CRUISEBOY305 Posted September 18, 2014 #26 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) I would skip St. Croix or St. marteen. St Marteen is a very common port for Southern and Eastern Caribbean. Edited September 18, 2014 by CRUISEBOY305 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayehall Posted September 18, 2014 #27 Share Posted September 18, 2014 We had a fantastic time with Consol in St Lucia!!! It is too hard to pick. The only island I wouldn't go back to is St Barths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumboroux Posted September 18, 2014 #28 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Why was St. Lucia the best time you had? I'm asking because my cruise goes there in November. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladylikes2cruise Posted September 18, 2014 #29 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'd skip St. Lucia, been there, IMO;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvery Seas Cruiser Posted September 18, 2014 #30 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Perhaps because I have been to St Maarten so many times because it is on so many itineraries, I would skip St Maarten. That said, it is kind of fun to take the water taxi over to town and walk around a bit. You don't have to spend much time there. The water taxis run back and forth all day long, maybe every fifteen or twenty minutes. The other thing I would say is perhaps you could stay on board half way through your cruise wherever that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattak619 Posted September 18, 2014 #31 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Ditto on St Lucia,been there and was not thrilled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoosh21 Posted September 18, 2014 #32 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Hi all! We've just booked a southern carribean cruise through royal caribbean jewel of the sea in mid october, starting from: San Juan, PR ->St. Croix, USVI -> Philipsburg St. Maarten -> St. John's Antigua -> Castries, St. Lucia -> Bridgetown, Barbados Problem: This is a very active itinerary with only 1 day at sea. If you were to choose one island port to stay onboard and relax, which would you suggest and why? Thank you for your input. :) St Croix probably has the least amount of things to do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted September 18, 2014 #33 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Hi all! We've just booked a southern carribean cruise through royal caribbean jewel of the sea in mid october, starting from: San Juan, PR ->St. Croix, USVI -> Philipsburg St. Maarten -> St. John's Antigua -> Castries, St. Lucia -> Bridgetown, Barbados Problem: This is a very active itinerary with only 1 day at sea. If you were to choose one island port to stay onboard and relax, which would you suggest and why? Thank you for your input. :) St. Croix is not one of my favorite islands. It's okay but if you want to stay aboard for one on your itinerary, that is the one I would select. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted September 18, 2014 #34 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) We had a fantastic time with Consol in St Lucia!!! It is too hard to pick. The only island I wouldn't go back to is St Barths. We've been to St. Bart's three times and really enjoyed every visit. We had a lovely private taxi/guide tour, enjoyed the beautiful island, great lunch, gorgeous marina, pricey but nice shopping ........ What was it you didn't like? Edited September 18, 2014 by sail7seas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted September 18, 2014 #35 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Welcome to Cruise Critic. Love all those islands -- have been to them many times. I would not skip any of them. Our first cruises were port intensive -- back-to-back cruises. Each week we had 6 ports and we did a tour in each port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted September 18, 2014 #36 Share Posted September 18, 2014 We had a fantastic time with Consol in St Lucia!!! It is too hard to pick. The only island I wouldn't go back to is St Barths. What was wrong with St Bart's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chill6x6 Posted September 18, 2014 #37 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Why was St. Lucia the best time you had? I'm asking because my cruise goes there in November. Sent from my iPad using Forums Well maybe it was partly who I was with but to ME St Lucia SCREAMS romance! The Pitons are awesome! If your ship approaches from the south be SURE to get up EARLY(6AM or maybe a little earlier) and have mimosas as you sail by the Pitons! That will really help set the tone for the rest of the day…. Had a GREAT tour with Spencer Ambrose….couldn't have been better…. We did the Jalousie Beach Break with the Soufriere add-on….at LEAST do the Beach Break… This would be the LAST port I would suggest skipping….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted September 18, 2014 #38 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Well maybe it was partly who I was with but to ME St Lucia SCREAMS romance! The Pitons are awesome! If your ship approaches from the south be SURE to get up EARLY(6AM or maybe a little earlier) and have mimosas as you sail by the Pitons! That will really help set the tone for the rest of the day…. Had a GREAT tour with Spencer Ambrose….couldn't have been better…. We did the Jalousie Beach Break with the Soufriere add-on….at LEAST do the Beach Break… This would be the LAST port I would suggest skipping….. I am very surprised that people are listing St. Lucia. I think it is a beautiful island and always look froward to returning there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted September 18, 2014 #39 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I am very surprised that people are listing St. Lucia. I think it is a beautiful island and always look froward to returning there. It depends what you do there. If you tour the island, it is beautiful but if you remain around the area where the ships dock, it is not very attractive or appealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted September 18, 2014 #40 Share Posted September 18, 2014 It depends what you do there.If you tour the island, it is beautiful but if you remain around the area where the ships dock, it is not very attractive or appealing. The same could be said for many places. Barbados and Antigua come to mind. We don't travel to go to the beach so we tend to explore any place that we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronandannette Posted September 18, 2014 #41 Share Posted September 18, 2014 The only port we were not happy with was in St. Lucia, but if you haven't been there it is worth the visit ( we didn't feel very safe in St. Lucia) but we were there the day after the Celebrity Ship passengers were robbed. Have fun and enjoy your cruise. I thought my opinion would be very out of step, but I see lots of others would agree that St. Lucia should be skipped. I've been in scores of Caribbean ports and have never once before felt so uncomfortable. We went to Reduit Beach on our own and while DH was out on a jet ski I was virtually circled by the most aggressive vendors/panhandlers I've ever encountered. :eek: I was offered drugs and lewd propositions; it was unbelievably bad. I am no "shrinking viotet" but I ended up abandoning the chairs & umbrella we'd paid for and retreating to a nearby hotel lobby. If I was compelled by forces beyond my control :mad: to ever set foot on St. Lucia again I would only ever consider doing it on a large, ship-sponsored tour. (Also my 2 cents on St. Maarten is that it had the BLUEST, most beautiful water we've ever seen. We loved it there and I would not recommend you miss that stop.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floridiana Posted September 18, 2014 #42 Share Posted September 18, 2014 We've been to all these islands several times except St. Croix. St. Lucia is beautiful. We have never encountered problems there and only one aggressive vendor, an old man near the cruise port. We walked into town, were greeted by people with good day and bargained in the market. We have also been to other areas, especially the Pitons. But by all means, take an organized excursion if you feel unsafe. Sometimes, we take a morning stroll, return to the ship and hang out on our balcony if it does not face another ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted September 18, 2014 #43 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Because a lot of cruises stop at St. Maarten is no reason to stay on board - it is a great island - worth a number of visits. St Croix has very little to offer other than a pretty good beach right near the pier - worth a low- effort couple of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco Posted September 18, 2014 #44 Share Posted September 18, 2014 Check out the ship's tours. Whether you take one (or similar on your own) is irrelevant, but you can see what there is to do/see on each island adn plan from there. No matter which island you're at, you don't have to spend the entire day on the island. I'd still get off and do a little bit of exploring based on what appeals to you after reading the excursion options.You might only want to spend a couple of hrs or so in a particular port then go back and enjoy the ship's amenities. Of all the ports you're visiting, I don't think there is one that I could say "don't even bother getting off the ship". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wacruiser77 Posted September 18, 2014 #45 Share Posted September 18, 2014 We had a fantastic time with Consol in St Lucia!!! It is too hard to pick. The only island I wouldn't go back to is St Barths. Do you mean Cosol Tours? If so, I'm with you. One of the most fun tours we have taken in the Caribbean. On St Lucia.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapper1 Posted September 18, 2014 #46 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I'll add my vote for St. Lucia. It is a very scary place. Beautiful but scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseMore1 Posted September 18, 2014 #47 Share Posted September 18, 2014 And FWIW, I adore San Juan and would recommend spending a day or two pre or post cruise there. Totally agree! We are spending a full week pre-cruise this time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocean Boy Posted September 18, 2014 #48 Share Posted September 18, 2014 (edited) I'll add my vote for St. Lucia. It is a very scary place. Beautiful but scary. I am curious. Are you talking Jamaica like scary? Worse than Jamaica like scary? I ask because many people knock Jamaica where I have never felt threatened and St. Lucia, to me, seems quite mild compared to Jamaica. I'm trying to get a sense of where people are coming from on this issue as I have never encountered anything but pleasant and helpful folks on this island.:confused: Edited September 18, 2014 by Ocean Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langley Cruisers Posted September 18, 2014 #49 Share Posted September 18, 2014 I am curious. Are you talking Jamaica like scary? Worse than Jamaica like scary? I ask because many people knock Jamaica where I have never felt threatened and St. Lucia, to me, seems quite mild compared to Jamaica. I'm trying to get a sense of where people are coming from on this issue as I have never encountered anything but pleasant and helpful folks on this island.:confused: Yep, agree with you. My DH grew up in St. Lucia as a matter of fact, and although times have changed, we have always felt safe returning there over the years for land vacations or port stops. I mean, in any port you should use common sense, not flash your money or jewelry around, and have your wits about you. That goes without saying. :) By the way, I knew this thread would be subjective with so many people weighing in and giving their own choice and reason for said choice. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted September 18, 2014 #50 Share Posted September 18, 2014 We have been to St Lucia a number of times. Have done the Cosol tour, a private boat tour, spent time on the beaches, and walked into town. Never an issue..to the point where we would like to spend a week on the island on an independent tour. The only island that we avoid is Jamaica. My guess is that Miami is not very safe...but we go there in order to get on a cruise ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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