Which ports to go to?

[StorkRN]

Looking for a cruise for Feb or March 2011. We have been to St Thomas, Tortola, San Juan, St Martin, & Bahamas. Loved all of them! Wanted to try somewhere different, however, not sure where to go. I have heard a lot of negative about the Western Caribbean - Jamaica is dangerous, Belize has nothing there exciting, Roatan the same..... Not helping my decision! Wanted something with Caymans, Aruba - but again, not a lot of positive... For those who have been cruising millions of times, what is your favorite & why??? This is only cruise #3 for us...very inexperienced. Looking for 6-8 days...any line as we have only been on RC. Carnival does seem to be the cheapest, but what are we giving up? When in port we like to site see, shop, & maybe grab a drink at a local watering hole...Thanks ahead of time for your info!!! :rolleyes:

[GTO-Girl]

Looking for a cruise for Feb or March 2011. We have been to St Thomas, Tortola, San Juan, St Martin, & Bahamas. Loved all of them! Wanted to try somewhere different, however, not sure where to go. I have heard a lot of negative about the Western Caribbean - Jamaica is dangerous, Belize has nothing there exciting, Roatan the same..... Not helping my decision! Wanted something with Caymans, Aruba - but again, not a lot of positive... For those who have been cruising millions of times, what is your favorite & why??? This is only cruise #3 for us...very inexperienced. Looking for 6-8 days...any line as we have only been on RC. Carnival does seem to be the cheapest, but what are we giving up? When in port we like to site see, shop, & maybe grab a drink at a local watering hole...Thanks ahead of time for your info!!! :rolleyes:

 

As far as Eastern, Western, Southern.....you will find many varied opinions. We have done each and much prefer the Eastern & Southern. We did not care for the Western at all and have no plans to visit it again, but then again some people love it.

 

We have sailed several lines and have found that RC is the best fit for us, but have no complaints with any of the Carnival cruises we have been on. I think you just have to try them and decided for yourself. Remember on any cruiseline the shorter cruises (3-5 days) tend to be the smaller, older ships and are usually not a good example of what that line has to offer.

 

Hope this helps somewhat......

[Trevoli]

How about Bermuda? I think those sailings are out of NY.

[Keith1010]

Trvoli, Bermuda is great but not in that time frame.

 

I would look at the Western Caribbaean but try to find an itinerarary that does not include Jamaica. I very much like Grand Cayman and Key West and Cozumel which are typical of the Western Caribbean itineraries.

 

Another option is the Southern Caribbean.

 

Bermuda is great but I would go there in say June.

 

Keith

[Host Kewlguy]

Since we are beach people we love Antigua, Barbados and Grand Cayman.

[Putterdude]

We quite enjoyed Princess's Caribbean Collection which a 14 day junket to the southern Caribbean out to FFL.

[cb at sea]

Since it's the SHIP we're paying to use, the ports are just little "extras"...if I was really into a specific place, I'd take a week long vacation there. All you get from a cruise (as far as ports go) is a tease....so we really don't care much about the ports, as long as it's warm, sunny and pretty!

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

Since it's the SHIP we're paying to use, the ports are just little "extras"...if I was really into a specific place, I'd take a week long vacation there. All you get from a cruise (as far as ports go) is a tease....so we really don't care much about the ports, as long as it's warm, sunny and pretty!

 

 

While that may be true for some people, lots of people do cruise for the ports...you have plenty of opportunity to see the port and do an excursion or walk around, whatever you choose to do. While I love the ship, I cruise for the ports.

 

As for my favorites so far...Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan (here we just took an island tour, but I have heard it has become more commercialized since we were last there), Bermuda. Up next we are going back to GC and adding Jamaica and Key West. I have heard bad things about Jamaica, but we are doing a planned excursion that has gotten lots of positive reviews. I'm willing to try any of them once.

[KKB]

Cruise lines would not cruise to ports that are dangerous. ANYWHERE can be dangerous if you don't take precautions.

Ocho Rios--once I did the Dunn's River Falls ship excursion (a MUST for first timers). Then I walked from the ship to the shopping area alone...never once felt insecure. (stayed on the main road) Second time did ship excursion to ziplining--OMG, FANTASTIC. HOOKED on ziplining now.

Gr. Cayman we weren't impressed with either time. But we didn't hit a beach...heard good things about the beach.

Cozumel--LOVE Paradise Beach here. Hit it both times. Inexpensive cab ride there, chairs free.

Southern Caribbean gets LOTS of kudos for their ports (Aruba, Curacao, etc.)

[Shifra]

The western caribbean is my least favorite but I really like Jamaica. I have always enjoyed the island and people, and I have always felt safe. There are lots of things to do as previous poster mentioned.

[sail7seas]

We love Southern Caribbean ports...... The ABC's are fabulous islands.

 

Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao..... All Dutch and all outstanding IMO We were in those islands again in May and had wonderful time. Gorgeous weather, nice people, clean, great shopping in Aruba and Curacao, beautiful beaches, aqua/turquoise water. Beautiful.

 

 

Look at Noordam, Maasdam itineraries. They have nice itineraries.

 

[broberts]

Haven't cruised millions of times, sadly not even close to it. One of my favorite cruises was 10 days Cartagena, Aruba, Panama Canal Gatun Lake & Colon, Puerto Limon and Grand Cayman.

 

Loved Cartagena. The old city is reminiscent of Old San Juan but magnificently different.

 

Had one of my best snorkeling experiences in Aruba. Not terribly impressed with downtown Oranjestad. But nothing wrong with it.

 

We only traversed the Atlantic side locks (Gatun locks) of the Panama Canal but the experience was wonderful.

 

I quite liked my time in Puerto Limon but I suspect I'm in the minority.

 

Grand Cayman has good snorkeling, a nice shopping district and, of course, Seven Mile Beach. A wonderful port.

[Roz]

Holland America has some very interesting Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries that include islands such as Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados, the ABCs as Sail just mentioned a few posts back, Martinique, etc.

 

Roz

[Calebo]

We are doing a b2b on Feb 11, 2011, on the Westerdam, the ports look like great choices. HMC, Grand Turks, San Juan, Aruba, St Maartenns, Curacao.

Either half of the b2b looks great to me.

[goatgoat]

Looking for a cruise for Feb or March 2011. We have been to St Thomas, Tortola, San Juan, St Martin, & Bahamas. Loved all of them! Wanted to try somewhere different, however, not sure where to go. I have heard a lot of negative about the Western Caribbean - Jamaica is dangerous, Belize has nothing there exciting, Roatan the same..... Not helping my decision! Wanted something with Caymans, Aruba - but again, not a lot of positive... For those who have been cruising millions of times, what is your favorite & why??? This is only cruise #3 for us...very inexperienced. Looking for 6-8 days...any line as we have only been on RC. Carnival does seem to be the cheapest, but what are we giving up? When in port we like to site see, shop, & maybe grab a drink at a local watering hole...Thanks ahead of time for your info!!! :rolleyes:

 

In Jamaica, the locals will really hound you to buy their goods (surround your car, etc.). That is my only complaint. It is a beautiful island.

 

Outside of the ones you have already visited, I really like the Caymans. Some light shopping and a taxi to one of the top beaches in the world makes the day. Last time we were there the water felt like you bathtub and underwater visability was 200 feet. If you like to snorkel, it is awesome.

 

Also, Roatan has some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean but not much else. It is a beach day via excursion. The pier is pretty far from the nice beach.

 

Just visited Grand Turk for the first time in May and it is now one of my new favorites! There isn't much there so no fancy excursions. At the pier there are some fairly new shops where you can spend a few dollars and there is Jimmy Buffet's Marguaritaville with an enormous resort style pool. You can spend the afternoon there or at the beach which has hundreds of lounge chairs with nice cushions. Some in the open and some are under palm trees. The waiters from Marguaritaville circulate the best taking drink orders. Only cost is food and beverages. They also had some nice snorkeling.

 

Given what you enjoy, you also might consider Key West. We walked off the ship, took a little train/trolley to see the city and hear about the history. Then we shopped down the one main street with lots of art galleries. Ended up in one of several bars for a couple of beverages and some nice live entertainment.

 

I also favor any cruise that has a private beach day!