Cruise to ABC Islands?

[TravlGrl]

Anyone know of an itinerary (on any line) that goes to all of the ABC islands over a 7 or 8-day cruise? I know of a few cruises that include both Aruba and Curacao, but I can't find any that also include Bonaire. It seems that Bonaire is usually together with some of the Panama Canal cruises, but doesn't include Aruba and Curacao.

 

I am looking for a Feb 2009 date. Anyone know of an itinerary that may fit the above? I bet it exists, but maybe not on the date I want which is why I can't find it????

[LHT28]

HAL does all 3 islands but it is a 9, 12 or 14 day cruise in December

Princess goes to Aruba & Bonaire

 

RCCL goes in Feb 09 out of Colon Panama

[wrp96]

RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas is doing 7 night Southern Caribbean cruises out of Colon, Panama that goes to the ABCs. Departure dates in February 2009 are Feb 1, Feb 8, Feb 15, and Feb 22.

 

Itinerary is:

 

Colon, Panama Depart 6pm

Cartagena, Colombia 11am to 10pm

Santa Marta, Columbia 8am to 5pm

Oranjestad, Aruba 11am to 10pm

Willemstad, Curacao 7am to 6pm

Kralendijk, Bonaire 7am to 3:30pm

Sea Day

Colon, Panama arrive 6:00am

 

[cruiseapril]

It would be great if some of the cruise lines offered all 3 ABC islands on a regular basis.

[cruizinwithkids]

RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas is doing 7 night Southern Caribbean cruises out of Colon, Panama that goes to the ABCs. Departure dates in February 2009 are Feb 1, Feb 8, Feb 15, and Feb 22.

 

Itinerary is:

 

Colon, Panama Depart 6pm

Cartagena, Colombia 11am to 10pm

Santa Marta, Columbia 8am to 5pm

Oranjestad, Aruba 11am to 10pm

Willemstad, Curacao 7am to 6pm

Kralendijk, Bonaire 7am to 3:30pm

Sea Day

Colon, Panama arrive 6:00am

 

Boy that sounds like a really nice cruise. Wonder how bad the airfare would be from Boston.

[wrp96]

Boy that sounds like a really nice cruise. Wonder how bad the airfare would be from Boston.

 

Expensive, at least with cruise air. Cruise air for two people from Boston would be $2,338. I bet though that if you searched you might be able to find a better deal. For this coming February you can get flights from Boston to Panama City for about $600 per person.

[TravlGrl]

Wow, I must be blind as I did not see the Feb itinerary on Enchantment.

 

So, I looked up airfare from Seattle to Colon (on my top 3 online sites) and can find NOTHING! Can anyone tell me or give some advice on how to get from Seattle to Colon? I am trying to put together a mock itinerary for Feb 2008 in order to get an idea of pricing I may expect for Feb 2009, but I can't find ANY itinerary that gets me from Seattle to Colon...even with stops along the way. Makes no sense to me.

 

I'd really hate to resort to booking with an in-person TA simply because I can't find an online itinerary that works. Any ideas?

[Sundagger]

Colon is on the Atlantic side of Panama and Panama City is on the Pacific side - it's about 50 miles between them. You will probably have to fly in to Panama City. If the cruise leaves from Colon, the line can probably provide a transfer.

[chasetf]

It would be great if some of the cruise lines offered all 3 ABC islands on a regular basis.

Coming out of the US they would have to be 10-12+ day cruises to be able visit those three islands, have time to stop at a port coming down and going back to break up the sea day.

 

San Juan might be more doable.

[wrp96]

Wow, I must be blind as I did not see the Feb itinerary on Enchantment.

 

So, I looked up airfare from Seattle to Colon (on my top 3 online sites) and can find NOTHING! Can anyone tell me or give some advice on how to get from Seattle to Colon? I am trying to put together a mock itinerary for Feb 2008 in order to get an idea of pricing I may expect for Feb 2009, but I can't find ANY itinerary that gets me from Seattle to Colon...even with stops along the way. Makes no sense to me.

 

The airport you want to use is Panama City, Panama. You'll also want to research how much independent transfers will cost if you don't want to go with cruise air because according to someone else (I haven't verified it), RCCL is only offering transfers from Panama City for people that have booked cruise air.

 

Also, use a site like Kayak or Sidestep to search for airfare as they pull from multiple sites.

[TravlGrl]

Thank you! :)

[barryod]

Tara,

We're going on Celebrity's Summit out of P.R. in Jan. '09. Bonairre and Aruba are two of the islands. We also love the ABCs but the other islands on this cruise are great as well. We're doing a family and friends cruise of about 40 people and plan on having a great time.

Good luck with your hunt.

We have a TA who has been taking care of our cruising for 25 years and, knock on wood, without incident. She also lives and works from her home bus. which is 1500 miles from where we live.

Enjoy your cruise!!

 

Barry

[TravlGrl]

So, I decided to choose HAL's Westerdam, but not to all of the ABCs. I'll have to visit Bonaire another time. I chose a 7-day that includes Half Moon Cay, Aruba, and Curacao. It will give me a reason to schedule a separate cruise to include Bonaire at some point. :) It just seems soo much easier than flying to Panama.

[wrp96]

Have fun! Definitely a great itinerary that the Westerdam has there. I've looked at it myself, unfortunately I can't get off work at that time.

[TravlGrl]

Have fun! Definitely a great itinerary that the Westerdam has there. I've looked at it myself, unfortunately I can't get off work at that time.

 

I have a strategy for that! Book your travels THEN ask for the time off. That way, you can say, "...but I cannot cancel my cruise; I've already paid for hotel, air, the cruise, and several excursions."

 

It's worked for me, but I don't know if it could work for everyone! ;)

[wrp96]

I have a strategy for that! Book your travels THEN ask for the time off. That way, you can say, "...but I cannot cancel my cruise; I've already paid for hotel, air, the cruise, and several excursions."

 

 

I already did that this past February. Booked the cruise then started a new job. They let me go only because I booked it before I got the job. Came back and worked flat out for literally 2 months to make up for it. Don't think I could use that excuse again (or that I really want to).

[gailc]

Great question! We love Curacao & Aruba so we try to go there every couple years. Never been to Bonaire. Pretty sure the Emerald Princess goes to Aruba & Bonaire which we'd like to go on sometime. We're going on the Brilliance of the Seas again to the Panama Canal (11 days which includes Curacao & Aruba).

 

Gail

[cruiseapril]

We're doing the Westerdam - Half Moon Cay, Aruba, and Curacao in the Spring. Hope some day they rotate Bonaire with HMC- that would work-so many cruises go to HMC-not enough to Bonaire.

[TravlGrl]

We're doing the Westerdam - Half Moon Cay, Aruba, and Curacao in the Spring. Hope some day they rotate Bonaire with HMC- that would work-so many cruises go to HMC-not enough to Bonaire.

 

Or, I would be happy with an 8-day cruise if they just added Bonaire on to the existing itinerary and had 4 ports of call and 4 sea days.

[cruiseapril]

An 8-day cruise sounds good- with Bonaire added. Wish there were more 8-day cruises.

[Cruiselain]

Yes, Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas is doing the ABC Islands starting in early 2015 I believe there are at least 2 9 night sailings in February

[sail7seas]

This thread is so OLD the info is badly outdated.

 

The last post would be better as starting a new thread on the RCI Forum.....

Just a suggestion.

 

I recognize the poster is new to CC and I welcome them.

 

Edited February 6, 2014 by sail7seas

[kitty9]

Yes, Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas is doing the ABC Islands starting in early 2015 I believe there are at least 2 9 night sailings in February

 

This thread is from 2007, so chances are the original poster is no longer looking for information.

 

Welcome to cruise critic, Cruiselain. I have made the same mistake you have when posting on an old thread and realized that the person who started the thread will probably no longer be interested in what I wrote----no biggie though. I now make sure to look at the date of the first thread to make sure it's not years old.