Anyone else Caribbean'd out?

[srlafleur]

I know, for many people, someone says "cruise" and they think "Caribbean". And they go over and over and over again, quite happily. More power to them.

 

For hubby and me, we're done with the Caribbean. We've enjoyed Eastern, Western, Southern, Texaribbean, Panama Canal, Bahamas & a repositioning from San Juan to Miami. Yes, we enjoyed them all. But now? Been there, done that.

Are we the only ones who feel this way?

 

(We've done several in Europe, and would happily do more, plus Hawaii, Alaska, Canada & Norway, and have Japan booked for next summer, so we're definitley not done with cruising:D)

Edited December 18, 2015 by srlafleur

[ger_77]

Nope. When you live on the 'frozen tundra', whenever you hear the word "Caribbean", your shoulders relax from up around your ears, your mittened hands come of your pockets, you think of the sun, sea, and sand, and the world of ice and snow seems more bearable again. For us it isn't even the destinations that are important; we are going somewhere to thaw out and be taken care of in grand style. LOL

 

We've been to the Eastern/Western/Southern/Panama Canal several times and will continue to do so. We've also been to Europe and will continue to include those itineraries in our future plans.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Edited December 18, 2015 by ger_77

[navybankerteacher]

If you enjoy cruising, there is more than just the ports. Getting away from winter for a week or so makes cruising from New York to the Caribbean a good thing -- some islands no longer interest us, so we stay on board. Having a lot of people spend the day in St. Thomas, for.example, gives us an uncrowded day on board.

[SadieN]

We sail primarily West Coast, out of SoCal. (Sailed a B2B out of NOLA and twice to Alaska). At this point we've gone to almost all the typical MR ports. Always get off, even if it's just to get something to eat.

 

For us, repeating ports and itins makes the cruise a 'no think-um'. We know what we want to do, see, eat so there's no pressure to see it all. The instant we get to Long Beach we're relaxed. (LA traffic is rarely relaxing.) No need to plan anything.

Our 3day a few weeks ago was Vegas weekend crazy and DH still came back refreshed.

 

We change things up a bit.... sail different lines, find variations of the itins. We even sailed the CA Coastal where no port is more than a 6 hour drive from home.

Edited December 18, 2015 by SadieN

[marco]

No. Infact, coming up is our "Friends and Family Annual WInter Caribbean Cruise". THere are 32 of us going. We've been doing this since our parents started the tradition when I was a teenager almost 40 years ago. It's the best way to travel with a large group as each day the group dynamics are different as in every port, a different sub group does things together than interest them. We don't have to be concerned with where we're going for dinner, separate checks, splitting the bill etc. When we meet for pre dinner drinks, everyone just hands over their cruise card. No dividing the bill, separate checks, etc. When traveling with a group like this, it's totally effortless. We take a 10-12 cruise and for most of us who are from a northern climate,getting away to the sunshine and 80 degree weather is why we go. We round robin every evening for dinner and exchange stories of the days activities and plan tomorrow's. Most importantly.....to go to sunshine and warm weather we all feel a 10-12 day Caribbean cruise is considerably less expensive than a fly/stay and some of us don't even get off the ship anymore!

[plane2port]

Yes, we are Caribbean'd and Bahama'd out. Actually when we travel as a couple we are leaning towards land vacations in order to maximize vacation time. We just took our grandson (4) on his first cruise, and I didn't even get off the ship in Nassau. We just enjoyed the ship's amenities and got him used to going to Camp Carnival (breaking them in early on cruising!)

 

I prefer Mediterranean cruises, but the problem is that is takes so much more time and money to get there. We went a 7-day Med cruise on the RCCL Splendour last month. We got a good interline rate for the cruise, and we used Delta miles to get there, so the costs were negligible. However my SkyMiles account has been depleted by 120,000 miles, and we spent more than $1000 for basically 24 hours total in ports.

 

I think where what we'll be doing in the future is doing Europe as land trips, and Caribbean or Bahamas trips when we travel with family. The focus will be on the ship's amenities rather than the ports.

Edited December 18, 2015 by plane2port
spelling

[paul929207]

We are not "Caribbeaned" out. We have taken 33 Princess cruise and none were classified as Caribbean. We have sailed all over the world with them and loved every minute. There is so much to see.

[OCruisers]

In the winter we never tire of Caribbean cruises! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Due to health conditions we are now restricted to doing Caribbean cruises. As a result we do not cruise as much any more.

There was a time when we did 4 and 5 cruises a year -- nothing under 14 days.

We have been fortunate to have done land tours and cruises in the Med and Baltic -- even to Egypt. Also have done land and cruises to Hawaii and Alaska. Cruises in South America.

[Husky61]

Agree, we are taking our last Caribbean cruise next month. Enjoyed all of them but have decided to do other cruises.:)

[moniquet]

Still love the Caribbean but don't do excursions anymore. They are all the same ole. Waterfall, monkeys, rum outlets, views with souvenir stalls. Usually have a stroll round and go to a nice beach.

 

The ships could just sail around an Island all week, change the flags every day and most wouldn't notice the difference;):)

[luvscruising2007]

We've done about 8 cruises and have only taken 2 Caribbean cruises. So, no we are not through with Caribbean cruises. As a matter of fact our next cruise is a Caribbean. Only one repeat port. And that is the key. Itineraries need to change.

[searoses]

I never tire of the caribbean but prefer land trips where we can eat the local food,get to know the island and explore all it has to offer.....love our repeat trips to stj and barbados.....our cruises now are about being with several generations of family we don't see often.....still the best way for a big family to spend quality time together....

[NIATPAC29]

To the OP. Affordability is a big factor for many! Every One cannot afford to cruise worldwide

[iancal]

Yes. We are Carib'd out. We have switched to land trips instead of Caribbean winter cruises.

 

On one of our first cruises years ago we were assigned MDR seating with 2 other couples. They were friends and cruised together for many years. It was their 40th cruise on Princess. I remember that we were amazed when they told us they seldom got off the ship at port stops. It all new to us and we could not understand this.

 

Now we can. Lately we have stopped doing Carib. cruises in favour of land vacations. We have to fly to FLL/MIA so instead we fly somewhere else. We may start again at some point but certainly not for the next year or so.

[navybankerteacher]

Being retired we can have our cake and eat it. We will be staying on St. Maarten for two weeks in January, really enjoying the island. Then in February we will cruise out of New York - if we leave the ship at all in Phillipsburg, it may be to just get an ice cream cone on the boardwalk. The Caribbean in winter is enjoyable for the weather and being on a ship - the islands are simply an extra with which we may or may not want to bother.

[SuiteTraveler]

We kind of go back and forth on this issue. We've been to the Caribbean a lot, we've done the Med 3 times and also a river cruise on the Rhine. When we get tired of the Caribbean, we go somewhere else for a while, either on land or sea. Right now I'm doing eldercare and that has me more tied down than normal, so we need to vacation close enough to home that I can fly home in a day or less in an emergency. When I'm no longer tied down with eldercare, I'll be back to my completely footloose and fancy free way of traveling all over the globe.

 

So yes, we do get tired of the Caribbean at times and then we travel elsewhere for a while and later on, come back to the Caribbean, and so on.

[Flatbush Flyer]

I know, for many people, someone says "cruise" and they think "Caribbean". And they go over and over and over again, quite happily. More power to them.

 

 

 

For hubby and me, we're done with the Caribbean. We've enjoyed Eastern, Western, Southern, Texaribbean, Panama Canal, Bahamas & a repositioning from San Juan to Miami. Yes, we enjoyed them all. But now? Been there, done that.

 

Are we the only ones who feel this way?

 

 

 

(We've done several in Europe, and would happily do more, plus Hawaii, Alaska, Canada & Norway, and have Japan booked for next summer, so we're definitley not done with cruising:D)

 

 

Been all over the Caribbean -both cruise ship and yacht charter. Though yacht charter allows you to avoid the overcrowded "Wal-Mart" cruise stops, the Caribbean still pales in comparison to other "island destinations."

 

Check out http://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2015-12-11/the-20-best-islands-for-dream-getaways-readers-choice-awards-2015?mbid=nl_121115_Daily&CNDID=29512118&spMailingID=8341990&spUserID=MTAyNjE4ODI4Mjc2S0&spJobID=821292581&spReportId=ODIxMjkyNTgxS0

 

Notice that there's not much Caribbean listed.

Of course, I understand that cost or "just need a winter getaway" is primary for many cruisers. But, one trip to someplace like Kauai or Moorea will alter your island outlook forever.

[sfaaa]

Tired of cruising? The answer is Never regardless of what the destination is, Caribbean included.

[Kartgv]

Yes, our last Caribbean cruise was in 1990! That was our 6th time and included over 60 nights, so we were ready to explore other places. Repeated Caribbean cruises might make sense if we lived in Florida or nearby and only cared about the ship experience, but for us new ports and cultures are more important. We don't rule out going back someday if we could find a cruise at a reasonable price that went to some of the smaller ports (Tortola, St. John, etc.) but those are hard to find.

[NIATPAC29]

Yes

Edited December 18, 2015 by NIATPAC29

[luddite]

We go in the dead of winter.

Caribbean is a fine place to be instead of freezing your yingyang off.

[donaldsc]

I was Caribbeaned out after my 2nd cruise there. Not really interested in going again.

 

DON

[biker@sea]

I'll never get tired of BERMUDA. ;)

Edited December 19, 2015 by biker@sea

[buggins0402]

Another yes...and we've only done a few.