Caribbean Cruise - Time of Year and Ports of Call

[larcklorn]

My SO and I did an Alaskan cruise last year on Celebrity and enjoyed it. This year we are looking at a 5 to 7 day cruise in the Caribbean, but have no idea what we are getting into here. Would prefer more history, hiking, and snorkeling type of activities vs. beach lounging. We have no kids, so can travel whenever. So questions:

 

What ports of call are best for what we are looking for?

What is the best time of the year to go (weather/pricing considered)?

 

Any other information or wisdom you would pass on?

 

Thank you all,

 

D and M

[4774Papa]

My SO and I did an Alaskan cruise last year on Celebrity and enjoyed it. This year we are looking at a 5 to 7 day cruise in the Caribbean, but have no idea what we are getting into here. Would prefer more history, hiking, and snorkeling type of activities vs. beach lounging. We have no kids, so can travel whenever. So questions:

 

What ports of call are best for what we are looking for?

What is the best time of the year to go (weather/pricing considered)?

 

Any other information or wisdom you would pass on?

 

Thank you all,

 

D and M

We have only done one Caribbean cruise, a 14 day with Celebrity. Here is my review.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=99934

 

We didn't snorkel, but took excursions designed to see the islands that we were visiting, their history, culture, and beauty.

 

This info is from my review. We liked Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Thomas the most (also St. John, a ferry ride from St. Thomas- we went back on a TA this year).

 

Antigua and Barbados have history, but St. Lucia is very scenic, St. Thomas and Grenada are scenic with St. Thomas being more modern and affluent.

 

The Orchid World at Barbados is great.

Curacao shows the Dutch influence and is better than Aruba.

 

Also, we have been to Cancun, which is close to Mayan ruins, which are great to see.

Port and Shore Excursions

 

Antigua

 

 

(4)

 

Nelson's Dockyard was the high point on the tour, but we enjoyed the beautiful vistas from the top of Shirley Heights. The island is more arid than Grenada, Barbados and St. Lucia, but does some a mix of flat and somewhat mountainous terrain. It is worth a visit as the people are friendly there. The tour was good. Read 802 Antigua Reviews

 

Aruba

 

 

 

 

Island Tour

 

 

(4)

 

The tour was not expensive and we saw quite a lot of the island, including the beautiful North shore where we saw the Alta Vista Chapel. The arid terrain has its own beauty, not unlike Arizona without the Saguaro. We saw the famous California lighthouse (not inside, it was closed) and saw many hotels and casinos. My sense is that Aruba is a great place for beautiful beach vacations with casinos and plenty of restaurants, but there is not much history to see on the island. Read 80 Island Tour Reviews

 

Curacao

 

 

 

 

Dolphin Swim

 

 

(5.5)

 

Fantastic Read 6 Dolphin Swim Reviews

 

Grenada

 

 

(5)

 

The spice plant and plantation were interesting. We were allowed to sniff them all. After a while, I wondered if we would have to go into rehab. The Concord falls was beautiful, even though the more massive falls were upstream and would have required an hour long hike with a guide. The tour allowed us to see several villages and much lush terrain. There were several "sleeping policemen" on the roads also known as speed bumps. We were shown where the Marines landed during the intervention of the 80s. A regime supported by Cuba had taken over government and assassinated the PM Maurice Bishop and several others including children. After the excursion, we walked up the hill to the castle overlooking the city (I think that is where Clint Eastwood and the Marines were) and the guide showed us the bullet holes in the flagpole and wall where the people were lined up and shot. Read 356 Grenada Reviews

 

St. Lucia

 

 

(5.5)

 

Beautiful plant life is apparent at every turn. St. Lucia is high on our list of islands. The tour was excellent, one of the best of our cruise. Read 781 St. Lucia Reviews

 

St. Maarten

 

 

(4)

 

Our tour was ok and not expensive, we did get to see the island, but more than half the time on the tour was devoted to shopping. Read 2367 St. Maarten Reviews

 

St. Thomas

 

 

 

 

 

 

(5)

 

The visit to the St. Peter Great House at the top of the island included great vistas and a nice garden. Blackbeard's Castle was well worth the trip despite the commercialism involved in walking down from the castle to the city. The walk was a part of the tour and we enjoyed the walk, but it seemed we were constantly going through a shop for rum or jewelry or something to buy. Still, it was a good tour and I recommend it for others. Once you reach the bottom of the walk, at street level, you are 2.5 miles from the ship, which we didn't have a problem. Some people did not want to walk, but taxis were not expensive.

[Essiesmom]

Winter is high season in the Caribbean, with people trying to escape the cold. Summer in the Caribbean will not be a refreshing change from weather in Indiana. Also, there are fewer ships in the Caribbean in the summer, as most follow the money to Europe and Alaska. In the summer you are pretty much limited to Carnival and Royal Caribbean. EM

[lovecruzin]

We've done several Caribbean cruises, the most recent being 7 days RT from San Juan at the end of October. We normally wouldn't have done this itinerary in October but we were on the East coast so it was convenient. I don't remember having the heat/humidity in Jan-March time frame so for that reason I wouldn't cruise late Oct/Nov. again.

 

The upside, we were often the only ship in port. Price wise, I think there are some good deals to be had inbetween Thanksgiving and Chirstmas and after NY.

 

This time we snorkeled in St Thomas, St Kitts and Dominica all were good. With all Caribbean itineraries you will find something to do with your interests. If you have the time and flexibility, go for 7 days vs 5. Whatever you decide, I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[Caribbean Chris]

When we lived in the Caribbean, our favorite time of year was April and May, still great weather, after things calmed down from the too-busy winter season, but before hurricane season (June 1 to December 1).

 

If you go to St. Thomas, my advice is to leave immediately by ferry for either St. John (hiking and snorkeling in the National Park), or little Water Island, which you can see in the harbor. Easiest is Water Island - a ferry leaves right from a restaurant in Crown Bay where some ships dock. Once there, you can hike up to some old WW II military ruins and great views, then walk down to Honeymoon Beach for drinks and lunch at Heidi's.

 

(St. Thomas is all about shopping and crowds, the store clerks are rude, and traffic can be scary along the waterfront.)

[larcklorn]

Great information, most of the 7 day trips through Celebrity only touch two ports are there other cruise lines I should consider (have heard bad things about food on RC).

[ozarkmama]

I am not sure where you are located but we sailed out of San Juan last November and it really didn't cost us much more to fly to Puerto Rico to sail than it would have to sail from Florida. We loved San Juan, and we loved the itinerary on this cruise. We went to Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, St Martin and St Thomas.

[Suzanne123]

I agree with Caribbean Chris -- Late March to mid May are my favorite times to cruise the Caribbean. You miss most of the spring break crowds, there is less chance flights from the north will be impacted by snow storms, and prices are a little better than prime time around Valentine's Day and President's Day.

I didn't care for the Millennium, but the Equinox and Eclipse are absolutely gorgeous.

[graceswan]

My husband and I have always liked cruising January and February. Calm seas, not a lot of kids, and usually good deal on the cruise and flights.

 

I love Celebrity as well but unfortunately they don't do a lot of short cruises. I don't think they even do 5 night cruises, so you would have to do at least a 7 day cruises. I did a 10 day with them in Europe and it was heavenly (really getting to the point of relaxing) but unfortunately my boss doesn't like me to take more than a week at a time and it is usually not worth the stress I incur to fight for extra days.

 

All of the items you mention can really be done at any of the Caribbean ports. Look at the port boards and see what outside excursion companies people recommend and go for it!

[attilamom1217]

Constellation does 5 night Caribbean cruises. The S. Class ships are gorgeous. Summit out of San Juan generally has only one sea day so is quite port intensive. Summit is M class ship

 

Silhouette and reflection so three or four ports in the winter depending on whether it is esteem or western Caribbean.

 

 

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[blindrid]

We do only Caribe. We let price drive us normally from Oct to Dec.

 

Research each cruise as some a definitely beach days, some have great snorkeling, others history. Sometime not a mix of all three. I normally figure out the snorkeling stops first then plan from there.