Which Caribbean Cruise and when?

[cocosmum]

Hopefully planning a cruise in 2014 from Miami (or similar) for approx 7 nights with Carnival.

We were on Carnival Splendor a couple of years ago from LA to Mexico and really enjoyed it! Not 5 star but then not priced as that either :)

 

Can anyone can please point me in the right direction??

 

1. Destination - East Caribbean, West Caribbean or where??

2. Best time of year - not hurricane season or when it's really really hot.

 

DH and I are in our 50's, healthy, fairly active, enjoy nice beaches and having a drink or two in the evenings.

 

I'm happy to research more once I get an idea of where to start!!

 

Thanks.

[ready2cruzagain]

Wow...that's a tough one to answer for someone else. We always sail the first few weeks of December. This year we are doing a b2b2b on the Conquest. First and third week is the western Caribbean and the second week is the Eastern Caribbean.

 

Last year we did the Breeze to the Southern Caribbean and the Eastern Caribbean. We also sailed Princess to the Southern Caribbean.

 

I guess my vote would have to be the Southern Caribbean if sailing out of Miami. In December the weather was perfect. We went to Aruba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, and Grand Turks on the Breeze. New ship and was not a bad price at all. The only thing is, it is an 8 day cruise.

[alrichards4003]

We like sailing in February, the prices are lower and most of the kids are in school and going to the caribbean is nice when most other people are dealing with the winter weather.

 

I think Eastern/Western depends on what you want do. I like both, Cozumel for the west and St. Maarten for the east are my favorite ports.

 

If you are leaving from Miami I would suggest Breeze or Glory.

[092306]

Breeze is top on our list of ships to try. I would also choose the Western itinerary, but Eastern is great too. Just returned from an Eastern itinerary and enjoyed it.

[valentinebaby1]

I'm not sure if flying to San Juan is an option for you, but we returned a couple weeks ago from the Valor southern itinerary (St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten). It was absolutely amazing! I'm afraid that any vacation we ever take again will pale in comparison to our trip on the Valor!

 

I put a review together if you'd like more details:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1931793&highlight=valor

[dabear99211]

Hopefully planning a cruise in 2014 from Miami (or similar) for approx 7 nights with Carnival.

We were on Carnival Splendor a couple of years ago from LA to Mexico and really enjoyed it! Not 5 star but then not priced as that either :)

 

Can anyone can please point me in the right direction??

 

1. Destination - East Caribbean, West Caribbean or where??

2. Best time of year - not hurricane season or when it's really really hot.

 

DH and I are in our 50's, healthy, fairly active, enjoy nice beaches and having a drink or two in the evenings.

 

I'm happy to research more once I get an idea of where to start!!

 

Thanks.

I have done B2B's on the Glory several times now, with 2 more of them booked, I like doing them because on the Glory you get the Western one week then the Eastern the next, four ports on each cruise. I always do mine in November and in February, made a mistake and did it in late March one year, can you say spring break drunks.

[Crusin Hogs]

Southern Caribbean is the best , Eastern 2nd , Western is my last resort ,

[Giffer]

I'm not sure if flying to San Juan is an option for you, but we returned a couple weeks ago from the Valor southern itinerary (St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten). It was absolutely amazing! I'm afraid that any vacation we ever take again will pale in comparison to our trip on the Valor!

 

I put a review together if you'd like more details:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1931793&highlight=valor

 

I agree. Wife and I did the Southern cruise out of San juan in early September and loved it. Absolutely beautiful ports. It was our second time on the Valor and we enjoyed the ship just as much as we did the first time on it. St. Kitt and St. Maarten are now our two favorite islands. Southwest flights into San Juan are very reasonable. Our flights into Ft. Lauderdale for December cruise cost more than the flights to San Juan.

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 using Forums mobile app.

[skipsaur]

We flew out of San Juan for our last cruise also and it was great, super easy!

 

I'd say anything that includes St Kitts, that is by far my favorite island <3

[cocosmum]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

May need to do some more research but the south Caribbean cruises look pretty good.

Any months to avoid?? I guess not school holidays (are they July-August?) or Xmas but are there times when hurricanes are more likely?

[CarnieAddict]

I'm not sure if flying to San Juan is an option for you, but we returned a couple weeks ago from the Valor southern itinerary (St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten). It was absolutely amazing! I'm afraid that any vacation we ever take again will pale in comparison to our trip on the Valor!

 

I put a review together if you'd like more details:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1931793&highlight=valor

 

That cruise is on my too do list. I wanna try and plan it so we stay a couple of days and then jump on the Splendor and get off in NY.

[ready2cruzagain]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

May need to do some more research but the south Caribbean cruises look pretty good.

Any months to avoid?? I guess not school holidays (are they July-August?) or Xmas but are there times when hurricanes are more likely?

We always sail the first 3 weeks of December. Not a lot of kids, hurricane season is over and nice weather. Also, great rates since it is a slow time of year for the cruising industry.

 

 

You might also want to not cruise during Spring Break, March and April.

[valentinebaby1]

That cruise is on my too do list. I wanna try and plan it so we stay a couple of days and then jump on the Splendor and get off in NY.

 

That would be amazing!

[wantocruisemore]

We're also in 50's and did exotic western in Sept for our anniversary. We Loved it! We climbed Mayan pyramids in Belize, snorkeled in Cozumel and caymans plus played with stingrays and played with monkeys in Roatan.

 

If you just like to relax on beach, southern might be best bet. But it you want to zip line or cave tube or snorkel, etc, then exotic western.

[lilmizz]

Hopefully planning a cruise in 2014 from Miami (or similar) for approx 7 nights with Carnival.

We were on Carnival Splendor a couple of years ago from LA to Mexico and really enjoyed it! Not 5 star but then not priced as that either :)

 

Can anyone can please point me in the right direction??

 

1. Destination - East Caribbean, West Caribbean or where??

2. Best time of year - not hurricane season or when it's really really hot.

 

DH and I are in our 50's, healthy, fairly active, enjoy nice beaches and having a drink or two in the evenings.

 

I'm happy to research more once I get an idea of where to start!!

 

Thanks.

 

I think and so do many others that January ( Middle to end) Is the best time to cruise the Caribbean , Thats Price , ppl on board ( never as many) Kids ( again never as many) and Weather is awesome. So if you dont like HUGE crowds and love warm weather and Cheaper prices. JANUARY!!

[PROCRUISE]

Would suggest CCL Breeze, Southern Caribbean, December through March, but avoid Spring break naturally. As you stated, you get what you pay for but we found The Breeze to be a very nice vessel, we like cove balconies, and it's a pleasant itinerary in the Southern Caribbean. :)

[vwrestler171]

I did the Western Caribbean on the Liberty for the first cruise of December and the weather was perfect for us. We will only do the caribbean during that time frame as it is the cheapest, and the weather is a lot better than at home.