Better Summit S.Caribbean Itinerary?

[LVLstar]

Looking at the two southern Caribbean itineraries, I am curious if anyone has a preference between them {and why}.

 

Option A

Tortola, BVI

Fort de France, Martinique

Roseau, Dominica

Basseterre, St. Kitts

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

Option B

Bridgetown, Barbados

Castries, St. Lucia

St. John, Antigua

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

Thanks in advance for your input! :)

[jb008]

If you haven't been to the caribbean before, or haven't been in a while, either itinerary is a good choice.

 

Having done both itineraries in the last 13 months, I prefer the Barbados one slightly, but not enough to recommend A over B or B over A.

 

The biggest drawback on the Barbados one is that your first day is at sea, so if you have a travel SNAFU you can't connect with the ship until Monday whereas, on the Tortola itinerary the sea day is on Monday... again not something I'd select a cruise on though imho.

 

Added in edit: for a repeat cruise I'd be fine doing the Barbados itinerary again with a shorter break between trips... I think I'd be bored if I redid the Tortola itinerary again in the next few years.

Edited January 22, 2016 by jb008

[Barwick Cruiser]

We couldn't decide either so we're doing both...b2b Feb 13th and Feb 20th!! Very excited, especially being able to get the same cabin for both legs so no moving cabins between legs! Are you maybe able to do the same?

[WALKER1313]

We've been on both and we would pick Option B. We love all the places on B, while we're not in love with Martinique or Tortola. Others love these places.

[PROCRUISE]

Been to all the ports... would pick B solely on the visit to St. Lucia. :)

[alcpa1]

Just did the b2b 11/28-12/12.

Really enjoyed both cruises. I don't know the 2016/2017 schedules but there was also an itinerary that included Grenada. That's one island that remains on our to do list.

As you may know Martinique had been off the radar for quite some time. Many found it difficult to find English speaking drivers at the port but they were plentiful. The only issue was the construction along the waterfront which should be completed later this year Caribbean time.

One very bright star goes to Dominica. We could see evidence of the August hurricane but we could also see great strides since our visit years ago. Their environmental achievements are astounding and admirable. On our first visit only a small portion of the homes had electricity and running water (about 30%.) Now 97% of the population has both and the reliance on water power will provide relief from fuel costs and only make this beautiful island a showplace.

If you can swing both cruises do so. The only repeat port was St. Thomas but both stops were on a Saturday and we almost had the island to ourselves. We hopped over to St. John on one cruise and spent the other day doing what my DH does best - shopped. It didn't really feel like we were in the same port twice.

I know this probably didn't help but we have been to these islands so many times and we go to the southern Caribbean for vacation more than excursions.

[james'mommy]

We are doing option a in March and next April we are doing option b so I am no help. I'm really excited about next year because we will finally get to St Lucia. We were supposed to go there on our honeymoon but had budgeting issues and ended up in Barbados.

[davekathy]

Been to and have enjoyed all the ports. We would pick option B because St. Maarten is one of our favorite ports. Both itineraries would make an excellent B2B Cruise. That's what we would do.

[Tak8]

I would pick option B. I have been to all of the islands. In A I am not of fan of Martinque and Dominica was ok.

 

In B, I like or love all the islands. I am into beaches and snorkeling, so that is how I pick from different itineraries.

[LVLstar]

Thank you everyone for your input!

 

Although doing a B2B would be amazing, it is not in the budget nor do we have enough vacation time. I guess whichever option isn't chosen will be the next cruise!

[DrivesLikeMario]

We couldn't decide either so we're doing both...b2b Feb 13th and Feb 20th!! Very excited, especially being able to get the same cabin for both legs so no moving cabins between legs! Are you maybe able to do the same?

 

Ditto here but we're doing them separate - one itinerary in the fall, one in the spring.

 

They're both good and both have their pros and cons. Grenada has amazingly gorgeous beaches, Dominica is lush and very beautiful, St. Lucia is amazing, and St. Maarten has the most turquoise water I've ever seen. There's something interesting about every island on both itineraries.

Edited January 22, 2016 by DrivesLikeMario

[JUST TRIPPIN']

For us this is an easy one. Itinerary B. We are both beach people and these islands are some of the best for that. We are going on this same cruise shortly. I will say that Dominica was one of our favourite islands though. We met many of our current cruise friends there. There was just something special about that little rain forest island with it's black sand and waterfalls.

[Cruisingwithoutthekids]

Easy for us. Tortola has Jost Van Dyke!

[LVLstar]

Easy for us. Tortola has Jost Van Dyke!

 

Would you recommend going to this island rather than the Baths at Virgin Gorda?

[Iamcruzin]

Option B. Personally I would pick Option A because we sailed option B already.

[Schaefer Light]

Looking at the two southern Caribbean itineraries, I am curious if anyone has a preference between them {and why}.

 

Option A

Tortola, BVI

Fort de France, Martinique

Roseau, Dominica

Basseterre, St. Kitts

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

Option B

Bridgetown, Barbados

Castries, St. Lucia

St. John, Antigua

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

 

Thanks in advance for your input! :)

The southern Caribbean itineraries have changed a bit in the past year. When we cruised on the Summit out of San Juan last year, we basically had Option A except we went to St. Croix and Grenada instead of Tortola and Martinique. I enjoyed St. Croix, but I think I like the new Option A itinerary better.

[Champagne Cruiser]

We have sailed opt A twice and opt B once but will be sailing opt B again in a few weeks. If you are a beach person or snorkeler the beaches in opt B are much better imho.

[jb008]

We have sailed opt A twice and opt B once but will be sailing opt B again in a few weeks. If you are a beach person or snorkeler the beaches in opt B are much better imho.

 

Second that B is better for snorkel & beach time imho.

[Aldeya]

I'd chose Option A solely because of Dominica.

 

As a matter of fact we just returned form a cruise which we booked BECAUSE it went to Dominica. We wanted to come back to this amazing island.

 

Love it! The nature, the people. We will try to come back again. :)

[jewlrybabe]

We've been on both and we would pick Option B. We love all the places on B, while we're not in love with Martinique or Tortola. Others love these places.

 

 

I heard a joke on the boards sometime ago. "What does Martinique mean in French" Answer...Stay on the boat. I agree

[hcat]

Many people share that view but we were just on Martnique on EQ and had a very nice day in port.

 

Weather was sunny with a shower along the way, and quite warm..took a ship's waking tour with an excellent guide..saw the market, library,theatre, old and new courts, some local shops, etc Very informative, alot of history and interesting architecture,. Where we walked was clean and bustling..

 

We ended at an amazing park and had a nice cafe lunch..despite knowing very little French. The fort (could not visit inside) and seaside walk were lovely...and we finished the day by purchasing some madras items for gifts in the pierside craft area....they are known for madras.

 

Not sure why everyone has bad reports but we a a nice vist...and folks we encountered were friendy and polite.

 

we also love Tortola!

[limace]

We loved both Martinique and Dominica. I guess Martinique isn't your classic beach and shopping island, but I found the history fascinating and people friendly, great food, and we took a bus to the botanical gardens and had a wonderful and very inexpensive excursion.

[phoenix_dream]

I vastly prefer option B, but just an hour ago booked option A due to lower cost and better timing for us.

 

Dominica IMHO is a love it or hate it island - it really depends what you like to do. It is very lush and beautiful, but has few nice beaches and very little in the way of shopping, no casinos, etc.. Much more rustic and unspoiled in that respect. Good for some; bad for others.

 

I haven't been to Martinique in years and years, but remember it as a place where the population seemed quite unfriendly and seemed to accept tourists as a need to have, but would rather we not be there. How it is these days I cannot say - have heard of people encountering unfriendliness, and others saying it was great. I do remember going to a beach on the island 20+ years ago which was nice (and topless) but I do not recall the name.

 

Have only been to Tortola once and don't remember alot about it, but I do remember liking it. Same for St. Kitts. The latter had a crime incident awhile ago which caused alot of discussion in the news and on these boards, but overall I thought it was a nice, safe, clean island.

 

I think anyone new to these islands would enjoy either - but they differ in what they offer so it depends what you like.

[Ereggae]

Looking at the two southern Caribbean itineraries, I am curious if anyone has a preference between them {and why}.

 

We chose Option A soon as we have never been to a couple of those ports. Option B has ports we have visited several times.

[Redtravel]

Just did 2 b2b cruises on the Summit. I enjoyed both sets of ports. I had previously visited all of the islands. If you like to shop, the cruise that visits St. Maarten is better. St. Maarten has better prices than other ports. On my last trip, I did most of my shopping there. St. Thomas has a great selection of jewelry with higher prices on many items. For places that are less crowded, pick the cruise that visits Tortola, etc. You can't go wrong with either cruise. I liked both of them.