Which is better itinerary?

[panzafit]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

[sea shepherd]

I think that’s a coin flip. There both kind of the same to me. I might go with the St Thomas one because there is a good NYC pizza place there I like a lot.

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

 

Should I assume that you have not visited any of these places before?

 

Each port has its attractions. Lots of water sports to do in St. Thomas, St. Kitts and St. Maarten.

 

Great rainforest and historical buildings and forts in San Juan.

 

I prefer Labadee to CocoCay.

 

So..................

[Merion_Mom]

And I certainly don't go to the Caribbean to eat New York pizza. :o

[baileybrad]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

Obviously, pluses and minuses and also personal preferences are in play when deciding which trip is better. I will refer to them as choice #1 (SK, ST, CC) and #2 (SM, SJ, L).

 

If no hurricane had hit last fall and you had never been to St Marteen or San Juan then I would choose #2. I would give Labadee an edge over Coco Cay since you can dock and walk off the ship there and I believe that you still have to tender at CC. Also, lots of things to do on Labadee if you are willing to drop some serious cash.

 

With the hurricane having occurred I would choose #1. My reasoning is that both ST and SM were badly damaged by the storms. There are lot os beautiful beaches around ST and SM beaches (Orient comes to mind) are still limping back. Also, not sure if you can make your way over to the airport or how many planes are even landing on SM.

 

SK was not was not damaged and SJ was. If you have never been to SJ, you can go to the forts and walk around Old SJ but what you cannot do is see the rain forest (at least not yet) and that is what I would advise one to do on SJ. Lots of good choices on SK of which I would recommend a Thenford Grey tour.

 

The private islands are both fun even though there is construction ongoing at Coco Cay based on reports that I have seen. I still think that a beach day there would be fine or RCCL would not stop there.

 

So at the end of the day, I would go with #1 as the current state of these locations now stand.

Edited May 7, 2018 by baileybrad

[sea shepherd]

And I certainly don't go to the Caribbean to eat New York pizza. :o

 

 

 

That’s probably because your not there that much. If you cruised a lot you would be there.

 

 

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[champagne123]

It’s a toss up

[fredflint]

You need to read some current reviews to see how the ports have recovered from the Hurricane.

[Rogueperson]

If you have not been to any of those itineraries, I would choose the St. Maarten, San Juan itinerary. Why? St maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan were damaged in the last hurricane, but from what i hear (and pictures I've seen), they are still rebuilding and will be for some time, but they are open for business. That being said, Cococay is the lynchpin here. As of now, I am at 33% arrival rate at Cococay. The tendering situation there makes it unpredictable and that port gets missed. My last attempt was only last week, and we left miami the night before enroute. It wasn't until 9am the next morning we were informed that we were skipping and heading straight to Nassau. We overnighted in Nassau instead.

[dorinel]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

 

Favorite: St. Thomas and the private beach Cococay.

 

Never been to St. Kitts (our cruise port last October but cancelled because of hurricanes :') ) . I enjoy St. Marteen. San Juan is ok. Labadee is only ok because the water is so dirty. :)

[Merion_Mom]

That’s probably because your not there that much. If you cruised a lot you would be there.

 

 

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Guess again.

[Merion_Mom]

 

With the hurricane having occurred I would choose #1. My reasoning is that both ST and SM were badly damaged by the storms. There are lot os beautiful beaches around ST and SM beaches (Orient comes to mind) are still limping back. Also, not sure if you can make your way over to the airport or how many planes are even landing on SM.

 

 

 

Maho Beach is open, the bars are open, planes are landing and taking off.

 

Orient Beach is still in the recovery stage.

[nelblu]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

.

 

St. K, St. T & St. M. However, my personal preferences are the ABC Islands (Aruba, Curacao & Bonaire).

[ARandomTraveler]

That’s probably because your not there that much. If you cruised a lot you would be there.

 

 

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She cruises...a lot. I have to agree with her, going to a Caribbean island for the New York style pizza is a little weird, haha! But still a good recommendation for anyone going there who might be in the mood for pizza.

 

 

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[ARandomTraveler]

Obviously, pluses and minuses and also personal preferences are in play when deciding which trip is better. I will refer to them as choice #1 (SK, ST, CC) and #2 (SM, SJ, L).

 

If no hurricane had hit last fall and you had never been to St Marteen or San Juan then I would choose #2. I would give Labadee an edge over Coco Cay since you can dock and walk off the ship there and I believe that you still have to tender at CC. Also, lots of things to do on Labadee if you are willing to drop some serious cash.

 

With the hurricane having occurred I would choose #1. My reasoning is that both ST and SM were badly damaged by the storms. There are lot os beautiful beaches around ST and SM beaches (Orient comes to mind) are still limping back. Also, not sure if you can make your way over to the airport or how many planes are even landing on SM.

 

SK was not was not damaged and SJ was. If you have never been to SJ, you can go to the forts and walk around Old SJ but what you cannot do is see the rain forest (at least not yet) and that is what I would advise one to do on SJ. Lots of good choices on SK of which I would recommend a Thenford Grey tour.

 

The private islands are both fun even though there is construction ongoing at Coco Cay based on reports that I have seen. I still think that a beach day there would be fine or RCCL would not stop there.

 

So at the end of the day, I would go with #1 as the current state of these locations now stand.

 

 

 

The rainforest is actually open now, as of a couple weeks ago, although it’s hard for people to go there on a cruise stop unless the ship is there all day. Most of them seem to leave around 2 in the afternoon though, and the rainforest is far away from the port.

 

St. Thomas is in much better shape than St. Maarten. The main tourist areas and beaches are recovered in St. Thomas, but reports of St Maarten are that it is still in pretty sorry shape, and the most popular beach (Orient) has been a major disappointment for people.

 

I’ve never been to Labadee or Coco Cay, but people seem to like Labadee more. BUT...if your cruise is a while away (mid 2019-2020) I would pick Coco Cay because they are building a massive water park and making it look really fun. There’s major debate on this and a lot of people are disappointed that the serene and peaceful island is being developed, but as I’ve never been there (nor have I wanted to go because it looked boring), I definitely plan to book a cruise that stops there once the building is complete, even if it costs extra money.

 

St. Kitts is beautiful. Lots to see, and beautiful crystal clear beaches.

 

Therefore, my choice is cruise #1, especially if you’re going when Coco Cay building is complete.

 

 

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[nelblu]

Maho Beach is open, the bars are open, planes are landing and taking off.

 

Orient Beach is still in the recovery stage.

 

We took RCL's beach tour to KimSha Beach at Simpson's Bay and had a great time. Included in the fare, was transportation, lunch/drink, & beach chair. For an add'l $4 you could rent an umbrella. On our Easter Allure cruise there were some 5 busses full from Allure to KimSha Beach. The pier which was our meeting place was a zoo.

[sea shepherd]

She cruises...a lot. I have to agree with her, going to a Caribbean island for the New York style pizza is a little weird, haha! But still a good recommendation for anyone going there who might be in the mood for pizza.

 

 

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I looked at her signature. Not impressed. When I say cruise a lot I mean a lot. I’m on ships more then I am home 30 weeks a year between work and vacation. I doubt she is out 30 weeks a year?

So when your at the same ports every other week. You look forward to eating out. And ship food gets old fast. And that’s not pizza they have onboard. 🤮

And don’t appreciate her sneaky comment.

 

 

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[George C]

I looked at her signature. Not impressed. When I say cruise a lot I mean a lot. I’m on ships more then I am home 30 weeks a year between work and vacation. I doubt she is out 30 weeks a year?

So when your at the same ports every other week. You look forward to eating out. And ship food gets old fast. And that’s not pizza they have onboard. 🤮

And don’t appreciate her sneaky comment.

 

 

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You really should do some cruises out of New York so you can have real pizza, but agree about the pizza on board. I believe that pizza place has been open in st Thomas for over 20 years , it was at one time across the street.

[Merion_Mom]

I looked at her signature. Not impressed. When I say cruise a lot I mean a lot. I’m on ships more then I am home 30 weeks a year between work and vacation. I doubt she is out 30 weeks a year?

So when your at the same ports every other week. You look forward to eating out. And ship food gets old fast. And that’s not pizza they have onboard. 🤮

And don’t appreciate her sneaky comment.

 

 

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You are being very strange about this. I have no idea why.

 

Your signature says that your next cruise is your 69th.

 

I hit that back in 2015.

 

 

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[Eslader]

Personally, choosing between those two itineraries would come down to the ship and/or which one was cheaper. I like all of those ports and wouldn't be able to come up with a strong preference for either one just based on where it's going.

[WisconsinFan]

Love all those places- so it would be hard to pick. We were just at St. Kitts (1st time ever) and St. Marteen (3rd or 4th time). St. Marteen is having a hard time coming back (Dutch side better than the French side, only one big plane in each week we heard because the resorts aren't back up and running) but we enjoyed our day there. St. Thomas has been a favorite, but we didn't call there this year. We were in Old Town for a short time, and they were having up and down power issues but really enjoyed the local crafts and poking around the forts. I don't know how you could say the water at Labadee was dirty- we had an enjoyable day there. Only made Coco Cay once when she was on our itinerary. I would go as Eslader- ship and cost. I don't think you could go wrong.

[OCruisers]

St. Kitts, St. Thomas, Cococay or St. Marteen, San Juan, Labadee?

 

This would be our choice .... :D

[mcatmcat]

Option B

Most ship depart early from puerta rico and cococay is better than Haiti. St kitts is boring

 

 

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