Itinerary Decision..Please Help!

[Princessmich]

We Need some feedback on 3 choices of a cruise so any and all opinions are certainly welcome! These are all 10 day cruises.

Choice #1 is Emerald Princess to Antigua,St Lucia,Barbados,St. Kitts, St Thomas & Princess Cays. (we have been to St Thomas & Princess Cays once)

Choice #2 is Celebrity Equinox to Charlotte Amalie,Basseterre,Bridgetown,Roseau,Philipsburg. (some of these I never heard of)

Choice #3 is Coral Princess Panama Canal to Aruba,Cartagena,Panama Canal,Colon,Limon,Ocho Rios

Please chime in..I need your feedback & expertise!

Thanks!:)

Michelle

 

[janabm81]

I vote #2...those are some of my favorite ports. :)

[STARFISH*4]

choice #3--everyone needs to experience the CANAL at least once even if it is not FULL transit....you get to experience SOME of it:)

[fann1sh]

Before booking Coral Princess, I'd look into Panama shore excursions. If one of them is a ferry which will give you a full one way transit (some lines call this "The Canal Experience") it would make me lean more in that direction. I like Coral's nice under 2,000 pax size.

 

However, not only is brand new 5.5* Equinox calling my name, I agree those ports are great. Charlotte Amalie is on St. Thomas, USVI; Basseterre is on St. Kitts; Bridgetown is on Barbados; Roseau is on Dominica; and Phillipsburg is on the dutch half of split personality island St Maarten/St. Martin. The other half is French. There is no border or customs to cross from the Dutch to French side, and back.

[Fergus]

Have you read through the shore excursion offerings for each of the itineraries? You can use that to kind of gauge what types of activities are popular at that port - even if you ultimately decide to book excursions privately. Another suggestion is to purchase a book of Caribbean ports of call that has descriptions of each stop to give you a little more objective overview of each one. If the ports/activities are not that critical to you, then choose on the basis of what each particular ship or cruiseline offers you - the atmosphere, meals, service, entertainment, etc.

[cb at sea]

If the ship does a "partial" canal transit, you won't even NEED an excursion there! Going thru the locks on the ship IS an excursion!

[luv2c00k]

Did the partial transit on the Coral Princess January 2008. Myself, DH and two sons (23 & 19). First cruise for our boys. We had a fantastic time. The trip through the locks was so interesting. We did the excursion that took us to the Pacific side by bus and then a train trip back to meet the ship after it had turned around and gone back through the locks.

 

The Coral Princess is a beautiful ship - on the smaller side which we liked. Plenty of activities to do. We did anytime dining and never really had to wait long for a table although we never minded being seated with others.

[WillieD13]

For me, I'm a destination traveler. Be it land or sea, the destination and attractions there are my reason to go, so, without knowing where you have been, or if you want to go back there again, that is difficult to answer.

[Smithster]

Panama Canal, hands down. We took the partial cruise and took a smaller boat for a tour through all the locks. Great experience and would highly recommend that. As for the islands after a while they all look pretty much alike. How many jewerly stores and straw markets can you see.

[paul929207]

I would pick number 3

[Putterdude]

As much as I like # 3 I would go with #1 if only for Barbados, and St. Kitts which are beautiful islands with a very rich history.

[cruiserbryce]

Choice #2 is Celebrity Equinox to Charlotte Amalie,Basseterre,Bridgetown,Roseau,Philipsburg. (some of these I never heard of)

 

we did this cruise and loved it...Basseterre is St Kitts, Roseau is in Dominica and Bridgetown is in Barbados. The ports were all great. Definatly recommed it...loved Equinox too...