Picked Carnival, now choosing ports

[Fawn]

OK, based on my research on these wonderful boards, we have decided to try Carnival next March, 2010.

 

Next step is picking our itineraries. I went thru the ports, and picked out ones we've never been to before. Narrowing down our port choices will hopefully narrow down our ship choices, because right now we have 7 possible ships to sail on for that week!

 

Our various choices are St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Isla Roatan, Belize, Ocho Rios, Limon, Colon, San Juan and Grand Turk. Any advice, info, help on these ports would be greatly appreciated.

 

In the past, we have loved Cozumel for the fun and Costa Maya for the natural beauty. We felt we've done it all in St. Maarten and how many more watches can we buy in Grand Cayman?

 

The posters at CC have been as helpful as the ones on my DCL board...dare I say??? :)

[ata1976]

We chose Legend because it has 4 ports. We have been to 2 - Cozumel and Grand Cayman. But never been to Roatan or Belize.

[quiltingandcruising]

I know alot of people will disagree with me but Belize was one of my favorite ports - you are taken in on a speed boat and the river cave tubing is something that can not be missed - that and whale watching in Alaska have got to be my favorite - the town it self is dirty IMHO and not much to see but the cave tubing is the best

[mumofsons]

If you are looking at a ship closer to the DCL ships (I posted on your other thread) you would want the Miracle out of Ft. Lauderdale or the Legend out of Tampa. If you want a total different experience you probably would like the conquest class ships or dream class.

We like sea days so the 8 day Miracle is very appealing - for sure try either the St. Kitts/St. Lucia/St. Marteen or if you want to see the Panama canal I would highly recommend the Belieze, Costa Rica and Colon stops! We loved that itinerary.

[Socref124]

Our various choices are St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Isla Roatan, Belize, Ocho Rios, Limon, Colon, San Juan and Grand Turk. Any advice, info, help on these ports would be greatly appreciated.

 

The posters at CC have been as helpful as the ones on my DCL board...dare I say??? :)

 

We have been to five of those ports and here is our recommendations.

 

Roatan: Beautiful port. We went diving in Anthonys Key and would definately want to go back again. The reefs are fabulous. On the ride to Anthony's Key we e noticed that the area is poor, but, not nearly as poor or filthy as Belize.

 

Belize: We have been here twice. The first time we went cave tubing through a private company and the second time we went on the Lost World Canopy Tour through Carnival. Both trips had a bus ride of at least 45 minutes. The roads are bumpy and it seems like you will never get there. While we enjoyed the cave tubing, we would not want to do it again. The Canopy tour was fabulous.

 

Ocho Rios: When getting off the ship, you feel like you are going to get mobbed. Throngs of people trying to sell their wares which included some marijuana. We did a Canopy tour here also, but, prefer the tour in Belize. We aren't really wild about Jamaica.

 

San Juan: While we enjoyed San Juan, it is very populated and there is a ton of traffic. We did a Segeway tour here which took us to the Fort at El Morro. Excellent tour and loved the Segeway.

 

Grand Turk: We really enjoyed Grand Turk. We did a diving tour here and stopped at Margaritaville after. Not sure what other tours availablr on this island. If you dive, the reefs and wall in Grand Turk are awesome.

 

I'm sure others have differing opinions of these ports. I hope our input helps you in your decision making. Good Luck.

[Fawn]

This is exactly the kind of advice I need...keep it coming!! :)

[NolaZach]

The exotic seven day western carribean on the Triumph will go to Belize and Roatan. Look for "exotic seven day western carribean" on the Triumph out of New Orleans.

[Fawn]

Anyone else on these ports?

[jessemon]

!

 

Our various choices are St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Isla Roatan, Belize, Ocho Rios, Limon, Colon, San Juan and Grand Turk. Any advice, info, help on these ports would be greatly appreciated.

 

:)

St Kitts and St Lucia I am doing next April on the Victory...

Roatan in Oct this year....

Now on to helping....

Love Belize....Great restaurant outside the port called the Smoky Mermaid....Can you say great looking place and lobster for lunch....Yum....

I wouldn't get off the ship again in Ocho Rios for nothing. Did the falls (great) but, the city sux.

SJ is really cool. The fort tours with the government building and other things on the tour. Bacardi tour. Rain forest....Also Old SJ is beautiful. It is amazing to think they have buildings there that are older than the US....

Grand Turk is just coool as he!!. The water is as clear as a bell and the people are great.....

[Irishlinny]

We loved Roatan, mostly because it is not yet overly commercialized...you can still see the beauty of it. It's a mountainous jungle with beautiful beaches and good snorkeling. It is a very poor country, and although the people will try to sell you things, definitely not as pushy as many of the other ports. The time to see this port is sooner than later, as they are building it up as a rapid pace.

Belize has a nice, but cookie-cutter port area. A number of shops, restaurants and bars. Just outside the fence which protects the port area are numerous vendors where you can find many of the same things for much less, if you dare. It is filthy and the people are very aggressive in trying to get you to buy. We are heading there again in October and this time we are going snorkeling, as it is on the 2nd largest barrier reef. Supposed to be wonderful.

Grand Turk is beautiful. Unfortunately we were there right after the hurricane last year, so the island was in tough shape. But we went snorkeling and then hung around the port for a bit. Margaritaville has a huge meandering pool and there is a beautiful beach right there.

Alot of your decision needs to be based on the ages and interests of your party. There are ziplines, ruins, shopping, snorkeling, diving, beach party places...all depends on what you enjoy. Maybe look at Carnival's shore excurison lists for the ports to see what types of things are offered. Will give you an idea of what is at each place (whether or not you book thru Carnival). There may be something that pops out as a must-do for you!:)

[bubba hubby]

I loved St.Lucia.We did Cosol's Tour because of all the wonderful reviews about him on these boards and he delivered 110%.It is a spectacularly beautiful island IMHO!We also enjoyed the cave tubing in Belize but would have to agree with other posters that Belize City is not pleasant.You really need to do an excursion there.

[A&Jfamily]

Roatan is our favorite port - beautiful place.

 

Belize is not "pretty" in terms of the land, but it has fabulous snorkeling and sea kayaking.

[cruzeluver]

Limon, Costa Rica is fabulous! Its absolutely beautiful, and the people are warm and welcoming. The rain forests are simply breath-taking. We were there about a month and a half ago and I'm itchin' to go back! Maybe my favorite port ever.

 

Colon, Panama isn't much of a town, but it is a great jumping off point to see the Panama Canal. What an experience!

 

Roatan is simply beautiful, and like someone else said, not nearly as spoiled as some other islands have become. Go before that changes and its just another stop with a Carlos and Charly's, Margaritaville etc.

 

Belize is great, but you've gotta get away form the port area. That seems to turn a lot of folks off to Belize. But if you get the heck out of town its a beautiful country.

[Fawn]

Wow...this is terrific information!!!! Anyone with more on Limon or Colon? St. Kitt's??

 

It's funny how you can look at "official" tour guides, and they refer to places like the town of Belize as "quaint" and "original". Apparently they forgot about dirty and filthy?? LOL

 

Gotta love CC folks for the honest truth!

[MamaParrotHead]

Our various choices are St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Isla Roatan, Belize, Ocho Rios, Limon, Colon, San Juan and Grand Turk.

 

Most of those ports are mainly active/outdoorsy/adventurous excursions, mostly, IMO.

 

Our upcoming cruise we're headed to Roatan & Belize on your list. Roatan we just chose a beach day, based on the rave reviews and beautiful pics of Tabayana Beach. We're not normally "ship excursion" type people...but this one is decent and you can't get on the beach by taking a private tour. The snorkeling right off the beach is said to be awesome as well.

 

In Belize we chose to go with Coral Breeze tours for a snorkeling trip. The snorkeling in Belize is said to be second ONLY to the Great Barrier Reef off of Australia. Coral Breeze comes highly recommended over on the Ports of Call board and Mark, the operator, I've emailed with a few times and is professional and friendly and returns emails in a timely manner.

 

I was looking into St. Kitts and St. Lucia recently...those ports are more difficult to find info on. St. Lucia tours that I've bookmarked (based on good reviews on the ports boards) are Cosol tours and Herod's tours.

 

Grand Turk is somewhere I'd like to go, but from what I've heard, is mainly a beach day.

 

Limon, Colon and San Juan, I have no suggestions. I haven't heard real great things about any of those places. Especially if the San Juan stop is a night one.