Caribbean - How much do you care about ports when choosing?

[sakigemcam]

Hello Cruisers,

 

We've taken to cruising every March to begin the defrosting process as the New England winter comes to a close. It's a light at the end of the icy, snowy tunnel and the unofficial start of spring for us!

 

We're booked for 2019 and thinking about 2020. We are travelers and love exploring new destinations, but our March cruise is about defrosting and relaxing. We LOVE X and don't want to switch lines again so we can build up some status. The thing is, the Caribbean ports are getting boring to us and we can't decide if we care. We are fine with just going to a beach at each port. But it would be nice to see something new, so we were excited about an itinerary that included Cartagena, Panama and Costa Rica, plus some islands, until we realized it would take up too may work vacation days. So we're back to the Carib. 

 

My question is, do you look at your Carib cruises as cultural, port-focused experiences or do you just focus on the ship experience as a decider? Do you care if you visit the same port over and over again? Do you do different things at each port if you do repeat? Do you savor a port day where you stay onboard? And ultimately, does it matter to you to switch up islands? I've experienced many different islands and, with all due respect, for culture I'd rather look elsewhere. 

 

Since we work full-time, it's so easy to just hop a ship at FLL but we feel weird going to the same ports over and over. How do y'all feel about that? 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Tedw]

I guess our primary focus is getting out of the wet and dark Pacific NW winter.  There are ports we like more than others but they are not the primary drivers of our selection.  It is nice to see new places but I can see that we will have been to most of the available ports in the next few years.  I guess when it comes to ports I mostly am affected by having too many that we don't care for.  Those itineraries are once that get eliminated.

[voyager70]

After 25 or so Caribbean cruises and multiple visits to just about every port we just look for the best deal in the time frame we want to cruise.  Ports/itinerary really doesn't matter.  We live in the Northeast and cruise the Caribbean to escape the Winter cold which, sadly, has arrived ☹️

 

[Cruise Raider]

We do the same ports over and over again on the west coast ... mainly because we book for the cruise experience and the ship and sometimes, we don't even get off the ship when we are in port.  

However, I know it is taking too much of your time but there are ports in the Caribbean than are much better than others.  Sometimes, I will book something just to cruise but getting to Florida is a really long flight for us so the ports matter much more.  If you can possibly do the itinerary (sometime), choose the one that includes the Canal, Costa Rica and Cartagena ... otherwise, the ones at the ABC islands are second best.  

[GACrusin]

For us it tends to be ship first, and then see if the itinerary includes one of our favorite islands that we don't mind going back to over and over.  We love St. John, and enjoy the ABCs, so if we can find a ship we like that stops at one of those, we're in!  We're in the southeast, so don't have to get away from a bad winter, but just like to get away!

[OCruisers]

We've been cruising to the Caribbean for a very long time every year in January so have been to almost all of the port stops.  No problem for us to return again .

We do try to vary by doing East, West, South, and DEEP South ... or a combination by taking B2B cruises.  

The Caribbean (no matter where) is a wonderful place to be in January!  

[Straughn]

I live in Florida, so escaping from cold weather is not an issue for me. I select my cruises by ship and price. The ports do not matter. If I can go to one I haven’t been to, that’s great. I sometimes stay on the ship when in port and sometimes I might get off to walk around for an hour. Not a beach/snorkel/scuba  person, so that does not factor in my choice. I cruise to be pampered, and have someone else make my bed, clean my bathroom, fix my meals and cleanup afterwards. 

[Ozzmund]

Like several others, escaping the Minnesota winter is our prime objective when cruising. We have also been to almost every port in the eastern, southern and western Caribbean multiple times, so port selection is not a critical criteria. We always have found something new to do when visiting a port for the second or third or even fourth time.

 

As we are now both retired, we can cruise when we choose and not be concerned about the number of vacation days. We choose cruises by price, itinerary then ship. We do prefer Celebrity, but have cruised on all the other major lines as well.

 

We rarely take an entire port day on the ship (bad weather days not included), but occasionaly will sleep in, eat a leisurely breakfast and venture out late morning to see what strikes our fancy.

 

[A Sixth?]

Having lived in the Caribbean hiding from winter on a Celebrity cruise ship for five to eight weeks each winter is the mission. The island mix is less important though I prefer the southern Caribbean over the west.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by A Sixth?

[shanebbb]

My wife is into the port selection but I'm less particular.  The ship could pull out, sail around the island, and pull back in and I'd probably get the same charge out of it!  More seriously though - I must admit, we were on a 9 day cruise last December (good by me, a day too long for her) and the stops were: Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia and St Kitts.  It was very interesting and fun to see a few different ports.

[HAM]

I'm there to be on the ocean, enjoying the great weather, the ship, and the beaches, and friends. In no particular order. If one of my favorite ports are on the itinerary, I will for sure be off the ship. My least favorite, won't even think about it. The rest, I'll see how I feel when we arrive at that port.

[MarLieb]

When we choose cruises, I do try to switch ports up a bit.  We've done two Western cruises on a different line and, while we enjoyed the ship (DCL Fantasy), I never want or need to visit Grand Cayman, Cozumel or Falmouth again.  We are doing a Southern cruise on the Summit in December and I'm very excited that all but one port will be new for us.  Also excited to be leaving from San Juan as we've never visited.  Personally, I'm getting a little tired of the Caribbean, but it is just so dang convenient! (we live outside of NYC).  Cruising the Caribbean out of FL (or San Juan) is just a very cost effective way to quickly get out of the East coast cold!  We have another southern Caribbean booked for next year (different ports again!) and I could probably be convinced to do an Eastern itinerary (it would have to be a great ship, though!)

[Marelaine]

We cruise for the same reason. We're escaping the long gray New England winter. By the time March rolls around, we are going bonkers and need some sun and so we end up cruising in the Caribbean. There are a few islands that I don't care to see again - and if they're on our itinerary, we would just enjoy the ship. Our next March cruise will take us to the ABC islands and Grand Cayman. I have excursions booked in the ABC and will probably just walk around the port area or head to the beach in Grand Cayman. For us, the ship is the main draw, with price narrowing it down. But we are probably done with the 7 day Eastern Caribbean itineraries. 

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

We haven't done as many Caribbean cruises as you or most of the posters on this thread, but we have already visited almost every island – and I always say that Caribbean islands are like lager beer: every country has one, and they are all the same.  [IMHO as an IPA lover...]  That said, there are three cruises that stand out:  Princess partial Panama Canal, Celebrity Exotic Southern Caribbean, and Azamara Costa Rica intensive [10-nights on the Pacific side from Panama City to San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua].  But if the main objective is to escape winter and soak up sun, all islands look alike in the glare 

[sakigemcam]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

We do the same ports over and over again on the west coast ... mainly because we book for the cruise experience and the ship and sometimes, we don't even get off the ship when we are in port.  

However, I know it is taking too much of your time but there are ports in the Caribbean than are much better than others.  Sometimes, I will book something just to cruise but getting to Florida is a really long flight for us so the ports matter much more.  If you can possibly do the itinerary (sometime), choose the one that includes the Canal, Costa Rica and Cartagena ... otherwise, the ones at the ABC islands are second best.  

 

Others have mentioned this - why are the ABC islands better?

[A Sixth?]

37 minutes ago, sakigemcam said:

 

Others have mentioned this - why are the ABC islands better?

 

They are always hot and almost always sunny. Plus tourism, while a big part of, is not the biggest driver of the local economies. Just seems different from many other Caribbean destinations.

Edited November 21, 2018 by A Sixth?

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

For us it is price (minimum balcony with at least 1 perk), then ship, then # of days, then itinerary but any of them can swag our booking decision i.e. would pay more for abc islands in standard balcony vs Mexico in sky suite. Ports are least important if we have been there (except abc islands) so tough question 

[jagoffee]

We do have a few favorite Caribbean islands, but our priority is the on board experience.

[sakigemcam]

1 hour ago, A Sixth? said:

Having lived in the Caribbean hiding from winter on a Celebrity cruise ship for five to eight weeks each winter is the mission. The island mix is less important though I prefer the southern Caribbean over the west.

 

 

 

 

The third is the one we were ogling but too many PTO days. Sigh. The other two would be what we'd have to choose from. Summit, Silhouette or Reflection....too many decisions! 

[Luvcrusn]

We really enjoy sailing in the winter to escape the northeast cold. Our favorites are the ABC islands, St. Maarten and St. Thomas, however if we have warm weather, palm trees, and turquoise seas we're happy campers. We decide how long we can get away and the rest falls into place. After many, many trips, both land and sea, to the Caribbean, we really don't care as long as there's no snow!

[cluso]

Yep, it does get boring on the ships and in the same old ports.  We liven it up by chartering sailboats from time to time.  We also rent villas or VRBO's in the islands.  Not as expensive as you may think.  Shake it up!

[Cruise Raider]

16 hours ago, sakigemcam said:

 

Others have mentioned this - why are the ABC islands better?

 

Their economies are better so you don't get the constant pestering from the locals and even though there is some crime, it is not to the extent that you witness on some of the other islands in the Caribbean.  Also, the water is that turquoise color with beautiful white sandy beaches (at least in Aruba and Bonaire ... not been to a beach in Curacao).  These islands are outside the hurricane belt so you are usually unaffected by those storms once the ship has made it down to this area.  The ABC islands are very close to each other so you usually get long port days to enjoy everything the islands have to offer.  

 

[NemoCrownie]

We cruise in February to get a break from winter and we do care about ports. The ship, cruise line is also important as well as the price and perks. I don't like Labadee or Nassau and could care less about Jamaica (never been), Guadeloupe or Martinique. We prefer Southern itinerary and sailing out of San Juan for the immediate vacation feel - you feel like you are on vacation the minute you exit the airport. Even though we have done the Southern islands many times we can always find something different to do on most of them. 

 

It is too bad you don't have time for the Panama, Cartegena, Costa Rica cruise because it is different but we love  the ABC's, Barbados, Grenada, Antigua and St Thomas, along with a few others.

[mmsJack]

We still love sailing in the Caribbean - it hasn't gotten old to us yet. Our fav islands are some that sit further south which *forces* us (😁) to take the longer sailings since the shorter cruise itineraries can't get that far south.

 

St. Lucia is one of our favs - just beautiful. Barbados is pretty cool - lots of history. Aruba is on of my favs islands if I'm going for a stay (restaurant scene is bananas...) We tend to stay on the boat it St. Thomas & St. Martin - been there, done that. 

 

While I love the days at sea, my adult children love visiting the ports (preferring southern islands as noted) so a longer cruise make everyone happy. For this reason we look for 10 - 14 day cruise itineraries. 

 

Thinking about b2b Summit 7 days next winter - the itineraries are jam packed but because the M Class ships have such limited specialty dining options we're on the fence. We usually get a dining package for most of the sailing. It will be interesting to see what changes when this ship is 'Revolutionized' next spring.  

 

Bottom line though, we're really not that picky... Sun & an occasional palm tree, really any place warm w/ a beach...🏝️

[C 2 C]

We will board our Celebrity Seaside Condo in two weeks for a two month escape from our winter .  Our objective is to return to Florida infrequently, picking longer cruises to avoid the security/boarding hassle, preferring the soon to be extinct 14 night itineraries.  The islands are no longer important but we do enjoy the ABC islands for a bit of Dutch flavour.

21 hours ago, A Sixth? said:

Having lived in the Caribbean hiding from winter on a Celebrity cruise ship for five to eight weeks each winter is the mission. The island mix is less important though I prefer the southern Caribbean over the west.