What do you like about Barbados?

[carnival03]

I'm having difficulty choosing an itinerary for our cruise next June, 2017, for our son's 21st birthday. We are a family of three and love the typical white sand, blue water beaches. Shopping is a plus and we love just being in a beautiful place! Here are my choices:

 

All leaving from San Juan...

 

Itinerary One: St. Thomas / Curacao / Aruba / St. Kitts

 

Itinerary Two: St. Maarten / St. Kitts / Antigua / St. Lucia / Barbados

 

Itinerary Three: Bonaire / Curacao / Aruba / St. Maarten

 

So what do you like about Barbados? What sets it apart from the options above, and which Itinerary would you choose?

 

Thanks for your opinion! :D

[negn]

Ah posting on each port .. good idea. In Barbados you have to snorkel with the turtles Totally different experience from other islands

[TravelingAPor]

Will there be turtles at Backyard Beach?

[negn]

Don't think so. They are further out in the water and usually need to take a tour to do this. Many independent tours are also available

[ODECCIT]

If you're strong swimmer, you can swim all the the way where excursion boat takes people and watch them feeding turtles.

[macaroni]

Itinerary 2-Barbados, st.martin and Antigua have beautiful beaches..st. Lucia to see the pitons and snorkeling....that would be my choice

[Trend]

Aruba nice water good shopping but beaches are soooo crowded these days. St Lucia beauty in the mountains the people but snorkelling we did last winter was just ok.

Curaçao great Dutch feeling snorkelling was ok still not great and we went with a special group. Beaches not great. Bonaire is the best for snorkelling or Caymans as well as Cozumel. Antigua has the most beautiful beaches and water.

Barbados beach was good have done the turtle swim people are lovely and great food.

[TravelingAPor]

Carnival wrote: "U.S. Embassy in Barbados has issued safety advisories due to high levels of crime. We encourage you to remain in the main tourist areas... avoid carrying large amounts of cash or jewelry ...

This made us nervous and I left my simple rings in the safe. We walked through town and were uncomfortable and decided to go back to the ship.

The port was not very nice & it was full of shipping warehouses. All the other islands had nice ports with shopping right off the ship. If you have a choice, I'd skip this island.

[macaroni]

I have never felt unsafe in Barbados and I have stayed there beyond just a cruise stop...the beaches are beautiful.....it is a great beach stop or tour the island...the scenery is great...get to the East Coast...don't miss Barbados...

[TravelingAPor]

If you go on an excursion or tour, you will be fine. I'm sure other parts of the island are beautiful.

[wd2crv]

I absolutely love Barbados. This was my second time here and enjoyed it thoroughly!

 

Beautiful white sand and blue, blue water. Friendly people and a relaxed atmosphere!

 

This time my family took a tour with Thriller Ocean Tours and had a blast! A full day of snorkelling and swimming with the turtles, exciting motor boat ride, fun, fun, fun (and an amazing rum punch). The owner is there with you and does everything to make your day great. Equipment provided and it is really safe even if you are not a great swimmer!

 

I had the most wonderful time!

[Flashy]

For a nice beach, stick to the Caribbean (Western) side; the Atlantic coast gets rough. Try the beach at Holetown, near Sunset Crest. Nice sandy beach with a shopping center near by. Try the flying fish, fried or in a roll-mop. The local beer, Banks, is excellent. I am partial to the Mount Gay Eclipse Rum. Try a Barbados Rum Punch. If you like it, pick up some of the Mount Gay Falernum (an alcoholic simple syrup, with a touch of almond) before you depart. It is relatively east to find Mount Gay rum in the US, but hard to find Falernum.

 

If you are adventurous, take a public bus up to Holetown.

 

We have visited several times after living there for 2 1/2 years in the 1970's.

 

ENJOY!

Edited October 3, 2016 by Flashy

[vedettes1]

Any instructions for taking the bus? Also, if we take a taxi to the beach at Holetown will it be easy to find one to take us back to the ship? Any idea of the fare?

[tartanexile81]

Carnival wrote: "U.S. Embassy in Barbados has issued safety advisories due to high levels of crime. We encourage you to remain in the main tourist areas... avoid carrying large amounts of cash or jewelry ...

This made us nervous and I left my simple rings in the safe. We walked through town and were uncomfortable and decided to go back to the ship.

The port was not very nice & it was full of shipping warehouses. All the other islands had nice ports with shopping right off the ship. If you have a choice, I'd skip this island.

 

Wow, I'm very surprised to read this. The Barbados terminal is the best for duty-free and general shopping in the Caribbean and there's craft shops a short distance away. The main shops are in the town which we've always walked to easily following the lovely shore. I think Bridgetown in Barbados and in fact several other ports in the Eastern Caribbean are more authentic and far less commercialised. I suppose it depends what you're looking for and for us it's the opportunity to experience things we wouldn't at home. We've been there 5 times now and wouldn't do anything risky but nor would we in any port we visit anywhere in the world.

Edited October 9, 2016 by tartanexile81

[OCruisers]

 

Itinerary Three: Bonaire / Curacao / Aruba / St. Maarten

 

Thanks for your opinion! :D

 

Itinerary Three would be our choice! It goes to ALL three of the ABC islands plus another favorite of ours, St. Maarten. :D

[OceansOfTravels]

Barbados to me is a very tranquil and preserved island, with a strong European feel, which to me makes a Caribbean trip 5 times better. I love the atmosphere in the primarily European holiday destinations, I feel like Cancun, Punta Cana, St.Thomas, Nassau, etc are basically the US with sunny weather. I like vacationing to a place that has a different (and unhidden, some places like to hide their culture and/or the reality to appease the tourists) cultures, with different people.

 

I guess I'm biased, because I made good friends from Europe while I was in Barbados, so it will always have a positive feeling for me, but on top of the general atmosphere of Barbados, I love the Carlisle Bay strip and the Bridgetown Harbour, both beautiful areas.

 

But to answer your question, I would go with itinerary 2. Many more ports, with Sint Maarten and Barbados being my two favorite ports, with St.Lucia being anothet good island, and I have heard great things bout Antigua and St.Kitts from friends who have gone!

Edited November 18, 2016 by OceansOfTravels

[Anyislandwilldo]

Itinerary 2. Barbados is a very lovely island with awesome blue water and great beaches. Did a tour on Barbados and saw some stunning scenery. Would love to go back for a land vacation for this island.

 

St Lucia is a very lovely island as well. We did a 12 day land vacation there and had plenty of time to explore the island. The other islands are worthy of tour as well. Been to St. Thomas 7 times. It gets old after a while.

[GeezerCouple]

Any cruise that includes both St. Lucia and Barbados.

 

We thought St. Lucia was our favorite island, and had been there twice. It's beautiful everywhere, especially those pitons, and also has some special sights (like the "walk in" volcano).

 

But the WATER on the west coast of Barbados!

It's that "crystal clear turquoise" from travel brochures, but in real life.

 

We returned a few days ago from a week-long land trip there, and had the most relaxing vacation ever.

 

Our hotel had mostly European guests; we saw very few others from the USA, and that was very nice.

We also met an extremely nice couple who we certainly hope to meet up with again, cruise or land.

Just about everyone everywhere was extremely pleasant/polite/helpful, noticeably more so than most other places. Nice!

[merinski]

I'm having difficulty choosing an itinerary for our cruise next June, 2017, for our son's 21st birthday. We are a family of three and love the typical white sand, blue water beaches. Shopping is a plus and we love just being in a beautiful place! Here are my choices:

 

All leaving from San Juan...

 

Itinerary One: St. Thomas / Curacao / Aruba / St. Kitts

 

Itinerary Two: St. Maarten / St. Kitts / Antigua / St. Lucia / Barbados

 

Itinerary Three: Bonaire / Curacao / Aruba / St. Maarten

 

So what do you like about Barbados? What sets it apart from the options above, and which Itinerary would you choose?

 

Thanks for your opinion! :D

 

I would probably go with option two... Barbados, go online and google Shasa tours, it's small and you go snorkeling and swimming with turtles! It was great. I really like St. Lucia and went on a tour with Cosal tours, it was really good!, St. Kitts we like to shop and in St. Martin.

[TLCOhio]

I'm having difficulty choosing an itinerary for our cruise next June, 2017, for our son's 21st birthday. We are a family of three and love the typical white sand, blue water beaches. Shopping is a plus and we love just being in a beautiful place! Here are my choices:

All leaving from San Juan...

Itinerary One: St. Thomas / Curacao / Aruba / St. Kitts

Itinerary Two: St. Maarten / St. Kitts / Antigua / St. Lucia / Barbados

Itinerary Three: Bonaire / Curacao / Aruba / St. Maarten

So what do you like about Barbados? What sets it apart from the options above, and which Itinerary would you choose?

 

Lots of good options to consider!! Personally, we really loved Barbados with its history, character, variety, etc. As my live/blog, plus other links below detail and show, there are nice potentials to consider in the Dutch ABC's. But, it takes more sea-day/time getting over there and back. Personally, St. Maartens can be a little (or a lot) overcrowded and congested. No one cruise schedule is going to be perfect and ideal as there are such differences and variety among the many different Caribbean islands. Hopefully you can spend some added time in and around San Juan, especially its charming Old Town area.

 

Below are a few visuals and ideas related to your options in Barbados that we enjoyed so much.

 

Super loved so different many parts of the Caribbean!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link: "Barbados: Our Pix's, Experiences Feb./2015!":

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262999

 

For Curacao: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!, see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2263377

 

For "Aruba: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!", see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262154

 

For "Bonaire: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!", see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262075

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 46,571 views for these postings.

 

 

Before boarding our ship, we did a three-hour private tour with a Barbados taxi driver. He took us all over this historic and scenic island, including to the top where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea come together. Is this a dramatic and scenic location? Does my wife’s smile say it all?:

 

 

 

Here are a few more visuals samples from our three-hour private tour around Barbados. This includes their Parliament building in main downtown, my wife loving this stop at one of their top beaches, visiting their historic St. James church and going through one of their older towns along the coast. Lots of nice homes and areas in this northern part of Barbados.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one example for what saw when walking from the port to the main part of town in Barbados. This includes the local island fish market where this merchant showed us a look at one of his large fish.:

 

 

 

Here is sample of party boats in the main harbor serving some of the visitors from the Royal Princess and Carnival ships that were in port during this day:

 

[SouthCaribbean2017]

Just curious...where do these itineraries depart from?

[toothfairy2]

Just curious...where do these itineraries depart from?

 

 

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

[TravelingAPor]

We started from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

[Tigers2]

GREAT IDEA!!! What was the taxi cost for the three hours??

 

Thank you!

Chuck

 

Lots of good options to consider!! Personally, we really loved Barbados with its history, character, variety, etc. As my live/blog, plus other links below detail and show, there are nice potentials to consider in the Dutch ABC's. But, it takes more sea-day/time getting over there and back. Personally, St. Maartens can be a little (or a lot) overcrowded and congested. No one cruise schedule is going to be perfect and ideal as there are such differences and variety among the many different Caribbean islands. Hopefully you can spend some added time in and around San Juan, especially its charming Old Town area.

 

Below are a few visuals and ideas related to your options in Barbados that we enjoyed so much.

 

Super loved so different many parts of the Caribbean!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link: "Barbados: Our Pix's, Experiences Feb./2015!":

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262999

 

For Curacao: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!, see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2263377

 

For "Aruba: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!", see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262154

 

For "Bonaire: Pix's, Fun, Experiences Feb./2015!", see:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2262075

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 46,571 views for these postings.

 

 

Before boarding our ship, we did a three-hour private tour with a Barbados taxi driver. He took us all over this historic and scenic island, including to the top where the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea come together. Is this a dramatic and scenic location? Does my wife’s smile say it all?:

 

 

 

Here are a few more visuals samples from our three-hour private tour around Barbados. This includes their Parliament building in main downtown, my wife loving this stop at one of their top beaches, visiting their historic St. James church and going through one of their older towns along the coast. Lots of nice homes and areas in this northern part of Barbados.:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one example for what saw when walking from the port to the main part of town in Barbados. This includes the local island fish market where this merchant showed us a look at one of his large fish.:

 

 

 

Here is sample of party boats in the main harbor serving some of the visitors from the Royal Princess and Carnival ships that were in port during this day: