Caribbean cruising questions

[wowzz]

One problem is that there appear to be very few 14 day round trips out of Miami/FL. 10 days, or two b2b seven day cruises seem to be the norm, and in the case of the latter, much of the time you aren't actually in the Caribbean  ! 

[Presto2]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

One problem is that there appear to be very few 14 day round trips out of Miami/FL. 10 days, or two b2b seven day cruises seem to be the norm, and in the case of the latter, much of the time you aren't actually in the Caribbean  ! 

When we looked at Celebrity there seemed to be more sea days and they didn't go to the islands that we wanted to see either. P&O seems better value tbh and less fuss in terms of flights and transfers etc etc. 

[Bill Y]

46 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

tbh I didn’t really want to go on p&o to Caribbean I wanted to try some of the American ships and book it myself but hubby over ruled

The big attraction of P&O is the charter to the Caribbean. The value was brought home to us a few years ago by Fred advertising cruises in the Caribbean and at the bottom flights + £800. As has been pointed out it's normally an ordeal to go through US boarder control, I believe that is why P&O do not normally visit US Virgin islands. After a long haul flight its a relief just to go down the aircraft steps and onto the transfer bus.

[Vampiress88]

1 hour ago, Josy1953 said:

Just a thought for @Vampiress88We once did a Caribbean cruise out of Florida so we flew out to Orlando and did the theme parks first before driving down to Miami to board the ship.  I am sure the girls would enjoy Disney World etc.

 

That was what I wanted to do. Have a Royal Caribbean cruise from tampa, do the state fair and do universal. 
 

Hubby has said no though cos we are doing orlando this year so wanted a few years between the parks. 

[Vampiress88]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I think with young children going with P&O is a better choice than an independent option, although I can see the attraction of an American ship. 

Waiting for three hours to pass through Miami border control is no way to start a holiday !

three hours! 
going to Orlando in May and I really hope it’s not that long especially when virgin changed the flight times on me so now we don’t land till 5.40! 

[Josy1953]

11 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

three hours! 
going to Orlando in May and I really hope it’s not that long especially when virgin changed the flight times on me so now we don’t land till 5.40! 

It is hit and miss with US Border Control, when I was travelling a lot for work, at some airports I got through in 30 minutes but at others it could take 3 to 4 hours.  The worst for me was one trip ghrough Washington and it took almost 5 hours, needless to say I missed my connecting flight and had to spend a night in an airport hotel and transfer to flight the next day. 

When we went through Orlando on holiday it was only just over an hour.

[Britboys]

When I flew to Seattle in 2019 for my Alaska cruise, we queued for 2 hours before actually reaching the Immigration Officer's Desk...

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, Vampiress88 said:

three hours! 
going to Orlando in May and I really hope it’s not that long especially when virgin changed the flight times on me so now we don’t land till 5.40! 

Like others, I used to travel to the US on business, and anything less than two hours to get through Border Control was a result.  

Recently we have used Tampa, and with fewer international flights,  it has not been too bad. 

You just have to be prepared for the worst.  That's why the P&O system in Barbados is so appealing - off the aircraft and straight onto the coach to the ship.

[Vampiress88]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Like others, I used to travel to the US on business, and anything less than two hours to get through Border Control was a result.  

Recently we have used Tampa, and with fewer international flights,  it has not been too bad. 

You just have to be prepared for the worst.  That's why the P&O system in Barbados is so appealing - off the aircraft and straight onto the coach to the ship.

We must have dropped on back in 2019 then as it definitely wasn’t that long. We were through all that faster than baggage as I remember having to wait 45mins for my bag and that made me annoyed. 

[Presto2]

2 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

We must have dropped on back in 2019 then as it definitely wasn’t that long. We were through all that faster than baggage as I remember having to wait 45mins for my bag and that made me annoyed. 

Al this has made me feel better. Have posted elsewhere that standards are not the same etc etc and had booked a cruise for January 2024 on Britannia to the Caribbean as something special. Was getting twitchy ............. now think we will be ok and just go for it ...........

[Vampiress88]

38 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Al this has made me feel better. Have posted elsewhere that standards are not the same etc etc and had booked a cruise for January 2024 on Britannia to the Caribbean as something special. Was getting twitchy ............. now think we will be ok and just go for it ...........

you’ll be going the month before us then! You’ll have to write about it so I can see before we go. 
 

what do you mean though, standards aren’t the same?

[Presto2]

26 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

you’ll be going the month before us then! You’ll have to write about it so I can see before we go. 
 

what do you mean though, standards aren’t the same?

On another thread have posted that a friend has told me things aren't the same... think it was the thread re having another loyalty tier.  ..

Re messaging ..of course we will when we get there :-)

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

Like others, I used to travel to the US on business, and anything less than two hours to get through Border Control was a result.  

Recently we have used Tampa, and with fewer international flights,  it has not been too bad. 

You just have to be prepared for the worst.  That's why the P&O system in Barbados is so appealing - off the aircraft and straight onto the coach to the ship.

We did several Florida holidays last century, some cruise some beach, and flew there on US Airways via Philadelphia.  Don't know if connecting to an internal flight helped, but we seldom had any significant immigration delays.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We did several Florida holidays last century, some cruise some beach, and flew there on US Airways via Philadelphia.  Don't know if connecting to an internal flight helped, but we seldom had any significant immigration delays.

I think the problem is that given the number of entry airports into the US, plus factors such as number of international arrivals at any one time, number of Border Control staff etc, our individual experiences do not really help .

All I know is that it always took longer to clear immigration in the US than the UK.

Especially frustrating when I had to fly to New York for a three hour meeting,  and I had to queue at Border Control for almost longer than the length of my meeting !

[Vampiress88]

Can we do lots of snorkelling that’s not too far out?

[wowzz]

44 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Can we do lots of snorkelling that’s not too far out?

I think you are better off asking that question in each the ports of call section for each island.

[Interestedcruisefan]

49 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Can we do lots of snorkelling that’s not too far out?

Several opportunities in several ports

 

I will need to refer back to my blog to remember exactly where

 

Plus snorkel tour (cheap) from Boatyard beach barbados (just pay at the beach) to see shipwreck and turtles

 

 

[Vampiress88]

4 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Several opportunities in several ports

 

I will need to refer back to my blog to remember exactly where

 

Plus snorkel tour (cheap) from Boatyard beach barbados (just pay at the beach) to see shipwreck and turtles

 

 

I’ve already book marked your thread cos there are lots of places I wanted to copy. Was a very good read! 

[Durie1989]

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  ? 
 

[wowzz]

12 minutes 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  ? 
 

Balcony cabin every time. Nothing like being on your own, with a glass of something cold, watching the sea.  

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 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  ? 
 

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

[Interestedcruisefan]

So now you have 2 answers

 

Total opposites

 

Lol

[Vampiress88]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Balcony cabin every time. Nothing like being on your own, with a glass of something cold, watching the sea.  

I agree with this. I would possibly do a window for somewhere like Northern Europe but we had to pick a balcony for the Caribbean. 

[CaptainPedantic]

We strongly prefer balcony cabins now - but that's because we like to spend a lot of quiet time relaxing and looking out to sea! And we get to avoid sunbed wars on sea days on the warmer cruises.

That said... Over half of our cruises have been in inside 4-berth cabins with the kids and we've always really enjoyed them. Obviously spending much less time in the cabin and only really using it for sleeping and changing. As the kids got older (and bigger!), we started to need more space and things were less hectic with fewer activities, and we found a balcony was worth the extra for us.

Not sure I helped you out there 🙂 basically "it depends"

 

[yorkshirephil]

12 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  ? 
 

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.