Carnival in St. Croix?

[irie0518]

Does Carnival ever port in St. Croix? I haven't really seen it on too many itineraries. Just wondering if they ever stop there. If they do is there any way of searching itineraries that have that as a port.

 

Thanks

[Disconnections]

If visiting St. Croix via cruise ship is important to you, Celebrity has multiple ships that call there often.

[Mary Ellen1]

We sailed there on our honeymoon, back in '96, on the Carnival Destiny. But a few years after that, all the major cruise lines pulled out due to violence & crime. Some of them have returned in more recent years, as Disconnections pointed out...

[cath32]

Carnival Splendor is stopping in St. Croix on its repositioning cruise in November.

[bailey57]

We sailed there on our honeymoon, back in '96, on the Carnival Destiny. But a few years after that, all the major cruise lines pulled out due to violence & crime. Some of them have returned in more recent years, as Disconnections pointed out...

 

Actually, my understanding from talking with locals while vacationing there is this was primarily political and/or financial, and had little (or nothing) to do with crime. That's a nasty rumor that hurt the economy there - mostly because it's not true. There are many many ports far more dangerous. I've been there several times and it's as safe as any mainland USA locale - and of course, it is the US... St Croix is fantastic - go if you can. :)

[cruzeluver]

Love St. Croix! But I think it may be a good thing that its not too overrun with cruise ships. Keeps the lame chain stores that litter other Caribbean ports away. We found the island beautiful (the off-road excursion we did there was amazing!) and the people very welcoming.

[Mary Ellen1]

Actually, my understanding from talking with locals while vacationing there is this was primarily political and/or financial, and had little (or nothing) to do with crime. That's a nasty rumor that hurt the economy there - mostly because it's not true. There are many many ports far more dangerous. I've been there several times and it's as safe as any mainland USA locale - and of course, it is the US... St Croix is fantastic - go if you can. :)

 

bailey57, I didn't realize the past crime incidents were just a nasty rumor. The write-up about St. Croix right here on CC mentions crime as a reason that cruise ships stayed away for a time. But you're right, there are certainly other ports that are more dangerous.

 

irie0518: that same page here on CC, about St. Croix, has a link where you can find cruises that visit that port.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/cruiseto/cruiseitineraries.cfm?action=all&sort=shipname&portofcall=10

 

It was really a pretty island -- we'd love to go back.

[HappyHappy1]

We love St. Croix, actually one of our favorite ports. We were there in June 2013 on the RCCL Jewel OTS. Rainbow beach is beautiful and the beach bar was awesome! Also had a great time on the ATV tour thru the rainforest.

 

I would love to see Carnival pick this up as a regular port of call. We would schedule a CCL cruise stopping in STX! This would be a great replacement for Tortola!

Edited June 25, 2014 by HappyHappy1

[evandbob]

We love St. Croix, actually one of our favorite ports. We were there in June 2013 on the RCCL Jewel OTS. Rainbow beach is beautiful and the beach bar was awesome! Also had a great time on the ATV tour thru the rainforest.

 

I would love to see Carnival pick this up as a regular port of call. We would schedule a CCL cruise stopping in STX! This would be a great replacement for Tortola!

 

I visited St. Croix this past January on the Celebrity Summit, it was the 1st port on their Southern itinerary. It was a welcome change from St. Thomas, which I've visited umpteenth times. Being a Sunday, it was a quiet time on the isle, and I had a wonderful beach day there.

[BigDoug]

I found this newspaper article from 2002 about the cruiselines pull-out of St. Croix. Very interesting and in-depth article.

http://stcroixsource.com/content/news/local-news/2002/06/29/shoes-and-ships-and-crime-and-punishment

 

[Mary Ellen1]

I found this newspaper article from 2002 about the cruiselines pull-out of St. Croix. Very interesting and in-depth article.

http://stcroixsource.com/content/news/local-news/2002/06/29/shoes-and-ships-and-crime-and-punishment

 

 

Interesting that the Crown Bay development on St. Thomas may have had something to do with it...

[NCTribeFan]

I had wonderful 8-night San Juan-to-Miami repo cruise last November on Conquest. When I got home, I discovered the 8-night San Juan-to-Miami Splendor repo itinerary on 11/1/14 and booked it right away. One of the main reasons I like these repo cruises is because you often get ports that you don't get on the "regular" sailings.

 

St. Croix, Martinique, and Grenada will all be new-to-me ports. When you mostly cruise one line, after a dozen or so cruises, it becomes more and more difficult to find new ports. I've been wanting to visit St Croix for quite a while. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

By the time I hit Milestone, I hope to have visited everywhere that Carnival calls (in the Caribbean, at least) and then I'll move on to another line (probably HAL and Celebrity) and see what else is out there! :D

[BettyCruiser]

In 2001 while on a ship sponsored excursion we were stranded on the other side of St. croix after a snorkel trip, that was vastly different than the description of the tour sold to us by Carnival. I wasn't surprised when I heard shortly there after that Carnival and many other cruise lines had pulled out of St. Croix.

 

Last February we stopped at st croix while on a Celebrity ship, decided it's was time to give the island another try. This time we had a great time on a Catamaran excursion that we will be doing again when sailing on the Splendor in November:)

[buddylover]

We stopped in St.Croix on the RCI Adventure of the Seas......we did a very fun rainforest ATV tour and loved it!! Sometimes you have to look to other cruise lines for the more exotic ports....that's what we do.