Fave Caribbean Port(s)

[angelmomma530]

Waiting for Aug 2018 to be released. Will be celebrating Moms 70th and my daughters 10th birthdays. We will have been to several Caribbean ports by then and looking for some new ones to visit...maybe the ABC islands? So what is your fave Caribbean port and why?

[paulanddarnell]

My absolute favorite was St. Lucia. I do really like Bonaire and Aruba. I would say Bonaire was my second favorite. We love to snorkel and that was up there with some great snorkeling. We are doing Curacao on our next cruise so hoping it is wonderful.

[Moosevilleco]

I love St. Thomas (great beaches), Tortola (Cane Garden Bay and Callwood Rum), Dominica (amazing rain forest), St. Maarten (Pinel Island and Maho Beach), St. Kitts (Carabelle Batik and Brimstone Fortress) and San Juan (shopping, Bacardi Rum factory and El Morro)! All wonderful and unique!

[Clarea]

Bonaire for the snorkeling. Barbados for the beaches.

[Ykgorbie]

The ABC islands are a good choice during hurricane season - they are far less susceptible to the path of a hurricane than other islands....that is, as long as you can get the ship all the way down there ! We LOVED Aruba and Bonaire for the snorkeling; Curacao had a distinct Dutch feel about it.

Another island that is a favourite of ours, though I'm not sure that Carnival still visits there, is Tortola. Lush island with some amazing beaches. And if you make it to St. Thomas, be sure to take a "ferry" over to St. John. The beaches there are the ones that are photographed for the "Beach" Calendars - they are incredible ! Whatever you choose, have fun !

[joeyancho]

Hands down.....Jamaica! Vibrant culture, great food, great music, great people, great coffee great variety of activities. It's a beautiful mountainous island with a rich cultural heritage.

[DeadPhish]

St. Thomas, St. Kitts and St. Lucia.

[angelmomma530]

TY all! We dont snorkel so we would be beachin, shopping, etc. All inclusives our fave and island tours.

[rjgdjg]

If I had to choose three ports, I'd go with the ABCs. Highlights:

 

* Aruba-It's a bustling town with a beautiful park (with tropical foliage, wandering iguanas and interesting statues), beach and reasonably priced shopping--all right from the pier

 

* Bonaire--A laid-back lovely port with a promenade along transparent blue water. You can see colorful fish below--it's like being in an aquarium

 

* Curacao--The old town, also walkable from the pier, is picturesque, with colorful gingerbread house-style buildings, a floating bridge and floating veggies market

 

And here's a bonus--there's less rain in this part of the Caribbean! - Musing About Cruising

[beachbum53]

Hands down.....Jamaica! Vibrant culture, great food, great music, great people, great coffee great variety of activities. It's a beautiful mountainous island with a rich cultural heritage.

 

IF you can manage to avoid the beggars and hustlers all trying to get your money. We personally didn't care for Jamaica. Maybe if we went to an all-inclusive resort, as opposed to going there on a cruise, we'd feel differently.

[beachbum53]

Waiting for Aug 2018 to be released. Will be celebrating Moms 70th and my daughters 10th birthdays. We will have been to several Caribbean ports by then and looking for some new ones to visit...maybe the ABC islands? So what is your fave Caribbean port and why?

 

Most any of the Southern Caribbean ports. My favorite is Antigua. Beautiful island, and beautiful beaches. A very close second is Aruba. We had a great time there! Wasn't too impressed with Curacao. Maybe because we made a poor choice for our excursion there. I'd have to give it another chance. Went river tubing in Dominica. What a blast! Maybe you could go to Trip Advisor and read the reviews and comments from those that have been to the islands you're considering. It might help in narrowing down your itinerary.

[ronandannette]

Like many others, I've only ever visited these places for a day at a time as cruise ports. My opinions are solely based on the (very) limited experience I had in each place. We've been cruising for 15 years and have rarely been to the same port twice. Some of the places we particularly LOVED are:

 

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We had an amazing, bucket-list day there climbing Dunns River Falls

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Most beautiful blue water I've ever seen - we did the Americas Cup Yacht Race excursion which was the highlight of that entire cruise.

Basseterre, St. Kitts

Most genuine hospitality we've ever experience in the Caribbean and they've got a lovely facility at the port.

Belize City, Belize

We loved the countryside and the local people, including cavetubing.bz the company we did our excursion with. Absolutely first class.

 

Not that you asked this, but our least-favorite stops are the "fake-places"; the cruiseline private islands. I also may be the only person on the planet that hated Castries, St. Lucia.:p

[AZ Ocean Lover]

"I also may be the only person on the planet that hated Castries, St. Lucia."

 

No, you are not the only one. This was a miss for us as well but it could have been the excursion was a dud.

 

My favorites are Grand Cayman for the snorkeling. This was the first time we did a day by ourselves - no excursion and it was just lovely.

 

We also love Roatan for snorkeling. It rivals Hawaii.

 

For beauty, the port at St. Thomas can't be beat. Our ship faced the bay with all the yachts and the hillside dotted with beautiful houses. We loved just sitting on the balcony and taking it all in.

 

Barbados was a good beach day. We went to the Tiki Cafe/Bar and rented some chairs and an umbrella and had fun in the sun and lovely lunch.

 

We were pleasantly surprised at how much we liked Puerto Rico. The history is rich and Old San Juan very fun.

 

I can't think of any place that I would rather not return to unless it was Princess Cay. Not even a good beach day.

[vamartha]

We loved Aruba! We're snorkelers and spent a fantastic afternoon on a private snorkeling excursion. And the shopping is pretty darn good too!

 

Curacao was a delightful afternoon. Plenty of places to stroll, a walk across the floating bridge is a must.

 

Tortola, oh my! We spent an afternoon at Brewer's Bay and almost had the entire beach to ourselves! Wonderful,calm, breathtakingly beautiful!

[angelmomma530]

Wow, great info everyone! I rarely like to visit places twice as well..unless we missed something or had a great time!

 

Anyone been to Amber Cove or Half Moon Cay?

[Moosevilleco]

Half Moon Cay is great! Beautiful sand and beach and you use your Carnival Sail and Sign card for purchases just like on the ship. They also provide a barbecue lunch. I haven't been to Amber Cove so not sure how they compare, but we loved our day at HMC!

[headhunterke]

That's a tough question. I have a lot of favorites as many of the islands are so different. There's only 1 I really don't like and that's Fort de France, Martinique. Dead town and very little to do.

Since I've only cruised on HAL in the Caribbean, I've been to HMC about a dozen times. It keeps amazing me how beautiful it is. I'm not a beach person, not even close, but this one really stunned me.

You can also easily explore the island on your own and there's some awesome hidden photo opportunities

Edited July 20, 2016 by headhunterke

[ronandannette]

Wow, great info everyone! I rarely like to visit places twice as well..unless we missed something or had a great time!

 

Anyone been to Amber Cove or Half Moon Cay?[/QUOTE]

 

Half Moon Cay is great! Beautiful sand and beach and you use your Carnival Sail and Sign card for purchases just like on the ship. They also provide a barbecue lunch. I haven't been to Amber Cove so not sure how they compare, but we loved our day at HMC!

 

Been there - IMO Half Moon Cay is terrible - it's one of those "fake places" I mentioned up-thread. :D OP - not sure any of this is very helpful for you. People's tastes and previous experiences vary so much!

Edited July 20, 2016 by ronandannette

[headhunterke]

Yes, HMC is fake, but you need to look past it. Don't just stay within a few yards of the docks where the tenders are. Explore the island and you'll have some great views.

 

I've been to Amber Cove as well. While the area around AC is stunning, the port itself is just put there to attract cruiseships, so expect the typical Caribbean "shopping" area right after disembarkation at the end of the pier.

They have shuttles to and from the main building (bikes if I recall correctly).

The port is completely owned (and built) by Carnival Corp., so expect no authenticity whatsoever. This is one of the reasons I find it such a pity lots of cruises now go to Amber Cove instead of Samana where nature is just stunning (caves, mangroves, and a more authentic feeling of the real Caribbean).

To enjoy Amber cove, you'll have to rent a car or scooter to explore the area, because there is absolutely nothing within walking distance

[angelmomma530]

Thx for the info on Amber Cove and HMC. Wont make our decision based solely on them.

[headhunterke]

That is a wise choice. And it will get increasingly difficult to avoid them on future cruises, but making decisions about a cruise just because of 1 port should, indeed, not be done. There's truly some amazing cruises out there :-)