s Car Rental. The prices are about the same as Hertz and while it didn’t show up on the map search, they have a location at the port. I went ahead and reserved with them. $60 for a compact + $10 insurance, but then I got an email from them saying they were sold out.

I ended up reserving at the Hertz Renaissance Ocean Suites location which looks to be about a mile from the port. A compact with them was $58 for the day.

Bonaire

In Bonaire I decided not to book an excursion. Golf cart rentals are popular there and start at $100-125 for the day. If you want to book one, I recommend doing so at least 6-8 weeks out. That’s how far they are sold out.

I started looking into car rentals. There are some local car rental companies right outside of the port. Those started around $70. I ended up booking a compact with Hertz for $50. I booked with the Hertz Divi Flamingo Resort location which is just a five minute walk from the port. Most of the car rental places including another Hertz location are at the airport which is quite a bit further.

Curacao

In Curacao there’s a free walking tour that comes highly recommended. I have it booked for 9:30am. The ship sells a walking tour for $35 but I’d rather just give it all to the tour guide. That takes us to noon. At 12:30 I have the Best of the West ship excursion that will get me over to the west side of the island. That tour cost $55. I used onboard credit for it. We should get back to the port at 4pm and back on board is 5pm.