Which Caribbean B2B to Choose?

Looking for any advice from those with Caribbean experience on which of these B2B's you would choose:

A - The Caribbean Princess Oct 18 - Oct 28 plus Oct 28 - Nov 11. This one is 24 days for slightly less money than the other option and includes Trinidad, a place I'm curious about. The cons are that it repeats 5 ports when sailed as a B2B.

B - The Crown Princess Nov 17 - Nov 27 plus Nov 27 - Dec 7. This one is 20 days instead of 24 but is slightly more costly. However it only repeats 2 ports when sailed as a B2B and includes Grand Turk, another place I'm curious about.

I guess not being able to decide is a nice problem to have, but I would appreciate any advice.

I would prefer the Crown cruises.

1) I like the Crown better.

2) I like the later time period, Thanksgiving at sea.

3) I like the later time period, a slightly less risk of hurricane.

4) I've been to almost every port in the Caribbean, so return ports are no big deal... We treat them like a day at sea OR we visit them twice in a close time period.--- Maybe go back to the same bar to see if we can get the "regulars" discount.

I might be able to tell you better in a couple months after we do our Caribbean Princess sailing...however, some thoughts.

The Caribbean Princess is an older ship but was refurbished in 2017. She currently is having some sort of engine propulsion problem which will not be fixed until a 2019 dry dock. This has resulted in some ports being changed and some being missed. She was the first Princess ship we sailed. There are some odd things about the layout, but overall we were very pleased.

The Crown Princess is a slightly newer ship but her last major refurbishment was longer ago (2011 according to one web site). I've never been on this ship.

I would consider how many of the ports are tender ports. These are very weather dependent, so don't count on getting in. The later you get into the year, the cooler the water temperature will be. This means less chance of tropical storms and hurricanes, but also means the water may be less pleasant for swimming or snorkeling. We LOVE September cruises as we still have the warm weather and water without the crowds or prices of summer cruises. On the other hand, we've had very pleasant December cruises. Your November dates include Thanksgiving which in part explains the higher cost and may result in more families with kids on board. Just some things to consider.

Overall, I'm with "longer is better." Given the dates and the holiday, I'd probably go with the Caribbean Princess. Just be aware of the chance of missed or shortened ports.

I believe the first option is the b2b we just did. The 14 day Circle the Caribbean and the 10 day partial transit of the new lochs. If so, it was great.

I believe the first option is the b2b we just did. The 14 day Circle the Caribbean and the 10 day partial transit of the new lochs. If so, it was great.

Agree with the above ... good value on a nice ship. (y)

Thanks for letting me know about the Caribbean Princess issues. With 5 repeat ports on that itinerary and the known risk of missing other ports due to the propulsion issues, I'm going to rule that one out. I've sailed the Crown before and enjoyed her. According to what I've seen on the internet, the Crown will go through drydock in April 2018, well before my potential November B2B. So it's the Crown for me, I think. Thanks for the info!

If it matters to you, the Crown should also have the unlimited internet available after the dry dock.