Cruising the Caribbean

Hi Everyone,

We are thinking of booking a cruise of the Caribbean Islands next March 14 days, has anyone been on a similar cruise please?

Hello fudge.

I've taken quite a few Caribbean cruises with Seabourn, mostly the Holiday cruises over Christmas and New Year. For me it's great to get away from winter in northern Europe.

I find that the 14 day - or longer - cruises tend to be better than 7 day cruises. Actually I haven't taken a 7 day cruise in the Caribbean but I've done some back to back cruises there that tied on a 7 day cruise at the end.

I find the atmosphere onboard is different. Perhaps because the turnover makes the crew's job more difficult, they don't get to know the guests as well and same goes for the guests.

Which ports does the cruise you're looking at visit? Depending on them, you may find you have two organised beach days on a 14 day cruise. For example, in one port a beach barbecue day which is great fun, and in another port the Caviar in the Surf event which is always faboulous.

Just a heads up, I've never been on a Caribbean cruise that offered a marina day.

This is the itinerary, looks good to me. :cool:

Great itinerary.

I've been to quite a few of those ports. Mayreau is the port where we had an additional beach barbecue day that I mentioned in my earlier post. I don't think there's much to see there except the beach, so it was a great location for some Seabourn fun.

I've visited Bequia with Silversea. It was several years ago now so it may have changed since then but it was lovely. Lots of sailing yachts and not over-developed.

Ile des Saintes is probably one of my favourite ports in the Caribbean. There are a couple of great beaches walkable from the tender pier, and the little town itself is a total contrast to one of your other French overseas territory ports, St Barts. (I like St Barts too, many people don't).

What sort of activities do you enjoy on holiday? On this type of itinerary I tend to just want lazy beach days, but in several of those ports there are other things to see and do.

I'll say it again, IMO that's a great itinerary and I'm envious!

If you want a day on the beach Jos van Dyke is out of this world ,Enjoy.

Jos van Dyke

To be totally accurate, Jost ;p

We are not long back from a 10 day med cruise Venice to Monaco.

We have seen all the churches, Cathedrals. monasteries and so on.

We like to leave the ship and wander around the shops and towns, Mrs. Fudge likes a bargain so a market would be good.

The weather sounds good for that time of the year, so what is not to like? :D

My two favourites on that itinerary are IIe des Saintes and Jost van Dyke.

Les Saintes is a French Island, very walkable and very laid back. You can walk up to the fortress, you can walk around town and you can walk to the beaches. Some nice, if touristy, shops.

Jost is great for a day at the beach ..... and a beer at the Soggy Dollar of course.

Mayreau will probably be the beach party.

..... and a beer at the Soggy Dollar of course.

Or a mind-bending, headache-inducing inhibition-releasing rum punch or three at Foxy's!:tropical-drink::tropical-drink::tropical-drink::D:D

For Mrs. Fudge...she may want to visit a mostly white cotton lovely little shop in main street Bequia, the name forgotten, but the merchandise was very pretty and of high quality.... prices were reasonable. Bequia is a pretty little town to walk through; less touristy than others.

We did this cruise in March and we loved it so much, we are considering booking again in 2019. We did 14 days Barbados/Barbados which was great for flying in from the UK, but there was also the option of St Maarten/St Maarten or a 7 day option. At most of the ports we were able to walk to the beach and swim in the warm water. Our favourite was probably Iles des Saintes where we walked uphill (in the heat!) to Napoleon's Fort and then went to the beach which was gorgeous with goats and chickens wandering along! We also loved Bequia where we walked along a new boardwalk to Princess Margaret Beach. Anguilla was a beautiful beach too and we walked straight off the tender into the warm water. Also loved Jost van Dyke where there was a small shuttle to the beach although it proved to be our only wet day. During the fortnight we had 2 great Seabourn barbecues on the beach, the first at Mayreau and the second at Carambala Beach. We liked the smaller ports and prefer to do excursions at the larger ones such as St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten. We were particularly looking for a relaxing cruise this time and it was certainly that, spending part of the day walking and swimming and spending the afternoons relaxing on board. Loved it!

Or a mind-bending, headache-inducing inhibition-releasing rum punch or three at Foxy's!:tropical-drink::tropical-drink::tropical-drink::D:D

Pain killers, my friend @ Soggy Dollar, didn't get to Foxy's when we were there due to having to hurry to make one of the last tenders given a 2 p.m. departure :cool:

My two favourites on that itinerary are IIe des Saintes and Jost van Dyke.

 

Les Saintes is a French Island, very walkable and very laid back. You can walk up to the fortress, you can walk around town and you can walk to the beaches. Some nice, if touristy, shops.

 

Jost is great for a day at the beach ..... and a beer at the Soggy Dollar of course.

 

Mayreau will probably be the beach party.

Ditto.....plus, three 11 PM departures including St. Barth's where it really counts. Foxy's is best after the sun disappears and you leave early on Jost Van Dyke. This itinerary is probably the best SB offering in Caribbean.

We finally booked our cruise Barbados to Barbados, really looking forward to it.

We are making our own transfers, can anyone tell me the cost of a taxi from the airport to the cruise terminal please? I believe its about a 20 minute journey?

Fudge, are you flying in the same day as the cruise? I would recommend flying a day or two in advance. There are many lovely hotels in Barbados plus it takes the stress out of possibly being late and missing the ship.

A taxi should be about $23 US$ or 46 BB$ from airport to Bridgetown harbour.

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Thank you for your informative reply. We are flying in the same day, we land about 15.00 hrs so plenty of time to reach the ship. :cool:

Thank you for your informative reply. We are flying in the same day, we land about 15.00 hrs so plenty of time to reach the ship. :cool:

Assuming the flight isn't delayed and if it is British Airways I wouldn't be too sure!! But if you have booked the flight with Seabourn then all should be well.

Fudge, are you flying in the same day as the cruise? I would recommend flying a day or two in advance. There are many lovely hotels in Barbados plus it takes the stress out of possibly being late and missing the ship.

 

A taxi should be about $23 US$ or 46 BB$ from airport to Bridgetown harbour.

 

 

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If you're flying to Barbados in March and need a hotel, it may be interesting to find out when theWest Indies Cricket matches are. Not to attend, but when we were in Barbados in March, we had difficulty finding a hotel for the few nights before the cruise.Once on the Island, we found out the match was on the day our ship would leave, which increased hotel prices and decreased availability.

I have done two Seabourn cruises in the Caribbean and wrote blogs for each one, the first last year on the Quest -

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2420278

and on the old Legend -

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2136127

Thank you for your informative reply. We are flying in the same day, we land about 15.00 hrs so plenty of time to reach the ship. :cool:

:eek: Wow, that would seem very tight indeed to me. Land 30 mins late, 15.30. Taxi to the gate bags, passports, sort out a taxi to the ship, 16.00. Taxi journey to the ship 16.30.

Throw in a bit more delay on the flight - not unheard of due to traffic / mechanical / air traffic out of the UK or heaven forbid BA staff revolting again and a bit more chaos at Barbados airport and you will be a bag of nerves.

What time does she set sail ?

I would definitely be flying out the night before, possibly even a few days to deal with the jet lag so you aren't falling asleep at 8.00pm (1.00am UK / 3.00am Cyprus).

Even if I was just flying in from the southern US I would want some more wriggle room than that to counter delays.

Henry

The cruises ex Barbados next March do not sail until 11 p.m. It should obviously be fine for flying out the same day, especially if you have managed to have a little sleep in business class - but I too would recommend maybe one night in a hotel ideally.

This is assuming Fletcher's posts about his/her cruises in the Caribbean have not put fudge off! It is a lovely itinerary.

 

This is assuming Fletcher's posts about his/her cruises in the Caribbean have not put fudge off! It is a lovely itinerary.

Au contraire! I had a great time on both trips. The Caribbean is the perfect place for a cruise - second only to the South Pacific in my view. And in those two blogs I wrote there is a lot of info about various ports of call. On every island I can think of it's worth doing your own thing and ignoring all the ship tours. Car hire is by far the best option on most islands - the exceptions in my view would be St Lucia (appalling roads and security issues) and Martinique which is traffic hell. Dominica, as I wrote, is especially good for car hire as the drive up the island is superb. Antigua also - easy-peasy driving, lovely little villages off the beaten track and drive as far as Half Moon Bay, a truly spectacular beach.

Thank you everyone for your very informative replies. The ship sails at 11 pm however we may take your advice and go one day earlier.

One last question, we dont fly until 6 pm when we leave the ship, do most hotels have a day room to relax? Otherwise we have a long day with our luggage to kill.

We used a seabourn transfer in Barbados and the hotel they selected was awful, which was most unusual, as usually they are excellent. It was undergoing renovations and was very run down. Also there was a torrential downpour all day so roads were badly affected by floods. Anyway, we had quite a long time there. I would recommend arranging your own day room, as it is a long time to kill.

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Thank you everyone for your very informative replies. The ship sails at 11 pm however we may take your advice and go one day earlier.

 

One last question, we dont fly until 6 pm when we leave the ship, do most hotels have a day room to relax? Otherwise we have a long day with our luggage to kill.

We found it surprisingly difficult to book a day room when we arrived into LA a couple of years ago. In the end I emailed hotels directly and found somewhere near Santa Monica Pier which was ideal.

Whilst there are some booking sites specifically offering day rooms they tend to be close to airports. Find a couple of places you like the look of and email them asking for day rooms or resort access and luggage storage. As you say that's the big hassle, what to do with all the luggage whilst you enjoy the day. It's also nice to freshen up with a shower before starting off on the journey home.

Henry :)