5 Ports on a 7 Day Cruise - Too Much??

[jcastro1202]

Hi everyone! My fiance and I will be boarding the Caribbean Princess on March 20th for our honeymoon. The cruise is out of San Juan with stops in St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Although we have cruised several times before we have never gone on such a port intensive cruise such as this one. I'm worried that it will be too much. It's supposed to be our honeymoon cruise and I want us to pamper ourselves with spa treatments and relaxation as much as possible. Each port day is approximately from 8am-6pm and I'm worried about being worn out by all of the activities in port. My plan is not to spend the entire time in port and take advantage of in-port spa specials. :D

 

Anyone done this cruise? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi everyone! My fiance and I will be boarding the Caribbean Princess on March 20th for our honeymoon. The cruise is out of San Juan with stops in St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Although we have cruised several times before we have never gone on such a port intensive cruise such as this one. I'm worried that it will be too much. It's supposed to be our honeymoon cruise and I want us to pamper ourselves with spa treatments and relaxation as much as possible. Each port day is approximately from 8am-6pm and I'm worried about being worn out by all of the activities in port. My plan is not to spend the entire time in port and take advantage of in-port spa specials. :D

 

Anyone done this cruise? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

 

Its only too much if you let it be too much.

Port days onboard are great as the ship is empty so plan some relaxing time at one or two of the ports and stay onboard. :)

[bgbaird]

We just did 9 ports in 11 days in the Med.......take it easy and you'll be OK.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

And don't do two excursions at any port.

 

In St. Thomas, why don't you just get a taxi to take you to Megan's Bay and ask them to pick you up around 4 (if the ship leaves a 6). Usually they won't even take your money until they pick you up. It makes you feel good that you know they will come back. Then you have a relaxing beach day.

 

And yes, as colo cruiser said (Hey Colo, see you in a week!) make of it what you want. You can be as busy or as "stationary" as you want.

[bighairtexan]

Nothing better than staying on the ship while most other ppl are off in the ports. The spa offers "port specials" and nothing is crowded. Relax. It's up to you to decide how much or how little you want to do.

[chasetf]

Sounds like you have a great plan figured out. Relax and enjoy youselves and take advantage of the lower spa prices while your shipmates are at the beach. ;)

 

We have stayed aboard or gone ashore for a limited time when we have not felt like wearing ourselves out... especially to ports we have seen before.

[jcastro1202]

We just did 9 ports in 11 days in the Med.......take it easy and you'll be OK.

 

An I thought 5 ports was too much! Wow! 9 ports in 11 days! Sounds exhausting!

 

I'm sure we'll make the best of it. We are both active and love anything that has to do with the water. I've looked into short water-related activities to do in each port and then our plan is to head back to the ship as early as possible.

 

I don't know what it is about cruising, but I actually like being on the ship more than being in port. :D

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were looking at a Southern Caribbean cruise a few years ago and noticed the number of port stops as opposed to sea days. If we had gone on that one, we probably would have thought about staying on board during at least one port.

 

We did have five scheduled ports in a row on our last cruise, but since it was Hawaii, we had planned to go off the ship for each of them. Unfortunately one port had to be skipped due to winds/waves. At least with that cruise, there's some sea days at the end to recover from the ports.

[Tak8]

I like the 5 port cruises even if the cruise is a special occasion. You have the chocie to get off at each port for the whole day, part of the day or none of the day. You can't do that with less port days. If you decide to stay on board, you get a less crowded, potentially more romantic ship. Enjoy the cruise. You are in charge of what to do or not.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We've done those 7 night cruises out of San Juan twice. We're not as young anymore as you're likely to be, but we find we need one day (usually the middle of the five port days, but it depends on the port) to slow down a bit. We'll still get off the ship, but we certainly won't do a full day excursion...maybe 3 hours or so, and then it's back on the ship for us, to enjoy it in relative quiet and to rest a bit.

 

That was the one tough part about our Hawaii cruise. One way to Honolulu, with the 4 port days at the end and then disembarking in Honolulu. I was glad we were staying there another week before we flew home. I want to enjoy the cruise, not feel like I'm "pushing through" it.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Just do half day tours on the days you decide to do tours. You don't have to "do everything" on the islands - just get a glimpse of what life is like there, appreciate the beauty, stop at a shop or two and you're done.

 

A honeymoon should be relaxing. We purposely did not do a cruise for our honeymoon. Instead, we did an all-inclusive thinking it would be more relaxing. I got sick (thanks to a guest at the wedding :mad: ) and wished we were onboard a ship so I could see a US doctor. DH got bored on land and it rained so much, it was incredible. If we had been on a ship, we could've sailed out of the rain. Continue with your plans...and, congratulations! :)

[jcastro1202]

Thanks to all of you for all of your handy tips.

 

So far the only physically demanding excursions we are looking at are the tour to The Baths in Virgin Gorda and swimming with the turtles in Barbados. The rest of the stops will just be beach days and a little shopping. Hopefully we won't be too tired from all of the ports.

 

Heck...if we are, we'll just have to plan another cruise!

[Tatka]

Thanks to all of you for all of your handy tips.

 

So far the only physically demanding excursions we are looking at are the tour to The Baths in Virgin Gorda and swimming with the turtles in Barbados. The rest of the stops will just be beach days and a little shopping. Hopefully we won't be too tired from all of the ports.

 

Heck...if we are, we'll just have to plan another cruise!

 

We are sailing the same itin in November and looking very much toward relaxing vacation... Virgin Gorda is amazing!!! We will have one full day excursionthough in St Lucia with Cosol tours.

[jackdiamond]

Do not forget the inexpensive booze in St. Thomas. Also, a more relaxing beach than Megans would be Lindquist beach.

[jcastro1202]

Do not forget the inexpensive booze in St. Thomas. Also, a more relaxing beach than Megans would be Lindquist beach.

 

Hmmm...I had never heard of Lindsquist Beach. I just Googled it and it looks beautiful. Is it far from where the ship docks?

[radsman]

I was very anti-cruise prior to my first sailing. The concept of sitting in a confined space all day while watching others eat and sit around made me sort of ill. The only way I would even book a cruise was to have as many port days as possible.

 

We did the opposite 7d So.Carib cruise last year and loved all the port days. We are doing the same itin as you in a couple of weeks. In my mind, the object of the cruise is to visit the destinations, while having a nice place to eat and sleep as we travel. And.. hopefully this time I can watch the ANGELS play in the World Series on the MUTS.;)

 

Now you are on your honeymoon so being active may not be your objective... so as others have said.. stay on the boat.

 

PS - Tatka..Isn't the BVI port in Road Town, Tortola?? Are you doing an excursion to Virgin Gorda??

[NotWthOutablcony]

Best piece of advice is to choose 1-2 ports that don't really sound interesting to you and stay on the ship, save yourselves the money in shore excursions and have a few extra treatments. These ports can get VERY hot and you will become exhausted from the heat very quickly, pace yourself and don't try to see and do it all.

We did a b2b on the CB, east/west and actually missed 2 ports because we were just too exhausted. The heat got to us fast. Each stop it was hot and humid, by the second leg of the cruise, all we wanted was relaxation and air conditioning! :D

[tprime76]

The more ports the better for us. We have had 3 S. Caribbean 7 day cruises with only 1 day at sea and love to take a port day or two to own the ship. Since we have been on a number of cruises and always have a couple planned we can pick a port that we have already been to a few times and skip it this time. Also, if that port is on one of our upcoming cruises, we can also skip it as well (St. Martaan, St. Thomas and San Juan seem to overlap with E Carib and S Carib.

 

My suggestion is pick a few ports that have things you view as MUST SEEs and get those lined up. For the others, get up at a leisurly pace, walk off the ship, see the local port for an hour or so and get back on. Enjoy those port specials and don't overwhelm yourself with trying to do everything. Just have fun.

[Minoushka]

First of all Congratulations on your wedding and honeymoon.the Southern Carib is great for beautiful beaches Bring your own snorkeling equipment ..buy it here

 

Definitely go to the Baths .You can do this EASILY on your own .Walk to red roofed Ferry station to your left from dock -5 minute walk .Get first ferry out with cab ride to BATHs .AMAZING place .Bring snorkeling gear Explore the caves Book fairly early return 2pm the latest also catch first ferry around 9am Ship excursions leave early .Once they leave the place is yours /We loved te baths .It is Magnificent

 

In St Thomas if you like snorkeling go to Coki Beach Bring boxed cereal or buy dog biscuits from diving shack //loads of multicoloured fish

 

With what happened in Antigua with other passengers I would stay on ship for your spa treatment.

 

DO NOT GO on road trip in St Lucia..ROADS are very dangerous .If you must go somewhere take a boat

Go to water taxi landing hook up a ride to Marigot resort ..nice little beach

Or Stay on board

 

In Barbados go to Carlysle Beach LObster pot Hook up with vendor on beach for snorkel dive to 2 sites of sunken ships ...lots of fish .and some turtles

Try to do your own excursions it will be MUCH cheaper and not difficult to do In Barbados you could walk to Carlysle beach -20 minutes or grab a cab

For Coki definitely a cab

 

You will love Southern Caribbean .It is GORGEOUS!!!

 

Enjoy

 

 

Michele

 

Enjoy

[NukeTim]

On the first 5 ports in 7 days cruise we took of the southern Caribbean we thought we'd have to see everything because we'd never be back to these places. We took all day tours and tried to do every show and activity on the ship. We had fun but we did not relax. Of course, once we got hooked on cruising we've gone back back to the southern Caribbean several times. My recommendation is to stay on the ship in the morning when everyone else is going off on the shore excursion. Sleep in late (hmmmm, you're on your honeymoon!) and have little breakfast by room service. Then have a light lunch and go off and explore in the afternoon. In the mornings you will have the run of the ship. Empty pools, sanctuary, spas, thermal suites, and restaurants. There won't be many activities planned as there is almost nobody around. If you venture off onto the islands in the afternoon, it may be a little hotter but masses from the excursions won't be there. People start returning around 1-2pm. Shops will still be open but will not be crowded. Don't worry, the shops will still have plenty of diamonds and tanzinite and trinkets to sell. If there is something you must see - St. Lucia is very scenic for example - I recommend a half day tour. Sometimes they schedule a tour that leaves at 12 or 12:30 pm. You can always get a cab at anytime in the afternoon. Just plan on getting back to the ship on time! Have fun.

[NoGvmnt]

Hi everyone! My fiance and I will be boarding the Caribbean Princess on March 20th for our honeymoon. The cruise is out of San Juan with stops in St. Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Although we have cruised several times before we have never gone on such a port intensive cruise such as this one. I'm worried that it will be too much. It's supposed to be our honeymoon cruise and I want us to pamper ourselves with spa treatments and relaxation as much as possible. Each port day is approximately from 8am-6pm and I'm worried about being worn out by all of the activities in port. My plan is not to spend the entire time in port and take advantage of in-port spa specials. :D

 

Anyone done this cruise? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :)

 

 

I did the 10-day Eastern Caribbean this past March which included St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, St. Thomas (and we went to St. John by ferry from there), and Princess Cays. So we basically did 7 ports in 10 days.

 

If I had to make a choice on which port not to visit, I would probably choose not waste my time on Barbados again. You can always choose not to disembark at a port and spend your day at the spa together and/or just enjoying one another in your cabin with room service just a phone call away.

 

Jim

[WeBeGone]

We actually prefer cruises with many ports. For us, that's what crusing is about. We try to be the first ones off and the last ones back in order to squeeze every minute out of the day ashore.

 

We LOVED St. Lucia. We took a mini van road trip through Princess. It was an amazing day that included lunch at a banana plantation.

 

On Barbados, we did the 4x4 off road jeep trip. It was GREAT!

[roe2ship]

I did this itinerary and it is my favorite so far. You decide what is best for you at each port and can get the best of both worlds......the ship is real empty on port days. We would be one of the first to get off in the morning and return early afternoon with hardly anyone around.....loved it!

[chamima]

If you want something really special for Barbados try The Silvermoon

silvermoonbarbados dot com

 

We did a 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise last year that had 9 ports and I was really worried that it would be too port intensive. It wasn't. In fact it was one of the best cruises we have done. We went on the Silvermoon and I think it would be the perfect day for your last port day.

 

BTW We went on a cruise for our honeymoon 39 years ago and that's what got us hooked! Congratulations!

[ILgirl]

We are doing the same itinerary on the CP in November. Our last two cruises have been for 10 days on the Emerald and we love the lazy sea days. We are determined not to overdue activities in spite of the port intensity of the cruise and have set up a couple of things in advance (not through Princess) that are 1/2 day options. We are "power snorkeling" in St. Thomas on the Island Girl for three hours in the AM and going on a Segway tour in Antigua in the AM for two hours. Also, we plan on independently taking the ferry from the West End of Tortola to Jost Van Dyke for some "painkiller" drinking and beach loafing at Soggy Dollar and maybe a few other spots. Our goal in Barbados is to kick back at another beach bar. Just some suggestions. Happy Honeymoon!