Caribbean Bottom 5 List

[jamessa]

I thought I would start this tread since we recently had a post for top 10 list. You don't even have to list 5 if you don't want to.

[cruiseapril]

The only port we've visited which we do not want to return to is La Guaira, Venezuela. Caracas is an interesting city, but we just don't think it is safe.

 

That being said, we did enjoy Isla Margarita, Venezuela last year- went to La Restinga Lagoon.

[LHP]

I am just not a big fan of Jamaica in general. I feel so sorry for the people and the island is beautiful but the aggressive nature of the general population isn't my idea of a vacation.

 

(and this is coming from someone who trekked around Tel Aviv, Israel on their own and never felt the least bit uncomfortable~~ok, perhaps a little uncomfortable with the guys publicly relieving themselves...but that was from a modesty standpoint...not a safety one)

[Aquahound]

Ok, here's my bottom 5........1 being the worst.

 

5. Barbados

4. Grand Cayman

3. Nassau

2. Ocho Rios

1. Montego Bay

[Nightwind]

Anything in Jamaica. I've traveled all over the world, including the Middle East, and I've never felt as un-safe as I did in Jamaica. Yuck.

[DonLou]

1. Costa Maya. Did we stop there? and Why did we stop there?

[Southbound]

## 1-10: San Blas Islands, Panama

[sunlover5]

Antigua--when we were there this past March it smelled horrible in the streets and the vendors were so pushy. Was not very clean. Yuk!!

[jamessa]

This is really good information that I have not found anywhere else. Now I know everyone has their own opinion, but when you see the same places come up it REALLY helps people book their cruises accordingly.

 

Keep them coming!

[jamessa]

Ok, here's my bottom 5........1 being the worst.

 

5. Barbados

4. Grand Cayman

3. Nassau

2. Ocho Rios

1. Montego Bay

 

I am really surprised to see Grand Cayman on here. I have seen that pop up on peoples top ten alot in the other post.

 

I have only been to Freeport, Nassau and CoCo Cay. I only like CoCo Cay.

[wrp96]

My bottom 3 (I only have 3 because I loved all the rest of the ports I've visited).

 

1. Progreso

2. Grand Cayman - I really agree with the other poster about Grand Cayman. It's overcrowded and not as beautiful as other ports. The Stingrays were great for a one time visit but it's nowhere I want to see again.

3. Nassau

 

If you want to go for all ports, not just Caribbean, I would also put Ensenada Mexico on the list.

[Aquahound]

I am really surprised to see Grand Cayman on here. I have seen that pop up on peoples top ten alot in the other post.

 

Grand Cayman is a very safe town and the locals do not aggressively panhandle you. But, my reason for Grand Cayman being at the bottom of my list is that I just find it boring and overcrowded. This may be because I've been there so many times.

When I was there in September, there were four cruise ships in. I was on the Freedom of the Seas (huge). Anchored next to us was the Caribbean Princess (very big). The two other ships were Carnival's Sensation and Inspiration (big). The tenders were all going to the same place. You could not walk in town because there were so many people.

The stingrays were alot of fun. But, I've done it twice and I just have no desire to ever go there again. Plus, the place has no geography.

One other thing.....I live in Key West. It looks too much like home there.

[lougee1043]

1 jamaica

2 jamaica

3 jamaica

4 jamaica

5 jamaica

 

sorry but the locals are just too pushy and aggressive with their selling tactics

[dot73]

Having done five Caribbean cruises and three all-inclusive vacations, I cannot think of five places I disliked - only one: JAMAICA - NEVER AGAIN!!! Been there three times, once at an all-inclusive resort in Negril 20 years ago, which was great as long as you didn't leave the guarded premises, and twice on a cruise, in Ochos Rio. The first time on a cruise, I took a couple of ship excursions. The second time, we ended up in Jamaica because our itinerary was changed because of a hurricane. I decided foolishily to walk to the shopping plaza from the ship. I am a middle aged solo female traveller and Jamaica is the only place I have ever felt totally unsafe walking down a busy road in the afternoon. The men were disgusting with their comments aimed at women. I walked into a shopping plaza wanting to buy all kinds of souvenirs for folks back home and after stopping in at two shops, I walked right out after being totally harrassed by the sales people. At the open-air market, I was accosted by a woman who physically tried to pull me into her stand. She was so physically aggressive, that she left a bruise on my arm. I ended up taking a taxi back to the ship without spending a dollar. The taxi driver tried to hustle me. Even on a ship excursion down the Martha Brae River, we were accosted by people trying to sell us stuff by swimming out to the rafts and refusing to take no for an answer. There are persistent vendors trying to sell you things all over the Caribbean and Mexico, but I never felt unsafe anywhere except Jamaica.

[momofmeg]

I am just not a big fan of Jamaica in general. I feel so sorry for the people and the island is beautiful but the aggressive nature of the general population isn't my idea of a vacation.

 

(and this is coming from someone who trekked around Tel Aviv, Israel on their own and never felt the least bit uncomfortable~~ok, perhaps a little uncomfortable with the guys publicly relieving themselves...but that was from a modesty standpoint...not a safety one)

 

I disliked Jamacia and the hard sale they gave you also. I thought they were bad in Nassau and Cozumel but Jamacia had them beat by a landslide. But those are really the only 3 islands I don't care to go to again. I can't think of 5.

[momofmeg]

Grand Cayman is a very safe town and the locals do not aggressively panhandle you. But, my reason for Grand Cayman being at the bottom of my list is that I just find it boring and overcrowded. This may be because I've been there so many times.

When I was there in September, there were four cruise ships in. I was on the Freedom of the Seas (huge). Anchored next to us was the Caribbean Princess (very big). The two other ships were Carnival's Sensation and Inspiration (big). The tenders were all going to the same place. You could not walk in town because there were so many people.

The stingrays were alot of fun. But, I've done it twice and I just have no desire to ever go there again. Plus, the place has no geography.

One other thing.....I live in Key West. It looks too much like home there.

I was there on the CP in October and we had one more ship with us then you did, Radience of the Seas; so we had 5 ships and one ship the FOS was as big as 2 ships with the 4500 PAX on it. At least the CP was only slightly larger with 3000 PAX-then Carnival Inspiration, Imagination and Radience of the SEAs-all those ships hold 2500 PAX.

 

Now back in February I was there on the Celebrity Zenith and the only other ship there was Legend of the Seas-it was much nicer that day. but I liked Grand Cayman alot. I think next time I go there though I will check and see how many ships will be in port-if it is that many I will just stay on ship.

[KKB]

Jamaica is our least fav, but nothing was horrid! We did separate excursions there which were good (Dunn's River Falls & Sandals golfing). After, I walked a couple of blocks from the port up to the small mall w/ Margaritaville. Had NO pushy vendors anywhere. Taxi drivers..."Hey, pretty lady, you need a ride? NO, no problem, mon!"

 

St. Maarten was OK, nothing to write home about.

 

Family liked beach at St. Thomas...just took a cab...but I was ill & only popped into shopping area right by port.

 

Costa Maya---if we hadn't done Mayan ruins tour (which we LOVED), we probably wouldn't like much. PUSHY vendors.

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE Cozumel...Carlos & Charlies is a hoot, nice shopping nearby (not pushy, though), but ADORE Paradise Beach!!!Gonna spend the WHOLE day there in March!

 

LOVED Disney's private island...hoping Princess' is as good (hurricane damage on last one).

 

Funny how Jamaica is low on most everyone's list, regardless of what you did!

 

Will be interesting see Gr. Cayman...my mom thought we would like it (missed due to hurricane damage last time, also)

[cruiseapril]

Mentioned in an earlier post here that we would not ever go back to La Guaira. It is lowest on our low list and Jamaica is just above that. Wish the cruise lines would substitute another port for Jamaica.

 

I would not recommend Haiti or the Dominican Republic either, although we found them very interesting. We were not at the beach resorts, but in Port au Prince and Santo Domingo.

 

Labadee and la Samana must be fairly good. Labadee seems to be on some Top 10 lists.

[GottaLuvCruising]

San Juan is #1 on my bottom 5

Jamaica is #2 only because of the vendors

[sea_breaze]

1. Jamaica

2. Jamaica

3. Jamaica

4. Jamaica

5. Martinique

 

Jamaica for ALL of the reasons listed. Martinique while beautiful, the people we found to be quite rude. Couldn't even get served a beer at a couple of places in town. Was told later it was probably because I was an American. Oh, and the photographer hitting on my girlfriend during our excursion didn't do much for our opinion of this place either. Made her uncomfortable and ticked me off. It took two "Back Off's" to finally get this guy to understand.

[dot73]

"Martinique while beautiful, the people we found to be quite rude. Couldn't even get served a beer at a couple of places in town. Was told later it was probably because I was an American."

 

It probably had nothing to do with the fact that you are an American -- the French are rude to anybody who doesn't speak perfect Parisian French. They often will refuse to speak English even if they know it. I remember one veteran I met on a cruise saying "if it wasn't for the English speaking countries saving their butts, the French would all be speaking German today." In Guadeloupe, they were also rude to me when I tried to order at a restaurant in my high school French. In non-French speaking countries when you try to speak their language, the locals are always pleased that you at least try. My next cruise is to Tahiti. I wonder how the French will be like there. I am sure the native Polynesians will be welcoming.

[CanuckCFAN]

From # 1 being the absolute worst and 5 being bearable at best...

 

1) Cozumel

 

2) Cozumel

 

3) Cozumel

 

4) Cozumel

 

5) Aruba...

 

Really, I dislike Cozumel pretty much for the same reasons people listed against Jamaica (Ironically enough we loved Ocho Rios)...

 

I don't know if you should take my post to heart as I noticed many people listed our FAVORITE ports as their worst :rolleyes:.

 

Our fav's In order of preference:

 

#1) Venezuela :D

 

#2) Grenada :D

 

#3) Jamaica

 

#4) Grand Cayman

 

#5) St. Kitts

 

Thank Goodness for Cruise vacations... Different Strokes for different folks. On a cruise your pretty much guaranteed to find at least one port which is to your liking...

 

God forbid if we took seriously all those "rave reviews" Cozumel receives and booked a week long stay :eek: ... Yikes (14 hours was 14 hours too long) !

 

Cheers! (Love this thread btw)

 

CCFAN

[dot73]

Difference of opinions - that's what I love about these boards. Three different people can be on the same cruise, at the same time, take the same excursions, and have three totally different opinions. It's never boring.

[CaptData]

5. Grand Cayman

4. Mo'Bay

3. Mo'bay

4. Ocho Rios

5. Ocho Rios

 

For No 5, I would go again if I can find snorkling without the sting Rays. Been there three times and need a change but also will watch how many cruise ships are in port too.

 

For Mo'Bay and Ocho Rios I suggest only ship excuriosn or private ones listed under the Jamica in the Port of Call. The native pop are very pushy and rude comments to me a single disabled person. Even on the excursions I took they still will grab you and try to pull you to their shop, a firm no works when you are with the group but by yourself no.

[jamessa]

I have been told by 2 people I know that they were not impressed with Cozumel.