Caribbean: What would you recommend?

[Twitchly]

I've been on exactly one cruise (Holland America, to New England and Canada), and it was for work. (Long story.) So I don't have much background to draw from here and would appreciate suggestions.

 

After a recent vacation in Maine where it was rainy, foggy, and cold the whole time, my husband came home and said our next trip would be to the Caribbean. He likes structure and activity in vacations, which made me think of cruises.

 

Here are our details:

 

- We're in our late 40s

- No kids

- We're not terribly extroverted

- We're not nuts about crowds

- He's very fit and loves active, outdoorsy things to do

- He would love to learn windsurfing

- I'm happy on a beach with a book

- We both enjoy shopping, antiques, history

- We like good food and have somewhat expensive tastes in that area

 

So given that, if you were our travel agent, what cruise and/or cruise line and/or ship would you recommend? I hear the Southern Caribbean is particularly nice, but we're wide open at this point. Thanks in advance.

[cb at sea]

If you want truly great food, then you probably don't want one of the "mass market" cruiselines...you may want something more "upscale". And, a luxury line will have fewer folks, so less crowds.

As far as excursions, you can do as much or as little as you like---that's true on ANY line.

[quepaquete]

Here are our details:

 

- We're in our late 40s

- No kids

- We're not terribly extroverted

- We're not nuts about crowds

- He's very fit and loves active, outdoorsy things to do

- He would love to learn windsurfing

- I'm happy on a beach with a book

- We both enjoy shopping, antiques, history

- We like good food and have somewhat expensive tastes in that area

 

So given that, if you were our travel agent, what cruise and/or cruise line and/or ship would you recommend? I hear the Southern Caribbean is particularly nice, but we're wide open at this point. Thanks in advance.

 

If I were your travel agent I would have many more questions, one in particular budget.

You many not be extroverted, but what king of people do you enjoy associating with??

You mentioned you both like history, unfortunately most lectures on the average Caribbean cruises are about shopping, so nothing intelectual there. The luxury lines tend to have more interestingintelectual lectures, thou.

Do you find hairy chest contest disgusting or fun??

Fancy excellent food or a hamburger would do??

Late night dancing or early to bed??

These are just a few, I'm sure other would come up with more....

[caribsun]

Look at a 7 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise on board Celebrity Summit.

 

Destination: Caribbean. Prices starting from 599.00 USD on 06-Feb-2010

Cruise Ports: San Juan, Puerto Rico, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Roseau, Dominica, St. George's, Grenada, Scarborough, Tobago, Bridgetown, Barbados, San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Celebrity Summit would not be crowded and offers very good food.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

How did you like the Holland America atmosphere? My first inclination is to recommend Celebrity, either southern Caribbean or eastern Caribbean.

 

Lived in Maine for more than 20 years. I understand the cold, rainy (and snowy), dreary, long dark days. Escaped to Florida.

[Twitchly]

If I were your travel agent I would have many more questions, one in particular budget.

You many not be extroverted, but what king of people do you enjoy associating with??

You mentioned you both like history, unfortunately most lectures on the average Caribbean cruises are about shopping, so nothing intelectual there. The luxury lines tend to have more interestingintelectual lectures, thou.

Do you find hairy chest contest disgusting or fun??

Fancy excellent food or a hamburger would do??

Late night dancing or early to bed??

These are just a few, I'm sure other would come up with more....

 

Not quite sure about budget right now.

 

I think my husband would have to imbibe a fair amount of alcohol to enjoy a hairy chest contest. I enjoy a little corny fun now and then, but it's not high on my list of must-haves.

 

A hamburger is fine sometimes, but fancy food is great when done well. We wouldn't have to eat gourmet every single night.

 

Early to bed most nights, probably. Or better still, a moonlight walk on the deck.

 

As for the history, it doesn't have to be through lectures. We'd enjoy looking at some of the colonial architecture at various stops, I'm sure.

 

No idea how to answer the "what kind of people" question, though it's a good one. We like a variety, I guess.

[Twitchly]

If you want truly great food, then you probably don't want one of the "mass market" cruiselines...you may want something more "upscale". And, a luxury line will have fewer folks, so less crowds.

As far as excursions, you can do as much or as little as you like---that's true on ANY line.

 

What would a luxury cruise line be? And do they ever offer sales? I looked at a couple of Crystal cruises, and while they looked nice, they started at something like $16K for two people. That's beyond us.

[JanineM]

Look at a 7 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise on board Celebrity Summit.

 

Destination: Caribbean. Prices starting from 599.00 USD on 06-Feb-2010

Cruise Ports: San Juan, Puerto Rico, Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Roseau, Dominica, St. George's, Grenada, Scarborough, Tobago, Bridgetown, Barbados, San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Celebrity Summit would not be crowded and offers very good food.

 

I was also going to suggest Celebrity. We're mid 40s without kids & find that we're closer to the young end of their demographic - especially on 10-night or longer cruises - but Celebrity does skew younger on 1-week cruises.

 

Celebrity's food is good, better than some other lines, and if you want really good food then Normandie (specialty dining with a $30 per person surcharge) is just excellent.

 

Celebrity is more subdued than some of the other lines. There are activities, but it's just not as raucous as some of the other lines like Royal Caribbean (we love RCCI, but it's a different experience). You don't feel like you need to join a conga line or anything! ;) Summit, along with other Celebrity ships in the "M" class, is well designed so you rarely feel like you're in a crowd. There are lots of little corners and lounges so you can escape.

 

We are doing the 7-nighter from San Juan on January 16th. That particular itinerary includes St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Antigua and St. Lucia. We've been to St. Thomas, St. Kitts and St. Lucia --- Kitts & Lucia are especially beautiful!

 

As to your hubby's desire for activity, you can book some fun excursions onboard, but they do also have a great gym.

 

If you're interested in Summit, or find another particular ship that you want to investigate, check out the reviews here on Cruise Critic.

 

Hope this helps!

[Aquahound]

Reading your first post, I immediately thought Celebrity. I'm glad I wasn't the only one.

 

I suggest taking a look at Celebrity Solstice or Equinox.

[cruiseapril]

The Southern Caribbean is very good for warmth, beaches, and water sports- especially snorkeling. The Holland America cruise to Half Moon Cay, Aruba, and Curacao is fun- we did that last year.

[quepaquete]

Not quite sure about budget right now.

 

I think my husband would have to imbibe a fair amount of alcohol to enjoy a hairy chest contest. I enjoy a little corny fun now and then, but it's not high on my list of must-haves.

 

A hamburger is fine sometimes, but fancy food is great when done well. We wouldn't have to eat gourmet every single night.

 

Early to bed most nights, probably. Or better still, a moonlight walk on the deck.

 

As for the history, it doesn't have to be through lectures. We'd enjoy looking at some of the colonial architecture at various stops, I'm sure.

 

No idea how to answer the "what kind of people" question, though it's a good one. We like a variety, I guess.

 

Since budget may be an issue, I would agree with most here about Celebrity.

You mentioned checking on Crystal for $16K, that must have been for a two week cruise. Unless you were quoted a penthouse suite for seven day.

 

Here are the reasons, I liked Celebrity, the food while not the best I haver ever had, it was good. The service was very good. For evening shows they had a piano concert, a singer from London's West End, a magician, a Comedian, and of course Celebrity's own version of off-broadway shows. The lead singer from the celebrity crew did a mini concert singing some arias. He was amazing!! Unfortunately the mini concert was not very well attended.

If you want to time along with better half, book an evening (or two) at the specialty restaurant, or even just room service.

My experience with the Caribbean Islands, is that most offer the same as far as turisty activities, such as sip-line, scuba, snuba, snorkel, and ALL of them offer shopping and more shopping. There are exceptions unique to an Island, such as the waterfalls in Jamaica, etc.

We have done an art tour in St Martin/St Marteen (visited both sides of the island); where we visited art studios while the artists were there with drinks and snacks while discussing their art o doing demonstrations. Most were private homes. Had a wonderful time!!

If you want Mayan ruins, then western Caribbean is a must, with ports of call in the Riviera Maya, Belize, Honduras.

For unique architecture, then Southern Caribbean.

For upper class art galleries and shops, then St Barts. Nevis.

Most island in the Caribbean have nice beaches, you will find that everyone has a prefferred beach, to me most are the same. But I am not a beach person -don't like getting burnt and don't like using sunscreen either. By the way I'm Latin and just a little dark skin; to the envy of many I can get a nice tan by just sitting in the shade near the water.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Regards

[quepaquete]

What would a luxury cruise line be? And do they ever offer sales? I looked at a couple of Crystal cruises, and while they looked nice, they started at something like $16K for two people. That's beyond us.

 

Have you looked at the Panama Canal cruise on Crystal on Dec 10th?? It is discounted 50% from the brochure rate, and they are running a fire sale next week (Jul 8 to 10) with an additional 25%, plus $500 shipboard credit. I estimate that a balcony for this 11-day cruise is $2,898 per person.

Still very expensive for most of us, but for those who can afford it and willing to pay, it is bargain.

If this price is acceptable for you, then other option would be Seabourn Odyssey, rountrip Ft. Lauderdale around the same dates for 12 days for $3,500 approx for a oceanview suite after 68% discount.

[Cruzinnana47]

We're from MA, so I know where you're coming from talking about the cold, dreary, wet and gray weather in ME (we've been having a terrible Spring here in SE MA ourselves). I would have to say either Celebrity or even Princess may fill your needs if you can't do a "luxury cruiseline" (we can't either). RCI or Carnival may not be the best choices for you, based on your preferences.

 

We're not "party people"--tend to enjoy history, walks, points of interest, etc. So far our favorite cruise was on the Coral Princess through the Panama Canal. Wonderful itinerary and the ship was lovely.

 

If you like history--Old San Juan was interesting. Also the Tulum (Mexico)ruins.

[DonnaK]

Based on what you wrote so far, I'd recommend Celebrity or Princess for a low-key and classy cruising experience.

[Leafpeeper]

When do you want to go?

 

I like to travel from ports close to home--Boston or New York.

Jewel of the Seas has a wonderful cruise leaving from Boston Oct 27 with stops in St. Croix and St. Thomas as well as Aruba before heading to Miami to end the cruise.

 

The NCL Spirit leaves from Boston to Bermuda every week from May-September. This is a great cruise.

 

DH and I take the Bus from Providence to NY for winter cruises on NCL Gem or RCCL Explorer of the Seas. During the winter months they do southern caribbean cruises that we love to ports like St Thomas, St Marten, Antigua, Dominca, and Barbados. All these ports are great but St. Marten and St. Kitts and Barbados are our favorites. NCL Gem is sailing to the Bahamas from Nov-Dec and again in February-March doing 7 day cruises.

 

If you are going to be in Florida, you can take a shorter cruise from 5-7 days. You should call and get a brochure from different cruiselines so you can see what is available.

[Twitchly]

This is great information; thanks so much!

 

Not sure yet when we'd be going. Not soon; next year some time.

[marco]

Sounds like you'd be a pretty good fit on any line. If you've not been to the Caibbean before, I think I'd base my choice on itinerary, price, most convenient departure date and availability.

[ziggydo]

I would definitly go with Royal Caribbean (but I am partial to them since this is the only cruise I have gone on at this point) We are booked for the 11/29-12/11 Southern Caribbean on Explorer of the Seas this year.... this will be our 3rd cruise with RCI. We have done the Western and Eastern Caribbean and Prefer the Western so far.... We have not been disapointed with anything yet! Have fun searching and if you decide to go on the same cruise as above, let us know....:)