Southern itinerary-best places?

[SugarStar00]

I've been on two cruises, western and eastern caribbean and now I'd like to do a southern caribbean cruise, but not sure which places to head to. I'm seeing itineraries with aruba, bonaire, curacao, dominican, st.kitts, st.lucia, antigua etc. I can't do them all, so just curious what everyone's favorite southern caribbean islands are. Also, what are people experiences leaving from Puerto Rico? I'm intimidated to fly into there, but it seems like I can see more islands if I go that route. Please share your thoughts!

 

ps we are looking to go end of March 2012 if that make a difference.

 

Thanks!

[RebelSoul]

I have flown into San Juan twice, both times for cruises. DH and I flew in last month for a cruise on the CB. I've loved it both times. Never had any issues. We found everyone hospitable. We didn't have any problems getting a taxi from the airport to our hotel or to venture out anywhere. Can you be a little more specific as to what you may be intimidated by as it may help me understand and give you some more specific advice.

 

I have not been to Aruba or Curacao but we are booked on the Crown for those islands in December. Antigua, St Kitts, and St Lucia are all beautiful islands. Dominican Republic was okay, but I have not been there in quite a few years. Have not done Bonaire but looking to book a cruise for 2013 that stops there.

[Liz54]

Great but BIG question. Depends on what you like to do in port. We just did a 10 day that included Bonnaire, Grenada, and Dominica. BEST snorkeling in Bonnaire and loved the land tours - spices, cooking etc in the others. It was our best cruise ever.

 

But we really dislike shopping and are irked with the endless diamond selling in many caribbean ports. I have heard others disappointed that those I mentioned here were dull and dowdy.

 

it depends.....

[Cruzin-K]

My faves are Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua.

 

Didn't care too much for St. Kitts or Dominica.

 

Traveling from San Juan is a breeze. I've done it three times - the Southern islands are wonderful. Fly in a day or two before and explore Old San Juan. Taxis are plentiful and seem to cost about $20 no matter where you're going in SJ. Fares are fixed from the airport to your hotel and the Old Town area. Just tell the person standing at the taxi stand where you want to go and he gives you a piece of paper to give to the cab driver with the fare and destination. easy peasy. My fare was around $20 from the airport to the Marriott Resort.

 

I took a cab from my hotel to the pier, another $20 or so and checked in bright and early. I was first on board the Serenade of the Seas last year.

[SugarStar00]

I guess I'm afraid that everything is going to be in Spanish and I wont have a clue where to go or what to do! Silly I'm sure, but just makes me nervous.

 

As far as what we do in ports, we like relaxing beach days (maybe an all inclusive), maybe some snorkeling off shore, I'd like to try parasailing. In the past we've done a lot of excursions with animals, horseback riding, sealion swim, stingray swim etc. Not big shoppers, a little sightseeing is nice, but I dont want to spend my whole day in a cab or bus.

 

Thanks for the responses!

[madthumper]

I guess I'm afraid that everything is going to be in Spanish and I wont have a clue where to go or what to do! Silly I'm sure, but just makes me nervous.

 

As far as what we do in ports, we like relaxing beach days (maybe an all inclusive), maybe some snorkeling off shore, I'd like to try parasailing. In the past we've done a lot of excursions with animals, horseback riding, sealion swim, stingray swim etc. Not big shoppers, a little sightseeing is nice, but I dont want to spend my whole day in a cab or bus.

 

Thanks for the responses!

 

We just did the Southern on the Victory last month. Loved St Lucia, we did the Spencer Ambrose Jalouise Beach Break tour. 45 minute boat ride to the beach then a day of beach relaxing and snorkeling. You can google Spencer Ambrose tours and read all about the tours.

[hughdm]

I'd reinforce how great the snorkeling is in Bonnaire. SugarStar00, don't worry about the Spanish. Everybody speaks English we've encountered.

[RebelSoul]

Agree with the PP. I don't speak any more Spanish than what I learned on Sesame Street as a kid and we've had no problems. Everyone understands enough English.

 

Got a little inspired by this thread. Just got done booking a cruise out of San Juan (literally 5 minutes ago) for next April on the CB. Always wanted to go to Bonaire, so now we're going. DH and I were looking at switching a Celebrity cruise we had booked for the end of next April. Although it was a great cruise, we're kind of Princess loyalists and wanted to stay that way for this and next year. Maybe 2013 we'll venture out to another line as we want to go on a Bermuda overnighter for 2 or 3 days on a cruise.

[orangetabby]

You'll have no problems sailing out of San Juan. We've done both of the Southern Caribbean cruises on the Caribbean Princess and had a great cruise both times. Fly in a day early to give yourself time to relax. Embarkation the next day should be a breeze.:)

[SugarStar00]

glad I could inspire someone out there! I'm feeling better about leaving from San Juan, I guess I just need to price out some flights now....keep the suggestions coming!

[RebelSoul]

glad I could inspire someone out there! I'm feeling better about leaving from San Juan, I guess I just need to price out some flights now....keep the suggestions coming!

 

I'm glad you inspired someone too! :)

 

Since we're doing the one of the other Southern Caribbean itineraries Princess offers this December (Aruba, Curacao), just made sense to sail on one of the others. I've been to some of the islands, but DH has not been to most of them (St Martin, St Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire, Aruba). Can't wait! Thanks for the inspiration! DH and I had been looking at the cruise and this thread tipped us in that direction enough to book it.

 

We were able to pick up a flight on Jet Blue last month to San Juan for $159 from CT. (I see you're in CT, too!) We are going to wait until Jet Blue has their flights out before we book anything for April's cruise. We're flying on Delta this December and I am sorry we didn't wait for Jet Blue's flights to come out. Not looking forward to paying the luggage fees on Delta. Jet Blue has first bag flies free and their prices are often cheaper than any other airline. Not sure where in CT you are, but we live in the Hartford/New Haven/Litchfield tri-county line area and flying out of Bradley makes sense for us.

 

Do you have a ship and/or itinerary picked out yet for March?

[Times Prince]

Great but BIG question. Depends on what you like to do in port. We just did a 10 day that included Bonnaire, Grenada, and Dominica. BEST snorkeling in Bonnaire and loved the land tours - spices, cooking etc in the others. It was our best cruise ever.

 

But we really dislike shopping and are irked with the endless diamond selling in many caribbean ports. I have heard others disappointed that those I mentioned here were dull and dowdy.

 

it depends.....

Totally agree about the snorkeling. Bonaire was the best we've ever had (Woodwind Snorkel Sail) and Champagne Reef in Dominica was enchanting. We didn't care much for the spice tour in Grenada and definitely plan on doing something offshore next time.

 

I guess I'm afraid that everything is going to be in Spanish and I wont have a clue where to go or what to do! Silly I'm sure, but just makes me nervous.

 

As far as what we do in ports, we like relaxing beach days (maybe an all inclusive), maybe some snorkeling off shore, I'd like to try parasailing. In the past we've done a lot of excursions with animals, horseback riding, sealion swim, stingray swim etc. Not big shoppers, a little sightseeing is nice, but I dont want to spend my whole day in a cab or bus.

 

Thanks for the responses!

Remember Puerto Rico is a US territory and tourism is a big business. We've had occasion to visit both for vacation and business and never had a problem with the language.

[SugarStar00]

I am in Manchester, Bradley is definetly the best option for me. I'm really excited to hear you got such a great price on airfare, last two years to Florida cost us $400 per person just for the flight. eeeks! My boyfriend thinks I'm completely insane to even be thinking about another cruise, but I want to see and do as much as I can-while I can! (no kids yet) Its only money right? I'm getting really excited now, I knew I wanted to go to Southern Caribbean but now I feel better about going out of San Juan and I think my options have opened up a lot. At this moment I'm looking at the Crown out of San Juan. I'm also willing to go on Carnival, and need to study their itineraries, but would prefer to sail with Princess if I can make it work. thanks everyone!

[JustinPlusLauren]

Our favorites include Dominica, Bonaire and Grenada. Such beautiful islands! Of course, Barbados is wonderful too. It all depends on what kinds of activities you would like. Scuba/snorkel would be amazing in Bonaire. Dominica has the most lush rainforests, waterfalls, hot springs, we would never get sick of travelling there! :)

[Tweedy]

We did a 10-day southern itinerary in April and liked every island we visited. We visited Aruba, Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica and St Thomas. Of this group, Aruba was the only island we had been to previously. I loved Dominica for the lush green terrain.

[captainron]

I've been on two cruises, western and eastern caribbean and now I'd like to do a southern caribbean cruise, but not sure which places to head to. I'm seeing itineraries with aruba, bonaire, curacao, dominican, st.kitts, st.lucia, antigua etc. I can't do them all, so just curious what everyone's favorite southern caribbean islands are. Also, what are people experiences leaving from Puerto Rico? I'm intimidated to fly into there, but it seems like I can see more islands if I go that route. Please share your thoughts!

 

ps we are looking to go end of March 2012 if that make a difference.

 

Thanks!

 

Favorite south Carib islands are...St Lucia, Barbados and Martinique. Only thing about Martinique is humidex levels are almost always in excess of 85-90% so if you''re in the hills, take a light (verylight) rain jacket.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[RebelSoul]

You're not crazy! We booked a cruise only a few days after getting off the CB last month. We always buy FCCs on every cruise as an incentive to book another cruise. Right now we have three cruises booked within the next 18 months and I am sure I'll have another one booked for 2013 before the end of the year. You're right, it's only money after all. I wish my DH felt the same way!

 

I just looked at airfare for San Juan and am not impressed with the prices for April yet. But I'll check on them every week for awhile. Once we see something good, we'll book even if it isn't until fall or winter. I think we only paid about $250 on Delta round-trip for our upcoming December cruise to Ft Lauderdale. That's not bad for mid-December! We plan on flying into SJ 2 days before the April cruise. We encountered 2 different flight delays on the way down to SJ for our cruise last month and landed after 3:00 am and we didn't have any time to do sightseeing. Old SJ is beautiful and definitely want time to explore.

 

As you can see I love Princess. I took my first cruise on Princess at the age of 20 and got hooked. I have sailed on Carnival too, but I prefer Princess. I love their itineraries and you can't beat their loyalty perks. I just turned Elite last month and cannot wait to start using those in December. My goal was to make Elite before I turned 50 and I haven't even made it to 40 yet. Once that damn cruise bug bites you, it's hard not to cruise!

 

I did not find a cruise out of SJ on the Crown for March, but did find one on the Caribbean Princess. That has stops in St. Maarten, St Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba, same cruise I just booked for April. The only one I saw on the Crown sails from Ft Lauderdale and stops in Aruba, Curacao, and Princess Cays, same cruise we're sailing on this December. We've been on both ships and as you can see are sailing both yet again. They are easily my favorite two Princess ships, but we love the SuperGrand class in general.

[LoriPhil]

We did the 10-day out of FLL in March, sailing to St. Thomas, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Aruba. Wonderful cruise - a nice variety of islands with some flatter/more arid, others lush and mountainous. Snorkeled in all ports but champagne reef in Dominica, and the Bonaire excursions were terrific. In Grenada we took a cab to Grand Anse Beach (spelling's wrong I think) visible across the bay from the docks. Lovely white powdery sand, very very few people on the day we were there even with two ships in port. We had such a great time that on our last sea day we booked the other 10-day Eastern cruise, so we'll be able to compare with St. Lucia, Antigua, Grand Turk, Barbados, St. Kitts next March. Good luck - I suspect whichever you choose you won't be disappointed! :D

[Weluv2cruise2007]

We did the 10-day out of FLL in March, sailing to St. Thomas, Grenada, Dominica, Bonaire and Aruba.

 

We did this exact itinerary which is what I was going to mention....you don't have to sail out of Puerto Rico if you don't want to. If you have the time, there are 10day sailings out of FLL which hit the same ports and you get a longer cruise!! ;)

[SugarStar00]

Yes you are correct - its not the crown its the Caribbean Princess. I got a booklet advertising a balcony for the price of oceanview and i'm feeling the itch to book it before that expires. If prices drop more, will they give me the difference back if its before the final payment? Last time I booked with Princess it was last minute so I didnt have to worry about that. From what I've been reading I'd really like to do Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia...but I guess you can't do everything so its an excuse to go again in the future!

[MiamiLady]

Check out of Miami also. We are going on a 10 day to Souther Carib in Novermber on NCL Dawn. Samana DR, Tortola, St Maarten, St John's Barbados St Kitts. For me it a convience since i live in Miami, I booked first out of San Juan and canceled it to leave out of Miami.

[RebelSoul]

Yes you are correct - its not the crown its the Caribbean Princess. I got a booklet advertising a balcony for the price of oceanview and i'm feeling the itch to book it before that expires. If prices drop more, will they give me the difference back if its before the final payment? Last time I booked with Princess it was last minute so I didnt have to worry about that. From what I've been reading I'd really like to do Bonaire, Grenada, Dominica and St. Lucia...but I guess you can't do everything so its an excuse to go again in the future!

 

I like your thinking! I'm starting to look at the 10 day itinerary for 2013 myself for that same reason.

 

Yes, when I booked yesterday, the prices for the cruise in a balcony are the same as an oceanview. That's also why I booked it before the price goes up. I cannot imagine them coming down any more, but you never know. I've never had a problem getting price adjustment when there's been a price drop before final payment.

[Sailfish]

I am a dive group leader and will be taking my group to the Southern Caribbean again in February - a cruise out of San Juan aboard the Caribbean Princess. Princess has quite a few cruises out of Fort Lauderdale that head south, so you do have a choice in departing out of San Juan or FLL. We are choosing to leave out of San Juan since the objective is to go scuba diving, and the best ports in the Southern Caribbean for diving leave from Puerto Rico. We were looking for a more port intensive itinerary - ships leaving Fort Lauderdale for the Southern Caribbean generally have more days at sea.

 

In a nut shell, the southern Caribbean has the best beaches and the best ports for scuba diving. If you are into water sports or enjoy nice beaches, you'll enjoy the ports of call in the south. As a rule, you'll usually pay more for a cruise departing FLL but less for airfare. Exactly the opposite is true for cruises departing San Juan. It's also a bigger hassle to depart from San Juan, unless you live on the east coast.

 

San Juan, although a US Territory, has a Caribbean island economy - hotel and restaurant prices are high compared to the rest of the continental US - comparable to Hawaii. So a pre-cruise stay will add quite a bit to your vacation cost. Old San Juan is a very interesting place worth checking out, but once was enough for me, so that's why I am opting for a redeye flight; cruises normally depart at 11pm.

 

We have two cruise blogs - one for the divers in my group and one for the non-divers. We have all kinds of good info there on the ports of call, so feel free to stop by.

 

Good luck!

[PescadoAmarillo]

We have done two 7 night cruises out of San Juan, and they remain among our very favorites. However, when you're very active in port (we were, diving in most ports), the port intensity of the cruise tends to catch up with you a bit. That's why we've settled on the 10 night cruises out of FLL. They are really nicely paced. By the time you think that you just need to relax for a day (the 5th port day in a row), BOOM, you have one or two sea days to veg.

 

I love Aruba, and have learned to love Grenada (but it took several visits). Dominica is gorgeous and it's wonderful for one or two visits (inland tour one time, and Champagne Reef the second time). St. Lucia offers so many things to do; our favorite is booking a private boat down to the Pitons, and then snorkeling at Anse Chastenet. Antigua offers a nice mix of history and beaches. But my favorite remains Bonaire. Last cruise I got so caught up with snorkeling at Klein Bonaire that the boat left without me (it was coming back later in the day). I'm not usually so irresponsible, but the snorkeling/diving on Bonaire is among the best in this hemisphere, and I was lost in the beauty of it. Luckily, DH stayed behind (as collateral?) and, while the boat captain was stressed at first, DH wasn't. He knows how I get when my head's underwater.:eek:

[kands6191]

I've been to Dominica twice and love the lushness of it. Last time we went on a whale-watching excursion. Happened that a graduate student and his assistant were on-board. He was working on his PhD and was giving talks to the tourists in exchange for getting to go out on the boats and study the whales. We found several including a baby and spent a good hour observing them, as well as a beautiful rainbow over the island. Learned to snorkel (and battle my huge fear of water over my head!) at Champagne Reef. It was so worth it.

 

Aruba was interesting since it is dry and desert-like. We took a jeep tour around the island with a Dutch guide. Good tour.

 

Bonaire was fantastic. I wasn't able to snorkel since I didn't have my nerve up yet (Grenada came later), but I definitely will go back to snorkel there. We did a kayak tour of the mangroves which was very cool. Not too strenuous. We spent the other half of the day at a hotel's beach. Be forewarned - there is topless sunbathing on Bonaire.

 

Grenada was definitely one of the highlights for us. I think the reason is because we had an outstanding tour guide that we found through CC. We ended up in a group from the ship that was so large he had to provide two buses. Boy are we glad we got Mandoo as our guide. I believe our tour was 3-4 hours long, very cheap, and very memorable. Not only does Mandoo run this tour business, but he also spends the fall lecturing the school children about conservation and preservation for the island. He explained the economy of the islands and the Chinese influence as well as their positions in the UN. He talked about the effects of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. I believe he said he works with the government and the UN in his preservation efforts. He is definitely an advocate of tourism because he sees it as the key to survival of his beloved island. He took us on a spice tour, to historic buildings, stopped and got us fish sandwiches from his friend who sells them out of a cooler. He made us really get to know the island. I highly recommend searching his info out on CC.

 

We are going to Aruba again along with Curacao for the first time this Dec. We prefer the southern islands for sure.