Barbados or Dominica?

[newcruiser30]

We are looking at a December '09 cruise to the Southern Caribbean on AOS, with RCI. One itinerary includes Barbados, one includes Dominica. For those that have visited both, which do you think is better? Which island did you like more and why? We love lush tropical scenary, hiking, wildlife and beaches. Thanks for your opinions!

[rcprncss]

I have been to Barbados twice and Dominica once. I can honestly say I don't need to go back to Dominica.

 

I would LOVE to go back to Barbados. (we are next year) Barbados has beautiful beaches and friendlier people. During our first visit we went to the Boatyard and had a great time! Very fun beach! Beautiful clear blue water also. Very hot though! Our second visit, which was just the beginning of this month, we did the SilverMoon Catamaran. We swam with the turtles, had lots of drinks and a fabulous lunch. The three member crew on the catamaran were very nice and made you feel welcome. (We did the 24 person catamaran) It was our favorite island day and excursion of our 13 night cruise!

 

We went to Dominica this past cruise also. We booked a private tour. We did not enjoy the tour. We went to Trafalgar Falls, Emerald Pool and Meru Beach. We were the first ones at Trafalgar Falls and it was great, very pretty. Our next stop was Emerald Pool. It was pouring. We tried to wait it out but it didn't stop. Ponchos were $5.00. We asked a few people if it was worth seeing since the walk was a 15 minute walk in the rain. The answer was no. Our next stop was Meru Beach. It's a black sand beach. We found table and chairs and sat down. Our friend order french fries and was given a hard time because that is all she ordered. The minute we got there we were approached by pushy people trying to sell us jewelry. They didn't take no for an answer. It stopped raining at this point but we had no desire to get in the beach water. We were ready to leave earlier than the time we told our tour guide and he was playing dominos with some locals at the beach. We had to wait on him to finish his game. Besides that, our tour guide did not walk us up to the falls and was sleeping in the van while we were at Emerald Pools. He just seemed quite lazy. We saw other tour guides with their tour during the Falls. We got back to the port and tried to look around in the tents but we were tired of the pushiness that we did not experience in the other islands. Some locals asked us for our beer bottles when we were done with them. We gave them our beer bottles but one was upset and bad mouthing us because there was still some beer left in it. The island was not very pretty, at least the parts we saw. There were four of us in our group and we all pretty much feel the same way.

 

My answer is do the itinerary with Barbados. Our first time to Barbados was on the Adventure. The Southern Caribbean itinerary is one of my favorties. Good luck with your decision. :)

[Scubachick84]

I disagree with the previous poster's assessment of Dominica, sounds like you just got saddled with a terrible guide! If you like hiking and lush tropical scenery, I would definitely recommend taking a tour with Levi Baron of Bumpiing Tours. One of his tours goes to Middleham Falls which is about an hour long hike through the rainforest. It does rain a lot in Dominica, so everything is VERY lush, it looks like Jurassic Park. It rained on us the whole hike, but we felt that this added to our experience rather than detracting from it, it was a blast! This tour ends up at a snorkel spot called Champagne Reef, there's no beach to speak of, but it's a neat spot where volcanic gases bubble up from the bottom.

 

Barbados is quite scenic in other ways, their coastlines, no matter where you are on the island, offer fantastic views and they seemed to have some lovely beaches though we didn't spend any time on a beach. There is also the wildlife reserve where you can go and walk among uncaged animals and at feeding time (2 pm I think?) there are monkeys that come to the park. This wouldn't be a whole day stop though.

 

Dominica is mountainous and wet with a very dense rainforest. Barbados is drier and breezy and a lot of the island was formerly sugar cane plantations so mostly agricultural, not many forests to speak of. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either island if you can find the right tour. I'd go back to either island for a land-based vacation, not just a cruise stop!

 

Laura

[aloisia]

Hands down....Barbados!!!

[Aplmac]

We are looking at a December '09 cruise to the Southern Caribbean on AOS, with RCI.

One itinerary includes Barbados, one includes Dominica.

For those that have visited both, which do you think is better? ===> Better how?

Which island did you like more and why? We love lush tropical scenery, hiking, wildlife and beaches.

You're comparing Apples and Oranges here! ;)

 

 

This is Dominica, btw..

 

 

 

You couldn't have picked two more completely-opposite islands, for being different from one another. :D

 

 

Do Carnival Victory and see both islands...DOM on Tuesday

and Barbados the very next day ..Wednesday.

 

.

[broberts]

Do Carnival Victory and see both islands...DOM on Tuesday

and Barbados the very next day ..Wednesday.

.

 

I believe that Celebrity Equinox also has a 10 night sailing out of Ft Lauderdale in Dec that includes both.

[puablo]

You're comparing Apples and Oranges here! ;)

 

 

 

This is Dominica, btw..

 

 

 

You couldn't have picked two more completely-opposite islands, for being different from one another. :D

 

 

Do Carnival Victory and see both islands...DOM on Tuesday

and Barbados the very next day ..Wednesday.

 

.

 

I agree, do Carnival Victory. Otherwise you want Barbados for beaches, Dominica for hiking. My vote heavily goes towards Barbados, that's the one I want to go back to so bad, but that is solely for the beaches. Hiking, well, I can do that in a lot of places. Still, apples and oranges.

[Aplmac]

I agree, do Carnival Victory.

Otherwise you want Barbados for beaches, Dominica for hiking.

 

My vote heavily goes towards Barbados, that's the one I want to go back to so bad,

but that is solely for the beaches. ===> And lotsa other things to do as well..

Hiking, well, I can do that in a lot of places. Still, apples and oranges.

Did you say beaches...?

 

Accra Beach at Rockley, Barbados

 

 

 

Carlisle Bay (think Lobster Alive and Boatyard)...Barbados

 

 

"Miami Beach" near Oistins...Barbados

 

 

 

Heavenly Bottom Bay, but this is quite aways out there from the Port.

 

 

 

.

[Miss Vickie]

We've been to Dominica once, can't wait to go back, and to Barbados numerous times, and enjoy it, too. We used Levi Barron in Dominica, you absolutely can't go wrong. For lush tropical scenery and hiking, Dominica. For beaches and wildlife (monkeys :)), Barbados. You really can't go wrong either way.

[cruisingbajan]

We are looking at a December '09 cruise to the Southern Caribbean on AOS, with RCI. One itinerary includes Barbados, one includes Dominica. For those that have visited both, which do you think is better? Which island did you like more and why? We love lush tropical scenary, hiking, wildlife and beaches. Thanks for your opinions!

 

If you want all of the above you would have to try Dominica...as Barbados does not have the kind of tropical scenery and wildlife Dominica has. Dominica is called "The Nature Isle" for a reason. Having said that I would recommend Barbados for my own biased reasons;):p.

 

Like Aplmac said its comparing Apples and Oranges...each island offers you a totally different/unique experience.

[puablo]

Did you say beaches...?

 

 

Accra Beach at Rockley, Barbados

 

 

 

 

Carlisle Bay (think Lobster Alive and Boatyard)...Barbados

 

 

 

"Miami Beach" near Oistins...Barbados

 

 

 

 

Heavenly Bottom Bay, but this is quite aways out there from the Port.

 

 

 

.

 

And these spectacular images are exactly why I want to go back to Barbados!

[virginiatechmom]

I also recommend doing the Carnival Victory and enjoying both islands. My "beach bum" 19 year old could not stop talking about Dominica, even though she honestly prefers the beach scene more. Both are beautiful places, but quite different. We took a taxi in Dominica and only saw a limited part of the island, but it made us really want to take the time to go back and explore much more of the island. It is very mountainous and the rain forest is amazing. It rained on us there and was misty all day, but that actually made it more fun.

 

Barbados is simply breathtaking. We went to Accra Beach (thank you Aplmac!!) and I have to say it is probably one of my most favorite beaches I have ever visited. The sand was the softest I have ever felt and the water was perfect. AHH! I wish I was still there :). I am already looking into going back for a land vacation.

 

I hope you get to visit both of these unique, amazing islands. Have fun!

[rjscott]

We've been to Dominica twice and Barbados several times and love them both for different reasons. If hiking is your priority, then Dominica has what you're looking for. From easy to very strenuous hikes, with breathtaking scenery and waterfalls, Dominica is what most people expect Hawaii to be (and was many years ago). Dominica, however, does not offer much in the way of nice beaches, but the snorkeling at Champagne Reef is great and unique.

Barbados, on the other hand, does have beautiful beaches, and very lovely scenery around every turn of the road.

I believe Princess and HAL also do some sailings that hit both Dominica and Barbados.

[scampercat]

We are looking at the Dec 4th and the Dec 14th cruises on the Celebrity Eqinox. One of the the only difference really between the two is that one goes to St Lucia and the other goes to Dominica (they both go to Barbados). Can anyone compare these two islands and do you have a preference and why? I'm stumped so any help would be appreciated. PS, this is also our first cruise with Celebrity so any additional comments there would be helpful as well.

[kitkat9438]

Hi Jen, can't answer you about Dominica yet as we will be going there in December on the Summit. However, we did go to St. Lucia last year on the Caribbean Princess. It was our favorite island out of St. Thomas, Antigua, St. John and Barbados. Only because it was so lush and tropical and we took a tour with Cosol. His tours are highly rated and we would go with him again in a heart beat. The price is right and you get to tour the island, sample island foods, drink lots of rum punch see all of the island highlights and then snorkel between the Piton mountains. From what I have read, it sounds similar to Dominica. Can't wait to compare the two!

[rjscott]

Jensvesnik, as Kitkat said, Dominica and St Lucia are very similar in that they are both very lush and tropical. I don't think you'd be disappointed in whichever island you chose for your itinerary. Here are the two unique things I liked about Dominica and St Lucia: Dominica - snorkeling at Champagne Reef. St Lucia - Soufriere Volcano.

As for Celebrity over other cruise lines, I think Celebrity has the edge. We've sailed Princess, HAL, RCCL, and Celebrity and while we like certain things about each one, Celebrity comes out on top. We'll be on the Equinox next March, on a Western Caribbean sailing and I can't wait!

[cruisingbajan]

We are looking at the Dec 4th and the Dec 14th cruises on the Celebrity Eqinox. One of the the only difference really between the two is that one goes to St Lucia and the other goes to Dominica (they both go to Barbados). Can anyone compare these two islands and do you have a preference and why? I'm stumped so any help would be appreciated. PS, this is also our first cruise with Celebrity so any additional comments there would be helpful as well.

 

Dominica and St. Lucia will offer you pretty much the same experience..i.e. wildlife, rain forest etc. With Dominica in my opinion having a bit more on offer in terms of rain forest although St. Lucia is pretty nice also.

 

I guess you can see how good my balancing act is?:D;). Bottom line is either of these two places would be a great place to visit

[scampercat]

Thank you all! I really appreciate all of your help and opinions. We should be booking the cruise any day now. I am really excited about visiting these new islands and being on Celebrity and the Equinox. I'm pretty sure we are going to go with the Dec 4th (St. Lucia) itinerary. Can't wait! :D

[frito58]

Well if you like wildlife check out this link we did a whale watching tour in Domincia that was the best thing we have ever seen in 10 cruises, we have never been to Alaska ,don't like the cold.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=952612

[ellbon]

I have been to both. i believe if you like to hike Dominica would be better. I am booked on Bumpiing tours in jan thanks to CC. i love barbados but only for snorkeling and a little shopping.

 

also agree you are comparing apples to oranges.:D

[Mrs.C05]

We are looking at the Dec 4th and the Dec 14th cruises on the Celebrity Eqinox. One of the the only difference really between the two is that one goes to St Lucia and the other goes to Dominica (they both go to Barbados). Can anyone compare these two islands and do you have a preference and why? I'm stumped so any help would be appreciated. PS, this is also our first cruise with Celebrity so any additional comments there would be helpful as well.

 

I have to say that St. Lucia is soooooo beautiful!!! That one port is my all time favorite now! If I had to pick from St. Lucia or Dominica, and having been to both, I'd choose St. Lucia in a heartbeat. The tropical terrain, tourquise/blue water, aw man, makes me want to go back right now....lol!

[mermaid72]

Hi

We are going to St Lucia on our HAL cruise.

We are pretty new to cruising, & wondered about the tour you mentioned in St. Lucia...Cosol tour? Is this a private tour or was it affiliated with your ship? If it was private, how do we go about contacting them for a tour? Did you just see them when you got off the ship, or make previous arrangements?

Are there plenty of guides around for other island tours, or should we just go with what our ship offers?

Thanks for any tips or info, as we don't know the ropes yet!

[geduffer]

I have been to both. i believe if you like to hike Dominica would be better. I am booked on Bumpiing tours in jan thanks to CC. i love barbados but only for snorkeling and a little shopping.

 

also agree you are comparing apples to oranges.:D

 

Good choice going with Levi, we went on one of his tours on our Adventure of the Seas cruise in July. We're going back and are booked with Levi again in January on our Celebrity Summit cruise. We're also going to Barbados and I will be able to compare the two then.

[suznf]

We have been to both places a couple of times and love them both. The Silvermoon in Barbados is, hands down, one of the best day trips avail. That said, we also love the Boatyard and last year booked their catamaran, the Heatwave, ended up on the Calabaza, and had a wonderful time. We will do this again! Here is a youtube video about the Heatwave:

 

In Dominica we have been river tubing a couple of times with Wacky Rollers, which we really enjoyed (it rained both times...of course you start in a rain forest....). then a group of 6 of us went with our guide swimming in the Titou gorge and to Screws Sulfur Spa.

 

Here is a YouTube Video of someone else at Screws: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pMO0ur6x00 and here is one of the Titou Gorge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYQDZRVS70s

[rxnrn]

Went to St.Lucia, Barbados, and Dominica in June on Carnival Victory. All 3 islands were awesome for different reasons. St.Lucia was more beautiful and lush than any in Hawaii. Take Spencer Ambrose's tour to Jalouise beach and you will see what I mean. Spencer was the best tour guide I have ever had! If you are a beach person like me, Barbados and Accra beach is the place to be. We took a tour through Carnival (I think it was coast to coast tour) in the morning and caught a cab to Accra in the afternoon. The Carnival tour was very scenic and gives you a glimpse of this beautiful island. Dominica is for those who hike and love the rainforest. We did Bumpiing Tours with Levi but did not get him as a tour guide. The tour would have been better with him but we still enjoyed ourselves. We went to the falls and ended up at Champagne beach. We enjoyed these islands so much we are going again next year on RC Serenade of the Seas. Check this lineup out, St Lucia, St Maarten, Barbados, St Croix, Antigua, San Juan. Happy Sailing no matter where you go!