S. vs. E. Caribbean - recommendation?

[kmb388]

Hi, everyone, and happy new year!

 

I'm looking for some advice for a Nov. 2014 cruise out of Miami on the Pearl. We've narrowed it down to the following:

 

10-day Eastern Carib. departing Nov. 10

British Virgin Islands - Antigua - Martinique - St. Kitts - St. Thomas

 

OR

 

11-day Southern Carib. departing Nov. 20

Aruba - Curacao - St. Lucia - St. Kitts - St. Thomas

 

Is one route or set of ports better than the other? Better excursions? Something that's okay to miss? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

[2boyzmom]

I love the BVIs and Antigua. St. Kitts beaches are lousy. Aruba is a desert with water. Some people love it but i dont love the high rise hotel atmosphere. St. Lucia is beautiful along with St. Thomas. Boy- this is a tough choice...

[punkincc]

Tough choice! For me, the 10 day offers Martinique which I have never seen, and I loved Antigua. Took the cat tour around the island. On the other hand, the 11 day offers Aruba and Curacao which I have never seen, and St Lucia and St. Kitts are nice, too. I guess I'd have to go with the 11 day because of the extra day and the 2 ports which would be new to us. No significant difference in cruise price or cabin selection? You really can't go wrong with either. The s Caribbean is gorgeous!

[DMH15]

For me, when I booked the 11 over the 10 on the Sun it was because the charge for the extra day was almost negligible. That did it for me.

[kmb388]

Thanks for the quick responses, all. We are relatively new cruisers (only one cruise on NCL a year ago to the Western Carib.), so all of these ports look wonderful - and would be completely new to us.

 

As of right now, yes, the cabin selection that we want and price point are almost negligible for the one day difference. Since the 11-day is over Thanksgiving I thought it would bump the price, but not yet that we've seen.

 

We will be thrilled with either, but wanted to see if anyone could tip us one way or the other.

 

THANKS!!