What is your favourite Carribbean Island and why?

[pieter&sharon]

Bonaire. Very clean. Safe. Friendly. Unique salt pans and hills. Lovely beaches and Klein Bonaire reputedly has the best snorkelling. Great climate.

Edited March 7, 2020 by pieter&sharon
picture

[CanadaRob]

7 mile beach at Grand Cayman with 7 fathoms rum tour.  Aruba, Also loved Grand Turk but not a Royal stop

Edited March 7, 2020 by CanadaRob

[DustFSU]

St Johns Trunk Bay is a national park. Water and view is amazing

[Grandma Petania]

Hands down, LABADEE!  I am 80 years old, and have had my fill of tours, museums, shopping and water sports.  I love to hang out at Columbus Cove, where there is plenty of shade under palm trees near the shore.  The water is calm, and the sand is soft without rocks or seaweed.  My daughter and I usually end our stay by sitting in the shallow water, gazing out over the beautiful blue sea.

[Polly1922]

6 hours ago, EeyoreRN said:

St. John. National Park. Unspoiled and breathtakingly beautiful. I admit I'm biased, hubby and I honeymooned there 30 years ago. Day trip from St. Thomas works well! 

 

St. Lucia a close second. The Pitons. Volcano mud baths....amazing!

Sounds lovely.

Congratulations for your Pearl (30) wedding anniversary.

Polly

[Polly1922]

5 hours ago, pieter&sharon said:

Bonaire. Very clean. Safe. Friendly. Unique salt pans and hills. Lovely beaches and Klein Bonaire reputedly has the best snorkelling. Great climate.

Nice photo.

[Baron Barracuda]

For us it has always been Curacao.  The pastel colored buildings in the dutch islands are so picturesque.  We just stroll from the ship through the Rif fort, over the swinging bridge past the floating market and into town.  Very serene.

[Polly1922]

1 hour ago, Heymarco said:

Royal related? Maybe we can discuss airlines next?

We would fly from London to San Juan or Miami.

[lovemylab]

For port stops: Barbados, Aruba or St. John (USVI).

 

For a land trip: Barbados or Jamaica.

[Polly1922]

1 hour ago, lovemylab said:

For port stops: Barbados, Aruba or St. John (USVI).

 

For a land trip: Barbados or Jamaica.

Is there anywhere nice near the port like a beach or shops rather than going into Bridgetown?.

[robtulipe]

4 hours ago, Polly1922 said:

Is there anywhere nice near the port like a beach or shops rather than going into Bridgetown?.

Not really anything near cruise port. 

There is shopping at the cruise terminal but not much else close by other than a few street vendors on the route to downtown which for shopping IMO is just so so .

Closest nice beaches are on the other side or south-east of the downtown area on Carlisle Bay. I usually walk there, around 1 1/2 mile, which takes me about 30-35 minutes.  Just the other side of the Bridgetown harbor from the downtown on the way is the old Blackwoods Screw dockyard shown below. There is an art gallery there and restaurant in the main buildings there. Go right on first cross street after going over first harbor bridge to get there and beach start at the end of that road.

Queen Park just north-east also on the other side of the downtown area is interesting with an art gallery in the former Governor General House, unique Boabab tree with it's huge trunk (shot below) and on the weekend one is likely to see an amateur cricket match being played there.

Edited March 7, 2020 by robtulipe

[Polly1922]

9 minutes ago, robtulipe said:

Not really anything near cruise port. 

There is shopping at the cruise terminal but not much else close by other than a few street vendors on the route to downtown which for shopping IMO is just so so .

Closest nice beaches are on the other side or south-east of the downtown area on Carlisle Bay. I usually walk there, around 1 1/2 mile which takes me about 30-35 minutes. Also some nice beaches further away north of terminal which is on the calmer west side of the island.

Queen Park just north-east also on the other side of the downtown area is interesting with an art gallery in the former Governor General House, unique Boabab tree with it's huge trunk (shot below) and on the weekend one is likely to see an amateur cricket match being played there.

Thank you for your helpful information which is much appreciated.

[joeyancho]

Jamaica, Jamaica,  Jamaica.  The food, the music, the scenery,  the people,  the vibe. 

[lovemylab]

5 hours ago, Polly1922 said:

Is there anywhere nice near the port like a beach or shops rather than going into Bridgetown?.

 

Barbados isn't a large island so very easy to take a taxi or the bus to get you out of Bridgetown. Carlisle Bay is nice as are some of the beaches on the West Coast (Alleyne's).   Surfside beach bar in Holetown is popular as well.   Another option would be to book a catamaran cruise.  I like Barbados for the people, food and beaches.  The shopping is just so-so, but we aren't big shoppers so it doesn't bother us.  The only thing we tend to buy in Barbados is rum, rum cake and Earthworks Pottery.

Edited March 7, 2020 by lovemylab

[Polly1922]

3 minutes ago, lovemylab said:

 

Barbados isn't a large island so very easy to take a taxi or the bus to get you out of Bridgetown. Carlisle Bay is nice as are some of the beaches on the West Coast (Alleyne's).   Surfside beach bar in Holetown is popular as well.   Another option would be to book a catamaran cruise.  I like Barbados for the people, food and beaches.  The shopping is just so-so, but we aren't big shoppers so it doesn't bother us.  The only thing we tend to buy in Barbados is rum, rum cake and Earthworks Pottery.

Thank you for some interesting options.

[Judyrem]

20 hours ago, pieter&sharon said:

Bonaire. Very clean. Safe. Friendly. Unique salt pans and hills. Lovely beaches and Klein Bonaire reputedly has the best snorkelling. Great climate.

Best reefs for snorkeling, lovely place.

[shipgeeks]

Both St. Maarten and Barbados have beaches within walking distance from the ship.

At St. Maarten you can see the beach from the ship.  It's about a 20-minute walk, or water taxi ride.

In Barbados, there is a quiet beach shortly before reaching Bridgetown, also about a 20-minute walk.

[vacationlover_mn]

My new favorite island is Cozumel- we are in love with Nachi Cocum 🙂

[purplegrapefruit]

Bonaire. Crystal clear water, amazing snorkeling,  not commercial at all. It felt like a small town. The first island I've instantly wanted to stay. 

[ARandomTraveler]

Antigua and Barbados have they prettiest beaches- crystal clear calm water. A lot of people are mentioning orient beach with I think is way overrated and not nice at all. Not sure if my preference is just not common or if most people have never ventured beyond the eastern and western routes and haven’t seen anything nicer yet. Southern Caribbean is so much nicer in my opinion. 

[Polly1922]

8 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Both St. Maarten and Barbados have beaches within walking distance from the ship.

At St. Maarten you can see the beach from the ship.  It's about a 20-minute walk, or water taxi ride.

In Barbados, there is a quiet beach shortly before reaching Bridgetown, also about a 20-minute walk.

Thank you,I didn't realize you could walk to the centre of St Maarten as when we called last time on a short cruise we got the little boat across to the shops.

[Polly1922]

1 hour ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Antigua and Barbados have they prettiest beaches- crystal clear calm water. A lot of people are mentioning orient beach with I think is way overrated and not nice at all. Not sure if my preference is just not common or if most people have never ventured beyond the eastern and western routes and haven’t seen anything nicer yet. Southern Caribbean is so much nicer in my opinion. 

I was recommended the ABC?islands which sounded awesome.

Edited March 8, 2020 by Polly1922

[Coralc]

Barbados, first choice. There is so much to do there! We haven't even finished all the possibilities of things to see. Last time we went to see the Argentinian Mara. Poor thing, he is the last one on Barbados. On other visits we have visited Mt. Gay Rum and Banks Brewery. 

 

Second choice would be St. John (USVI) It is beautiful there. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Coralc

[die_hard]

St. Kitts....most beautiful place I’ve ever seen I never person. 

[Polly1922]

1 minute ago, die_hard said:

St. Kitts....most beautiful place I’ve ever seen I never person. 

Thanks.

That is one of the islands we would like to see.