Southern vs Eastern Caribbean Noordam

[mugiber]

I would like to go on the 10 or 11 night cruise from NYC. Of the two itineraries, which would you suggest is better:

 

10 Eastern Caribbean

 

0 New York, New York 4:45 pm 1 At Sea 2 At Sea 3 Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos 7:00 am 2:00 pm 4 Road Town, Tortola Noon 9:00 pm 5 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 8:00 am 6:00 pm 6 St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 7:00 am 6:00 pm 7 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 am 1:00 pm 8 At Sea 9 At Sea 10 New York, New York 8:00 am

 

11 Southern Caribbean

 

0 New York, New York 4:45 pm 1 At Sea 2 At Sea 3 Road Town, Tortola 3:00 pm 9:00 pm 4 St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. 7:00 am 5:00 pm 5 Roseau, Dominica 8:00 am 6:00 pm 6 Bridgetown, Barbados 8:00 am 5:00 pm 7 Philipsburg, St. Maarten 11:00 am 7:00 pm 8 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:00 am 1:00 pm 9 At Sea 10 At Sea 11 New York, New York

 

The extra day is not important.

 

Thanks.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Except for Grand Turk, we have been to all those ports and all are wonderful. Curious about the time of year you're going. If in the heart of the summer, I would recommend the Southern as much because the heat is overwhelming.

 

But I'm assuming this is a Fall/Winter cruise. It's very subjective, but personally I absolutely adore Barbados and Dominica is a beautiful island. I would choose the Southern route.

 

Looks to me like all you'll miss is Grand Turk which doesn't have that much to offer from what I've heard. So I think you get more bang for your buck with the Southern itinerary.:)

 

Have fun whichever you choose!

[Joanandjoe]

We'll be on the 11 day Noordam cruise on 11/25. We chose it over the 10 day because we'd rather have Dominica and Barbados than Grand Turk, and because the dates were better. The other four ports are on both itineraries, so there's not really much of a difference between itineraries.

 

Since this will be our first Caribbean cruise, we can't give you specific information on ports, other than to say that, for us, Dominica sounds like the most interesting place in the Caribbean other than Trinidad (which is rarely on cruise itineraries). Underdeveloped, with jungles, rivers, and lots of eco-tourism, Dominica sounds wonderful. We're going to take both a ship's tour (river tubing) and a private eco-tour with Fredo. Two tours in one place is a frst for us.

 

Congratulations on CC post # 1.

[AlohaPride]

I'm on the 11 day Noordam over Christmas and we chose this because of ONE main reason....MORE DAYS ON A SHIP!! :D We didn't really care about the stops ;) :p

[Islandbuoy]

fly to Fort Lauderdale (doesn't cost a lot ) and take either a seven or 10 day from there. Those sea days from NYC to the Carrib are too unpredictable for weather.

[CateW]

We are doing the 11 day on 2/17/07; have never been to Dominica and wanted to see it and have been to all othe other ports and love the beaches. Also, we are happy to get the extra day and will be able to just drive to the Port. Pro's and cons to that because I know we will lose the first full day and last day because the weather will be cold but for us this far out weighs the hassle of the airport.

[LHC]

DD and I are looking at doing the Southern onboard the Noordam in 2007. Yes, we are closer to FLL as NYC (really about 50-50 from Knoxville via plane) but we have traveled twice from FLL and thought that going early to NYC for a couple of days and seeing the wonderful scenes of the holidays prior to cruising would be super, plus I enjoy the sea days.

I have always wanted to see Barbados, as a good friend honeymooned there eons ago and had some of the most beautiful pictures I have laid my eyes on.

Researching the ports and these boards everyone loved that route, so this will more than likely be my 2007 cruise.

LInda

[turia]

Of all the Islands I've only been to Grand Turk and although it's very beautiful it's still very new and there's not much there. I'd take the 11 day.

[Big Al B.]

We're doing the southern in October of 2007. Tortola and St. Maarten are the only two new stops for us. As someone else said, we went for the extra day :D. I really don't mind having to spend the first and last days puttering around the ship and love leaving from NYC. We always go in early to take in the city.