What is you all-time favorite Caribbean Island and why?

[3redheads]

With so many itineraries and so many islands to visit in my lifetime, I wondered what your favorite island is and why. Someday, I'd like to say I've visited them all :D

 

Kim

 

PS

An island on a cruise itinerary or not.

[dustythreads]

What a great thread!

 

 

I would have to choose ST. Maarten (sp?).

 

I love the fact that the island has two different cultures. The hills and beaches are breathtaking. It's wonderful and I love it.

[mek]

St John's - one of the most beautiful places on earth!

[K&RCurt]

I agree with Dustythreads, St. Maarten / St. Martin.

 

 

Beautiful lush hills, awesome beaches (Including Au Natural), great shopping, friendly people, two different culures on 1 small Island, geat food, not too "touristy"....Altogether a fantastic place.

[cruise182]

Hands down St Kitts.....I love the landscape with the mountains.

Well actually St Thomas....love the convience of its location to my favorite island Tortola and my very favoriteSt. john

But I also must pick St Lucia....love this island

Now wait I think St maarten is the best...love the beaches!!

Oh I think Barbados is my favorite.......kids love the Boat yard.

 

Oh heck I LOVE THEM ALL

[3redheads]

I haven't visited any of these islands. Starting my list now :D

 

Now, we will be on our Easter trip next year,so I can work on a few of them!

[UpstateJintsFan]

We love Aruba and have been there 5 times for week-long stays, although never by cruise. Reasons include:

 

Friendly, friendly people, little crime or poverty, feel safe almost anywhere.

Almost guaranteed good weather.

Great fresh water (desdalinization plant one of worlds largest)

Numerous casinos in high-rise section with connecting boardwalk along beach

GREAT food and restaurants

No spring breakers

Great beaches

Contrast of developed leeward side, and rough, undeveloped windward side which is great for off-roading in a 4 wheel drive jeep.

 

Only downsides:

 

Long plane ride

Not a lot of deals/discounts available

Not that much nightlife outside casinos

[NancyB84]

I've loved them all for different reasons (well, every one that I have been to). They are so unique. I agree about the 2 cultures on St Maarten. Very nice. If I had to pick one though... I would say St Lucia. It is just so beautiful. I haven't been to the one place I have always wanted to go though... Aruba... so my opnion may change once I have been there!!!!!!

[Riversedge]

We've been to 15 islands and hands-down St. Lucia wins. We feel that is truly the island paradise that we had always been searching for. It's so lush and tropical and just plain beautiful. Aruba would be our second choice. Out of 15 islands, St. Martin would be at the bottom. Dry, brown, and way too busy.

[debshomespun]

We have been on 6 cruises, and 13 islands, and so far the best is Aruba.

 

Now, once I get to Tahiti, I may change my mind, but I haven't been able to get there yet, in a few more years.

 

My goal is to get to all the Caribbean Islands, Hawaii, and Tahiti.

 

I love Aruba because the weather is almost always beautiful, and the island has many different charateristics, like a little dessert in middle of the ocean!

[bobbie0253]

I like Cozumel.

 

The first time I was there I wasn't really impressed, but it grows on you.

 

It is such a small island and so easy to get around. Every time we have been there it has been in the 80's and sunny The beaches are great, food is great and reasonable. Car rental is affordable. I have heard the snorkeling is awesome, but we are usually busy exploring and haven't gone underwater there yet.

 

Second choice would be Aruba. For the same reasons except Aruba is more commercialized (sp?). Off roading in Aruba was AWESOME. What a blast....

 

 

Bobbie

[3redheads]

I will do some research on vacation deals to these islands. It's never too early to start planning :D

 

Thanks to all of you. ANy more??

[Shanafan]

I would say St Maarten with St Thomas a close 2nd.

[NCTarheelsCruiser]

With so many itineraries and so many islands to visit in my lifetime, I wondered what your favorite island is and why. Someday, I'd like to say I've visited them all :D

 

Kim

 

PS

An island on a cruise itinerary or not.

 

I am with you, I would like to get to them all before I die. SO far, I have been on 6 cruises to the caribbean and am heading on number 7 in 8 days. I have been to 14 different ports so far and have visited 6 of them multiple times.

My top three that I have been to so far are:

1) Grand Cayman...great beaches, nice people, clean, great snorkeling.

2) St. Thomas...great beaches, shopping, side trip to St. John to snorkel was awesome.

3) Cococay...RCI's great private island, very relaxing, spent two afternoons on the quiet backside of the island, actually felt like it was MY own private island.

 

The 2 places on my list that I have not been yet but have always wanted to go to and have always heard great things about are St. Maarten/St. Martin, and Aruba. I am going to St. Maarten/St. Martin on this upcoming cruise. While on board this next cruise we will probably book one for the fall that visits Aruba.

 

On the flip side, my two least favorite islands that I visited were:

1) Jamaica... too poor, people a little too pushy for me, weather really not great that day either, so I might be not being fair about it.

2) Antigua- town not great.. little dirty, the beach we went to was not overly impressive.

 

Last of all, I know you asked for Caribbean, but my all time favorite place that I have been was Hawaii. If you ever get a chance to go, definitely do it.

 

I have been to Kauai....very beautiful island, peaceful and relaxing, lots of greenery, waterfalls, and the Waimea Canyon was truly a sight to see.

 

I have also been to Oahu....had no idea how big Honolulu was until I got there. Climbing Diamond Head was a blast, and seeing Pearl Harbor was very interesting, still oil leaking into the water from the ships...amazing. Honolulu had a lot to offer, and just a short drive outside of Honolulu, on the other sides of the island, if you didn't know better, you would never guess that there was a city as big as Honolulu on the other side of the island. Visited the Dole Plantation and drove all the way around the island, very nice.

 

Also been to the big island of Hawaii. That is really amazing, the different climates on that island are unbelievable. The wettest and driest points in the US are both on that island. The terrain...with all of the hardened lava is unbelievable. I was just there on a business trip in January. We stayed on the Kohala Coast near Kona. On my free afternoon, we left the coast at 83 degrees and rented a car to go up to the top of Mauna Kea, one of the volcanoes. On the drive up to the top, we watched the temperature gauge in the car continue to drop. When we got near the top, just under 13,000 feet (couldn't get all the way up due to road conditions) it was 20 degrees, 0 with the wind chill and there was five feet of snow....we were all wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops, it was freakin hilarious. I bought a toboggan at the gift shop on the way up and got some great pictures at the top with a tobog, shorts, and a t-shirt....looking like I was freezing. Amazing in such a short time to go from the beach to that high up and that much of a change in temps. At the top we could see the Kohala Coast and looking east we were higher than the cloud level and you could tell is was pouring down rain in Hilo, which happens most days I understand.

 

Anyway..guess this post turned into more of a Hawaii post, I love that place and will definitely go back and would recommend to anyone. I really want to go back to the big island and also to Maui, hear that is great as well.

 

Anyway, hope this helped.

[captainron]

Hi Folks,

I agree with tarheels on the first two - Grand Cayman where the people are

the friendliest in the Caribbean,and St Thomas. The third would be a toss up betwen Barbados and Martinique.

While poor, Martinique still evokes that continental flavour in an old colony, while retaining it's own unique culture. Barbados has that hint of English flavour still (even with Canadian banks)

 

Have a great day and...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[JessLCH]

We love Aruba and have been there 5 times for week-long stays, although never by cruise. Reasons include:

 

Friendly, friendly people, little crime or poverty, feel safe almost anywhere.

Almost guaranteed good weather.

Great fresh water (desdalinization plant one of worlds largest)

Numerous casinos in high-rise section with connecting boardwalk along beach

GREAT food and restaurants

No spring breakers

Great beaches

Contrast of developed leeward side, and rough, undeveloped windward side which is great for off-roading in a 4 wheel drive jeep.

 

Only downsides:

 

Long plane ride

Not a lot of deals/discounts available

Not that much nightlife outside casinos

 

I agree totally. Love Aruba for all the reasons you mentioned. Been there twice on land vacations but never by cruise. It is a LONG flight though.

 

My favorited cruise port stop might be Barbados. The water is just gorgous and the sand is like powder.

 

Funny about all the St. Lucia raves. I cruised there twice and it is definitely one of my least fave ports.

[3redheads]

Thanks for the info about Hawaii. I definitely want to go there. Which island would you recommend? Not too crowded...

[Riversedge]

I think your question should have read "What is your favorite port?" If you visit these islands on a cruise for a day you really have a very small exerience of the whole island. A ship's tour that you raved over might be the reason you like that island. The port city might be a reason you don't. If you really want to evaluate an island you need to spend at least a week and explore the whole island to get the real feel. An impression of the whole island might be totally different than one day on a tour. We often go to an island for a whole week and that's what I draw my impressions from.

[ginadis2002]

My personal favorites are Anguilla, St. Barts and Aruba. I love Anguilla because the people are incredibly friendly. St. Barts is just a pampered paradise and Aruba has perfect weather, wonderful people and, for us, is home away from home. We've had land vacations to all of these places (Aruba several times) and I would recommend any of them.

 

I'd love to explore St. Lucia. We spent one day there on our last cruise and I thought it was a tropical paradise. The only downside I see, though, are the awful roads. Staying at all-inclusive seems to be the way to go on St. Lucia. Generally, I enjoy wandering and I think we might be limited in our excursions on the island.

[Robin G]

St Lucia -- the island is breathtakingly beautiful

[raerae]

St Maarten & Aruba are our 2 most favorite. Martinique is the bottom of the list for us. Montego Bay is our second least favorite.

 

We have been to 17 islands and really enjoyed almost all of them.

Cindy ;)