Navigator Southern or Adventure Eastern?

[Cassicruiser]

My wife and I have done the 8 day cruise at least 4 times. We just got off the Navigator cruise March 16-25. We have now found a new favorite. The islands were fantastic and the Navigator offered great service. Snorkeling in Bonaire was the highlight of the trip

 

 

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Hi Nick - Did you love the trip because you preferred the islands themselves on this itinerary? Or was it just more of a change from doing the Eastern islands a few times?

 

I see snorkelling mentioned all the time as a highlight, so is this one of the main drawcards for this area or what else was it about the ABC islands that you loved as opposed to your previous cruises?

 

We would probably snorkel once but have snorkeled back home many times and are looking more for the Caribbean feel (happy with a Caribbean European feel on these islands), fun excursions and beautiful islands and beaches.

[Nick67]

Hi Nick - Did you love the trip because you preferred the islands themselves on this itinerary? Or was it just more of a change from doing the Eastern islands a few times?

 

 

 

I see snorkelling mentioned all the time as a highlight, so is this one of the main drawcards for this area or what else was it about the ABC islands that you loved as opposed to your previous cruises?

 

 

 

We would probably snorkel once but have snorkeled back home many times and are looking more for the Caribbean feel (happy with a Caribbean European feel on these islands), fun excursions and beautiful islands and beaches.

 

 

 

Anything other than Oasis class ships I chose because of the islands. Oasis class ships are a vacation on there own. I have sailed the Navigator on the 8 day route also. I really enjoyed the ABC islands. Curaçao we enjoyed the beach, Bonaire for the snorkeling. I was very surprised about Aruba because of the desert like landscape. We went 4 wheeling in Aruba and it was a blast. A word of caution if you decide to do this. Wear a respirator, very dusty. If you have any respiratory problems don’t go 4 wheeling. The beach is what I would recommend. The Navigator has alway been a ship that I have enjoyed. Don’t care much for the entertainment but overall the ship is enjoyable.

 

 

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[ravensbad]

I'll preface this by saying I am not taking hurricane damage in to account in my answer. It's certainly something to consider.

 

Looks like I'm going to be in the minority but based on your replies so far in this thread if I were in your position I would choose the Eastern route. I loved snorkeling in Bonaire, and in fact I am going on the 9-night Navigator itinerary in a few weeks. I will certainly enjoy snorkeling and an island tour in Curacao. Aruba was not my favorite port but I had a good day, which is pretty much how I feel about St. Maarten. But you have said that you have done plenty of snorkeling and I have yet to find a mediocre beach from a cruise excursion. I think you will get a more "Caribbean" experience in St. Kitts and Puerto Rico than you will get on the Southern route. The Southern Caribbean islands are fantastic stops and I would go to them again in a heartbeat, but if I had to choose only one itinerary to do, all else being equal and having never been to any of them, I'd choose the Eastern route.

[Hopetotravel]

We just returned from both Adventure itineraries ( St Maarten, St Kitts, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados on first cruise. Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao on the second) in Feb / Mar each starting in San Juan PR. For a Caribbean vibe you'll get that more from the eastern cruise rather than the ABCs . Although the rain forest in PR is still recovering some of our group did the zip line there which the loved. St. Kitts was great. These islands are mountainous and green whereas the ABCs are desertlike but still nice with the cactus and colorful buildings. St. Maarten still needs a lot of repair but we rented kayaks and paddled to Pinel Island for the day and it was nice.

[Cassicruiser]

The last 2 replies from Ravensbad and Hope to travel have turned everything around and now I'm back to square one :D:p But I guess that's where I was heading with my questions. While everyone seems to love the ABC islands, I picture the Caribbean as lush and mountainous with beautiful beaches and a Caribbean vibe. The dry, arid Dutch islands weren't equating with this in my head, but maybe I'm totally wrong. And maybe they also have a great vibe, just different.

We want somewhere with beautiful beaches, great little towns to walk around, beautiful landscape with some fun things to do (Trike or ATV excursion, maybe something like river tubing or similar, but maybe that's more on Western itineraries?) but also with Caribbean music and a Caribbean feel. At the same time, I like the idea of the ABC islands being a little less busy, cleaner and safer, with less poverty and hurricane damage. Does that pretty much sum it up?

Oh how to make this decision???

[Clarea]

... Oh how to make this decision???

Flip a coin. Do one this year and the other next year.

[Nick67]

You can’t make a bad decision, they are great choices. Good Luck

 

 

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[Cassicruiser]

Flip a coin. Do one this year and the other next year.

We live in Australia, a little too far to go back again anytime soon, and too much of the world still to see. Hence the crippling indecision on this one:p

[viajes001]

I have been to all of the islands you mention except St. Kitts. We did the ABC cruise on the Navigator in December. Though the ABC have beautiful beaches and we enjoyed our trip, the islands in the ABC are all very similar with Aruba having more action. Reading what your desires are, I would go with the Eastern Caribbean. I think you will get a bigger variety of cultures, food, and scenery on that cruise. The ABC islands are flat and arid. You will find beautiful beaches on either itinerary. I think you should do what someone suggested and google images of the individual islands. Once you do this I think you will prefer the Easter Caribbean as it matches more to what you have described.

 

 

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[Tall-Cruiser]

The last 2 replies from Ravensbad and Hope to travel have turned everything around and now I'm back to square one :D:p But I guess that's where I was heading with my questions. While everyone seems to love the ABC islands, I picture the Caribbean as lush and mountainous with beautiful beaches and a Caribbean vibe. The dry, arid Dutch islands weren't equating with this in my head, but maybe I'm totally wrong. And maybe they also have a great vibe, just different.

We want somewhere with beautiful beaches, great little towns to walk around, beautiful landscape with some fun things to do (Trike or ATV excursion, maybe something like river tubing or similar, but maybe that's more on Western itineraries?) but also with Caribbean music and a Caribbean feel. At the same time, I like the idea of the ABC islands being a little less busy, cleaner and safer, with less poverty and hurricane damage. Does that pretty much sum it up?

Oh how to make this decision???

 

 

I have done several Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises and sailed on both Navigator and Adventure. We had a great time on Navigator doing the Eastern Caribbean including some of our favorite ports of St Maarten and St Kitts. Our Adventure cruise was not so great. We flew to San Juan specifically to do the ABC islands but never made it there. Why? One of the propellers broke/damaged, so the itinerary was changed. To me, San Juan is a great port but sailing out of there was the most disorganized I had experienced.

So because I have yet to see the ABC Islands, my vote is the ABC Islands as I have also heard great things about them.

If you do end up choosing the Eastern Caribbean and stop in St Kitts, try Reggae Beach. We used Pereira Tours (Liz Pereira - Owner) for a great tour package of the Island and hours at Reggae Beach.

https://lizpereirastourstore.shutterfly.com

 

Good Luck and happy cruising.

[poffles]

I would choose the ABCs and the extra day but that of course based on my personal cruising history. Having done the eastern many times I am happy to be doing ABCs myself in October for the change. That said, I also switched it up due to hurricane impact and letting the islands settle a bit more before returning, but that is easier said when you've been there a few times.

 

Considering what you have been saying a few times about wanting a 'Caribbean' feel to an island, this really comes down to what you like to do when you travel. Shop, island tour, active excursion like snorkel or swim with turtles, museums/history etc? What you plan to do on the island extremely impacts what your experience will be. There are islands I have loved based on an excursion I've taken, then read others say they found it boring and nothing to do ... a result of not venturing further than the shops right at the pier.

 

Go with your gut, I do not think you will not make a bad decision either way. At least one port, for the 'Caribbean' feel, find a beach with a restaurant or bar with music playing and just sit to enjoy the ambiance and that could literally be anywhere when the sun is shining and the sand and ocean is near.

 

Good luck in your choice and have a great trip!!!!

[Cassicruiser]

I would choose the ABCs and the extra day but that of course based on my personal cruising history. Having done the eastern many times I am happy to be doing ABCs myself in October for the change. That said, I also switched it up due to hurricane impact and letting the islands settle a bit more before returning, but that is easier said when you've been there a few times.

 

Considering what you have been saying a few times about wanting a 'Caribbean' feel to an island, this really comes down to what you like to do when you travel. Shop, island tour, active excursion like snorkel or swim with turtles, museums/history etc? What you plan to do on the island extremely impacts what your experience will be. There are islands I have loved based on an excursion I've taken, then read others say they found it boring and nothing to do ... a result of not venturing further than the shops right at the pier.

 

Go with your gut, I do not think you will not make a bad decision either way. At least one port, for the 'Caribbean' feel, find a beach with a restaurant or bar with music playing and just sit to enjoy the ambiance and that could literally be anywhere when the sun is shining and the sand and ocean is near.

 

Good luck in your choice and have a great trip!!!!

Excellent advice!

 

I have been to all of the islands you mention except St. Kitts. We did the ABC cruise on the Navigator in December. Though the ABC have beautiful beaches and we enjoyed our trip, the islands in the ABC are all very similar with Aruba having more action. Reading what your desires are, I would go with the Eastern Caribbean. I think you will get a bigger variety of cultures, food, and scenery on that cruise. The ABC islands are flat and arid. You will find beautiful beaches on either itinerary. I think you should do what someone suggested and google images of the individual islands. Once you do this I think you will prefer the Easter Caribbean as it matches more to what you have described.

 

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I'll definitely need to spend a bit more time looking at pictures and options of each island. Eastern does sound more diverse, but I guess there's also a lot to be said for islands that are less busy and packed with tourists, and also have less poverty away from the tourist areas.

[Cassicruiser]

I have done several Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises and sailed on both Navigator and Adventure. We had a great time on Navigator doing the Eastern Caribbean including some of our favorite ports of St Maarten and St Kitts. Our Adventure cruise was not so great. We flew to San Juan specifically to do the ABC islands but never made it there. Why? One of the propellers broke/damaged, so the itinerary was changed. To me, San Juan is a great port but sailing out of there was the most disorganized I had experienced.

So because I have yet to see the ABC Islands, my vote is the ABC Islands as I have also heard great things about them.

If you do end up choosing the Eastern Caribbean and stop in St Kitts, try Reggae Beach. We used Pereira Tours (Liz Pereira - Owner) for a great tour package of the Island and hours at Reggae Beach.

https://lizpereirastourstore.shutterfly.com

 

Good Luck and happy cruising.

Ah that sucks that your cruise was completely changed. Hope you get to see the ABC islands soon!

And I'll make a note to check out Pereira tours if we do go to St Kitts

[BillOh]

Hi everyone - we are doing our first Caribbean cruise in December (coming from Australia so won't be doing another anytime soon) and have narrowed down to a 9 night Navigator to Labadee, Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba or 8 night Adventure to Labadee, St Maarten, St Kitts, San Juan.

 

Need help deciding on which to do please. Is there much difference between the 2 ships? Is it an issue that Navigator is due for a drydock while Adventure just had one? Which itinerary is better?

 

We are a family of 4 (kids are adults, 20 and 22) and want some fun adventure type excursions, as well as Caribbean culture, beautiful beaches and great ship. This class ship seems the perfect size (biggest we've done is Radiance, and Celebrity Solstice), and 8 or 9 nights seems a good length cruise.

 

 

I've done both ship and all those ports. I could, and have been very happy with both. Go for the one longer day. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are all pretty worthwhile.

[Cassicruiser]

I've done both ship and all those ports. I could, and have been very happy with both. Go for the one longer day. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao are all pretty worthwhile.

One longer day means another sea day which is great. Also the ABC itinerary has much longer port days which is also a factor. I guess this decision is a really nice problem to have!!

[Cassicruiser]

I am so bummed, and this is just crazy! After a week or so of going back and forth between these 2 cruises and a few others, and from all your great advice, I finally decided last night to do the Navigator Cruise to the ABC islands. This morning I went online to check a few different website prices before I called to book, and the price for this cruise has gone up 25% overnight and there are no balconies left! And it's only on this particular sailing. Navigator does this route multiple times per year and all other sailings have remained the same, except for this one. Even an inside cabin has jumped from $710 to over $1000. It's early Dec, so not a Xmas cruise.

 

So because of that, we now have to go with our 2nd choice of Adventure of the seas, which has remained the same price. Its a good choice too, but it's such a bummer when we finally decided on the other one.

 

Does anyone have any insight as to why this cruise would suddenly jump up in price so far ahead. Is it likely that it would come down anytime soon?

 

We will book the Adventure cruise in the meanwhile and switch if it does. The online agency I called has a $100 fee to do this, is this usual, or should there be no fee to cancel a cruise and switch to another one on the same cruiseline?

[Clarea]

... Does anyone have any insight as to why this cruise would suddenly jump up in price so far ahead. Is it likely that it would come down anytime soon? ...

Unfortunately, pricing trends are not predictable.

[ravensbad]

The online agency I called has a $100 fee to do this, is this usual, or should there be no fee to cancel a cruise and switch to another one on the same cruiseline?

 

The online agency is probably booking you with a non-refundable deposit fare (and I feel strongly this is something they should disclose to you but ultimately it's on you to do your research) which has a $100 per person change fee. If you book a refundable deposit there is no fee for changing your cruise or even canceling outside of final payment but of course the cruise fare will be higher, and in most cases significantly higher (minimum I've seen was $70 per person on a cheap cruise in an inside cabin).

[Cassicruiser]

The online agency is probably booking you with a non-refundable deposit fare (and I feel strongly this is something they should disclose to you but ultimately it's on you to do your research) which has a $100 per person change fee. If you book a refundable deposit there is no fee for changing your cruise or even canceling outside of final payment but of course the cruise fare will be higher, and in most cases significantly higher (minimum I've seen was $70 per person on a cheap cruise in an inside cabin).

This one was with 0 deposit (or the agency paying our deposit for us) which is misleading as it's still $100 per person if we change or cancel. So I'm trying to find an agency that fully refunds our deposit if we change cruises. We have found this previously where we have been able to cancel with no penalty and then book a different cruise, but I have read that things have changed in the past 6 months or so

[Cassicruiser]

Unfortunately, pricing trends are not predictable.

I've never seen a cruise that's 8 months away, and not a holiday cruise suddenly jump up so significantly in price literally overnight, and become so much higher than any other sailing on this or similar ships. Something weird going on

[ravensbad]

I've never seen a cruise that's 8 months away, and not a holiday cruise suddenly jump up so significantly in price literally overnight, and become so much higher than any other sailing on this or similar ships. Something weird going on

 

This exact thing happened to me a couple of years ago for an 11-night Serenade of the Seas cruise the first week of December. Booked it onboard a year ahead of time and when we got off the ship and I verified my reservation I noticed the cost of OV cabins had gone up over 50% for new bookings. It was because OV's were nearly sold out.

[chelley599]

Hi everyone - we are doing our first Caribbean cruise in December (coming from Australia so won't be doing another anytime soon) and have narrowed down to a 9 night Navigator to Labadee, Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba or 8 night Adventure to Labadee, St Maarten, St Kitts, San Juan.

 

Need help deciding on which to do please. Is there much difference between the 2 ships? Is it an issue that Navigator is due for a drydock while Adventure just had one? Which itinerary is better?

 

We are a family of 4 (kids are adults, 20 and 22) and want some fun adventure type excursions, as well as Caribbean culture, beautiful beaches and great ship. This class ship seems the perfect size (biggest we've done is Radiance, and Celebrity Solstice), and 8 or 9 nights seems a good length cruise.

 

We just had to make the same decision. We had it down to these two itineraries. We wntmwith Navigator because 1. More nights 2. The itinerary is perfect. I love the ABC islands

[Cassicruiser]

We just had to make the same decision. We had it down to these two itineraries. We wntmwith Navigator because 1. More nights 2. The itinerary is perfect. I love the ABC islands

The decision was pretty much made for us - the Navigator cruise has become so much more expensive, with a basic inside cabin jumping up from around $650 to over $1000 pp, and no balconies left. So I've booked a refundable rate on the Adventure, but I'm happy with either itinerary so in a way this has done me a favour!