Lorenky

Hello. Just circling back to my post from yesterday. Even if there were no thoughts on which excursion is best, it would be great if anyone could share on which places to avoid because there will be five ships in the cruise port and we want to avoid places that will be crazy crowded, Thanks so much. 😀

Hello. We’ll be taking a cruise with Princess in January 2025 that stops at St Kitts. We’re looking at excursions and are having a hard time deciding which is best for us. There will be 5 cruise ships in port so we know it will be crowded everywhere, but we want to avoid places that will be overrun with crowds. If we snorkel, we prefer snorkeling from shore rather than from a boat as we’ve had some bad experiences snorkeling from a boat, though we would snorkel from the boat if conditions were very easy and calm. If it’s a beach stop for swimming we do like sandy beaches with calm, warm water. We do want to take a ship excursion. Your recommendations on which excursion might be best would be greatly appreciated. The excursions that look interesting to us are:: -an excursion to Timothy Hill and Cockleshell beach -a Souffa Stone hike and beach getaway(Frigate Bay) -a 4x4 Island safari to rainforest with beach stop at Frigate Bay -a jeep expedition with a stop at Frigate bay -a water taxi to Nevis for Pinney Beach -a coastal kayaking and snorkel at south Friars Bay. Thank you for any suggestions.

Thank you all very much for your replies. Now we can relax and enjoy planning this cruise.

Hello. We’ve booked our first Princess cruise on the Enchanted Princess in January, 10 night Southern Caribbean. We’re very excited. We’ve been reading about formal night, and from what I’m reading on Cruise Critic the formal night wear varies greatly and doesn’t require a suit and tie or formal dress. My husband was planning on slacks and shoes with a button down shirt, and a tie if he has to. I was planning on black slacks and shoes with a flowy blouse. But when I spoke to a Princess representative she was clear that this would not be formal enough, and that my husband needed a jacket and I needed a cocktail dress at the minimum, or the maitre d might turn us away. Is this true? The information on the app is consistent with what she said, but everything said on cruise critic indicates that what we were planning on wearing would be fine. Any thoughts on how to prepare for formal night? Thanks!

Hi. Actually, we’re considering a Alaskan cruise at some point. I assume Princess is the way to go for Alaska? We’ve been to Alaska twice, but never to the inside passage, so that is a temptation to take a cruise to see that area. Similarly we have considered a couple of different European cruises, but we so love walking around the beautiful alleys and lovely towns in the evening, I’m not sure a European cruise would quite suit our style for Europe. Thanks for the thoughts, we’re really open to anything as long as it suits our travel style.

Thanks. I would do a ship excursion, and not explore on my own anyway.

No worries at all. I appreciate your trying to help. I’m just relieved that the Enchanted Princess seems to be a good and modern ship. 😀

Yes, I’m a but confused as well. It looks like Enchanted Princess is a relatively new ship? Thanks!

Thanks. Nothing set in stone yet so always time for more feedback. How bad is the Enchanted Princess? How might it differ from the Celebrity Reflection?

Thank you. It seems that the southern Caribbean cruise with Princess is the winner for next year. We can always go on one of the cruises that includes Mexico and Belize the following year. After the cruise we’re doing this year and then the southern Caribbean cruise next year, is it worth it to add Jamaica or Grand Cayman to the itinerary for cruises after that or perhaps more focus on the Mexican and Belize ports? Thanks again, this is very helpful.

Hello. We are taking our very first cruise, in just nine days, an eastern Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection. Ports of call are Puerto Rico, St. Marten, Tortola, St. Thomas, and the Dominican Republic. We think we’re going to love cruising, and if we love it as much as we think we will, we’d like to take one next year. We are already looking at different cruises and have narrowed it down to four. One is a 10 day Princess cruise on the Enchanted Princess Ports of call are St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos, St. Thomas, Antigua, Dominica, and St Kitts. One is a seven day Celebrity cruise on Celebrity Constellation. Going to Cozumel, Costa Playa, and Belize. The third is a seven day Princess cruise, on the Sky Princess. Ports are Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and Princess Cays. Final choice is a seven night cruise on Celebrity constellation, ports of call are Cozumel, Belize, and Grand Cayman. I’m torn between these choices, because I’d very much like to see St. Lucia and Turks and Caicos. However, I’m also interested in seeing the Maya Riviera area and I’ve heard wonderful things about Belize. Jamaica also looks very beautiful and I’m interested in seeing that island. Grand Cayman looks lovely, but probably holds a little bit less interest for me on its own, but might be very nice in combination with the others. As I said, we haven’t cruised before, but in general, we love, lush jungly scenery, mild adventures, and warm calm water on beautiful beaches. Can anyone advise on which of these four choices looks best in terms of the ports of call? And also in terms of the ships themselves, I’m learning that the ship is very important to the overall experience. Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Hello. We’re sailing with Celebrity soon and we’re booked for a Discover st. Thomas and Megans Bay excursion. The description says “when you’re done with your free time shopping, return to the ship via your prearranged return transportation”.. Does this mean that they leave us and we need to find transportation on our own to return to the ship? And they’re saying that it should be prearranged so it doesn’t sound like we could just grab a taxi? Has anyone taken this excursion and how does one get back to the ship? Thanks.

Thanks for all your replies. With the crowds, tendering, and difficulties in Santorini and other ports I’m not sure at this point if cruising is the way we want to explore Greece. We’ll think all this through. I appreciate the input.

Thanks, just another quick question. I see the amount of cruise ships in port varies widely day to day. In smaller ports such as some of the Greek Islands, how much is too much? Just for instance, when Princess docks there will be 5 ships, Norwegian will have 3 ships, Celebrity will have 2 ships. How many ships becomes just too overwhelming in a small port? Thanks again.

Thank you. The smaller cruise lines were out of our budget. What about the Celestyal cruises that stay in port overnight and have 2 days in Santorini? Would this be a better option? We liked the idea of a cruise because the ferries to Santorini seem very long and somewhat uncertain with the strong winds that can happen. We had thought of flying Athens to Santorini but were already planning a possible flight from Italy to Athens and then from Athens to Barcelona. Plus the flights from San Francisco to and from Rome. So we didn’t want to fly to Santorini as well. I suppose if we cruise Italy to Athens without Santorini we could then fly to Santorini and from there to Barcelona. Clearly there is lots more to think about.