Caribbean cruising questions

[crazy cat lady 83]

@Vampiress88 I’m not sure what Ports you are visiting. My ones were 7 & 9 the last time we visited the Caribbean. P&O do some great excursions which my two loved and will never forget. The submarine in Barbados was one of them. Also the pirates of the Caribbean catamaran in St Vincent which included a treasure hunt with lots of sweets. They also really enjoyed the botanical gardens in Martinique where they saw lots of hummingbirds and sleeping bats under a pagoda.

At 7 & 9 they had their own full face snorkels which we brought with us. The snorkeling was good in Barbados, Grenada as well as Grand Turk. You won’t regret going.

[Barbadossunshine]

13 hours ago, Durie1989 said:

We have only done 1 cruise and are due to take our 2nd cruise in June for a week to the Norwegian Fjords so whilst aboard we are going to enquire about a 14night Caribbean cruise for next year. We are wondering about cabin choice and ship. To save us some money we are thinking of booking an inside cabin as we figured we won’t be in it much, what are other people’s thoughts and suggestions on ships please  ? 
 

First every cruise was 2017 on the Azura to the Caribbean. Had no clue at all what to book etc and took the advise of in-laws who have been cruising for 30 plus years just to book an inside cabin for our first cruise. Did this and was not my cup of tea at all for myself and OH. On our last day in port, I booked another room to get changed and showered in and was given a balcony cabin and when we opened the door we were met with the most beautiful light and sunshine, me and husband just looked at each other and went wow this is the something that was missing from our holiday.  Have been to the Caribbean again in 2019 on Britannia and booked balcony and loved it. On Arvia for November 2023 booked an early saver fare on balcony cabin. Totally does not bother me or OH the position where we are on the ship. 

[Vampiress88]

2 hours ago, crazy cat lady 83 said:

@Vampiress88 I’m not sure what Ports you are visiting. My ones were 7 & 9 the last time we visited the Caribbean. P&O do some great excursions which my two loved and will never forget. The submarine in Barbados was one of them. Also the pirates of the Caribbean catamaran in St Vincent which included a treasure hunt with lots of sweets. They also really enjoyed the botanical gardens in Martinique where they saw lots of hummingbirds and sleeping bats under a pagoda.

At 7 & 9 they had their own full face snorkels which we brought with us. The snorkeling was good in Barbados, Grenada as well as Grand Turk. You won’t regret going.

I think I’m going to have shot myself in the foot as I bet I won’t want to go back on cold Europe ones after the Caribbean. 
Itinery below. The girls will be 9 and 8. 
 

Land in Barbados- coach to ship
Barbados 
At Sea
Tortola 
At Sea
La Romana

At Sea
St Maarten  

Antigua 
At Sea
St Kitts  

Martinique

St Lucia
At Sea
Disembark in Barbados- Flight home 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Vampiress88 said:

I think I’m going to have shot myself in the foot as I bet I won’t want to go back on cold Europe ones after the Caribbean. 
Itinery below. The girls will be 9 and 8. 
 

Land in Barbados- coach to ship
Barbados 
At Sea
Tortola 
At Sea
La Romana

At Sea
St Maarten  

Antigua 
At Sea
St Kitts  

Martinique

St Lucia
At Sea
Disembark in Barbados- Flight home

Are you Friday to Friday or Saturday  to Saturday?

[crazy cat lady 83]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

I think I’m going to have shot myself in the foot as I bet I won’t want to go back on cold Europe ones after the Caribbean. 
Itinery below. The girls will be 9 and 8. 
 

Land in Barbados- coach to ship
Barbados 
At Sea
Tortola 
At Sea
La Romana

At Sea
St Maarten  

Antigua 
At Sea
St Kitts  

Martinique

St Lucia
At Sea
Disembark in Barbados- Flight home 

They will love it. You are visiting some fantastic ports and will make some lovely memories for them!

[Bill Y]

11 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

You can often book 2 cruises for the price of 1 if you choose an inside cabin

 

It's a no brainer for us. We are so active on the ship we never have time to be in the cabin to enjoy a balcony anywhere near enough to pay extra for it

 

The fact you are asking the question suggests to me you don't need a balcony. Some swear by balconies and would never consider not having one

 

If that's the case it's a huge saving to just have an inside cabin

That certainly used to be the case on the older/smaller ships especially on itineraries that were done once or twice a year. But now ships have more balconies than the rest of the cabins put together and some itineraries are repeated on an industrial scale, these balconies have to be filled or at least a good proportion of them. So there are sometimes good bargains to be had, some travel agents sometimes advertise a free upgrade to a balcony although this is usually from an outside cabin.

 

We have done our fair share of insides as we don’t spend much time in the cabin or wish to sunbathe, but must admit that that a balcony is nice, it feels very decadent lying in bed during a long sail in such as Stockholm watching the scenery drift past. But you have to way up how much its worth to you. There is slight drawback with a balcony, you only see one direction and it’s in the shade or sun whereas on the outside decks you can move to which side you desire.

 

We once tried an outside but you could not see out meaningfully unless you stood up, so it’s an inside unless it’s a good price for a balcony.

[zap99]

9 minutes ago, crazy cat lady 83 said:

They will love it. You are visiting some fantastic ports and will make some lovely memories for them!

Unfortunately DW will only get in the sea in the Caribbean.  Best DIY snorkeling from the beach is

Barbados....boatyard

Tortola.....local bus trip to the beach, about an hour or so on the beach.

 

St Maartan.... Ferry from the ship to the beach.

 

I am sure some of the others will be OK, but ensure you are in a jetski free area.

 

I am not too sure about age limitations, but a swim with the turtles catamaran trip in Barbados is good, but a bit pricey. We have done those with a ship excursion and booked online with cool running.

Edited March 27, 2023 by zap99

[Vampiress88]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

Unfortunately DW will only get in the sea in the Caribbean.  Best DIY snorkeling from the beach is

Barbados....boatyard

Tortola.....local bus trip to the beach, about an hour or so on the beach.

 

St Maartan.... Ferry from the ship to the beach.

 

I am sure some of the others will be OK, but ensure you are in a jetski free area.

 

I am not too sure about age limitations, but a swim with the turtles catamaran trip in Barbados is good, but a bit pricey. We have done those with a ship excursion and booked online with cool running.

think I also need to get them to be strong swimmers too and that doesn’t seem to be happening fast. 

[Durie1989]

9 hours ago, yorkshirephil said:

The best thing is to go to the future bookings desk and discus your requirements. I have always found the staff knowledgeable and helpful. Sometimes there are offers on certain cruises with extra OBC above the usual given amounts, plus the deposit will only be £50 so no great loss if you see the same cruise cheaper nearer the cruise date and want to cancel and rebook, or a select booking will work out cheaper than saver when adding the OBC, this of course only works if the extra OBC is beneficial to you.

We have nearly always booked an inside cabin and found that fine for us. The staff will be happy to discus the ship and help you decide what fits your needs. I would be tempted not to book straight away as sometimes flyers are delivered to your cabin or there is a note in the Horizons with more special offers. There are currently some exceptional deals for the Caribbean as the cruise lines want to fill up the ships, how long these will last is anybodies guess so I suggest you look online before you go and get an idea of what you want to pay. 

 

[Durie1989]

1 minute ago, Durie1989 said:

Thank you everyone, you have all been very helpful. Looking online now I could get a select inside cabin with £280 obc and with a possibility of an upgrade to a cabin. We have a balcony booked for the Fjord trip but only did this due to the scenery. What is the scenery like on a Caribbean ?
I’m going to ask the staff on board can we have a look at an inside cabin and a sea view one and see what we think. I feel like an inside would suit us as we like to be out and about and not really ones to be sat on a balcony. Think I have answered my own question 🤣

 

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, Durie1989 said:

What is the scenery like on a Caribbean ?

In all honesty, the scenery is not a reason to have a balcony in the Caribbean !

[Interestedcruisefan]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

In all honesty, the scenery is not a reason to have a balcony in the Caribbean !

Some of the views when we docked (not all) were stunning IMO

[Josy1953]

7 hours ago, Durie1989 said:

 

I consider the cabin to be my personal space for the time that I am on the cruise so I would be extremely annoyed if any member of staff showed some random passenger around my cabin. 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Josy1953

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, Josy1953 said:

I consider the cabin to be my personal space for the time that I am on the cruise so I would be extremely annoyed if any member of staff showed some random passenger around my cabin. 

+1

[Cordelia2799]

We have just returned from a Caribbean cruise on Britannia.  The Caribbean islands are the perfect place to cruise around, the weather is sublime, the islands are scenic with lush vegetation, the beaches are sandy and the sea is warm.  Lovely people on all the islands, they are very happy to see visitors after Covid.  I would not consider a Mediterranean cruise until May, it would be a bit chilly.

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, Cordelia2799 said:

 I would not consider a Mediterranean cruise until May, it would be a bit chilly.

Thanks for that - we are off to the Med on Saturday ! 

[kalos]

8 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Some of the views when we docked (not all) were stunning IMO

 St Lucia sail in was ,for us anyway .🙂

[zap99]

12 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for that - we are off to the Med on Saturday ! 

2 weeks for us.Starting to warm up a bit now.

[zap99]

5 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

I consider the cabin to be my personal space for the time that I am on the cruise so I would be extremely annoyed if any member of staff showed some random passenger around my cabin. 

As they only ,reluctantly come into the cabin once a day and can't even be bothered to turn the bed down, or leave a flipping chocolate,  I don't want them bringing  guided tour parties into my cabin......so there.😡

Edited March 28, 2023 by zap99

[purplesea]

27 minutes ago, zap99 said:

2 weeks for us.Starting to warm up a bit now.

We're off in 6 weeks, middle of May so should be nice and warm.

[terrierjohn]

39 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for that - we are off to the Med on Saturday ! 

 

26 minutes ago, zap99 said:

2 weeks for us.Starting to warm up a bit now.

My niece and her husband were in Torrevieca last week, temp was high 20s and it was very sunny.

[Vampiress88]

Think the weather just depends on if you drop onto a good week. We did med in April last year and it was fantastic weather. 

[zap99]

7 minutes ago, purplesea said:

We're off in 6 weeks, middle of May so should be nice and warm.

I hope so. We are off again in June, to that Majorca. Should be OK by then. Eastern med cruise in a couple of weeks 22 and sunny forecast. That'll do.