ABC Islands Solo?

[Guest 2000]

I have only been on one cruise, with a friend to Greenland. It was an interesting experience. 

 

Anywho, my current focus is snorkeling and it seems to me the ABC Islands are a good place to give it a go. 

 

I was hoping maybe the members here could point me to cruise lines they recommend to the ABC Islands from the US. I would like to have a room with a balcony. Number of days is not a worry.  I know nothing about price and we all know if we can get around single supplements that would be grand. 

 

Thank you for any help you would like to offer. 

 

[NSnJW]

I have been there on Carnival and NCL and had a great time on both.  I will say that NCL takes very good care of solos.  Carnival was pretty good too but didn't have a dedicated solo meet just before dinner like NCL. 

The only place that I snorkeled was Bonaire.  I went out on a ship built like a Chinese Junk.  We went to Little Bonaire and the current will carry you down the coast of the island.  So they put you in the water about a half mile up the coast and then wait for you.  You don't have swim at all to cover a lot of water.

[Guest 2000]

3 hours ago, NSnJW said:

I have been there on Carnival and NCL and had a great time on both.  I will say that NCL takes very good care of solos.  Carnival was pretty good too but didn't have a dedicated solo meet just before dinner like NCL. 

The only place that I snorkeled was Bonaire.  I went out on a ship built like a Chinese Junk.  We went to Little Bonaire and the current will carry you down the coast of the island.  So they put you in the water about a half mile up the coast and then wait for you.  You don't have swim at all to cover a lot of water.

 

A drift snorkel!! Very cool!! Did you find it interesting? Did you see many ocean creatures? Colorful corals? 

 

NCL, thank you!! 

[NSnJW]

Not coral.  The bottom drops off rapidly about 20 to 40 foot offshore.  But as soon as it drops off the fish were pretty thick.

[Honolulu Blue]

23 hours ago, Guest 2000 said:

my current focus is snorkeling and it seems to me the ABC Islands are a good place to give it a go. 

 

I was hoping maybe the members here could point me to cruise lines they recommend to the ABC Islands from the US. I would like to have a room with a balcony. Number of days is not a worry.  I know nothing about price and we all know if we can get around single supplements that would be grand. 

I don't know how helpful this is to you, but I just had a cruise to Aruba and Curacao last month, have another one that's going there THIS WEEK, and yet another that's heading there next month.  They're on three different cruise lines (Carnival, Royal, and Celebrity, respectively).

 

I've been to all the ABCs on other occasions.

 

As for cruise lines, I think the ones I've been on have been roughly equal in unequal ways.  Most of them have ships that head there seasonally (November-April).  Some have cruises that go there the rest of the year, if that's the time that works best for you.  The ABCs are a popular Caribbean destination.

 

A couple more notes... most cruises I've seen that go there cover just two of the three islands in order to fit within a 7 or 8 day window.  There are ABC cruises that go out of San Juan, PR, so be sure to look there.  And don't forget to look at our Caribbean port board.

 

I don't snorkel, so I'll defer to others about that.

 

Happy searching, happy snorkeling, and enjoy your cruise!

 

 

[sambamama]

HAL had cruises to the ABC islands, and I've done them many times. But the snorkeling isn't that great in Aruba or Curacao. Bonaire-amazing! I did 2 snorkel trips  there. Really, if you love snorkeling, your money is better spent going to Bonaire or Cozumel and staying there for a week or  10 days and snorkeling every day. And if you love snorkeling, you may want to try a discover scuba package. I did that in Costume three years ago and now I've dove 144 times. Curacao and Aruba have amazing beaches, but the snorkeling was not that great. 

[bluewave]

Just back from an ABC cruise on Celebrity Reflection. We didn’t have great snorkeling in Aruba either, but we thought Curaçao was ok. Rented a car there and beach hopped - Playa Kalki was good when you get away from the swimmers and we did do the turtles at Playa Grandi which was fun even with waaay too many people. Bonaire was definitely the best snorkeling stop. Took an excellent tour with AquaFun Bonaire to Klein Bonaire. Small group on a speedboat. Brought us to a couple great spots that you could basically drift snorkel along the reef edge. The guide took underwater pics of the fish we were seeing and airdropped them to everyone at the end of the excursion. 

[horseymike]

On 2/25/2024 at 2:55 PM, NSnJW said:

I have been there on Carnival and NCL and had a great time on both.  I will say that NCL takes very good care of solos.  Carnival was pretty good too but didn't have a dedicated solo meet just before dinner like NCL. 

The only place that I snorkeled was Bonaire.  I went out on a ship built like a Chinese Junk.  We went to Little Bonaire and the current will carry you down the coast of the island.  So they put you in the water about a half mile up the coast and then wait for you.  You don't have swim at all to cover a lot of water.

Did a snorkel excursion from that same Chinese Junk in Bonaire 24 years ago !

At the time the operator of the excursion told us it was featured in a James Bond movie years ago.

[NSnJW]

The young man who operates it now is the son of the man who bought it from the guy that had it built.  I think I have that right.  Anyway the present owner grew up on the boat.  I really enjoyed the excursion and the crew of the boat.  They were very accommodating.  When a guest lost his hat to a wind gust, the captain jumped into the skiff and retrieved the hat.