Advice please on Caribbean cruise

[jabrown40]

March is a great time for the Caribbean. Although you can never predict the weather, hurricane season doesn't start until August. Although I am not bound by any spring break vacations, March is always the first month that I look at for the Caribbean.

 

 

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[Lois R]

Hi, sorry to steal into your thread OP... I am completely new to cruising and am dreaming about booking this cruise for next March for both mine and my husband's 50th birthday celebrations. Have any of you that have done this cruise around March before had rough seas? People tell me the Caribbean always has calm seas at this time but I'm so scared of being unlucky! It is the only thing stopping me booking it :loudcry: Thanks in advance for advice.

 

The seas are calm in March. Hurricane Season "Officially starts" on June 1st and goes through Nov......the "most likely"

times for hurricanes are August/Sept though. The waters should be nice and smooth for you in March:)

[Tatka]

First cruise without a question.

It simply perfect... Just to have ABC islands on the same cruise is a treat... snorkeling is the best in Caribbeans. You don't have to even have excursions, just snorkel off the beach. On Blue Bay in Curaçao I couldn't stop for 4-5 hours. :)

 

also all three are very civilized.

and then beautiful hilly St Lucia (Cosol tour with some snorkeling at Sugar bay!), Barbados with gorgeous Bashesba(spell?), great beaches with probably snorkeling available on Antigua... and everybody's favorite St Maarten.

 

Each island is a perl.

 

I'd do it without a second thought.

 

As for a weather even outside of hurricane season it is hard to predict.

Water temperatures? We just sailed to Virgin Islands, St Maarten, San Juan on April 8th and had very warm water. In Southern Caribbeans it should be even warmer.

 

I believe in Southern Caribbeans May is more rainy than April, but you cannot predict everything.

 

My vote is cruise #1

[Barwick Cruiser]

Not a question. We've done the 14 day that included Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba (the ABCs) and it's the best! Woodwind does the best snorkel trip in the Caribbean in Bonaire (get the morning trip) and it's the best snorkeling in the Caribbean.

 

Weather? It's always warm in the Caribbean, the further south you go the warmer it is (getting closer to the equator). Seas are a bit cooler in spring than they are in the fall (at least in our experience), but you'll be in shorts and capris with short sleeve and sleeveless and flip flops and sandals no matter what time of year you go.

 

We are visiting Bonaire for the first time this fall and love snorkeling...we've booked with Woodwind but have the afternoon trip, why do you say to get the morning? Thanks for any insight.

[OCruisers]

Almost always smooth seas in March -- reliably good month to sail! :D

[mickey89]

Woodwind does the best snorkel trip in the Caribbean in Bonaire (get the morning trip) and it's the best snorkeling in the Caribbean.

24 people crammed onto a small catamaran is not my idea of the best the Caribbean has to offer.

 

If you are inexperienced then Woodwind does offer a good trip but if you are more experienced I would suggest you consider Tranquilla out of Aruba, about the same price for a far more enjoyable sail and the dive location is by far better than Klein Bonaire. Spanish Lagoon in the far south of Aruba offers superb snorkeling with the underwater coral far more extensive than where Woodwind do their drift snorkel.

 

Calabaza cruise in Barbados offer excellent facilities, their boats are twice the size of Woodwind and they only carry 12 people. The only problem is the dive locations are so popular with all the other boats it become a nightmare especially for the inexperienced swimmers.

[Fouremco]

We are visiting Bonaire for the first time this fall and love snorkeling...we've booked with Woodwind but have the afternoon trip, why do you say to get the morning? Thanks for any insight.

You are more likely to have the wind pick up during the afternoon. Depending on where you are snorkelling, the water can become choppy and wave action can disturb the sand and reduce visibility. That said, the Woodwind will take you to the leeward side of Klein Bonaire and any wind-related issues should be minimal.

[Fouremco]

24 people crammed onto a small catamaran is not my idea of the best the Caribbean has to offer.

 

If you are inexperienced then Woodwind does offer a good trip but if you are more experienced I would suggest you consider Tranquilla out of Aruba, about the same price for a far more enjoyable sail and the dive location is by far better than Klein Bonaire. Spanish Lagoon in the far south of Aruba offers superb snorkeling with the underwater coral far more extensive than where Woodwind do their drift snorkel.

 

Calabaza cruise in Barbados offer excellent facilities, their boats are twice the size of Woodwind and they only carry 12 people. The only problem is the dive locations are so popular with all the other boats it become a nightmare especially for the inexperienced swimmers.

Having spent many years diving and snorkeling in the ABCs and Caribbean generally, I disagree with your assessment of the Woodwind and Klein Bonaire. I've done both drift dives and drift snorkels there and have thoroughly enjoyed myself. Oh, BTW, the Woodwind isn't a catamaran, so I fail to understand the relevance of your comment.

 

As for the Calabaza, wonderful boat, absolutely terrific food and a great day sail, but the snorkeling is mediocre at best. However, while the Woodwind's outing is all about snorkeling, the Calabaza offers a great sail with a little bit of time in the water. Apples and oranges.

 

We are considering the Tranquilo (not Tranquilla) for next March. Like the Woodwind, it gets excellent reviews, and we look forward to trying it.

[trishkri]

Just a warning about Calabaza, they sell out quickly. I just tried to book them for our cruise in late Jan 18 and all trips are already sold out the day I will be there.

 

 

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[mickey89]

........... Oh, BTW, the Woodwind isn't a catamaran, so I fail to understand the relevance of your comment.

OH Yes it is a Catamaran - actually it is a Tri-hull Catamaran Goto http://www.woodwindbonaire.com

[Fouremco]

OH Yes it is a Catamaran - actually it is a Tri-hull Catamaran Goto www.woodwindbonaire.com

I don't need to go to the website as I'm quite familiar with the Woodwind.

 

Catamaran: a multihull watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size

Trimaran: a multihull watercraft featuring a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls

You can't have a three-hulled catamaran, just as you can't have a three-wheeled bicycle or a two-wheeled tricycle. As I said, the Woodwind isn't a catamaran.

[lostchild]

We just went on a 7 days western Caribbean cruise from 4/2 - 4/9. It is spring break for US and UK but there really not that many kids on board. I don't think you will get too many kids on board for either 11 or 14 days. But then my definition of "a lot of kids" is probably different than others. My cruise before that was on a Caribbean Disney cruise... LOL. There were over 1200 kids on board.

[jody75]

I would tend to agree with Mickey89 as we have been with Woodwind a few times. Everytime we have been with them the boat is crammed packed with people with little space to move around and is not ideal for the experienced swimmers/divers.

[phoenix_dream]

Did the 14 night Eclipse cruise in January and loved it so very much that we booked it again for next year. You cannot go wrong with this cruise! Lovely islands and a great itinerary, with days at sea spread out very nicely.

 

I will say that while I agree seas are almost always calm in March, the seas going to/from the ABC islands are often a bit rocky so on those days if you are prone to motion sickness you may want to make sure you are prepared. (I am prone to motion sickness myself, so I know of what I speak. But note they were not rocky enough to stop me from going again:):))

[cb at sea]

Everyone gets all riled up about "Spring Break"...unless you're at a beach that hosts a bunch of kids, you won't even KNOW it's "Spring Break". All of our school systems "break" at different times...so "spring break" is not a 1 week or 2 week thing. It runs from March to May....and then summer vacations take over!

 

You are going to have crowds pretty much all spring...and most of the summer, depending on where you go.

 

On the cruise, the number of allowed passengers are finite. They sail "full" all the time, so the total number of passengers is pretty constant.

 

Longer cruisers have fewer college students...they can't afford long cruises. ALL of the cruises will have their share of families, so that means kids. Can't help that. Younger kids are kept busy in the kid's clubs, most of the time. The pools will be packed on sea days, no matter when you cruise.

[Pean]

OP here. Sorry I hadn't realised this thread had picked up again. I probably should clarify as I didn't make myself very clear before. There were probably 2 separate queries I had. One was which would be the better cruise and from all the replies it looks like the ABC is the way to go. Thank you to everyone for your input. The other was as we intended to do a bit of touring before and after the cruise if spring break would affect some of that. Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles etc. We have decided to go ahead with the April cruise and really looking forward to seeing some more of your wonderful country. Thanks again to everyone here on CC

[GottaKnowWhen]

OP here. Sorry I hadn't realised this thread had picked up again. I probably should clarify as I didn't make myself very clear before. There were probably 2 separate queries I had. One was which would be the better cruise and from all the replies it looks like the ABC is the way to go. Thank you to everyone for your input. The other was as we intended to do a bit of touring before and after the cruise if spring break would affect some of that. Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles etc. We have decided to go ahead with the April cruise and really looking forward to seeing some more of your wonderful country. Thanks again to everyone here on CC

 

 

There really isn't a Spring Break. Most school districts K-12, and most Universities will have a one week mid-semester break sometime between early March through mid to late April. The actual timing varies tremendously from community to community, from institution to institution. Some places it is synchronized with Easter week, but that is uncommon. So, not really a set thing like a Bank Holiday or other nationwide holiday period.

 

During that spring period roughly midway between semester beginning and end of school year (which dates again are wildly variable place to place) there may be some increase of families traveling with smaller children, or of college students traveling in their own packs. The former go to Disneyland, etc, the latter go to beaches and bars. If your destinations are chosen to avoid such places, you should have no problem.

 

 

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[swigso]

Hi

I would go with the Eclipse 14 day Cruise, the ship will overnight in either Aruba or Curacao.

The 2 sea days at the beginning and end of the cruise are

Lovely ways to get into cruise mode and to relax at the end of what I am sure will be a fantastic vacation.

We sail on the Feb 18th cruise and have done this trip many times. I would suggest you join the roll call for whichever sailing you decide as you will be able to hook up with fellow cruisers and if you want sign up for private excursions.

I would also explore the port of call boards for the islands you are visiting.

If you would like some info from me please feel free to mail me at blueinns@msn.com

[viclovesholidays!]

Thanks all so much for the replies about the calm seas, I feel so much better about booking this cruise now you've all put my mind at rest. I think I'll be ok with an occasional bit of rocky sea as long as it's calm most of the time. This cruise really does sound wonderful :D

[iluvspb]

We've done this 14 day cruise twice and are booked on the Nov 12th sailing for our 3rd time! Outstanding!

 

 

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