which island in the caribbean?

[melika091900]

We love cruising but im considering a land vacation for my DH and DD

next jan to the caribbean... I have no idea which island to go to ??? any input on this.... any safe place.good for kids...?

we are flying from CA so the distance doesnt make a difference,,

any info id appreciate...

weve been to jamaica and cozumel, so we do want to try something different,,

thanks for any info

[caribbean dreams]

Hi, My favorite Islands to vacation with kids is Grand Caymen and Aruba, the people are the friendliest and the Islands are very clean, another place that we vacationed is Puerto Rico depending on the ages of your kids. I know what you mean about "distance doesn't matter" I am from California also (Clovis) and everywhere is far from here.

[twinkletoes4445]

I vote for Grand Cayman. It's clean, and safe, and easy to get around on. You can rent a car and explore the entire island. We stayed at the Regal Beach Club and loved it. We had a two-bedroom condo right on 7 Mile Beach. It was close to everything. It's also right next door to the Marriott, which is nice. They have several restaurants, and Red Sail operates out of a small office right next to the beach. They offered parasailing, waverunners, those big-wheeled boats, kayaks, and some other things. We rented our car from Andy's, which is right across the street from the airport (a very short walk). Make sure and pick up the Cayman Activity Guide in the airport (there's a small visitors area in the airport, and they offer all sorts on island activity information). I think we saved 10% on our SUV. There's also coupons for activities, restaurants and much more in the guide. Regal Beach is also right across the street from Aqua Beach Restaurant and Coconut Joe's (just up a few doors). It was really nice being so close to those places.

 

We had thought about Aruba, but after watching how the authorities handled the missing girl case, we decided against going there. This is just my personall opinion, and I know a lot of people travel there and have a wonderful time. However, if I had a problem, I'd expect more from the police than I think they are able to provide.

[melika091900]

thanks so much for the info,,, i was thinking there since we missed that port on carnival due ti hurricane ivan in 04...

great tips

 

thank you both again

[twinkletoes4445]

Wherever you go, have a great time! I love family vacations... :)

 

If you do go to GC, make sure and check your restaurant bills. Some places will add on the tip prior to you paying for it. Some places didn't do this, but most did (and some did one time, but not the next time we ate there). It's easy to double tip if you aren't careful. And always ask them what the bill is in US dollars (you can do this at any place you are, be it a restaurant, or grocery store...they will all do this and seem to be used to doing it). They usually write both down. The US dollar was worth .80 to the Cayman dollar. There's no need to worry about carrying Cayman money. For the most part, we used our CC's and had no problems at all. We also used cash, and most times, unless we asked, we were given change in Cayman dollars.

 

We loved to go to Beaches Restaurant in the evenings. Princess & Holland America have ships that leave later in the evening. We sit on the outside balcony of Breezes, and watch the ships load up and then leave. I think we did this two or three times. It was a very relaxing dinner and cool to watch the ships leave port.

 

And our Sprint phones worked! That was a shock. We'd already had them set up for International calling (we called from the US to an international area), but we were suprised at how they worked while we were in GC. We didn't have to dial a country code or anything...we just dialed like we normally do. This is funny (to me) because we live near the Sprint World Headquarters, and without fail, our phones lose their signal in front of the headquarters. I find it amazing that I can be on a small island and they work, but they don't work here (many times).

[Taiger]

We love cruising but im considering a land vacation for my DH and DD

next jan to the caribbean... I have no idea which island to go to ??? any input on this.... any safe place.good for kids...?

we are flying from CA so the distance doesnt make a difference,,

any info id appreciate...

weve been to jamaica and cozumel, so we do want to try something different,,

thanks for any info

 

Hiya Melika, I too have been to Jamacia, Cozumel, USVI, St Martine, to list a few. The BEST vacation we have ever had was at Margartita Island. It is between Trinadad and Aruba. I could write a page full but have just found a link that may be useful. Enjoy your next cruise.

http://www.margaritaislandvacation.info/El_Guamache_Port.htm