What is your LEAST favorite Caribbean port of call?

[PR Cruisers]

Our least favorite would have to be Grand Cayman...once you have gone out to Sting Ray City there really isn't much to do. We usually stay on the ship in Grand Cayman.

 

We love Nassau after we discovered the #10 Bus to the beach, before we discovered that we really didn't care for Nassau.

 

We love Jamaica Mon! Pelican Bar, Tubing in the river, Appleton Rum...the way to enjoy Jamaica is on a private tour.

 

We also love Cozumel because it is a great beach day...moped around the island, pick a beach and order a seafood platter and a bucket of beer.

 

What is the #10 bus to the beach?

[PhinsAndGills]

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

 

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

 

:)

 

Oh AGREE 100% - I fell in LOVE with Grenada and am itching to go back! I told my family that if I ever just up and dissappear, I'm an expat spice farmer in Grenada.

[OttoCal]

I went to Jamaica on a land-based vacation years ago and it was and still is beautiful it is just not my thing. I didn't find the people friendly at all, and I don't care much for what I considered to be aggressive attempts to get more and more money out of tourists. I found the same thing when I returned on a cruise vacation. :( So that' s my least fave.

 

But I think Belize gets a bad rap. Unfortunately, Belize City is about the worst place you could go to in the whole country. I think that people who book excursions of any variety have fun there, but anyone who just goes and trys to 'wander around' the city is astounded by the poverty- especially if you make a couple of wrong turns. Many of the other ports have this same poverty and less-desirable (to americans) neighborhoods, but they just aren't that close to the port so we don't see them!

After spending a long land-based vacation there visiting several different parts of the country, I see why people don't like Belize City, but the rest of the country is fabulous. I love it there, but I don't think it is for everyone, and I would suggest that people either go do an adventure/Caye-based excursion or stay on the ship. Really. It's kind of a bummer, but it can be hard to adjust to such a different way of living in you 6 hours that you have ashore. :confused:

[goneclear]

Oh AGREE 100% - I fell in LOVE with Grenada and am itching to go back! I told my family that if I ever just up and dissappear, I'm an expat spice farmer in Grenada.

 

I will work on your farm for food, beer and the odd cigar:) and I am only 30 mins away by air.

[luv2cruz64]

I voted other, DH and I hated Labadee. Maybe we just went during fly mating season but flies were everywhere!!!! I wouldnt eat anything from the lunch on the beach. We found the the vendors at the market to be more aggressive than anywhere else. While I love the caribbean in general, prior to our first cruise I was ignorant of the fact that many islanders live at or below poverty level. I always find it very sobering to see such poverty amid so much natural beauty. Halos, I love that pic of Megans bay.

[suzyed]

:(

Oh AGREE 100% - I fell in LOVE with Grenada and am itching to go back! I told my family that if I ever just up and dissappear, I'm an expat spice farmer in Grenada.

We went to Granada (granted..it was 28 years ago :rolleyes: ), and thought the island was lovely, the spices wonderful, but the people pushy. We went to one beach and were inundated as we (tried) to lay on the beach, with people selling everything from spices, to dresses, to shells to Granadian money...they were selling money! :eek: We had to stand out in the water just to keep them from bothering us. Not the most pleasent experience.

We have been to Barbados, again, a very beautiful island. The sugar plantations are just wonderful! But as we walked back to the ship, we had to walk throught the village...it was devastatingly poor! I got to the point that I felt guilty for being on vacation, while those poor people lived in those conditions. :(

The other poster was correct, when they said how unaware of the poverty on the islands, until we visit there.

[vicruiser]

Martinique wins by hands down although I have not been to Jamaica nor Bahamas. I did not find the people friendly. I disagree with other who believe that St Thomas is dirty.

[golfer1966]

It's a tie -- Jamaica and St. Thomas.

 

 

what dont you like about St Thomas....just curious

[coastercat24]

I have been on numerous cruises but I have to vote for "other". My least favorite port on a caribbean cruse was Progreso. I was so bored. There really isn't much to do unless you want to ride in a bus all day to see the ruins. I liked montego bay and St. Thomas.

[MzOhioLady]

Belize got my vote hands down! I don't care for that port at ALLL. And I'm actually going there again in September, however, that will be a "Day at Sea" for me! I'll be busy playing BINGO!

 

I love love love Jamaica, Nassau and St.Thomas. I could live in St.Thomas!! :)

[MarinerGroom]

I have only been to 3 ports that qualify: Labadee, Ocho Rios, and Georgetown.

 

My least favorite, by far, was Ocho Rios. The reason for it was pretty simple, though: I get very uncomfortable when I'm in shady areas around shady, pushy people. Dunn's River Falls was a great time and really beautiful. The other tours we did at the "ruins" were nice, and Fern Gully was very pretty (even though the drivers are SCARY there). The pushy people at the markets and the scary drivers really made me dislike Jamaica. If I ever went back I'd have to be at some kind of exclusive resort where I don't interact too much with the locals. Not xenophobic or anything, people just make me uncomfortable sometimes.

 

Behind that would be Labadee. We had a good time at the beach, but we were looking just to relax at the beach and not do much. If I had wanted to be active, we would have been quite bored. The sellers in the market were also quite pushy, but we had a good time and it was beautiful.

 

We had an absolute blast in Grand Cayman. We did a Jeep tour/drive around the island and had so much fun. We also went by the rum cake store and drank some rum and ate some cake.. how couldn't you love that? We did a little snorkeling at the beach where the Jeep tour ended. There wasn't much to see, but it was still a good time. Afterwards we walked around the shops by the port and I had my first taste of conch chowder, which I loved. Overall we ran into no pushy people and always felt very safe.

[indiaksue]

My least favorite was Costa Maya, but that doesn't mean we won't try it again. I don't think a bad experience once should keep me from trying something else. I really love Jamaica and have been there several times. I have not been to Ocho Rios so I can't comment on that. I didn't like Nassau either it was dirty but next time I am there we will try the beach.

[gin_runner]

Ochos Rios, Jamaica. Probably the biggest armpit outside of Haiti in the entire region. To get to this dung-hole of a city from the ship, you pass through a gauntlet of drug-dealers, beggars, prostitutes and assorted crap-merchants. Then you find that the city isn't much better.

[PhinsAndGills]

I will work on your farm for food, beer and the odd cigar:) and I am only 30 mins away by air.

Sounds good to me! I'll take care of planting and maintaining, you work in harvesting, and my husband can work in shipping - we'll export nutmeg products all over the world!

 

researching one-way airfare right now... hee hee.:p

[mandaleigh]

Least Fav... San Juan. Dirty, every shop seems to be the same. The forts don't open until 10 am or so. Homeless people sitting in front of the stores, you have to brush past them to get into the stores. Some of them have open wounds. I have nothing against the homeless, but the shopkeepers seem to have no problem with them blocking the entrances. I just ended up feeling really dirty.--- side note--- Caso de Campo was great. Very interesting seeing 3rd world country and how they live. Very proud people.

 

Fav... St John via St Thomas. BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

All time FAV... Bermuda

[bigasufan]

We loved Belize. went to the Mayan Ruins

 

Least favorite: Grand Cayman...too expensive and not a good time.

[dolfandude]

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.

 

I totally agree. Pretty much had the same experience in St. John town (except for the gonja mon!). Saw the church and came back to the ship. Only time I've boarded the ship that early in a port. Going to Ocho Rios next summer and ya'll got me scared!:eek:

[sueajp]

I also don't like Jamaica. I never felt safe. Too many overly aggressive people trying to sell you drugs etc..... Scary! Went to a gated shopping area where there were guys with machine guns. We loved Grand cayman. Even stayed there for a week, so found it great! Not a big Cozumel fan either.

To each his own!!:cool:

[bplazo]

I think that Nassau was my least favorite and it might be because my teen and I had a big fight right before our excursion and I was upset the whole time.

[birdie16]

What is the #10 bus to the beach?

 

Sorry it took me so long to respond...been busy.

 

The #10 Bus is a bus you can board from downtown (just ask anyone) it is only a block or two from the Pier and has a big #10 on the side. The bus is only a buck each way and you can get off at any one of the resorts at Cable Beach, the beaches are all public so you can spend a nice day relaxing at the beach. As long as you buy drinks they will not hassle you about using the chairs. It is just as easy to get back to the ship, just return to the same bus stop. Honestly, it is one of the cheapest beach days you will find on a cruise.

[Andy C]

All of them. I prefer to stay on the ship. They are mostly tourist traps with VERY FEW - repeat - VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS.

[ILoveScotland]

Grand Cayman. Am I ever more in the minority! Maybe it's just that I saw nothing of interest to make me want to return - just a flat island.

[betsyl]

OK - I've read through the various threads and I haven't been to ALL the islands by any means. But we've been to a lot of them -- Grand Caymen, Montego Bay, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Barbados, etc. Maybe the reason we didn't have as negative an experience as some of you did is that we did the RCL excursions -- yes, I know -- they are overpriced -- but they take you to the "good" parts of the islands. We had a good time in Jamaica on an island tour that came with lunch and a local band and a visit to a school and a visit to a sugar cane farm and an old church -- all very pleasant. In St. Maarten, we went to the Butterfly Farm and it was interesting. My husband played golf in St. Thomas and one of those big lizards (I know -- that's not what they're called) was sleeping right in front of one of the tees - very funny. I won't bore everyone with all the excursions that we've done, but I do think that's one reason I don't have such a negative opinion of some of the ports.

[megessey]

I think the thing that I find upsetting is that most every Caribbean port we've visited, we have at least one experience of a local treating us with contempt and hatred.

 

I'm trying to convince my parents to take a Western Carib cruise since my hub hasn't been yet. They insist that Eastern Carib has the better ports. Unfortunately my experience with the meanest locals have been St. John, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Maybe we should just not ever talk to anyone off the ship -- I'm too sensitive to not take the hate to heart :rolleyes:

[sicsinohio]

Call me an optimist if you will, but I've never been to a port where there wasn't something I liked. I tend to do a lot a research before we cruise, and usually have a great time in port. Maybe we have simply been lucky....

 

As for the pushy vendors, I recognize that this is just how they make a living. Usually a smile and a firm, "No, thank you" is all that is needed to dissuade them.