Which itinerary would you choose.

[shawnsmom]

Both leaving out of San Juan. St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitt and St Maarten. Or St Thomas, St Croix, Antiqua, Grenada. St Lucia. Have been to St Thomas but do not know any thing about the other ports.

[nchikk]

St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts and St Maarten.

 

The tie-breaker for me was St. Maarten.

[wickedhangover]

I agree with above, St Maarten is the best island in the whole list, so I'd pick the itinerary with that in it.

[treasure4two]

Not sure why you picked going out of San Juan but I would never go out of San Juan on a cruise again. Locals were given a large discount as opposed to what we mainland people had to pay and overwhelmed the ship making us feel we booked a cruise in a foreign country with 75% majority choosing to not speak English. I do not want to sound unkind, but we love talking with new people around the ship and at meals and it was not possible.

Just wanted you to be prepared(we were not and wished someone had been honest enough to tell us in advance) and it is one person's personal opinion.

[KPfromCT]

Both leaving out of San Juan. St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitt and St Maarten. Or St Thomas, St Croix, Antiqua, Grenada. St Lucia. Have been to St Thomas but do not know any thing about the other ports.

 

WOW!!!! When does that 2nd itinerary sail? Love the thought of Grenada and St. Croix? And this is on Carnival? Please do tell!:D:D

[StaceySteveDMB]

WOW!!!! When does that 2nd itinerary sail? Love the thought of Grenada and St. Croix? And this is on Carnival? Please do tell!:D:D

 

 

The second cruise listed is on the Splendor November 1st. Starts in San Juan and finishes in Miami.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[michiganredrose]

Not sure why you picked going out of San Juan but I would never go out of San Juan on a cruise again. Locals were given a large discount as opposed to what we mainland people had to pay and overwhelmed the ship making us feel we booked a cruise in a foreign country with 75% majority choosing to not speak English. I do not want to sound unkind, but we love talking with new people around the ship and at meals and it was not possible.

 

Just wanted you to be prepared(we were not and wished someone had been honest enough to tell us in advance) and it is one person's personal opinion.

 

 

We went on the Valor out of San Juan in February and did not find this to be the case at all. I expected that there would be far more residents of Puerto Rico on the cruise than we actually encountered. It was a fantastic cruise all around.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[wb3690]

They both sound amazing. I don't think you'd be disappointed!

[shawnsmom]

The cruise to St Maarten is on the Valor. The other itinerary is on the Jewel of the Seas. We love both ships. Just wasnt sure of all the islands.

[SMSACE6]

That is a tough one! Both are great itineraries.

 

If I had to choose, I would go with the second one, and this is only personal, but it is because I have been to Barbados at least 20 times, (love it), but I have never been to Grenada, and would love to go there. So it is only what I would choose.

 

I dont think you can go wrong with either choice. Have a great cruise.:)

[Hazelroo]

WOW!!!! When does that 2nd itinerary sail? Love the thought of Grenada and St. Croix? And this is on Carnival? Please do tell!:D:D

 

Actually, the Nov. 1 Splendor San Juan to Miami visits St Croix, Grenada, Dominique, Martinique and Grand Turk. We are booked on it and cannot wait.:D

[LilMissScareAll]

We did the first itinerary for our honeymoon on the Victory.

Loved St Maarten. It was my favorite port. We toured the whole island. Spent a few hours at Orient beach, had yummy pastries and coffee, watched the planes land at Maho beach, and visited a Star Wars museum. We snorkeled with sea turtles in Barbados. St Kitts, well we got off the ship and then got right back on. I was really turned off by how aggressive the locals were with their sales pitches. The itinerary was so port intensive (and exhausting!) it was nice to spend that day just relaxing by the empty pool.

 

I didn't notice the ship being overwhelmingly Spanish speaking. Most of the people we encountered on excursions, Chef's Table, & in the pools/hot tubs spoke English. The only 'problem' we had was being put at a table for dinner with Puerto Ricans that didn't speak much English. But, I'm sure we were put there b/c we didn't put in flight info into our cruise docs (we were in PR for a week before & after the cruise) and we have a Hispanic last name. Didn't bother us enough to ask to change tables.

[dolfndreams]

I'd pick the San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Grenada just because a couple of new ports.

 

I'm off for my 4th time sailing from San Juan next January on the other itinerary and happy to do it. The last time it was the St. Sebasatian festival when we got back. Doesn't get more crowded than that and still loved it; after all we are leaving from their city why shouldn't they take advantage of it just like the lucky floridians do; I certainly would:D

 

Still don't understand the San Juan bashing. Solo twice and once with a sister and never had any issues. Loved the people I met and absolutely love sailing from Old San Juan find it beautiful and exotic. One day hope to go back and spend a week exploring more of Puerto Rico.

 

Just saw the new itinerary and would love to try it; be sure to come back and give us a great trip report. Happy to see new options sailing from one of my favorite ports. Still have things I like to do on the islands but definitely ready to explore some new ones. Now if I could just spring for some of the 10 day itineraries. Glad they keep different options for us all.

 

For now I bringing new people with me which keeps the experiences fresh but having two or three options helps.

 

Have fun whichever you choose.

[OCruisers]

Both leaving out of San Juan. St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitt and St Maarten. Or St Thomas, St Croix, Antiqua, Grenada. St Lucia. Have been to St Thomas but do not know any thing about the other ports.

 

Happily, you can't make a bad decision. Both have good ports of call and we've been to them all several times.

We'd pick #1 because St. Maarten is our favorite island. Also, always enjoy going to Barbados. :)

LuLu

[pauleydm]

I would personally pick the first one:)

[bunchesofun]

Both leaving out of San Juan. St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitt and St Maarten. Or St Thomas, St Croix, Antiqua, Grenada. St Lucia. Have been to St Thomas but do not know any thing about the other ports.

 

We did the first itinerary and had a great time. We did beach excursions at each stop. Did the segway tour too. All in all we enjoyed each port. Here is a link to our review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1861513 It's fairly short.

[mikel24m]

Both leaving out of San Juan. St Thomas, Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitt and St Maarten. Or St Thomas, St Croix, Antiqua, Grenada. St Lucia. Have been to St Thomas but do not know any thing about the other ports.

 

I would love both but I would really love the second choice :)

 

I guess that's why its $1449 PP for a balcony guarantee. Too rich for my blood ;)