# Cruising the Caribbean



## traceyjs (Mar 8, 2008)

Can anybody tell me which part of the Caribbean is best for cruising?  We are looking at Eastern Caribbean but would like opinions on which is best.  We have two daughters who will be 10 and 12.


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## johnmfaeth (Mar 8, 2008)

Eastern Caribbean has a much shorter Hurricane season so much less chance of any issues during the summer when kids are off school. With the number of new ships out there, great deals can always be had too.

Make sure you sign up for the land excursions, especially to beaches. The port areas are 100% shopping and drinking oriented.


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## Kal (Mar 8, 2008)

In order to appreciate the "true Caribbean" go on a Southern Caribbean itinerary.  The islands are steeped in history and are much more tropical.  Most of those routes leave from San Juan and go as far south as Barbados.


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## traceyjs (Mar 8, 2008)

Sorry to be so ignorant, but where is San Juan?  Can you fly there from Las Vegas?


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## Kal (Mar 8, 2008)

San Juan, Puerto Rico


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## geekette (Mar 8, 2008)

Our next cruise will be W. Caribb to take in some of the Mexican ruins.  When Costa Maya got wiped out we postponed our plans.  

Check out Cruisecritic.com to figure out what ports/cruise lines might suit your family best.


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## Dave M (Mar 8, 2008)

One significant advantage of sailing from San Juan is that you will be able to visit many more islands in a week than if you sail from a Florida port. The islands of the Eastern and Southern Caribbean are much closer to San Juan than to the Florida ports.

And yes, you can fly to San Juan from Las Vegas with a single change of planes - in Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Dallas/Ft. Worth or Charlotte (as examples).


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## pedro47 (Mar 9, 2008)

In about two weeeks we are taking a 10 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise leaving out of Fort Lauderdale, Fl.   The ports stop will be St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Barbados, St Lucia and St. Maarteen.  We are trying to see a different view of the Caribbean without going to Nassa and Jamica.

An excellent place for information on cruises, cruise lines, ports, excursions etc., is cruisecritics.com.


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## Dave M (Mar 9, 2008)

pedro47 said:


> ...cruisecritics.com.


I think you mean www.cruisecritic.com, a recommendation with which I concur!

I booked three cruises two days ago. Following advice I saw on Cruise Critic saved me more than $1,000 over the lowest fares I had previously been able to find! The site has also helped me pick the best cabins (e.g., a cabin at a low "inside" fare with a window and a semi-private adjacent lounging deck), find others who have sailed my planned itineraries, determine which cruise lines and ships best fit my preferences, etc.


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## johnmfaeth (Mar 9, 2008)

To clarify, when I said Eastern Caribbean, I meant leaving from San Juan and heading east along the Antillies (St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, etc.)

Most folks consider the Southern Caribbean to be the "ABC" islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao.


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## pedro47 (Mar 9, 2008)

Thanks DaveM for the correction.


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## Steamboat Bill (Mar 9, 2008)

traceyjs said:


> Can anybody tell me which part of the Caribbean is best for cruising?  We are looking at Eastern Caribbean but would like opinions on which is best.  We have two daughters who will be 10 and 12.



The BEST is actuallt the BVIs as in the British Virgin Islands. However, large cruise ships do not go there as you need to be on much smaller boutique ships. A sailboat is the best (catamaran).


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## traceyjs (Mar 10, 2008)

Excellent!  I am going to do my homework on cruisecritic.com and hopefully will make some decisions.  Have any of you exchanged through Ice Gallery?  That's what we're planning to do, unless there's a cheaper way.


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## Kal (Mar 10, 2008)

You might want to look at the total cost when you go thru ICE.  When you consider all the costs it will cost you almost the same if you purchase the cruise out right and hang on to the timeshare week.  When you take into account you have to give up a timeshare week, the costs thru ICE are extremely high.


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## Kal (Mar 10, 2008)

johnmfaeth said:


> To clarify, when I said Eastern Caribbean, I meant leaving from San Juan and heading east along the Antillies (St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, etc.)
> 
> Most folks consider the Southern Caribbean to be the "ABC" islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao.


 
The more classical description of the Eastern itinerary would include the Bahamas, USVIs, San Juan, and maybe St. Maarten.

Western would include Mexico, Cayman, Jamaica and Bahamas

Southern would generally be the southeast quadrant which would be everything south and east of San Juan. That would include Barbados, St. Lucia, the ABCs and more.


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## traceyjs (Mar 10, 2008)

Thanks Kal.  Is it equally expensive to do it through RCI because I know they have a cruise exchange as well.


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## geekette (Mar 11, 2008)

traceyjs said:


> Thanks Kal.  Is it equally expensive to do it through RCI because I know they have a cruise exchange as well.



And they have been calling and bugging us about it!!!

"Oh no, this is different!"  Uh huh, a "free voucher" that entitles you to pay the same or higher cost as you would elsewhere PLUS a 'voucher redemption fee' of $199 for the first cabin, $99 for each additional cabin.

And this is a good deal how?  Oh, I get to keep my week!


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## traceyjs (Mar 11, 2008)

Wow geekette!  I don't know about this offer because I have not spoken to RCI here yet.  I really don't care whether I keep my week or not because this will be the one trip that we take this year AND we are buying the RCI International passport weeks which only cost AUD679 for a week and you can bank them like a normal week.  So exchange is the way to go for us if it's not a rip off - which is what Kal was sort of inferring.  Advice on this would be great - where do you buy cruises that are cheaper than an exchange situation?


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## bhodgson (Mar 13, 2008)

Yes I have worked through Ice Gallery - in fact just returned and was pleased with our choice. You do have to do your homework and ask questions up front about additional cost - it is like doing an exchange - we used points which we were going to lose and talked with several advisors before making a choice - checked my own prices online so I had point a of comparison. we ended up with a concierge class balcony on Celebrity for 7 nights in the Southern Caribbean ( loved these islands - St Martin, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Aruba ) Without our week - the cost would have covered a bottom category outside so I was happy. It won't pay your way - i look at it as more of an upgrade - figure how much your maint fee is and subtract from cost to see if the cruise is cost effective. The one advisor said that the only way that it really pays to use your points is if you can find a significant reduction using 50,000 points. Afterwards, they took good care of us - made sure we had our documents and answered all of our questions. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. I stongly suggest doing some homework on Cruisecritic as well as taking a look at online TA's like Concruise.com or vacationstogo.com so that you have a point of comparison. If this is your first Caribbean experience - you will enjoy any of the islands. I usually stay on an island so this cruise was very different for us. Good luck .


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## traceyjs (Mar 13, 2008)

Thanks BHodgson for the info.  I'll do a lot more research to see how it all works out.


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