Advice about Southern Carribbean

[jamie0483]

I really want to do the Southern Carribean route on Carnival but it includes a different port every day (St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbadas, Antigua, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts) For those of you who did this did you find it overwhelming? Are there any islands where it might be best to stay on the ship and relax? Any excursions that are an absolute must do? Also how does 10pm embarktion work? If you fly in the morning of do you have to wait around with your luggage all day or do they let you on earlier? Any advice is appreciated thanks!

[afcj1]

I really want to do the Southern Carribean route on Carnival but it includes a different port every day (St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbadas, Antigua, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts) For those of you who did this did you find it overwhelming? Are there any islands where it might be best to stay on the ship and relax? Any excursions that are an absolute must do? Also how does 10pm embarktion work? If you fly in the morning of do you have to wait around with your luggage all day or do they let you on earlier? Any advice is appreciated thanks!

 

We went on the So route last year (not on CCL) but it was port intensive. To me, it was too much. We felt obligated to do a lot of snorkling, guided tours, etc., since we had never been to those ports. We only had 2 sea days...not enough. I needed another vaca when I got home. I'm also not 25 anymore:( so take that for what it's worth!

We were scheduled to leave San Juan @ 10PM, is that what you're talking about? Time went very fast and you're still able to get on/off the ship if you want to sightsee. If you're embarkation is @ San Juan, I would still fly in the day before, unless your able to take a nonstop flight, very early in the day just in case there are any delays.

Those sound like great ports, so either way, I'm sure you'd have a great time.

[Bandman]

This is only my opinion. Our Southern Caribbean cruise is our favorite of all we have taken. It was indeed port intensive and I would not go on that cruise again unless it went to places I really wanted to see that had some culture that was beyond beach trinkets and hair braiding. The current route is suspect in that dept. for me.

 

We took advantage of each port with fabulous tours/excursions. There was a couple at our table each night that would complain about each port. And we would ask, Did you go to the Rain Forrest? Did you visit to the Volcano?, Did you see the Pitons? , etc. Their answer to every question was 'no' or something like, 'There was a Volcano?'.

 

My advice - if you want relaxation, do not do it. You are wasting the experience. There are plenty of cruises for just chillin', that visit beach only kinds of places. If you decide you want an adventure, take the southern route, do your research on each port and go for it.

 

One thing about the current route is that it does not include some great stops of the past, like Grenada or Guadelupe. Lots to experience in places like that. Not so sure about places like St. Kitt's.

[Rallytime1975]

Research the ports, then see which ones that you want to spend the money on.

 

We have gone to MANY ports and all we have done is walked around the city our selves and enjoyed it very much.

 

We quite enough more ports, you control how relaxing your trip is....

 

I say yes go for it, great ports and it will be great

[bonniemari]

We did the Southern on the Destiny in May and yes i will admit by the time we got to St Kitts we were pretty tired of the sun and beach. We had the Fan ta Sea excursion planned and cancelled it because we were just to tired to do another beach day. We ended up doing a 2 hr tour of St Kitts-which I might add is a beautiful place and I would love to go back for a land vacation.

 

We also took it easy the first day in St Thomas because we had been there several times before. But the other 4 ports were jammed packed full of fun and sun.

 

One MUST THING TO DO is the Cosol Tour in St Lucia-best tour we have ever taken. River tubing in Dominica was another highlight.

[Carolinamamasita]

I am doing this cruise next year , 2009 ,

for my birthday !!

so , as you can imagine ...

I am very interested in all this info too !! :cool:

[Lovely_Star]

We did the Western last year, doing the Eastern this year and were looking at Southern itineraries for a future cruise and this was the same exact issue I had with them. Regardless of the line most of the Southern itineraries I've looked at are all port intensive some with 1-2 sea days or even none at all! To me it just seems so exhaustive and I've said this before I feel like I would need a vacation from my vacation! I'm the type of person that would have to get off at each port and experience the island for myself just to say I was there and determine if I would want to go back. But if you can afford to stay at the departure port for a couple of days pre or post cruise it might give you a few days to relax.

[cruisetexas]

We did the Miracle this past February, and loved it. Two full sea days, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten, then two more sea days. It was perfect for us. I'm not sure if this cruise is offered any more, but it was a great eight day adventure.

[Carolinamamasita]

I really want to do the Southern Carribean route on Carnival but it includes a different port every day (St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbadas, Antigua, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts) For those of you who did this did you find it overwhelming? Are there any islands where it might be best to stay on the ship and relax? Any excursions that are an absolute must do? Also how does 10pm embarktion work? If you fly in the morning of do you have to wait around with your luggage all day or do they let you on earlier? Any advice is appreciated thanks!

 

According to Carnival you can board the ship early , they told me 2 pm

but Ive heard of people getting onboard before that too

 

Lido will be open ... buffet and pools , as well as beverage service and all !!

[KAWS]

I think the trick is to mix your excursions. Don't do all active or all beach excursions. Pace yourself with some variety.

 

We're taking this cruise next month and there's not a single sea day. At first I was concerned too but then thought it out and here's what we've come up with:

 

St. Thomas - Sonny Liston tour - site seeing, shopping, beach (6 hr. total)

 

Dominica - Reyno Tour - Rain Forest, Emerald Pool, Twin Trafalger Falls, Mr. Nice Fruit Stand hot Sulpher Pool (Volcanic Activity), Botanic Garden, (4 hr. total)

Barbados - Silver Moon catamaran (1/2 day tour)

St. Lucia - Cosol Tour or Herod (not sure yet which) - island tour (5-6 hr. total)

Antigua - Beach day at Dickenson's Beach - on our own at our own pace

St. Kitts - Beach day at Cockleshell Beach - on our own at our own pace

So, yes, we're going to be busy each day, but nothing is too strenuous or tiresome and we'll end our vacation laying on our backsides on the beach with cocktails in hand.

I can't wait!!

[TennisLover]

We did a southern caribbean very port-intensive cruise on Destiny in February. It can be exhausting. I would recommend picking a few ports where you definitely want to do excursions; just relax at the beach (or shop, whatever you like) at others.

 

We had an overnight in Dominican Republic -- the first day we arrived at 3 pm so my family decided to make that a sea day (our only one of the week). The next day (full day) in DR we got off and did a great beach excursion.

 

What not to miss? Barbados has a lot of fun things to do -- we had a great excursion where we swam with the sea turtles (among other things). In Dominica, you have to go on a hike -- do Middleham Falls if you can handle a big hike (with Levi Baron). More on this on the ports boards. I haven't been to Antigua and St. Lucia so I can't address those.

 

We loved the Southern Caribbean (and cruising from San Juan) and are doing it again in 09... but on RCI, which is only four ports in seven days.

[ChrissyBTX]

We did the Miracle this past February, and loved it. Two full sea days, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Maarten, then two more sea days. It was perfect for us. I'm not sure if this cruise is offered any more, but it was a great eight day adventure.

 

I'm going on this same cruise in two months w/ the exact same itinerary. I love the ports and I wish they would have an extra port instead of the 4 days at sea, but I'm still looking forward to it. Will be my first time to see St. Lucia and Kitts. Was in St. Maarten one time on my very first cruise back in the 80's so it will be almost like a new port for me.

 

To the OP - If you could let us know a little bit about what you like to do at the ports, it might help us to answer your questions a little better. If all you want to do is go to a beach, then I wouldn't recommend getting off at Dominica. The whole island is a tropical rain forest, very beautiful. You really need to take a tour to see anything there. But, if you're not into that, then you could stay on the ship and rest up that day. St. Thomas is a must (for me anyway). I get off the ship and immediately get on the ferry to take me to St. John. That's my favorite place to go. Love it. If you're looking to snorkel, some places are better than others. If you love beautiful beaches, then go to St. John. I had to go to Bottom Bay when I went to Barbados. It's on the east side of the island and it will take a while to get there, but if you're into beautiful beaches, that is the place to go. Some folks are interested in getting off the ship and hitting the first Margaritaville they can find and will be happy drinking all day. Not all of the islands have these. So,,,,it all depends on what you're looking for. If you go, I would not recommend staying up late at night on the ship. You'll definitely need to rest up each night.

 

But, southern caribbean cruises are my absolute favorites. I flew into San Juan two days before my last so. carib cruise and spent two full days in old SJ. I fell in love with that place. But, some people hate going there. Everyone's different. But, I would highly recommend trying it out. Each port will be different.

[SimplyAddicted]

I did the southern caribbean so much that I booked another southern caribbean the same year! The port days are my favorite and in the southern caribbean you cannot go wrong!!

[ShedQueen77]

Been there, done it! :)

 

Except for Barbados where we got married, we didn't spend an entire day in any port. We did the BOSS in St. Thomas, which was 4 hours. River tubing in Dominica, which was about 3 hours.....etc.... We picked one port (Antigua) as our non scheduled lazy day. We just went to the beach and bummed around.

 

Our plan was to experience both ports and the ship, which is sort of hard when you don't have any sea days (we had one on our itinerary). By doing what we did, we did just that.

[Maxax]

We did this two years ago and loved it! Would do it again in a second! It is port intensive...but its loads of fun having somewhere to be everyday...(if you want to). I however, couldn't imagine staying on the ship and skipping a port...especially if I'd never been there before!

[southbayer]

Yeah same here, done western and eastern, and now perhaps southern next year. I like to chill too, but also know, I can do as much or as little as I want.

 

So I'll do it, just to complete my caribe adventures.:cool:

We did the Western last year, doing the Eastern this year and were looking at Southern itineraries for a future cruise and this was the same exact issue I had with them. Regardless of the line most of the Southern itineraries I've looked at are all port intensive some with 1-2 sea days or even none at all! To me it just seems so exhaustive and I've said this before I feel like I would need a vacation from my vacation! I'm the type of person that would have to get off at each port and experience the island for myself just to say I was there and determine if I would want to go back. But if you can afford to stay at the departure port for a couple of days pre or post cruise it might give you a few days to relax.

[loveJake]

We did a 10 day southern in December from Fort Lauderdale and for us it was very relaxing. We had 6 ports, but also 3 full sea days. After 2 full days at sea we were ready to get off the ship then had 5 ports, a day at sea and princess Cays on Saturday before returning on Sunday. When I figured in the cost of air to PR it was cheaper to just fly to Florida and get 10 days of cruising vs 7. So for us the choice was easy. We really loved the southern.

[Sandytoes]

I really want to do the Southern Carribean route on Carnival but it includes a different port every day (St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbadas, Antigua, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts) For those of you who did this did you find it overwhelming? Are there any islands where it might be best to stay on the ship and relax? Any excursions that are an absolute must do? Also how does 10pm embarktion work? If you fly in the morning of do you have to wait around with your luggage all day or do they let you on earlier? Any advice is appreciated thanks!

 

Southern Cruise is my all time favorite.

 

All time favorite excursion has to be

swimming with wild sea turtles. The Best!!!! Barbados

 

St Lucia all time favorite Caribbean Island - too much to see and do.

Very Tropical.

 

Antigua - Great Catamaran excursion

 

St Thomas - Sapphire Beach

Snorkelling - relaxing - the views

 

not sure about the other Islands - never been there. Would like to one day.

[FunShipFan]

I was on the Destiny in May. As someone who enjoys sea days, a cruise without any isn't one I would normally pick but I let my friend choose since it was her first cruise. It was a great cruise! I agree with the above poster who said to pace yourself. We did an excursion in each port, but they were not all day so we still had time to relax. We did the Godrey tour in St. Thomas, river tubing in Dominica with Wacky Rollers, the Carnival bike and beach tour in Barbados, the aerial tram in St. Lucia (very relaxing), the mini-boats in Antigua and the railway in St. Kitts (also very relaxing.) We even did the segway tour in San Juan the day we disembarked, before we went to the airport! Just research the ports and decide what you want to do to maximize your enjoyment and not waste time trying to decide what to do. I am looking forward to sea days on my next cruise but I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat!