Where in the Caribbean would you not want to go?

[dutchiegirl6]

costa maya was a dump...bees buzzing all over the beach..and one big hut with tourist crap in it!!!

 

It's funny to see how different people have different opinions. Costa Maya was one of my favorite ports. Went to see some mayan ruins in the morning and took a taxi to Mahajual (little fishing village) in the afternoon. It was perfect. We even went through the town and met some of the locals.

 

I also love St. Lucia, Dominica, Belize and Old San Juan.

 

I wouldn't want to go back to Nassau or the Dominican Republic again.

[crazy cajun]

I don't like Freeport. Nassau is my 2nd least favorite. In fact, I didn't bother getting off the ship in Nassau last time (been there, done that multiple times!)

 

I spent a week in Costa Rica some years ago and LOVED it! The people were very nice, and the scenery was beautiful. It is a very poor third-world country, though, and you will see a lot of poverty among the gorgeous landscapes.

 

The biggest crime there is petty theft. Or at least it was when I visited. It's sort understood that if you don't protect your stuff (i.e. burglar bars on your house), then you can expect to lose it.

 

While I was there, one lady approached me and told me to tuck my necklace into my T-shirt so that no one would grab it. Apparently, the big thing at the time was thieves snatching necklaces, then swallowing them if they thought they were going to get caught.

 

The banks and airport Customs had guards armed with machine guns! You better believe no one was going to be stupid enough to hold up a bank there! Also, everyone drove like maniacs, which made for some very hair-raising adventures threw downtown San Jose and up the mountains. :eek:

 

Hubby and I spent one day wandering downtown and shopping in the market area. Around lunch time, we were famished, and as we passed by a food vendor's cart, we smelled something delicious. So we stopped, got a sort of meat kabob and soft tortilla from the vendor, then continued on our way. When we got back to our friend's house where we were staying, she told us "I forgot to warn you - don't eat anything off the street vendors' carts!" :confused:

 

When we asked "why," she said, it's because there's not USDA in Costa Rica (duh!) and you never know WHAT kind of meat you're going to get! Ooops! Oh well, neither of us got sick, so we just took an approach of "what we don't know won't hurt us." LOL!

Our tour guide in CR took us all around and showed us some great places and also some not so great . but we had told him that we wanted to see how the people lived . he took us to a non tourist cafe and we had some fantastic food.

Then he warned us about eating from the carts . he said they like to serve (tourist chicken) AKA iguana.

i asked if he had ever eaten iguana ? he said yes and it was good,

He told us once you spice it up that you can't tell the difference in iguana and chicken.

Have to try some tourist chicken next time!

[Kurbanfan]

It's true that you cannot judge an entire country based on its port. Have you ever been to the port of Long Beach or LA? Not very nice! I wouldn't wander around there...

 

 

 

LOL! So true!........that's why they are embarking/debarking ports only......unlike San Diego:D

[Islandbear]

Our tour guide in CR took us all around and showed us some great places and also some not so great . but we had told him that we wanted to see how the people lived . he took us to a non tourist cafe and we had some fantastic food.

Then he warned us about eating from the carts . he said they like to serve (tourist chicken) AKA iguana.

i asked if he had ever eaten iguana ? he said yes and it was good,

He told us once you spice it up that you can't tell the difference in iguana and chicken.

Have to try some tourist chicken next time!

I am with you! Not eating in the Caribbean would ruin the trip for me. I love street vendors and small restaurants.

 

THE BEST STREET MEAT IN ST. LUCIA.... Anse La Raye Friday Night Jump Up! Click here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf9Ry373kCo

[diathoney]

I'd rather not go back to Jamaica, Freeport or the Dominican Republic.

Both are beautiful as long as you stay inside the fenced area guarded by the guys with the guns...

 

For some others we've been to, the port may not be so nice, but the island/area is worth the visit. Like Belize, we leave the city and it's beautiful. St. Thomas, we go to St. Johns.

old San Juan, PR is pretty cool. We like to ride the Segways or get out of the town to the beaches. For Nassau, we go to a beach or Atlantis (yes it's touristy, but I'm from FL and love it) I never thought I'd see a pink palace bigger than the Don Cesar on St. Pete beach!

I love all the ports in Mexico - Cozumel and Costa Maya are favorites.

 

Grand Cayman, St. Lucia, Tortola, Grand Turk, Bonaire and Aruba, Tobago all are worth the trip for scenery, diving and beaches. Margarita off Venezuela was very cool - very unspoiled.

I'll find out about Antigua next March!

[kyrisong1]

At the moment the only regular ports I would feel uncomfortable in are Cartagena Columbia and Maiquetía (Caracas) Venezuela. Carnival doesn't sail to either at this time. I might consider removing Cartagena from the list as drug related violence and kidnappings have been steadily falling in Columbia for several years now. While I eschew mainland Venezuela, I would enjoy a call on Isla Margarita.

 

As for the other usual supects like Jamaica, Roatan and Colon Panama, I have no safety issues with any of them at this time, and do not forsee any issues in the near future.

We were in Catagena on a X cruise a couple years ago, I felt very safe, they did have Military everywhere the cruise passengers were and they totally watched out for us.

It is a beautiful city seeped in rich history, I kinda feel sorry for people that miss it.

The most alarming part of the whole excursion was the instruments used in the Spanish Inquistion, wow what a chilling feeling seeing that stuff!!!

The buildings all had hanging plants and colorful beautiful flowers, they had all kinds of iron sculptures in the town middle. The forts were awesome.

I will admit the vendors were rather in your face and the tour guides advice is to just not make eye contact with them.

You should try it once, you might enjoy yourself!!!

BTW in Roatan (which carnival does stop) there were also Officers with LARGE guns watching over the tourists.

Cheers, Carole

[GOLDENBONNY]

Antigua:eek: I would never leave the ship againe)

People whats wrong with Jamaica?We loved this island.yes,we took cab to shopping mall,and yes,we took cruise excursion to falls,but we never had any problem not with people not with drugs offers.

[yst347]

You should try it once, you might enjoy yourself!!!

 

Cheers, Carole

 

Hi Carole, I have been to Cartagena before, both on a trans-canal cruise and as a tourist during a business trip to not too distand Maracaibo Venezuala in the 1980's. The town is as you describe, quaint and steeped in history. Its history is what drew me in the first place. Perhaps you missed it or havn't gotten that far but I posted later on this thread why I would not go to Cartagena, and all of Columbia for that matter at this time. North Americans are at risk for kidnapping. The situation in Columbia has improved dramatically these last few years so as I said before, it may be time to reconsider my personal travel ban to Columbia.

[browneyes7]

Everyone is different. I thought I would hate Jamaice from these boards, but Ocho Rios was actually our favorite port on our last cruise. I thought Grand Cayman was over-rated and over-priced. Would I go back? Sure. But it wasn't a highlight. I probably would have enjoyed Cozumel normally, but it was so hurricane ravaged that it was just depressing to look at. I'll try it again in a few years.

 

Ports can be misleading. Calica looked like a dump, but I had a great time in Playa del Carmen. Most of the countries of the Caribbean are third world, but if you can look past that and enjoy the beautiful scenery and how unique it is to encounter different cultures, it's a lot of fun.

 

Cozumel has improved immensely since the hurricane. I also LOVE Playa del Carmen!!:)

[Bela]

Not into Bahamas. DH and I have been 3 or 4 times. Bad service/Bad attitudes/Slowwwwwww (BTW: I'm all about relaxing)

 

I have really enjoyed Jamaica all 3 times, but mostly loved Ocho Rios for Dunns River Falls and a couple of great restaurants. Grand Cayman has beautiful beach and awesome swimming with the stingrays (Don't go on HUGE boat tour--stick to a smaller private one).

 

St Martin/St Maarten, Aruba and Bermuda are favorites, but also truly enjoy St Thomas, Beliz, Roatan, Cozumel (has a huge variety of shore excursion activities) and San Juan.

 

We like a variety of physical activities and informational city tours. A little shopping is fine, but that's not my all-day plan. Think about what YOU enjoy doing in ports. Then there are best suggestions for which port has those. (ie St Thomas for shopping)

 

 

~GG

[Heirloom]

How about the ones with the highest MURDER rates ????

(somehow, we think that might be an intelligent consideration).

 

You decide what murder rate to draw the line at !! Let's see.......for us, we've concluded that anything more than TRIPLE the U.S. murder rate is off-limits to us, regardless of how beautiful our scenic photos might be.

 

Others with lots of bravery and adventurism might consider places like lovely Jamaica, e.g., which has EIGHT times the U.S. murder rate.

 

To each his/her own !

 

http://gocaribbean.about.com/od/healthandsafety/a/CaribMurder.htm

[shawnie]

Antigua:eek: I would never leave the ship againe)

People whats wrong with Jamaica?We loved this island.yes,we took cab to shopping mall,and yes,we took cruise excursion to falls,but we never had any problem not with people not with drugs offers.

 

I agree, whats wrong with Jamaica? Its probably as safe as any other island or town/city in the US or Canada for that matter. If your in a port town like Ocho Rios or Montego Bay you'll have no problems. Its outside those areas in the little shanty towns that I would be a little more cautious, places most tourists never get too anyway. Yes, you'll be harassed to buy everything and anything under the sun but a simple no thank-you while continuing to walk solves that. I've been going to Jamaica doing both land vacations and port stops since I was a kid and never once have we ever had a problem, of any kind. Jamaica has been stereotyped as a dangerous/unsafe place for years because of hearsay and because of people who go there and experience some sort of culture shock. Its like anywhere you go, if your polite to them they'll be polite to you!!

 

Hearing all these comments and negativity towards Jamaica being a least favorite port kinda hits a sore spot with me. Thats just my opinion so no need to flame.

[shawnie]

How about the ones with the highest MURDER rates ????

(somehow, we think that might be an intelligent consideration).

 

You decide what murder rate to draw the line at !! Let's see.......for us, we've concluded that anything more than TRIPLE the U.S. murder rate is off-limits to us, regardless of how beautiful our scenic photos might be.

 

Others with lots of bravery and adventurism might consider places like lovely Jamaica, e.g., which has EIGHT times the U.S. murder rate.

 

To each his/her own !

 

http://gocaribbean.about.com/od/healthandsafety/a/CaribMurder.htm

 

Your right, to each their own but the high majority of those murders in Jamaica are in areas 99% of tourists never go and is usually directed towards each other and not the tourists. The 1% that do get into these areas ARE the brave and adventurist, like you said, and are asking for their own trouble. Jamaica is no different than any other Caribbean Island or place in the world for that matter. You just have to always be alert and stay away from areas that look shady or unsafe. Do that and you'll be fine!!

[Aplmac]

Your right, to each their own

but the high majority of those murders in Jamaica are in areas 99% of tourists never go

and is usually directed towards each other and not the tourists.

The 1% that do get into these areas ARE the brave and adventurist, like you said,

and are asking for their own trouble.

Jamaica is no different than any other Caribbean Island or place in the world for that matter.

You just have to always be alert and stay away from areas that look shady or unsafe.

Do that and you'll be fine!!

That's right.

Most murders in the Caribbean islands are simply lower-life-forms eliminating other lower-life-forms ;)

i.e. druggie vs. druggie settling scores, and self-eliminating.

 

At the risk of sounding cynical, it's often seen locally as a positive social process..

even though the figures get to be alarming and the negative PR scares people. :)

 

Don't let it worry you.

Stick with the tour, and keep your normal big-city street smarts turned on.

 

You're not in Heaven(not yet) -you're in the Caribbean, nothing more than that.. ;)

Welcome to reality.

 

.

[happycruiser1231]

"My favorite port so far has been Tortola."

 

I have an aunt who lives in Tortola, its an amazing place and you can tour the entire place by your self because the island is small and the pop in total is about 3 thousand.

 

Great beaches by the way.

[Jill_GA]

Its actually Kingston, Jamaica that has the astronimical murder rate. Even the tour books tell you to avoid certain places in Kingston and to generally avoid it at night.

We went there to Ocho Rios and stayed at an all-inclusive. We had a private driver to and from the airport and to the Dunn's Rivers falls. We really didn't have many problems but were offered drugs constantly. Even my kids (ages 14 and 17) were offered a lot and that was on the AI property!! My oldest son was a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing but I didn't mind too much. I'm from Miami, so that scene really didn't faze me.

[CRUISE2062]

You didn't like Costa Maya because you didn't get out of the tourist trap. Grab a bus, go a couple of miles south to Mahaual and enjoy. It was probably my most favorite off ship day! So, beautiful and realxing. This was before the hurricane so I can't vouch for it now but I am looking forward to my next visit.

 

Ocho Rios is also one of my favorites!!! Any port/island is what you make of it. I had a wonderful guide (Glenn/My Gal) and never felt uncomfortable at all. In fact, we looked him up on our second trip to Ocho Rios and had a fabulous time again!

[LemurCat]

Actually it could. The important point you made is properly cooked (and handled). My son is a surigical nurse that assisted at an operation on a man who ate undercooked meat in a third world country. They removed a parasite from his brain that was still alive. The man did not make it. Before people start saying that is 1 in ----, maybe it is. But my family has had several weird medical things happen that were 1 in---so we just avoid eating on shore. Of course, they are always bugs, etc. We take precautions for my family because we are weird medically.

 

And that can happen in the US. E coli in your peanut butter crackers; undercooked chicken from Boston Market giving people food poisoning, salmonella from food workers not washing their hands properly ... you name it, it can happen here just as well as the third world. Now granted, we don't have some of the more exotic parasite. ;) We're weird medically as well, so I make it a point of watching my street meat get prepared and asking a lot of questions and using my nose. If it looks bad or smells bad or feels bad, I'm outta there.

[Kurbanfan]

Jamaica is no different than any other Caribbean Island or place in the world for that matter. You just have to always be alert and stay away from areas that look shady or unsafe. Do that and you'll be fine!!

 

As far as crime rate:confused: You are kidding right:confused:

[1BDNANA]

My favs are Cozumel & St Thomas..I will pass on Cartagena Columbia .Other than for the ransom they can get they don't like americans much.