Which would you pick

[amindu]

So lets break it down some...

 

Both go to one VI- Princess is St. Thomas, RCI- Tortola. We've been to both, and while the immediate port area in Tortola is pretty sparse- we much prefer Tortola as it's a lot less commercial. Either way, it's fun.

 

Both go to Dominica- so that's even.

 

Both go to what is basically a dry beach island- RCI is St John, Antigua; Princess is Aruba and Curacao. St Marten has more stuff- so I think that I'd rather be on the RCI than the Princess given those pairs of Island choices.

 

St Kitts is nice, but have never been to Grenada. So I'd lean Princess there.

 

The one day difference is the private beach island. And if you are doing beach stuff on Aruba and or Curacao, do you need another? If yes, than this one addition is pretty important, if not, then...

 

Since we are not huge beach people, Tortola/Antigua/St Kitts is ever so more appealing than St Thomas, Aruba, and Curacao. (Dominica is a win either way)

 

Factoring the ship into it, well, that's just being biased toward RCI over Princess.

 

Thanks !!. We have been to ST Thomas so RCI would have the edge there when it comes to Tortola.

 

You mentioned ""Tortola/Antigua/St Kitts is ever so more appealing than St Thomas, Aruba, and Curacao"" Can you elaborate on why, what does that port offer that is above and beyond the beach that one would miss out on or is a must do or what that port is known for.

[alfaeric]

Thanks !!. We have been to ST Thomas so RCI would have the edge there when it comes to Tortola.

 

You mentioned ""Tortola/Antigua/St Kitts is ever so more appealing than St Thomas, Aruba, and Curacao"" Can you elaborate on why, what does that port offer that is above and beyond the beach that one would miss out on or is a must do or what that port is known for.

 

More the sum of what I meant.

 

Tortola > St Thomas

 

 

And while Antigua is very similar in nature to Aruba and Curacao, the latter are almost copies, whereas the addition of St Kitts adds a different dimension. Basically, you can add some hills and nice driving to the beach style excursions. We did the volcano hike in St. Kitts- which can't be done on Aruba or Curacao.

 

So Antigua/St Kitts > Aruba/Curacao.

 

So mathematically, Tortola + Antigua + St. Kitts > St Thomas + Aruba + Curacao. To us, at least.

 

If one was a solid beach bum, well, you could tilt that the other way. Especially with the Princess Cay.

[amindu]

More the sum of what I meant.

 

Tortola > St Thomas

 

 

And while Antigua is very similar in nature to Aruba and Curacao, the latter are almost copies, whereas the addition of St Kitts adds a different dimension. Basically, you can add some hills and nice driving to the beach style excursions. We did the volcano hike in St. Kitts- which can't be done on Aruba or Curacao.

 

So Antigua/St Kitts > Aruba/Curacao.

 

So mathematically, Tortola + Antigua + St. Kitts > St Thomas + Aruba + Curacao. To us, at least.

 

If one was a solid beach bum, well, you could tilt that the other way. Especially with the Princess Cay.

 

Gotcha, thanks. The math helped ;)

[JulieRose]

Why would you pick princess?

I tend to choose the ship first and regard the itinerary as secondary. Very simply, I don't have much interest in the Radiance class ships. If I'm going to cruise on a smaller ship, I would rather do HAL because I find their entertainment to be more to my tastes. Also, given my research on here and elsewhere I feel like RCI tends to focus on their new ships and sometimes neglect some issues on the older ones. Princess has similar sensibilities in entertainment on a newer, shinier ship so it would be a pretty easy decision for me.