help on itinerary choice

[goat rancher]

We are having a really hard time sorting through the Caribbean itineraries.....

We have figured out that what we are looking for is a 14 day cruise...

and have narrowed itineraries down somewhat....but so very confused because the only ports we've been to are Nassau, Aruba and Cartagena...so very little experience with most of the Caribbean...

We don't scuba...we don't shop for duty free things, just trinkets...we like a nice mix of cultural things, beaches, natural beauty

We found two itineraries which COULD fit the bill, but find so much mixed reviews of the ports that we are terminally confused:eek:.

Which itinerary has the MOST good vs. bad ports:

1) Roundtrip out of San Juan, Puerto Rico

St. Thomas--Dominica--Grenada--Bonaire--Aruba--sea day--San Juan--St. Thomas (again!)--Tortola--Antigua--St. Lucia--Barbados--sea day

 

OR

 

2) Roundtrip out of Ft. Lauderdale

sea day--sea day--Aruba--Curacao--sea day--Trinidad--Barbados---St. Vincent--St. Kitts--St Thomas--sea day?? (unclear on the itinerary schedule)--Grand Turk--sea day

 

3) Back to Back ....I don't remember the exact itinerary...but each leg has 2 sea days, three ports (the first leg has Colon, Limon and Belize, the second has St. Martin, and 2 other islands with "St._____" in them, just can't remember now which ones they were) and 2 more sea days so that the total ports are SIX, 3 central america/3 caribbean and the total sea days are EIGHT..plus have one turnaround day at home port.....

 

Also....for those who have flown in to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a cruise, was the extra flying etc. WORTH it as far as the itinerary you got??

 

Thanks so much for any help anyone can give....my mind is warped from researching this and I'm not making much headway:p

[Almost Packed]

i too am interested in this.....anxiously awaiting some info...

thanks in advance.

[suech]

Hi Goat Rancher, can only give you my personal opinion and can't exempt any liability if you hate it! . We seem to like a mix of the same things, however, beaches, bit of culture and nature. So I would go with intinery 1 from Puerto Rico. I can't comment on San Juan, St thomas or Bonaire, never been but would be on my hit list if I returned! The rest I would return to in a heartbeat!

Dominica is a island with nothing but natures beauty. Spent a day with Levi Baron this year and drove from one end of the island to the other to do a trip up the Indian river, was awesome! The widelife was fantastic, seemed to be on another planet! No good beaches here though, but plenty of other islands on the itinery covered on that score.

Grenada, also another good nature island, with loads to do, from hiking to river tubing to lying on Grand Anse beach with bottle of Carib, the later being MY choice. Great and colourful town and spice market, very loud and busy but the people are so friendly.

Tortola, great walk around port for your trinket shopping. Catch a ferry to Virgin Gorda and see the wonderful caves, or catch a cab to the stunning Cane Garden Bay, either way you will not be disappointed.

Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados all offer everything you're looking from horse riding, to drive in volcano's, to waterfalls, from desserted beaches to bustling markets.

Thats just my opinion, hope it helps and you have a great time. Ohh I so wanna go back now!

[aquatot11]

It looks like #s 1 and 3 are back to back from San Juan. My choice would be the 14 night from Ft. Lauderdale. Airfare could be a determining factor.

 

Check the Celebrity Constellation "Exotic Caribbean" 14 night from Miami. We're sailing on it in January.

 

Charlie

[sallycruiser06]

We are having a really hard time sorting through the Caribbean itineraries.....

We have figured out that what we are looking for is a 14 day cruise...

and have narrowed itineraries down somewhat....but so very confused because the only ports we've been to are Nassau, Aruba and Cartagena...so very little experience with most of the Caribbean...

We don't scuba...we don't shop for duty free things, just trinkets...we like a nice mix of cultural things, beaches, natural beauty

We found two itineraries which COULD fit the bill, but find so much mixed reviews of the ports that we are terminally confused:eek:.

Which itinerary has the MOST good vs. bad ports:

1) Roundtrip out of San Juan, Puerto Rico

St. Thomas--Dominica--Grenada--Bonaire--Aruba--sea day--San Juan--St. Thomas (again!)--Tortola--Antigua--St. Lucia--Barbados--sea day

 

OR

 

2) Roundtrip out of Ft. Lauderdale

sea day--sea day--Aruba--Curacao--sea day--Trinidad--Barbados---St. Vincent--St. Kitts--St Thomas--sea day?? (unclear on the itinerary schedule)--Grand Turk--sea day

 

3) Back to Back ....I don't remember the exact itinerary...but each leg has 2 sea days, three ports (the first leg has Colon, Limon and Belize, the second has St. Martin, and 2 other islands with "St._____" in them, just can't remember now which ones they were) and 2 more sea days so that the total ports are SIX, 3 central america/3 caribbean and the total sea days are EIGHT..plus have one turnaround day at home port.....

 

Also....for those who have flown in to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a cruise, was the extra flying etc. WORTH it as far as the itinerary you got??

 

Thanks so much for any help anyone can give....my mind is warped from researching this and I'm not making much headway:p

 

Hi Goat Rancher,

As mentioned by the OP ,this is my opinion only. We too like to go to the beach,shop a bit ,maybe go on a catarmarran to go snorkeling. We have flown to San Juan with RCC and did not enjoy the experience at all. In fact my DH and I have vowed to never fly in/ out of there again. San Juan would be OK to dock at but they really are not set up to get tourists to and from the airport with your luggage in a timely maner. Very disorganized. On arrival, their bus driver told us to get off the bus, in the dark and we had to walk to our hotel, without knowing where the heck we were. Very scarey!

I would choose option 2 just because the other thing we like about cruising is the opportunity to actually relax a bit and we love seadays. Curacao is one of our all time favorites...good shopping, pretty,pretty place. Very European feeling. Barbados has lots of history and a great tour to a rum facory, and an opportunity to have lunch in the first house built by Europeans. Very interesting. The rest of the stops will give you a good mix of beach and greenery, just in case you like walking/hiking.

You just need to remember , that whatever you choose, a bad day at sea is always better than a good day on land..the point is you will be cruising!

Have a great trip

Suzanne

[chachi]

I like the ports better on the Puerto Rico cruise, but would definately look into Fort Lauderdale if there is a significant price difference in airfare. They all look good though.