Is six ports in seven days too much???

[chachi]

I think it sounds wonderful. I want to do this cruise, but don't want to fly out of Puerto Rico because of the high airfare. Port days can be as relaxing or as busy as you want them to be. You can relax when in port. Go to the beach. I would rather lay by the ocean than lay by the pool. I also like to see as many places as possible. You always have the option of staying on the boat too.

[JaniceB]

Personally I think that is too many ports on a 7 day. Whenever a ship pulls into port, I hear it and wake up even if I am not going on an early morning excursion. I prefer a cruise with 3-4 ports of call on a 7 day cruise. I really enjoy the ship. I doubt you can go wrong with any cruise, it is really a matter of what you want to do on your cruise.

[Colorado Kat]

Last year on a 7 day cruise, we had 4 port days. A nice amount. But we alternated busy and restful.

 

Western Carribbean - snorkle/swim with sting rays in Grand Cayman. Then a nice, restful day at Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Loved it.

 

Cave tubing in Belize - lots of fun. Followed by a terrific, relaxing day in Roatan, at Fins and Flippers resort.

 

The two beach days helped keep our expenses down, as well. It was my first cruise, (my DDs second), and we booked independant excursions for everything. Just grabbed a cab to Paradise Beach, and Fins & Flippers was even easier - just walked 100 yards to pick up their boat to their private island.

 

Kathy

[nonnie1996]

I'll let you know in a couple of weeks. We sail on Sunday.

 

They're all "new to me" ports except St Thomas.

 

I am NOT going all that way to just sit on a beach. I cruise to get to the ports and, dangit, I'm going to see them! :p

 

Yes, I'm mildly concerned about being exhausted by midweek. We're arriving in San Juan around noon on Saturday and will do a little sightseeing on Sunday morning (had a day stop there in December 2007 and saw most of what I wanted to see in OSJ).

 

St Thomas - touring again with the wonderful Papa Bear of Air Force 1 Tours

 

Dominica - island tour with Levi Baron of Bumpiing Tours

 

Barbados - caves, island tour and beach stop with Edwin Lovell of Scenic Barbados Tours

 

St Lucia - island tour with Cosol

 

Antigua - island tour with Gordon

 

St Kitts - island tour with Thenford Grey

 

Two days post-cruise at the Marriott Stellaris Resort & Casino to rest up from my vacation.

 

A couple of the tours will be pretty much all day; others are half-day; some incorporate a beach stop.

 

I would be hesitant to book this itinerary as a new cruiser. Normally, I use the sea days for relaxation. I don't "do" the shipboard activities. That's why I need a couple of post-cruise days at a resort to get my relaxation time. This itinerary really won't give you much of a feel for what the ship experience is like, although, depending on your energy level, you'll still have time in the evenings for the lovely dinners and entertainment.

 

Although I've booked independent excursions, it's still costing a lot. I can't imagine booking ship excursions for this itinerary. It would cost a fortune.

 

I also booked a 4G (the all-the-way-forward cabins) for a 4A price, so got a very good price for the cruise itself. Plus a $100 OBC for being a shareholder.

 

Air was $350 each, which was much less than when I first started looking at this cruise last year when fuel prices were so high.

 

I'm really looking forward to it. I absolutely LOVE San Juan and really want to see these other ports.

 

I do foresee that my days will go something like this: up early; big breakfast (love the made-to-order omelettes on Lido deck); excursion; back onboard for a late lunch or deli sandwich or room service; nap; shower; dinner; casino (only until I lose my measly daily gambling allowance); sleep.

 

No late night shows, parties, movies or disco for me. I normally go to bed early (I'm up at 6 am every day), but I stay up much later on cruises. I just imagine that I'll be so tired from being out and about all day, every day, in the heat and sun, that I won't have the energy for much party time. That's OK. It should help keep my S&S bill down. ;)

 

Besides, I sail again in December on an 8-day that has 4 sea days, and I have an aft balcony. I should get plenty of rest out there on that cruise!

 

Hello, we will be on the same cruise and it looks like the same tours on Dominica and St. Kitts. We also want to see as much as possible as we have not been to many of these islands. We have spent 2 weeks on St. Thomas so we are going to rent a car and we are going to rent a car in Barbados. This saves on money and allows us to set our own schedule. You just have to be comfortable driving on the left. This itinerary is unique and I understand not for everyone, but it sounds adventuresome! NCTRibeFan, see you on Sunday!

[Loving My Life]

This will be our next cruise and I can't wait! On our 1st cruise, we did 4 ports in 7 days, which was a little tiring, but awesome! Our 2nd cruise was 3 ports in 7 days and we now know we like more port days than sea days. We had a great time, but definitely wished for more port days. Six ports in 7 days will probably be a little tiring but just think of how much you can see and do in those 7 days.

[calico79]

I did a southern caribbean cruise in oct 2007. It was an 8-day cruise with stops at St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts. I liked having only the three stops as I really enjoyed the days at sea. It also gets quite expensive if you go to that many ports and do excursions at each port, plus, you would be rather tired from trying to do all those things. If you want to have a relaxing time, the southern caribbean is a good choice.

[sing2sas]

We were on the Legend a few years ago and did the same type of route. We sailed from Ft. Lauderdale, had 2 sea days, 3 ports, and then 2 more sea days. It was great!!

[lilytuck]

This will be our first cruise and I am wondering if hitting six ports in seven days is too busy? Is there time to relax at all? Anyone else do the southern Caribbean cruise with Carnival. I have not booked it yet but I am leaning that way. It looks and sounds great, but I have no experience.

 

We just got home from this cruise. It was our third cruise and the first with no days at sea. You will be exhausted by the end but you have had a great time. Pick a day that doesn't have alot of stuff that you would like to do and spend the day on ship. The shops onboard are closed while in port, but everything else is open.

 

We spent the day in Dominica on ship. DW is a beach person and I love to snorkel. So she hangs on on the beach while I chase fish. No beaches on Dominica. We are not into hiking, zip lines and the like so it was the perfect day to just hang out onboard.

 

Don't get me wrong Dominica is a Tropical Paridise, just not the island for us.

 

Go ahead and book it, You will love it.:D

[westmich]

Having experienced 3 cruises:

6 ports in seven days,

4 ports in seven days,

5 ports in seven days...

 

I can definitely say we enjoyed the 5 ports best. A day in the beginning and a day at the end really enhance the relaxation factor. That said, we are considering the Southern C. cruise, but plan to take two days off. Now the fact remains if we actually will abide by that!

[mnsawyer]

My DH and I are not crazy over lots of sea day especially two at the end but know others disagree. In my opinion, if this is your first cruise, having lots of ports may be a good thing having a new stop each day. Many of the southern stops can be considered beach/relaxing days if that is what you wish. In addition, it's not a crime to just stay on the ship while in port. We always said we were going to do that but never did!

 

Good luck with your decision.

[NCTribeFan]

OK. Yes, it was very tiring, but it was a fantastic cruise. I uploaded our photos to webshots last night, but I have to label them. Hope to start working on my review today (since I'm sitting here at my desk with no work to do and a ton of things I could be doing at home).

 

My tired brain is already having a difficult time remembering which photos are at which port, and who our tour guide was! :eek:

 

Even with 2 post-cruise days in San Juan (where we basically did nothing but sit around the hotel), I was exhausted yesterday.

 

Again, I'm not paying that much money to get to "new" ports and sitting on the ship. No, no one held a gun to my head, but MY whole reason for cruising is to get to the ports.

 

I loved them all, but think I was most impressed with Dominica. Still fairly undeveloped and just absolutely beautiful.

 

Beach beaches: Barbados (Rockley) and Antigua (Long Bay).

 

And I absolutely LOVE San Juan (the old town, and Miramar, and Condado).

 

Would I do this again? Maybe. Now that I've actually SEEN the islands, I have an idea of what I'd want to do next time. But "just" going all that way to go sit on a beach all day doesn't really appeal to me. I like to see how the locals live (yes, even when their living conditions are fairly appalling by our standards).

 

If I wanted to be isolated from the "real" island, I'd book a stay at a resort.

 

I am looking forward to my 4-sea-day/3 port itinerary on Miracle, though!

[brooklynfc]

I did a 8 day with 5 ports and that was too much for me. I felt like I never got a chance to enjoy NOT having to get up early and having the luxury of taking a nap. In other words to just relax. It might have had something to do with I was traveling with a new cruiser and I felt like I needed to do everything b/c I didn't want her to miss out.

 

It depends on if you are taking a vacation to relax or see new places. You don't have to get off at every port, but if you are like my aunt...it would bug her to be somewhere and not get and see it.

[NCTribeFan]

We did take a nap every afternoon. We had late dining (would never do this itinerary with an early dinner time), so we had time to board, grab a quick late lunch or order room service, have a shower, have a nap, then dress for dinner.

 

We did no ship activities. I never even saw many parts of the ship. No shows; no "entertainment" other than a little time in the casino after dinner.

 

While I don't sail because of the ship, it would've been nice to have had a little time to relax and do nothing.

 

But, again, that's why I stayed in San Juan for 2 days after the cruise. And even then, I would've loved to have gone back into OSJ for a few hours or even toured the rainforest, but I was just burned out!

 

You don't have to hike or zipline in Dominica. We toured with Levi Baron (Bumpiing Tours) and it was a fantastic day. Yes, we had to walk to get to the cave to swim to the waterfall, but it wasn't hiking. And the stop later, where there's a platform and you can sit there looking at THREE waterfalls? Priceless. It was fantastic.

 

Still, if you want to lie on a beach, it isn't the island for you. I have no problem doing both - exploring islands and finding a beach. The other 5 days all had beach stops on our tours. We had the best of everything, imho. Very informative tours of the islands as well as 5 beach stops.

 

I haven't written my review yet, but I did upload my photos. If anyone's interested, they're here...

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/NCTribeFan

 

Unfortunately, DD's camera stopped working in Barbados, so her album is just a partial. Too bad it wasn't mine that died. Her's is newer and takes better photos. Figures, doesn't it? :(

[DOTTE]

Great pictures NCTribeFan.

 

We were getting off when you were getting on the ship.

[Upandadam]

This will be our first cruise and I am wondering if hitting six ports in seven days is too busy? Is there time to relax at all? Anyone else do the southern Caribbean cruise with Carnival. I have not booked it yet but I am leaning that way. It looks and sounds great, but I have no experience.

 

To each their own, but since we enjoy the days at sea so much, we don't like to do more than 3 ports in a week. Some will say, "You don't have to get off the ship", but staying on the ship in port is not the same as a sea day. And let's face it. If you're in a port, especially one you haven't been to, how can you NOT get off the ship?

 

It may be a bit of a whirlwind vacation for you. Probably more exciting than relaxing.

[Vanessa L]

OP, it all depends on your activity level. When I was in my 20s and didn't mind a go, go, go agenda I LOVED a lot of port stops. Now, at 45 I cruise to RELAX and try and book a ship with as few stops as possible. I love my sea days (and for me, any stop in Nassau and Freeport are also sea days as we do not get off the ship)!

 

So, that being said, you know you better than we know you, so judge accordingly. Just know that 6 stops in 7 days is going to be B-U-S-Y and you'll need to go home just to rest from your vacation. I'd advise not trying to go back to work the day after you get home. You're going to be exhausted. Well, unless you're 20. In that case, you might be ok.