Dogstar Posted December 29, 2011 #1 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Hi Fellow Cruisers! I need your help, please. It's time to plan my family's 2013 "winter break" cruise, however, am getting bored of the usual Caribbean ports & itineraries. We have sailed with Carnival, NCL, Princess &, in a couple of months, with HAL, to numerous destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, North American Pacific Coast, & the South Pacific. By far our favourite "warm destination" cruise itinerary experienced thus far has been the South Pacific (for our 10 year anniversary celebration), however, limited time & funds restrict this from being a reasonable Spring Break-type vacation for us. Realistically, catching a cross-continent flight to Florida for a week+ Caribbean cruise better suits our current work/school schedule & vacation budget. From memory, with Caribbean cruise itineraries we will have visited: Florida ~ Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Key West, Miami, Orlando Bahamas ~ Nassau, Great Stirrup Cay (NCL), Half Moon Cay (HAL) Western ~ BVI (Tortola, Virgin Gorda), Grand Cayman, Honduras (Roatan), Jamaica (Ocho Rios), Mexico (Cozumel, Costa Maya), San Juan, USVI (St. John, St. Thomas) Southern ~ Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao But the current selection of Caribbean itineraries appear to be, at least on the surface, getting monotonous. You know, "been there, done that", in much the same way as some cruise lines & ships can get. We've enjoyed most ships & ports we've sampled over the years, however, there are some exceptions that we have vowed to never visit again if we can avoid them (i.e. Carnival, Jamaica, USVI, Mexico) ... there's just too many more left to enjoy on our travel bucket list! I'd really really like to visit Dominica, & would love to visit Tortola again. The challenge is Dominica is not frequented often on shorter itineraries, & Tortola comes at a price, St. Thomas. We prefer casual exotic-like beaches, not touristy shopping-focused ports. So, any suggestions, please? All thoughts & input kindly considered & sincerely appreciated. Cheers. Dogstar. PS. Hawaii/South Pacific vs. Caribbean itineraries would be ideal if it were not for the higher overall cost & limited selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barante Posted December 29, 2011 #2 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Looking at your past itineraries, I see a glaring omission: Barbados and nearby islands. Grenada is a favorite, so is St. Kitts. The one problem -- if you allow it to become a problem -- in the Caribbean is the sameness of th experienes. Does the captain sail the ship overnight or just anchor it on ano other side of the same island every night? And how about all those local trinkets now made in China? We have come to the conclusion that the Caribbean destinations out of Baltimore, which is our preferred reference point, are what they are. That doesn't mean that they may not be attractive. We do realize that as long as it's sunny and warm it makes little difference where we are. We go to beaches if it seems like a good idea. If not, we just stroll around and stay on the ship. Nothing wrong with that. No zip lines for us. You have your cruise line preferences and so do I. Everyone sells a fine product. But I must say that one of Carnival's best features is the water slide. I, in my mid-60s, took 10 times the final sea day. For the young and old there is plenty to do on various lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harleysmama Posted December 29, 2011 #3 Share Posted December 29, 2011 How about Australia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogstar Posted December 29, 2011 Author #4 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Barbados and nearby islands. Grenada is a favorite, so is St. Kitts ... We do realize that as long as it's sunny and warm it makes little difference where we are. We go to beaches if it seems like a good idea. If not, we just stroll around and stay on the ship. Nothing wrong with that. No zip lines for us. Agreed. I'll definitely take a closer look at those islands for consideration, thanks. How about Australia? Nope, as much as I'd like to sail in & around Austrailia's fine waters again, it is too far & too costly for our family's 1-week trip @ Spring Break. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Kat Posted December 29, 2011 #5 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Well, we leave next week for southern Caribbean, on Carnival. St. Kitts, St. Maarten, and St. Lucia. I haven't been to any of them yet. 8 day cruise, out of Florida. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted December 29, 2011 #6 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We just did a cruise to Aruba and Curacao that was round-trip from Fort Lauderdale. We were on Princess, but HAL also has a similar itinerary. For us, the ship is the real destination. This itinerary gives you more time at sea, which is what we like. We did not enjoy our one southern Caribbean cruise that left from San Juan because it was in a port every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted December 29, 2011 #7 Share Posted December 29, 2011 There are cruises that go to St Kitts, St Barts, St Vincent, Antigua, Barbados, St Maarten, Grenada, St Croix, Grand Turks -- etc. So there are still a lot of choices out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted December 29, 2011 #8 Share Posted December 29, 2011 There are lots of cruises that go to different places, but they are not marketed to the North American population on a regular basis. Or, they cost more. Check out http://www.cruisetimetables.com. Cruises from Barbados often visit less frequented ports. Check out Thomson, or Windstar. Some even visit Cuba...possible for you as Canadians. EM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseapril Posted December 29, 2011 #9 Share Posted December 29, 2011 We have enjoyed Dominica and Barbados. However, most of the cruises to those islands are on 10 day cruises or from San Juan. You didn't mention St. Maarten. HAL has a 7 day cruise which goes to Grand Turk, St. Maarten, San Juan, and Half Moon Cay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friend100 Posted December 29, 2011 #10 Share Posted December 29, 2011 Try Brilliance of the Seas, going to Castries, St Lucia Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe St Johns, Antigua Another itinerary of the same ship going to ... Tortola, British Virgin Islands Basseterre, St. Kitts Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe Bridgetown, Barbados Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhill Posted December 29, 2011 #11 Share Posted December 29, 2011 My wife and I went on a 14 day cruise from L.A to Hawaii had the time of are life! Altho you stated you have time restrants and it is a little spendy just something to think about for future refrence.Have a good day and take care.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogstar Posted January 2, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted January 2, 2012 These are great suggestions, thank you: Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grand Turks, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Barts, St. Croix, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Check out www.cruisetimetables.com ... Thomson, or Windstar. Some even visit Cuba. Great link & suggestions, thank you. Try Brilliance of the Seas, going to Castries, St Lucia, Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe, St Johns, Antigua. Another itinerary of the same ship going to Tortola, British Virgin Islands Basseterre, St. Kitts, Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe, Bridgetown, Barbados Awesome, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.