Southern Caribbean itinerary change for Dec 2011

[lovevacadays]

It looks like Princess is shaking up the two itineraries they typically do to the Southern Caribbean for fall/winter 2011. I am planning on doing a South Carib cruise but really liked one of the current itineraries that included both St Lucia and Barbados as these are the two islands I most wanted to see. For late 2011 they have two itineraries - one with St Lucia and one with Barbados but none together. Which itinerary would you choose and why?

 

Cruise 1: St Maarten, St Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba

Or

Cruise 2: St Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica and Barbados.

 

Thanks

[Near PDX]

Have you looked at the Emerald 10 day? It appears to go to both St Lucia and Barbados on the same cruise. Getting to Florida is not as bad as going to San Juan forthose of us in the Pacific Northwest.

[jagoffee]

It looks like Princess is shaking up the two itineraries they typically do to the Southern Caribbean for fall/winter 2011. I am planning on doing a South Carib cruise but really liked one of the current itineraries that included both St Lucia and Barbados as these are the two islands I most wanted to see. For late 2011 they have two itineraries - one with St Lucia and one with Barbados but none together. Which itinerary would you choose and why?

 

Cruise 1: St Maarten, St Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba

Or

Cruise 2: St Thomas, Tortola, Antigua, Dominica and Barbados.

 

Thanks

 

If I had to pick, I would pick Cruise one because I try to avoid St. Thomas and Antigua. Although I love Tortola. Put Tortola in cruise 1 and take out Grenada and it would be perfect. Beaches and snorkeling.

[Rick03Ultra]

If I had to pick, I would pick Cruise one because I try to avoid St. Thomas and Antigua. Although I love Tortola. Put Tortola in cruise 1 and take out Grenada and it would be perfect. Beaches and snorkeling.

 

We are planning on visiting these two islands on our next cruise. What reasons or problems do you have with St Thomas and Antigua? Thanks for any and all input, we welcome all comments.

[lovevacadays]

Have you looked at the Emerald 10 day? It appears to go to both St Lucia and Barbados on the same cruise. Getting to Florida is not as bad as going to San Juan forthose of us in the Pacific Northwest.

 

I have but not sure if I want to do a 10 day. And, I agree, I am not too excited about the long flight to San Juan. I noticed the Crown Princess is doing a 7 day out of FLL and is going to Aruba and Curacao but does have 3 sea days. I love sea days but not sure if I want that many. Decisions, decisions.

[mytime53]

We would prefer not to return to Antigua, but since we want to return to Dominica, I guess we'll be returning to Antigua!

 

I would suggest you decide what you most want to do on each island, and then rank which itin. gives you the most bang for the buck! Of all the islands listed, we most want to return to Bonaire and Dominica for the snorkeling we did in both spots, so if those 2 were on the same itin., it would be an easy choice. Since they aren't, if I only had 1 week I'd go by criteria like price, convenience of the date(s), and what I wanted to do in other ports. And then plan the other itin. for the following year!