What is your LEAST favorite Caribbean port of call?

[BTSEN5]

I have to say that I am astonished that a couple people have posted that they hated St Thomas..one even calling it flithy.....:eek:

not my experience at all.

 

Megan's Bay was probably one of the nicest caribbean beaches I've seen. I thought it was magnificent.

 

 

 

 

I too am surprised. I just came back from St. Thomas, and we went to Magen's Bay....it was beautiful. I did not care as much for the shopping area. I liked St. Maarten more for that, but I didn't consider it filthy at all. I think all islands are a bit.....rugged.

 

We are booked for a western on the Freedom next summer, and after reading this, I am a little leary of going to Jamaica, but we have never been there, so we will give it a try. Anyone have any ideas of the best things to do to make it the best experience possible?

[floatel_lvr]

Martinique is undoubtedly the WORST Caribbean port we have ever visited. We disliked it so much that we went back a SECOND time just to make sure.

 

LOL... DW and I would agree but Jamaica and Nassau are not far behind.

RA

[halos]

I am bummed people would say St Thomas is not very nice. That is one of the spots I am really looking forward to.

 

I thought it was gorgeous....twice. Was there in 1991 and last Nov.

We got off the ship, hopped in a taxi, toured a while and then went to Megan's bay. Didn't see one thing that wasn't beautiful.

[Minoushka]

I did not care for ST. Lucia .Beach was not that nice >for a poor island it was very expensive -tours were over 50$ i think 80$per person Roads were treacherous .Was really scared we would get killed driving on those roller coaster roads to ANSE COCHON.Took a boat back 50$to get back to ship/I'm sure I was fleeced but had no choice !!!I was sure the taxi's brakes would give .DO NOT DRIVE anywhere IN ST LUCIA!!!

Jamaica vendors EXTREMELY pushy and INTIMIDATING .Have heard horror stories re tourists in Jamaica .NOT IMPRESSED would skip it all together

HOwever loved Virgin Gorda,St Kitts ,Curacao,Aruba St Thomas shopping in St Thomas,St Maarten Cartagena All of Hawaii.. Bermuda

I love beaches calm waters great snorkelling!!!

 

Michele

[daveky]

San Juan my least favorite port. Salied there many times, but I like the water type excursions, which they don't offer many at all. Majority of excursions are site seeing and shopping. Was told several years back with the beaches being public, they don't like offering the catamaran, snorkeling, beach, lunch, etc excursions.

 

Dave

[jayjayp]

Martinique hands down

[Philly Steve]

Least fav: Progreso, Mexico

Fav: Grenada...it's the "Spice of the Caribbean"

 

http://www.grenadagrenadines.com/index2.html

 

:)

[rubrrick]

Another for "other". We have been to Guadaloupe twice and have absoutly no desire to return again. We have found nothing to see or do after one full day tour.

 

Rick

[Snoozeman]

Least fav: Progreso, Mexico

Fav: Grenada...it's the "Spice of the Caribbean"

 

http://www.grenadagrenadines.com/index2.html

 

:)

 

FYI-Progreso isn't in the Caribbean.

[TrevyMcShaw]

I had to vote for Antiqua. Although, I might have a different opinion if I had given it more of a chance. It was one of the islands that I decided not to book an excursion for. That was probably a mistake since I had never been there. It started off looking dirty from my balcony, and when I set foot on the pier, I was asked by no less than 5 scary looking locals if I wanted to buy some "gonja" (don't know if spelled it right or not, but I figured out that they were talking about pot). The other vendors, i.e. the ones not selling pot, were also pretty pushy around there too. I probably spent less than an hour on land and decided to go back to the ship.

[findutah]

I really enjoyed St. Thomas, we got a very good tour guide that took us around the whole island. My least Favorite is St. Marteen I think it might be the fact it didnt seem to tropical to me, or that I took my baby sister to the recommended beach which happened to be the nude beach....

[boba]

:( Didn't like Freeport. Ocho Rios, you have to stay with excursion or the locals are all over you. Freeport was just boring. :cool:

[danp]

I also voted other.My vote goes to Casa de Campo and Martinique.Heven forbid that both were on the same iternery.

[trvlbug]

I am so surprised that people will write off a port before even going. We have been to Jamaica twice and loved it each time. If I had listened to reviews on CC I would have missed out on a wonderful experience.

 

The second time we booked with Phil (you will find out more about him on the Jamaica board). We had a group of 9 and 6 more joined us making 15 in a large air conditioned van. Turned out we were all Canadians LOL. Dropped one group at Dunns River and then we all went river tubing. I am scared of the water and they took wonderful care of me. Stopped part way and had a beer and looked at souvenirs. No pressure. At the end we paid for photos that were priceless, left and picked up the other group and he took us to Scotchies for a real local lunch that Phil helped us choose. It is set in a garden and there were locals there. Good food and $6 for lunch and a beer! Next, we toured all around with Phil explaining so much about his island. Stopped for pictures whenever we wanted. Went to an elementary school and met the sweetest children. Dropped off supplies for them. Then Phil and his daughter sang their national anthem and then he sang the Canadian anthem! It was a wonderful day! So as RCCL says "get out there" and see what the island has before you decide.

 

Back to topic. I was not crazy about St. Thomas but would go to St. John next time and then make my decision.

[theoaks39]

We don't like Jamaica or Grand Caymen. We had a very bad experience buying jewelry in Jamaica. Thank goodness we bought from a recommended shop. We paid $2500.00 for an emerald tennis braclett and ring. Total value was appraised at $100.00 in the states. RCCL stood behind us and we did get a refund on our credit card. It took about 9 months to get the refund.

[theoaks39]

We don't like Jamaica or Grand Caymen. We had a very bad experience buying jewelry in Jamaica. Thank goodness we bought from a recommended shop. We paid $2500.00 for an emerald tennis braclett and ring. Total value was appraised at $100.00 in the states. RCCL stood behind us and we did get a refund on our credit card. It took about 9 months to get the refund.

[hal lover]

Not on list, but Samana, DR. What a miserable place!

[tigerdadky]

Cant say about the others but I am not fond of Nassau at all, will more than likely spend most of the day there on the ship.

[tigerdadky]

Cant say about the others but I am not fond of Nassau at all, will more than likely spend most of the day there on the ship.

[tigerdadky]

Cant say about the others but I am not fond of Nassau at all, will more than likely spend most of the day there on the ship.

[terri23]

I voted Roatan because the mosquitos are particularly horrible and I am a magnet. Otherwise it was a good stop, but I had itchy welts for two weeks.

 

I voted "other" because Margarita Island was our least favorite of them all.

[liz000]

Jamaica is fun but gran cayman is sucks

[celtcruiser]

Casa de Campo by far. The faux "Village" was surreal.

[suzyed]

After reading everyones views on the various islands...I sat here and started to think about my experiences on the different islands. I think so much of our feelings and likes and dislikes are based on what and where we went on the island. For example: On St. Martin, DH did the Americus Cup excursion...he thought it was great! When I just asked him what he thought of St. Martin..he said he thought it was really nice. While in St. Martin, my DB, DS, friend and I, rented a car and drove around the island, making stops along the way. We went to the beach where the planes fly over, which was very cool, but the area of the beach that we were at, had used condoms floating in the water....yuck!! So if you ask me, I would say St. Martin is just ok. Same island, same day, very different experiences.

Same with Casa de Campo...we thought it was charming and rustic and pretty. We knew we shouldnt venture off the beaten path and still we enjoyed our time there....others hated it. Different strokes!

[bruce-r]

I am so surprised that people will write off a port before even going.

I don't need to know anything more about Jamaica other than the scuba diving there is fairly poor compared to many other islands accessible while on a "Caribbean" cruise.

 

Jamaica is fun but Grand Cayman is sucks

Maybe for you, but Grand Cayman has great diving, especially compared to Jamaica.