First time questions (Southern Carrib)

[Solo2]

Hi folks,

My wife and I are planning our last trip before the arrival of our first child. We have a couple of iteneraries that we've narrowed in on. Can you all tell me which is better and which line is better? In a lot of ways, they're similar, but I'm a rookie.

Also, any tips on shopping for airfare to San Juan?

 

For Celebrity Constellation:

Cruise Itinerary:

 

Day Ports of Call Arrival Departure

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico --- 11:00 p.m.

 

2 La Romana/Casa De Campo, Dominican Republic 1:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m.

 

3 At Sea --- ---

 

4 Bridgetown, Barbados 9:00 a.m. 5:30 p.m.

 

5 St. George's, Grenada 7:00 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

 

6 St. John's, Antigua 9:00 a.m. 5:30 p.m.

 

7 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

 

8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 a.m. ---

 

 

For Golden Princess

Cruise Itinerary:

 

Day Ports of Call Arrival Departure

1 San Juan, Puerto Rico --- 11:00 p.m.

 

2 At Sea --- ---

 

3 Bridgetown, Barbados 7:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

 

4 Castries, St. Lucia 7:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m.

 

5 St. John's, Antigua 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

 

6 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

 

7 Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas 7:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.

 

8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 6:00 a.m. ---

 

Thanks!!

[jcruise67]

DW and I will be sailing the Golden April 17th. We have done itineraries with Dominican Republic and Greneda, but didn't find to much to do except sightsee. If you like beaches, shopping, booze cruises, etc., then the Golden is definitely a better choice. I also heard that ships saling to Greneda recently have been re-routed to another destination as a result of the hurricanes that hit several months ago. I've been cruising long enough to know that you would prefer the Golden Princess itinerary.

 

John

[mrsfuzzmo]

Hi, I hope I can help. I am a cruise enthusiast as well as a cruise consultant. I am in my 30s and have been on over 13 cruises on almost as many different lines.

 

Here goes:

 

Celebrity: Excellent food. Probably the best food for a mid-priced cruise line. Other than the food being a step above Princess (which will be good as well, just probably not Quite as good a Celebrity).

 

Itinerary:

SAN JUAN - Board.

LAROMANA - Never been, I've heard mostly good about it. I've been to Dominican Republic, and LOVED it. Some of the most gorgeous beaches of all the caribbean, but I've heard LaRomana isn't quite as nice as the area I was in.

AT SEA - Enjoy the Sea day!

BRIDGETOWN BARBADOS - I love Barbados. It is a pretty Island with very friendly locals. A lot of watersports, nice shopping and great restaurants. It is a fairly wealthy island (compared to others). Nice homes and a great 'British' air to it. Lovely. There is a cool Cave tour in the center of the island that is really neat.

ST. GEORGES GRANADA - One of the most picturesque harbors in all of the caribbean. It WAS a beautiful little fishing village harbor with shops and restaurants and cool little bright colored buildings. Grand Anse beach is beautiful, full of locals as well as tourists, with strolling musicians and craftsmen selling their wares. Fun little island......BUT it really got hit hard by the hurricane last fall and I haven't heard much about the recovery, so it will be possible that you may not stop there and if you do, it could not be the picturesque little island it used to be. There is a pretty cool hiking tour to a waterfall in the center of the island. Friendly natives. Very Caribbean.

ST. JOHN ANTIGUA - Never been, but have heard nothing but GREAT about it.

CHARLOTTE AMALIE - ST. THOMAS - The absolute best place to shop in all the Caribbean. Store upon stores of jewelery, linens, perfumes, art, electronics, etc. If you are into shopping , this is the place. BUT if you are into snorkeling and scenery.....definitely take a day tour to ST. JOHN. It is 2/3 national park and absolutely gorgeous. Mountainous with breathtaking views around every corner. Take some snorkel gear and plan to spend the day. You will not be sorry. St. Thomas also has some nice beaches and Coral World for those who don't want to get quite so wet, but experience the underwater world. I love St. Thomas/St. John.

 

GOLDEN PRINCESS: A nice choice as well.

Differences in itinerary:

CASTRIES ST. LUCIA - More remote type island with volcanos and waterfalls. It is what you would picture from an island in the pacific. Very green, lush and mountainous. Beaches aren't quite as nice and plentiful as the Virgin Is. or Antigua, but it is a beautiful place. Small Caribbean villages, less populated than some of the other islands. Not much in the way of shopping, nightlife and restaurants. Much more remote. A sailing trip around this island would be a great adventure. It's beautiful.

 

ST. MAARTEN - Philipsburg is a cute little bustling town with many little shops (think Charlotte Amalie on a smaller scale). They have brightly painted buildings and the town is small and easily walkable. Great deals here for shopping as well. BUT, the island itself has some drawbacks. Once out of town the island is very run down and pretty dirty. Some nice views, but not as nice as some of the others. I have heard about a bit of crime lately, so keep an eye on valuables if traveling on your own. That being said, St. Martin (the French side of the island) is a little bit nicer with more expensive shops (think boutiques rather than souviners). Orient beach is half family beach, half nudist resort. We LOVED going nekid for the first time and had a blast laughing at ourselves. Not too many places around here you can do that. We would go back to St. Maarten in a minute for the beaches and amount of water activities.

 

Hope that helps you in your decision. If it were mine, I would choose the second Itinerary (Golden) due to Grenada either being missed or not what was expected, and I would choose St. Lucia over Dom. Repubic in a second. But that is personal preference. I like the "Caribbean" taste of things, Dom. Republic is hispanic (food, music, art, etc.), so it is a personal choice.

 

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate. Oh yes, one other thing you asked about - Air transport to SJ. I would absolutely tell you to book your air through the cruise line. Reason being.....if you are delayed, they will normally wait for you (for a reasonable amount of time). If you book your own airfare and you are delayed, you miss the ship. You will then need to get yourself to the first port (at your own $$$). If you insist on getting your own transportation down there, at least travel a day before departure to assure your prompt arrival at the ship. Really, I cannot stress this enough.

 

Maureen

[megr1125]

We went off the board and did AOS San Juan/Aruba/Curacao/St Maarten/St Thomas. @ sea days...between SJ and Aruba & Curacao & St. Maarten.

 

If you do your own air, fly in the day or 2 before and leave a day or 2 after. The airport is a madhouse.

 

I agree with the other posters about the islands....St Maarten is nice....St Thomas has some great bargains, especially booze.....the people in Aruba are great. Curacao is very nice.....but I don't think i'd spend a week there.

 

Just something else for you to consider.

 

We were with the Golden on a few stops...the people looked like they were having a good time, but I didn't like the decks with the stepped back balconies. Some friends & family were on another Princess ship recently and they really enjoyed it...said the food was very good....the cabins were "cabins". One friend was in an inside, said it was smallish, OK but they were never in it.

[jcruise67]

Meg,

 

DW and I booked a balcony mini suite on the Golden. I heard great reviews about it. What is a stepped back balcony?

 

John

[springtxbill]

Check out www.itasoftware.com for checking on air prices. You can not purchase thru them, but can call your TA and have them book the specific flights or go to the airline site direct. It will give you all of the flights available and you can see which ones (4 or 5) have a good connection for you and watch the prices for a couple of months. They can go up and down daily, but tend to stay in a certain range. When the price for one of the flights you like drop way below the normal range, buy t:) hem.

[megr1125]

I haven't been on a Princess, but, this is hard to describe.....according to others on other boards, mini suites are on dolphin & emerald decks (i think.) on dolphin, the balconies stick out. Like if you are looking straight on at a staircase.....you know how each step is set back? So, people on the deck above can take target practice at you on a deck below since your balcony sticks out. The minis on Emerald have regular balconies. Some love it, some hate it, some don't care. Check out the princess board....lots of talk on this.

 

(Does that help????-maybe a beer or 2 will make it a little more clear!!!) LOL

[Solo2]

Just an update.:(

 

Well, after doing all my homework, I determined that booking through Costco was the best deal. They were ridiculously lower than cruise.com. E.g. we almost booked an inside room for $600/ea and this is for spring break!! Cruise.com was $1600 for the same trip.

 

Airfare came out to $330, not bad.

 

But as the costco associate was going through his checklist, he asked about medical conditions. I told him that my wife is pregnant. And we found out that she was too far along for us to go. :( :(

 

So, maybe next year.

 

Thanks for everyone's help.