Which Carribean itenerary?

[CMomto4]

I need advice. 20th anniversary, only the 2nd time on a cruise. If we were to do the Carnival Carribean, which one would you do? We love more historical locations and don't mind a nice sandy beach to relax on at some point. We don't really care about the big hikes and adventure type activities. I need suggestions as I'm in information overload right now LOL

[poppadevan]

Southern Caribbean out of San Juan. You would experiences would be more diverse culturally, as well as geologically. French, Dutch, Spanish, English and Caribe cultures. Get a balcony cabin so you can enjoy your early morning entrances into some beautiful islands.

 

 

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[telebax51]

I second cruise out of San Juan that is my only cruise that i did not have a balcony on my second cruise because it is port intensive but love this cruise

[CMomto4]

Ahhh - I should have clarified. I'm not sure we'd have enough points for plane tickets to San Juan :(. We're in CA and I think we only have enough for domestic flights. I'm looking into that though.

[luvincruising]

There are also southern cruises out of Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, and Port Canaveral. The itineraries are different than a San Juan cruise but still some nice places to visit.

Do your research and pick the one that best fits what you will enjoy the most.

:)

[Essiesmom]

Puerto Rico is part of the US so I don't think flights there are considered international...EM

[Hinano]

Our favorite was Belize, Cozumel, Roatan and Grand Cayman. Three times. Best excursions.

[CA_Cruzing]

CA to MIA runs $175 on sale and around $195 average price. That’s one way. Book two one way tix to get best deal. Doing so is better than booking round trip.

 

Flying home after cruise, FLL is less expensive if you’re flying home to CA on port return day (port Miami). FLL runs $190 to fly home on a Sunday.

 

We booked Vista almost a year ago, flying from CA to MIA 3 days before our cruise to enjoy some Miami time and to relax before cruising.

 

We’re flying home from FLL as Uber/Lyft is around $25 total from Port Miami, which is still less than departing MIA on Sunday return to port (Best fare I saw MIA to CA on Sunday was around $235 pp).

 

Southern Carib from my research was the best set of ports as in premiere type ports, Eastern was next and then Western.

 

You can do a 8 day cruise from MIA to Southern or Eastern. There are many 7 day choices if you’re seeking 7 day cruises.

 

Caribbean cruises offer amazing water excursions. The Caribbean Sea is spectacular. There’s good land based tours too from my reading but it depends on what you’re really seeking to do.

 

Flying to Galveston from CA is pretty much the same costs as going CA to MIA or FLL.

 

Happy 20th Anniversary! We sail today to celebrate our 25th. I can appreciate your predicament.

 

Choose a ship that meets your needs and an itinerary that’s fun.

[HawkIVette]

It's really up to you as to what ports you want to see. After 20 cruises ( all Carnival) and 2 more booked this winter, they are all good.

Some of my favorites are Belize, for snorkeling and Roatan, for beach. But other ports, as St Kitts or St. Marteen are great for informational learning about other cultures.

It's really what you want to get out of a cruise.

[evandbob]

Ahhh - I should have clarified. I'm not sure we'd have enough points for plane tickets to San Juan :(. We're in CA and I think we only have enough for domestic flights. I'm looking into that though.

 

 

Wouldn't a flight to San Juan be "domestic" since it's not international?

 

I'm used to flying there from NY, and I don't think I've used more points or miles than I would if I were flying to Miami.

[OceansOfTravels]

I did come here to second the San Juan itienrary, but if San Juan is out of the question due to flight points, then I would recommend the 8 night itinerary that they offer from Port Canaveral, FLL and Miami. The 8 night has three sea days, and visits Grand Turk, San Juan, St.Maarten and St.Kitts. This itinerary will get your your idyllic beach experience (SXM and Grand Turk), plus your lush Caribbean islands (Puerto Rico and St.Kitts). This is my favorite itinerary that Carnival offers from Florida, mostly because of my strong love for St.Maarten and Puerto Rico. Hopefully this cruise is a while out from now, because the islands are still recovering. But, I would still recommend it, even after Irma/Maria, because those are some amazing ports. I recently did it onboard the Conquest if you have any questions!

[OCruisers]

Just make sure most of your ports of call will actually be in the Caribbean ... not in the Bahamas. ;)

[bobjer17]

CA to MIA runs $175 on sale and around $195 average price. That’s one way. Book two one way tix to get best deal. Doing so is better than booking round trip.

 

Flying home after cruise, FLL is less expensive if you’re flying home to CA on port return day (port Miami). FLL runs $190 to fly home on a Sunday.

 

We booked Vista almost a year ago, flying from CA to MIA 3 days before our cruise to enjoy some Miami time and to relax before cruising.

 

We’re flying home from FLL as Uber/Lyft is around $25 total from Port Miami, which is still less than departing MIA on Sunday return to port (Best fare I saw MIA to CA on Sunday was around $235 pp).

 

Southern Carib from my research was the best set of ports as in premiere type ports, Eastern was next and then Western.

 

You can do a 8 day cruise from MIA to Southern or Eastern. There are many 7 day choices if you’re seeking 7 day cruises.

 

Caribbean cruises offer amazing water excursions. The Caribbean Sea is spectacular. There’s good land based tours too from my reading but it depends on what you’re really seeking to do.

 

Flying to Galveston from CA is pretty much the same costs as going CA to MIA or FLL.

 

Happy 20th Anniversary! We sail today to celebrate our 25th. I can appreciate your predicament.

 

Choose a ship that meets your needs and an itinerary that’s fun.

The Vista is doing Southern Caribbean runs from Miami with some nice ports. My brother and his family are sailing over Thanksgiving on the Vista. While flying to Texas might be shorter for you..getting the Galveston from either of the Houston airports, in my opinion is a real pain. If it were me I would go with sailing out of Miami or FLL!

Edited November 4, 2017 by bobjer17
spelling errore

[coevan]

San Juan is a local flight, no passport necessary. Many airlines offer direct flight. However, I would never leave U.S. soil without a passport, including a cruise

[cmichael1279]

Check Southwest Airlines into San Juan, sometimes you'll catch a really good deal!

[jsglow]

Agree with what has been said here. I think you'll appreciate getting beyond what the typical 7 day boat does. So in my mind that's a 8+ day out of a FLA port or heading to San Juan and starting a 7 day there.

[KatPem]

I need advice. 20th anniversary, only the 2nd time on a cruise. If we were to do the Carnival Carribean, which one would you do? We love more historical locations and don't mind a nice sandy beach to relax on at some point. We don't really care about the big hikes and adventure type activities. I need suggestions as I'm in information overload right now LOL

 

Happy 20th :) We just celebrated by cruising out of Puerto Rico for our 20th. If you like historical, it doesn't get much better than San Juan. We have cruised several times out of Puerto Rico, you may find your points cover it or you could use points to get to FL and then pay to fly to PR fairly inexpensively. You can't beat the places you can get to out of PR. We are on the Fascination in March. It will be our first time on that ship but our third time on that itinerary. St Lucia is one of our favorites due to snorkeling between the Pitons (it's like swimming in an aquarium right from the beach) and the Mud Baths. I like that the itineraries out of PR, each island is so totally different. We went to Curacao for the first time on ours and fell in love with it as well. Roatan was very nice in the past (we went to Little French Key...hard to find anything more beautiful!) The only places we really didn't care for on our cruises was the Bahamas. Enjoy!

[carrieluvsgreg]

I do agree with what others have said- Southern Caribbean is definitely a wonderful choice. I also wanted to throw out an additional option that might be appealing to you. Carnival is offering a few options that include a partial transit through the Panama Canal. My husband and I took the Liberty out of Port Everglades for our 20th anniversary and it was a wonderful trip! Back then they did not enter the canal as the ship was too large. So we docked at the Port of Colon and took a tour to the canal. It was neat to see how the locks worked. The trip I saw is on the Miracle out of Tampa and is 8 days and only stops in Limon, Costa Rica and Grand Cayman- so you get several sea days. If you enjoy being on the ship, this also would appeal to you.

I don't know if I would pick this itinerary over the Southern Caribbean- but it would certainly get a second glance from me.

[sbnuggie]

Sorry to do this to you ... but the southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan was by far the best cruise my wife and I have ever been on for our 15th anniversary a couple years ago

 

we live in the Sacramento area and found awesome flights on JetBlue out of San Francisco for a very minimal cost

 

In fact I think it was more expensive to fly to Galveston and New Orleans then it was San Juan ....food for thought

 

 

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[beshears]

I don't know if you have made up your mind, and you did not ask about a specific port/island, but I would highly recommend St. Lucia. It is away from some of the other ports, and if I had a chance (I live in Missouri, so it is costly to fly) I would go there every year. I have cruised a lot down through the years, and one year, we were at a table of 8, and there was a newlywed couple with us. They started asking us where or what ports we like to cruise to, and I mentioned that I fell in love with St. Lucia. The next thing I knew, there were two other couples agreeing with me as well. As you can tell, I'm not talking about a specific ship, only the island. :)

[shark&minnow]

They are all great! You can't go wrong. But I will agree with others that the Puerto Rico cruises have been my favorite. Just being in Puerto Rico gives you a more historic place to explore before leaving on your cruise. We love Old San Juan. I hope they are starting to recover from the hurricane. Happy Anniversary!

[ILCruzr]

I have done the cruise out of San Juan and while it was amazing and you visit so many places. It is busy busy busy. I really much preferred the 8 day that did Aruba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, and Grand Turk. 3 sea days for R&R and 4 port days, one of which is a beach, so its like an extra sea day.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose!

[planmaker]

San Juan is historical and beautiful don’t get me wrong, but if you’re into history you can’t forget the Mexican ruins. Cozumel and Costa Maya have access to some great ones. Belize does too. There is an itinerary with all 3 of those ports plus the Cayman Islands for a spectacular beach place. Port Canaveral is the most organized port to leave from to do that. You can leave from Miami if you prefer but the port is a zoo.

 

 

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[angela12345]

I agree with most comments about the Bahamas. One trip is nice to Nassau, I could skip Freeport altogether. But I would go to Half Moon Cay on every cruise if I could (sandy beach).

 

Belize is our least favorite port. We really like Cozumel and Costa Maya, love San Juan, Amber Cove Dominican Republic, and Honduras (Mahogany Bay Isla Roatan). Love Grand Turk for the FlowRider (I'm over 50 years old and thought it was soooo fun) and walk off the beach snorkeling. St Maarten & St Thomas are in-between for us, don't love don't hate.

[pghsteelerfan]

Another vote for the southern itinerary out of San Juan. We have done this itinerary, twice, fairly recently and am itching to do it again since there is so much more I want to see/do. That is one itinerary that has something for everyone whether you prefer historical sites, island tours, tours with a lot of activity, beaches with good snorkeling and other water activities. They are also very scenic and there are great views as you sail in, and again sailing out. It IS a busy itinerary, but very well worth it. If possible, extra time in San Juan either before or after the cruise is well worth it. So much to see and do in San Juan.

 

And since Puerto Rico is a US territory (like the US Virgin Islands), it is considered a domestic flight.