Which Southern Caribbean itin to pick?

[Canuck38]

We are going on our 2nd cruise with Royal Carib in Feb. We have 2 young children (5yo and 6 yo). Sailing on Adventure with my parents as well (65-67-their first cruise). Now we just have to decide which itin would be best for all. We love all activities. Beaches, water, hiking, shopping. Please give your opinion between Aruba, Curacao, Dominica, St. Thomas AND Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks.

[patseacruiser]

They're all my favorites. I love Aruba. Barbados is awesome. Antigua with it's 365 beaches. St. Thomas' Sunny Liston tours. AOS is great ship too.

[BobbyD]

Please give your opinion between Aruba, Curacao, Dominica, St. Thomas AND Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

We are sailing on the Aruba,Curacao,Dominica, St. Thomas itinerary in June on SOS. Either southern itinerary is awesome. We picked that one over the other mainly because of the date but also we rather 2 sea days than one and we've never been to Aruba, Curacao and Dominica. You won't go wrong with either itinerary!

[Ocean Boy]

Both of the routes are great with each having its pluses and minuses. I really love the Aruba route as it has two sea days. However, this year they substituted Domenica for St. Maarten which I am not happy about. St. Maarten is my favorite port of call. The Barabos route has great ports of call, though I could do without St. Croix as I still prefer St. Thomas, unfortunately there is only one sea day. I can live with that but unfortunately Adventure has the sea day as its first day. Serenade has it as the last day. I much prefer have the sea day as the last day on this very port intensive route. It gives you a bit of down time at the end before arriving back at San Juan and having to go home.

 

Which ever route you pick you can always do the other one on your next cruise. Both are better than any eastern or western sailing that I have done.

[lcguy]

JMHO, having done both in the past we're going on Serenade in May and selected the Aruba, Curacao, Dominica route and prefer the "European" feel of those islands. Can't lose either way. Have fun.

[ken_nyc]

I wanted to do the Aruba route but the dates were not good for us, we did Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix and really enjoyed the island alot!! It was the best itinerary that we have taken so far!

[danacline]

The kids will enjoy it no matter where you go. I just finished an 11-day on the Celebrity Millennium, and it's posted on my web site (in signature) complete with photos. We visited a lot of the islands on both of your itineraries.

 

The most beautiful island award goes to St. Lucia, with Dominica second. The best shopping goes to St. Thomas with Curacao second. The most beautiful downtown goes to Curacao.

 

Based on the two you mention, I'd pick the one that includes St. Thomas. Their Coral World aquarium would be awesome for the kids...

[Loves_Dogs]

Both routes are awesome so you wont make a bad choice either way. Personally, I would (and did) choose the Aruba route. Only 10 more days for me!

[printingchick]

While I'm not personally a big fan of Aruba (I know a lot of folks are), I would recommend that route because you're traveling with both young children and older parents. The Aruba route gives you an extra sea day to rest up. While I love visiting as many ports as I can, I have to admit that it can sometimes be really exhausing. If I recall, the Aruba route has a sea day up front, to get acquainted with the ship and a sea day in the middle to regroup. That's a nice itinerary.

 

Other than Aruba - which I wouldn't avoid, it's just not a favorite - I love all the islands on the two itineraries. St. John (via ferry from St. Thomas) and Dominica are my two very favorites to date.

 

To recommend something really different for Curacao, we grabbed a cab and went to the Hato Caves before visiting the downtown area. It wasn't very expensive and it was an altogether different experience than any other cruise activity. We really enjoyed it. I think your kids would too.

 

You can't go wrong. Adventure is my FAVORITE ship to date. Just LOVE her!! You'll have a wonderful time, whichever itinerary you chose.

[birdie16]

I would do ANYTHING to avoid Aruba...I just don't see the draw, all it has going for it is night life and you are not there for that. Maybe I don't like Aruba because it is just a dry desert island (I live in the desert) and I expect to see palm trees and lots of green when I cruise the Caribbean. You add that to the huge eye sore and odors from the oil refinery next to Baby Beach and I just don't get why people love Aruba?

[msakmom]

I vote for any intinerary with Barbados and St Lucia on them. They are my 2 favorite islands. We loved them so much last March that we are going to them again this March on the Adventure.

 

Either itinerary, you will have an awesome time.:)

[karena1]

Totally vote for the Barbados/St Lucia/Antigua route! We love that set of islands. They are all good, but we just love St Lucia and Antigua.

[Shooraq]

I've done both routes about 3-4 years ago and in 3 days, am doing the Barbados route again. Here's a better way of looking at it - you have 5 ports to choose from - you don't have to do all of them. You can pick and choose which ones to do and which ones to stay on the ship. For instance, we are staying on the ship for Antigua, relax by the pool. :) Either route is fun though - won't be disappointed!

[bplazo]

We have done both routes and like both. We have booked again and doing the one with Barbados and St. Lucia again.

[cruisegrl79]

We are going on our 2nd cruise with Royal Carib in Feb. We have 2 young children (5yo and 6 yo). Sailing on Adventure with my parents as well (65-67-their first cruise). Now we just have to decide which itin would be best for all. We love all activities. Beaches, water, hiking, shopping. Please give your opinion between Aruba, Curacao, Dominica, St. Thomas AND Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix. Would really appreciate your help. Thanks.

 

I would do the one with Barbados (one of our favorite islands!), St. Lucia (also one of our favorites!), Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Croix (never been there). I have been to Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and St. Thomas before. Aruba wasn't that great - very windy and I just didn't care for the feel of the island. Curacao wasn't that good either - the buildings are unique but we were kind of bored there. Back when I went to Dominica there wasn't much to do there, although it was pretty. St. Thomas is now a tourist trap and wasn't as enjoyable as it used to be.

 

I would go with the 2nd itinerary!

[printingchick]

I agree that St. Thomas is very touristy. We take the ferry over to St. John, which is the most gorgeous place I've EVER visited.

 

And I LOVED Dominica.

 

It all depends on what you're looking for. Dominica is great if you like hiking and exploring the rain forests. If you like sitting on a white sand beach with a frozen cocktail, you'd HATE it.

 

I have loved all the southern Caribbean islands I've visted - except Aruba. Didn't HATE Aruba, it has just been my least favorite to date.

[NYCRUISR]

We have done both routes and our favorite is Antiqua, St Lucia, and Barbados. We loved the Boatyard in Barbados and we did an excursion with "Eli Eco tours in Antiqua, which is our favorite to date. The only thing we missed on that cruise was the 2nd sea day. It would be nice if the made it an 8 day!!!

[Ocean Boy]

We have done both routes and our favorite is Antiqua, St Lucia, and Barbados. We loved the Boatyard in Barbados and we did an excursion with "Eli Eco tours in Antiqua, which is our favorite to date. The only thing we missed on that cruise was the 2nd sea day. It would be nice if the made it an 8 day!!!

 

Talk about a perfect itinerary!