Where in the Caribbean Would You Like to See Celebrity Sail To??

[richsea]

I was just reading the Deployment thread, & there seems to be many who think Celebrity's Caribbean itineraries have become boring. What ports would you like to see Celebrity add that would make them more appealing. It seems to me that there is only a finite number of places to sail to, considering the size of the ships, & infrastructure in place on some out of the way places.

 

Thoughts?

[Robb]

The 'boring' factor is one reason we do not do Caribbean cruises any longer. I am afraid that some of the other ports may not have facilities for large ships. This is true for most of the larger cruise lines.

 

There are smaller ships that do go to other ports but we have done a lot of those as well. That is why we have most recently done so many European and Asian cruises. We love NEW ports and most often choose cruises that include very few repeat places. ;)

 

Thanks for this thread, interesting............

[koolforkatz]

Tortola. Easy access from there to both Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke.

[YOW]

This one would take some political changes, obviously, but a 'dream' itinerary if you will:

 

11-nighter out of FLL/MIA going to Havana; Cartagena; Curacao; Bonaire; and Labadee. :D

 

Realistically, I'm not sure what's left in the Caribbean that's both 'new and different' and still feasible for large-to-mega sized (what's the correct term? grande? venti? :cool:) ships.

[Zubsin]

I like those ports Havana; Cartagena; Curacao; Bonaire. How cool would it be to finally be able to go to Cuba for us left behind in the US?! I'd like to add St vincent and the Grenadines. Tortola is good too. Although I prefer to sail out of SJU over MIA/FLL.

[Can'tstopcruising]

I would like to go to the Turks & Caicos.

[SusieV]

I second both Tortola and Cuba.

[richsea]

Celebrity used to(2009,2010) do 10/11nigyt cruises out of San Juan, that visited Curaçao, Bonaire, & Tortola that were great itineraries, but they obviously did not sell well, because they stopped them. I think that they do stop at Cartagena.

 

I don't see Cuba happening until the political situation between the US & Cuba changes.

 

Trinidad & Tobago might be interesting. I believe that they used to stop in Tobago.

 

I think that the problem is that there are only so many islands, & because of the number of ships cruising to the Caribbean, frequent cruisers tend to get spoiled. I know when I book a Caribbean cruise I barely look at where the ship is going, & just look at it as a chance to enjoy the fantastic beaches & enjoy the ship's amenities.

[kyriecat]

I like Antigua, which doesn't seem to be very popular anymore. The beaches are amazing - some of the best.

 

Agree about Tortola. Also add St. Kitts, Dominica, St. Croix, and St. Barts.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Celebrity used to(2009,2010) do 10/11nigyt cruises out of San Juan, that visited Curaçao, Bonaire, & Tortola that were great itineraries, but they obviously did not sell well, because they stopped them. I think that they do stop at Cartagena.

 

I don't see Cuba happening until the political situation between the US & Cuba changes.

 

Trinidad & Tobago might be interesting. I believe that they used to stop in Tobago.

 

I think that the problem is that there are only so many islands, & because of the number of ships cruising to the Caribbean, frequent cruisers tend to get spoiled. I know when I book a Caribbean cruise I barely look at where the ship is going, & just look at it as a chance to enjoy the fantastic beaches & enjoy the ship's amenities.

 

 

I second the 10/11 day alternates out of San Juan. Makes for a perfect 3 week b2b! I really miss that itinerary. And I much prefer to sail in and out of San Juan than Florida. This way, you get to start in the Caribbean.

[Retired civil servant]

We did the Constellation trip around the Caribbean in Feb 2012 as it was all new to us. We throughly enjoyed the experience and loved the ship. For us the islands that were most interesting and worth a return visit were Grenada, St Lucia and Antigua.

 

The ones that were not were both U.S. Islands, Aruba, Barbados and Curacao. None left us with a good feeling and all were very played out.

 

As we we have only visited the Caribbean just the once, we would go back, but would like Celebrity to build a tour around some of the less visited and smaller islands.

 

Geoff C

Cambridge

UK

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I don't see the need to visit both St. Thomas & St. Maarten on the same cruise. Both are shopping ports. Pick one or the other.

 

Bring back Tortola! Bring back Labadee, especially since it's no longer a tender port. Why not go to St. Croix instead of St. Thomas? Or instead of St. Maarten? There are other options to the same old, same old itinerary Celebrity has been using for the 2-week run. I've done that itinerary three times now. Would do it again in a heartbeat, but want some different ports. I'd love to spend some more time in San Juan.

[tunaman2011]

I don't see the need to visit both St. Thomas & St. Maarten on the same cruise. Both are shopping ports. Pick one or the other.

 

Bring back Tortola! Bring back Labadee, especially since it's no longer a tender port. Why not go to St. Croix instead of St. Thomas? Or instead of St. Maarten? There are other options to the same old, same old itinerary Celebrity has been using for the 2-week run. I've done that itinerary three times now. Would do it again in a heartbeat, but want some different ports. I'd love to spend some more time in San Juan.

 

Greetings

 

I really have to agree with your assement of St Thomas/St Maarten. We are on Equinox in a week and we will stop at both. Not crazy about it, but it's still better than not cruising. We stopped at Tortola several years ago on HAL. It was a lovely place. Still remember drinking Pain Killers at Pussers.

 

It's true that the itineraries do not seem to change, but there are only so many islands. We have been cruising long enough that we have been to almost every island multiple times. Now I cruise mainly to be on a nice ship sailing through beautiful waters. Until Cuba opens (and who knows when that will happen) there really aren't any "new" places in the Caribbean.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[A Sixth?]

In order of interest (and places Celebrity never goes to):

 

Havana Cuba

 

Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth") Cuba

 

La Romana, DR for Santo Domingo

 

St Barts

 

Iles des Saintes Guadaloupe

[sandinmyshoes]

(A little skewed in topic, so please forgive me)

I would like to see them cruise out of Galveston doing the Panama Canal again! That was a great itinerary. :)

[TxnAquarian]

The bland offerings by Celebrity in the Caribbean are exactly why I never book their Caribbean cruises, even though Celebrity is my preferred cruise line. I realize there are only so many ports that are available for ship calls, but other lines do a great job at offering unusual ports such as St.Vincent/Grendines; St. Barts; St. John; San Blas Islands; Trindad & Tobago; Isla de Margarita; Santo Domingo; etc. Even HAL, which hits some of the usual suspects, offers interesting days like scenic cruising of Soufriere Bay when in St. Lucia.

 

If Celebrity isn't interested in some of these ports (maybe due to issues like infrastructure), I would at least like seeing overnight calls or longer port visits. Several ships have been overnighting in ports like San Juan, Cartagena and St. Maarten on their 2012-2013 itineraries, which at least would give Celebrity guests an opportunity to see a different side of these common port stops.

 

I love Celebrity and always look to them first when planning cruises, but for my recent bookings I went with Crystal and Holland America due to better itinerary options.

 

 

 

 

Michael

[Arubamoose]

I really like the overnight stop in the islands. While we have had land vacations in most of the islands - it would be interesting to have an overnight port.

 

I would like to see Martinique, Dominica, Margarita Island, St. Barts, St. Vincent and the Grenedines, St. Kitts, Bonaire, Tortola, Guadaloupe and St. Croix. I know some of them they already stop but I would like to see it on a more regular basis. Oh - I would love to go to Anguilla! And I would jump on Cuba as soon as it happens.

 

I have to say - we did the Allure last November and didn't even bother getting of at Nassau. And I won't get off in Jamaica anymore - don't get me wrong - we've spent plenty of time there on land vacations but cruising doesn't work.

[Nerina]

What about Martinique? Martinique’s heritage is an intriguing mix of Creole, African, French and Indian cultures. And Martinique is conveniently located north of St. Lucia and south of Dominica. :D

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

In order of interest (and places Celebrity never goes to):

 

Havana Cuba

 

Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth") Cuba

 

La Romana, DR for Santo Domingo

 

St Barts

 

Iles des Saintes Guadaloupe

 

I took a Celebrity cruise that stopped in La Romana once. You didn't miss much. Would not be on my repeat list.

[Lazz]

As a teacher, I would have to say any Carribean port in the summer time!

[richsea]

What about Martinique? Martinique’s heritage is an intriguing mix of Creole, African, French and Indian cultures. And Martinique is conveniently located north of St. Lucia and south of Dominica. :D

 

As I recall, most lines either cut back or stopped altogether, their stops at Martinique due to a rash of incidents of crime, about 8 or 10 years ago. Maybe today, the situation has changed.

As for overnighting, I can't think of an island that has enough to offer for a 2 day stop by a cruise ship, other than Puerto Rico, which has much to see, but usually only gets an afternoon/evening stay on a 7 night itinerary.

[alcpa1]

Nerina,

Have you ever been welcomed at Martinique? We've tried to love it - at least six times, and just can't. Even my fairly well received French in France, was frowned upon.

If you are thinking about an overnight in San Juan from a Florida departure you'd have a winner. The rainforest can rarely be included with an afternoon arrival, nor can the vibrant night life in Old Town since the real excitement occurs late into the evening.

My grandparents sailed to Havanna many times in the 50's and that's always been on my list. Surely from the pictures things haven't changed too much.

We've cruised in the Caribbean more than twenty times and I have never stayed onboard, even in Jamaica where things can be a little (or a lot) freaky/scary. We've also done land/island trips for eons and I love the Caribbean vibe with the real exception of Martinique. That's a shame too because it is a beautiful island.

[knot knormal]

Wow, the onetime we visited Martinique, we loved it...it would be one of my picks.

[kkorman]

Wow, the onetime we visited Martinique, we loved it...it would be one of my picks.

 

I'm with you. I loved Martinique.

[librarylady19]

All of those are great suggestions - we really enjoyed our stops at Tobago and Dominica. 7 to 10 night cruises to Southern Caribbean on any S class ship would be fantastic.

Had enough of the St. Martin/St. Thomas itineraries.