Southern Caribbean suggestions?

[stunned]

Cruising in Sept., but looking forward to 2008 and would like to book a Southern Caribbean cruise, have only done Eastern and Western. When is the best month to cruise Southern and which cruise line is recommended? We have cruised with RCCL and NCL and going with CC this year, so we have no preference, just want best ports etc...

[wrp96]

I personally loved and would highly recommend Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas out of San Juan to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados. The ship is gorgeous and the ports are fabulous. Also, the Serenade does something called the Piton Spin, which after leaving Castries in St. Lucia she sails out to the Pitons and rotates 360 degrees so everyone on the ship can get a great view.

 

My cruise was in March and was fabulous but February was also nice as well.

[SANDY BEACH]

Celebrity Constellation has a great 10 day cruise to the southern carr. As soon as we arrived home, we booked the exact same cruise again. Highly suggest you take a look at it.

[gizmo]

Some things to think about.

• How many days ? 10 + days are best for Southern Caribbean
  
• Where do you want to sail from ? Florida or San Juan ? You may want to look at the cost of air if San Juan.
  
• Putting hurricane season aside, any month is good.

I like all the ports, but one port I can do without is Guadalope.

[Krazy Kruizers]

10 days is a must to do a really nice Southern Caribbean cruise -- Love St Maarten, St Johns in Antigua, Grenada, St Lucia, St Kitts.

[Sandytoes]

Southern cruise was one of my favorites.

St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados.

 

We did the Wild Sea Turtle Snorkel excursion which was fantastic.

St Lucia was the most tropical island, lush with greenery.

[Bonnie J.]

We loved our 10 day Sun Princess cruise last November! Started in Ft. Lauderdale (or was it Miami?). 1st day at sea then Curecao, (sp?), Isla Margarita which is Venezulan and every vendor sells pearls starting at $15,

Barbados - snorkled with turtles there, Dominica, St. Thomas and I've probably missed a port. It was too rough to stop at their island so missed that - and Princess has best island! We liked that we were so far south and really enjoy every thing about Princess. Go for 10 days if you can!

[manmtnmike]

Check out our Southern Caribbean CC Group !!!!

"It's a Miracle!"

8 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise

Great Itinerary, great prices, and great people.

 

 

 

Wow! Leaving out of Port Everglades, on to St. Martin, St. Kitts, and St. Lucia----Can't beat that!!

 

**Our CC Group prices are cheaper than current sale prices!!!

Pricing: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=513270

 

 

 

CARNIVAL MIRACLE Carnival Miracle is the fourth ship in the Spirit class, which introduced some significant firsts for Carnival: alternative restaurants and onboard wedding chapels. Spirit-class ships also offer an impressive 80 percent ratio of outside cabins, as well as lots of nice little touches -- like museum-quality artwork and "designer" martinis.

 

 

Itinerary

Day 1 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Day 2 - Fun Day at Sea

Day 3 - Fun Day At Sea

Day 4 - St. Martin, NA

Day 5 - St. Lucia, WI

Day 6 - St. Kitts, WI

Day 7 - Fun Day At Sea

Day 8 - Fun Day At Sea

Day 9 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

 

 

Here is the quote for the 8 day Carnival Miracle sailing 2/27/08

JOIN US TODAY!

 

**Note that the prices are cheaper than some of the 7 day cruises!Especially when factoring in the $100 ship board credit per cabin.

 

• Just checked with Carnival and the Past Guest Discount is more expensive than our pricing!!
  
• Remember the $100.00 /cabin on board credit!!!
   
  **Our CC Group prices are cheaper than current sale prices!!!
  Pricing: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=513270
  **All include taxes and fees!!
  
• Did I mention the $100 per cabin credit!!
   
  **Leave on a Wed return on a thurs!! Cheaper flights, less problems!!
   
  JOIN NOW AND MAKE SURE YOUR CABIN IS RESERVED!!

[JanineM]

We did Constellation (X) in March. It's 10 nights and you depart from Fort Lauderdale and sail to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. We LOVED the last three ports --- had been to St. Thomas & St. Maarten before so they weren't especially exciting.

 

The weather in March was really lovely - not too hot during the day, but warm in the evenings. We had no rain, but we did have some slightly rough seas but nothing to be concerned about.

 

If you do not want to sail with children, late February or March can be a good time to go - but this is dependent on when Easter falls. A 10-night cruise also means that you have fewer children because it is: expensive; and a long time to take kids away from school. If you're concerned about vacation days, alternate sailings depart on Friday and return on Monday, so you don't need to take 2 full weeks of vacation. On this particular cruise the average age was about 60 ... we felt young, but that was okay!

 

The food on X is better than RCCI, but the entertainment is fairly staid. The ship is nice. You may want to read the reviews to get more info (I posted a long review of our cruise and there are a few others on the Southern Caribbean route for this ship.)

 

Hope this helps!

[stunned]

Wow, I am enjoying reading about everyone's experiences and advice. Thank you.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

We've done the Southern Carribean out of San Juan on both The Serenade and The Constellation. While The Serenade was a lovely ship, I think the service and the food are a little better on Celebrity. We've always gone in March and had beautiful weather. I had a friend sail out of Floriday in February and she had cool weather for the first day and last day of the trip. Since often with the southern carribean you don't have many sea days, that may be something to concider. We're sailing on The Galaxy on March 7th. Come join us! :D

[alcpa1]

We prefer this route, and have done it five or six times over the years on four different lines. We love sailing between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather is wonderful, hurricane season is over, there are terrific ports what more can I say. We have already booked the Serenade for the end of Nov. '08. Come join us!

[kathyanddick]

Hey stunned....

I have done the Southern Caribbean 5 times and booked for my 6th on RCCL Adventure of the Seas for Feb. 24, 2008. For the weather and the smooth seas, the Southern Caribbean is the best. We are doing Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Thomas out of San Juan. A bunch of us from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.

This will be my first time on the Adventure, but did her sister ship the Voyager a while back. I love the Southern. My TA put together a group for us and we now have 42 booked. We already have out air. We are all going down a day early and staying at the Courtyard Miramar. Always go a day early in the winter, especially!!!

Good luck in making a decision. Any cruise is a good cruise. I am about to take my 20th and still as excited about it as I was for my first.

kathyanddick

[GCurry]

You might check out HAL as well, great ships, good food, and 10 day cruises to the Southern Caribbean and/or Panama out of Lauderdale.

We did a wonderful Southern with them I believe in Oct. or Nov. less wind then the spring if you are into water sports.

They do draw an older crowd but that was never a problem, and actually equated to less people on active excursions.

[trish1c]

St. Lucia & St. Kitts are my favorite islands by far. Whatever you decide try to find a cruise that takes you to both of these islands if you have never been.

[0ldog]

We were in a similar situation, did western on RCL and eastern on CC. Finally chose Serenade of the Seas. We went the last week of January this year. Very few youngsters on the ship then. Watch when booking so you don't get a Puertorician Holiday week.

[Roz]

I did Southern Caribbean on HAL out of Ft. Lauerdale. Airfare to San Juan is way too expensive for me. Visited Aruba (all hype and no substance), Curacao (loved it) and Dominica (wow!). Southern Caribbean is definitely my favorite part of the Caribbean.

 

Roz

[stunned]

Thank you everyone for advise and stories of your cruises. I am looking at all the possibilities and waiting for approval for vacation time. I definitely am going Southern next year. Looks like it will have to be late summer or early fall.

[wrp96]

In late summer or early fall a lot of the ships aren't back in position yet from Alaska or Europe, so you have less choices. I can say that the southern caribbean is definitely worth it though, no matter the time of year.

 

I know I recommended the Serenade of the Seas above, but she's elsewhere during summer and early fall. RCCL's Adventure of the Seas does the same route part of the time during the summer. I can also recommend that class of ship.

[bplazo]

We have done both the Adventure of the Seas and the Serenade on RCCL and loved both but I liked the Sereande better because of being a smaller ship and one less sea day.