Caribbean Bottom 5 List

[navybankerteacher]

Worst: Ocho Rios, then Nassau,Cancun, Roatan (Honduras), St. Tomas. I do not know why cruise ships still stop in Jamaica - unsafe and ugly.

[Aquahound]

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

 

I, too, hate the Cozumel most people see. But, I listed it in my top 10 favorites because the far side of the island is gorgeous!!! The last 3 times I've been there, I rented a Jeep and drove around to the East side. There is a park called Punta Sur with a lighthouse over awesone turqouis waters. There is a restaurant called Coconuts on a cliff that overlooks the ocean also. It's a true paradise over there.

[jamessa]

Worst: Ocho Rios, then Nassau,Cancun, Roatan (Honduras), St. Tomas. I do not know why cruise ships still stop in Jamaica - unsafe and ugly.

 

That is the first time I have heard anyone say something bad about St. Thomas. Can you explain more?

[chasetf]

1 jamaica

2 jamaica

3 jamaica

4 jamaica

5 jamaica

 

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

And......The need a good "Adopt a Highway" program to get all the trash picked up. ;)

 

Never seen a trashier place.

[cruiseapril]

Which port would you like to see substituted for Jamaica?

[Aquahound]

Which port would you like to see substituted for Jamaica?

 

A day at sea. ;)

[mrsfuzzmo]

My worst list: (1 being least favorite)

1. St. Kitts -BORING

2. Naussau - BORING & Dirty

3. San Juan - BORING (not including the bioluminescent bay excursion)

4. Roatan - Nothing at the dock. Snorkeling was ok

5. Margarita Is, Venezuela - DIRTY

6. Lake Gatun Panama (Hot and buggy)

 

My faves list: (1 being my favorite)

1. San Blas Panama

2. Grand Cayman - Best snorkeling in the Caribbean IMO.

2. Grenada - Loved it

3. Curacao

4. St Thomas/John

5. Cartegena Colombia

 

I also love Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Croix, OR Jamaica, Cozumel and Aruba.

 

So as everyone can see, it is soooooo subjective! I wouldn't take anyone's suggestions from here, as you can see, there are so many different opinions. It really depends on what you like to do, how comfortable you are in foreign ports, and what you are used to. I would spend a week or two on Cozumel in a heartbeat and have in Jamaica. I have also spent two weeks in St. Thomas and found it nothing but wonderful. So, I would suggest that you don't take anyone's advice and just go wherever you want to go and if you don't like it, don't go back. Odds are, there will be places you will hate on a cruise and places you will love, but odds are as well, that they will be far different than many people you talk to.

[sjcruiser]

Only one in my list so far, Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

[cruiseapril]

This is a good exchange of opinion and opinion is subjective- so it's interesting to hear different views.

 

Also, if many posters have a similar opinion about a port, I take that as an indication. We can all take posters suggestions or not- personal choice.

 

Personally, I like to know varied opinions of the ports and get a real sense of what the ports offer- or don't.

 

Thanks to those who are sharing their opinions of their favorite and least favorite ports.

[jamessa]

This is a good exchange of opinion and opinion is subjective- so it's interesting to hear different views.

 

Also, if many posters have a similar opinion about a port, I take that as an indication. We can all take posters suggestions or not- personal choice.

 

Personally, I like to know varied opinions of the ports and get a real sense of what the ports offer- or don't.

 

Thanks to those who are sharing their opinions of their favorite and least favorite ports.

 

I agree. It has helped me. I have not seen a post like this. There is another asI first stated that talked about the top 10. Maybe we can get both of these as stickies?

[DEL67]

Of course, it all depends on what you like and/or your experience at a port. I like archaeology so I like Progresso and Costa Maya, but if shopping or nice restaurants is what you are looking for neither one would be a good choice.

 

I have enjoyed most ports I have gone to, but my least favorites would probably be:

 

La Gauira (a big disappointment)

Nassau

[2CoolCanucks]

I have been to a bunch of the islands, not necessarily on Cruises.

 

Top list:

1. Curacao

2. St. Maarten

3. Aruba

4. Puerto Rico

5. St. Thomas

 

all were good.

 

I would not go for vacation to Cuba, Haiti or Bonaire for different reasons.

[CaribbeanBound]

Least favorite ports in the Caribbean...

 

- Cozumel

- Freeport

- Nassau

 

Here are our Secrets of the Caribbean!

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

These are our very detailed personal reviews, hints, and tips for ports of call.

[Lightsluvr]

I haven't been to enough ports yet, I suppose. All were in my top ten, because I have only been to ten... :D

 

LL

[Happy ks]

I haven't yet cruise the Caribbean, but I have been to several other places. We did cruise the Bahamas once and I did not care at all for Nassau.

 

The only two other ports I haven't been crazy for are Ketchikan, Alaska, too touristy and crowded. I'm not at all fond of Ensenada, Mexico, although it is a local cruise for us and we have been there several times. We just stay onboard the ship there and enjoy the peace and quiet.

 

Faves (so far)

 

Kauai, Hawaii (the whole island, not just the port)

Vancouver, British Columbia

Sitka, Alaska

Fanning Island (one of our Hawaii cruises)

Castaway Cay (Disneys private island)

 

We've also enjoyed a day in Astoria, Oregon, one in Juneau, Alaska and we adore San Diego (kind of cheating because we can drive there) and our own little Catalina Island, 26 miles across the sea!

 

In the future, we'd love to cruise: The Med, Baltics, Alaska again, New England and Nova Scotia (been there on land trips, wonderful!) and of course, one can never get enough of Hawaii. We'd also love to cruise Tahiti one day.

 

Funny, the Caribbean isn't at all on my calendar, it sounds too crowded for me.

[Southbound]

Which port would you like to see substituted for Jamaica?

 

One of the ports on our upcoming 14-day holiday cruise was to be Port Antonio in Jamaica. After doing much research, had learned it's very different from the rest of the island -- very clean, popular with many celebrities and the wealthy hoi polloi. We were therefore very much looking forward to seeing what's considered one of the gems of the Carib. and a visit to the Blue Lagoon. Recently learned that Ocho Rios has been substituted for Port Antonio on our itinerary. Arrrggg! :(

[cruiseapril]

Southbound- Port Antonio sounds interesting-too bad about the change.

 

On the other thread, you had Costa Maya on your list-what did you do there?

We were wondering about a cruise which stops there.

[Pisti]

5. Jamaica

4. "

3. "

2. Dominican Republic

1. Nassau

[monakayk]

Just curious about the posters who are upset about the 'hard sellers' on these islands:

 

Have any of you been in the REAL-southern part of Mexico? Hard selling is a way of life for these people. I am not making excuses for them when they are physically aggressive..no one likes that...but this is part of their culture. Something we Americans are not used to, for sure.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but just wondering why everyone is so shocked about this selling procedure.

[CanuckCFAN]

Monakayk,

 

IF I were to accept your comment about "Hard Selling" being part of the culture, then I guess one could say that I don't have an affinity toward the Mexican culture...

 

However, I am not a person who would paint an entire culture with one sweeping brush...

 

For us it wasn't just about aggressive selling tactics, this we can deal with and did so in Jamaica.

 

In Cozumel we were "manhandled" (woman-handled :rolleyes: ), insulted (when we wouldn't stop to check out the store keepers wares),Shouted out to and berated by store keepers, chased around by local young adults (thugs), oh yeah, I forgot to mention when we arrived, we were greeted on the pier by several police officers sporting HUGE guns..

 

A fellow American passenger noticed my shock and kindly pointed out that I had nothing to fear from these police officers as they were only there to protect us... Okay, so my next naive question should have been "protect us from what" :eek:?

 

Didn't take me too long to figure it out!

 

I should note plenty of people on our ship LOVED Cozumel, however most of the people I had spoke with who enjoyed their stay also spent the majority of their time at a private beach club or Carlos N Charlies... Not our idea of experiencing vacation destination I'm afraid...

 

So, if the above mentioned problems which I encountered in Cozumel were just "part of the culture", then no I don't want to go back and experience it for a second time..

 

(This coming from a person who has family and spends two months a year in Cuba)..

 

Sorry if I offended anyone :o !

 

CCfan

[momofmeg]

Just curious about the posters who are upset about the 'hard sellers' on these islands:

 

Have any of you been in the REAL-southern part of Mexico? Hard selling is a way of life for these people. I am not making excuses for them when they are physically aggressive..no one likes that...but this is part of their culture. Something we Americans are not used to, for sure.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but just wondering why everyone is so shocked about this selling procedure.

 

Try climbing dunns River Falls and keeping your balence while someone trys to sell you a necklace WHILE they are helping you up-a tour guide who keeps asking to braid your hair which is only 2 inches long all over your head and you are over 50.

[momofmeg]

Just curious about the posters who are upset about the 'hard sellers' on these islands:

 

Have any of you been in the REAL-southern part of Mexico? Hard selling is a way of life for these people. I am not making excuses for them when they are physically aggressive..no one likes that...but this is part of their culture. Something we Americans are not used to, for sure.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but just wondering why everyone is so shocked about this selling procedure.

 

Another thing. you buy the Blue Mountain coffee- at $22 for a pound of it and then you get to Grand Cayman and they sell it imported from Jamacia for $15.

 

the place is a total rip off.

[momofmeg]

Just curious about the posters who are upset about the 'hard sellers' on these islands:

 

Have any of you been in the REAL-southern part of Mexico? Hard selling is a way of life for these people. I am not making excuses for them when they are physically aggressive..no one likes that...but this is part of their culture. Something we Americans are not used to, for sure.

 

Not trying to start an argument, but just wondering why everyone is so shocked about this selling procedure.

 

On emore thing, you need to go to the bathroom. You get there- a simple no frills bathroom, (think state park campground type bathroom) no hot running water and you see an attendant there who expects you to tip her $5.

[sea_breaze]

Not offended but a little confused. We are heading down for a week stay on Cozumel Christmas Day. All of the research I did showed Cozumel as one of the if not thee safest place in the Caribbean. There were also alot of reports about how nice the people that live there are.

 

We've been to Cozumel twice via cruise ship which doesn't make me an expert but we didn't have any of the experiences you've described. Guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

[momofmeg]

Not offended but a little confused. We are heading down for a week stay on Cozumel Christmas Day. All of the research I did showed Cozumel as one of the if not thee safest place in the Caribbean. There were also alot of reports about how nice the people that live there are.

 

We've been to Cozumel twice via cruise ship which doesn't make me an expert but we didn't have any of the experiences you've described. Guess we'll find out in a couple of weeks.

 

Jamaica is much worse then Cozumel but it did seem this last trip, my third visit the people were more aggressive with selling-I think maybe because of last year's hurricane they lost a lot of profits but they would accept no. In Jamacia they would keep on even as you walked off from them-much worse there.