If you've been on a So. Caribbean cruise...

[cransplash]

I know this is far in advance, but we are trying to decide which cruise we want to go on next year (b/w W. Caribb vs, So, Caribb). I am leaning towards So. Caribbean, but had a few questions:

1. Which cruiseline and ship did you go on? Would you recommend it?
2. What time of month did you go/would you recommend?
3. We are thinking of staying a few nights in San Juan prior to the cruise- any good locations/hotel recommendations?
4. What excursions would you recommend? If you have the name of the tour company, that’d be great too.

If you have any other tips or suggestions, I’d appreciate it. Thanks

[grover]

We stayed in the Marriott in San Juan, for a night before one of our cruises. We'd definitely stay there again, and are planning on staying there if we do make it back. One place we regret not going to was Old San Juan- it had been recommended to us but we didn't have a chance to make it.

I believe that particular cruise we stopped at St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Lucia and Barbados. It was through Carnival.

[cransplash]

Thanks grover!

What cruiseline did you use, and would you go back to the same cruiseline? Did you enjoy the So. Caribb itinerary?

How many nights would you recommend staying in SJ/Old SJ prior to getting on the cruise?

Any sightseeing sights worth recommending?

[grover]

That particular trip from PR we used Carnival. It was our second Carnival cruise, and my immediate family prefers Carnival over Royal Caribbean (which I have taken 1 Royal cruise). I have extended family that prefers Royal though.

I enjoyed the So Caribbean itinerary, but probably wouldn't go on the same trip again only because I want to try to visit as many new places as possible.

I know Carnival has their own set of forums, which I found very helpful when planning our trips. Many people have recommendations there for sight seeing ideas that are not planned by the cruise line.

[cransplash]

Thanks!

[gracenote]

1. Which cruiseline and ship did you go on? Would you recommend it?

We were on Carnival, I believe on the Victory (my second time on that ship). I loved it and we are booking the same trip again in a few years. We were out of San Juan, went to St Martin, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Thomas, Barbados and Dominica.

2. What time of month did you go/would you recommend?
Mid Feb and the weather was great!


3. We are thinking of staying a few nights in San Juan prior to the cruise- any good locations/hotel recommendations?
Love the Hilton Caribe! We went back to San Juan to stay there for a few days this past year.

4. What excursions would you recommend? If you have the name of the tour company, that’d be great too.

St Martin - Maho Beach and the foot of the airport was amazing. So fun to watch the planes land right over your head (youtube this!)

St Thomas - Megans Beach was beautiful

St Kitts - Day passes at the Marriott - There are a ton of pools, beach access, a casino and use of a room there.

Barbados - Catamaran and swim with the turtles, I think we booked this through the cruise. Just remember your sunscreen, the sun is strong and so is the white rum

St Lucia - I booked a private tour with Spencer Ambrose and loved every second of it. We got to see most of the island and went snorkeling at Jolouise Beach. Jolouise is nestled in between the Pitons and is simply beautiful.

Dominica - I don't think this is on the itinerary anymore and I can totally see why. I did not feel safe there at all.

Hope this helps!

[soozy87]

May 17, 2012 9:39:41 GMT -5 gracenote said:

1. Which cruiseline and ship did you go on? Would you recommend it?

We were on Carnival, I believe on the Victory (my second time on that ship). I loved it and we are booking the same trip again in a few years. We were out of San Juan, went to St Martin, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Thomas, Barbados and Dominica.

2. What time of month did you go/would you recommend?
Mid Feb and the weather was great!


3. We are thinking of staying a few nights in San Juan prior to the cruise- any good locations/hotel recommendations?
Love the Hilton Caribe! We went back to San Juan to stay there for a few days this past year.

4. What excursions would you recommend? If you have the name of the tour company, that’d be great too.

St Martin - Maho Beach and the foot of the airport was amazing. So fun to watch the planes land right over your head (youtube this!)

St Thomas - Megans Beach was beautiful

St Kitts - Day passes at the Marriott - There are a ton of pools, beach access, a casino and use of a room there.

Barbados - Catamaran and swim with the turtles, I think we booked this through the cruise. Just remember your sunscreen, the sun is strong and so is the white rum

St Lucia - I booked a private tour with Spencer Ambrose and loved every second of it. We got to see most of the island and went snorkeling at Jolouise Beach. Jolouise is nestled in between the Pitons and is simply beautiful.

Dominica - I don't think this is on the itinerary anymore and I can totally see why. I did not feel safe there at all.

Hope this helps!

We are going on this cruise on the Victory in mid July. Thanks for the tips!

[gracenote]

soozy87 - I am so jealous you are going soon. I have been on 8 cruises and this one is by far my favorite. A lot of people are spooked by having to go out of San Juan, but I loved it.

It is also much easier to get your own alcohol on board there. We made it through with 2 plastic bottles in our checked bags that we bought right outside the port. Also, stop and pick up mixers at the shops right outside of the port as well. Our room steward kept everything on ice for us... or as he said "made sure our fishes had water"

[jewel]

We did a similar cruise a few years ago. We were on Carnival, but I don't remember the ship's name. Our ports included (with activities):

San Juan - We spent 2 days in San Juan before leaving on the cruise. I don't remember where we stayed, but we spent a good amount of time walking around old San Juan

St. Lucia - I believe we did ziplining

St. Thomas - Took the ferry to St. John and spent the day at the beach. Awesome!

Barbados - Rode quads and jet skis.

Dominica - Tour up to several waterfalls (we just jumped in a van off the ship, not very safe, and not recommended)

Antigua - swimming with sting rays. Lots of people liked this, but I hated it. I wouldn't do this again for free, and definitely not for $100.

We booked a few excursions on the ship, and arranged a few on our own. We were not well-seasoned travelers at the time and probably could have done a better job of planning. All of the islands are beautiful and have a lot to offer. My favorite day was probably the beach day on St. John. If you can afford it, I'd also highly recommend you book a balcony cabin. We ate breakfast every day and spent some time every evening on the balcony and often saw turtles, sting rays, etc. It's another nice view of each island, as you come in and out of port.

[soozy87]

This is my first time going on a cruise. We went to St. John on our honeymoon last year and that was awesome, so we thought it would be nice to see some of the surrounding area.

[basilosaurus]

I've been on 2, both out of San Juan, once on Carnival and once on Celebrity. SJ is an awesome place to spend an extra couple days prior. The mallorcas at la bombanera (or however it's spelled) in OSJ are the stuff of dreams. I love just walking around the town, going out to the fort, etc. El Yunque was a nice little side trip, too. We just got a hotel on hotwire, but it's the hotel/casino near when you embark. A taxi to OSJ was pretty cheap.

I 2nd springing for a balcony. I'm a cheapass (just did an inside on our recent European cruise), but in the Carib, it's worth it.

I don't really do excursions since we tend to do our own thing, but here's what we did in each place. Assume that when we rented a car we went to a couple beaches and swam and snorkeled, and we probably did some short hikes, too.

St Thomas: 1st time, rented car. 2nd time, found a sailboat charter for the day (with another couple from cruisecritic) that went over to St John (I think). It was awesome. Good food, good snorkeling, good sailing.

St. Maarten: dove

Dominica: Rented car, hiked in a great tropical forest.

Barbados: Rented car, saw the caves

St. Kitts: Dove

Antigua: Rented car

Martinique: I don't really remember (that cruise was 15 years ago). I think we just walked around for a bit.

St Croix: Would have dived, but H was really sunburned. We ended up taking the ship's shuttle to some town and walking around, taking it easy, enjoying fish sandwiches and beer.

Guadeloupe: One of my favorites. We rented a car, hiked and went to the far coast for great French food. Also, there's a chocolate factory which makes chocolate liquor.

As you can tell, I like doing my own thing and escaping the hordes of the ship. It's a whole lot cheaper, too. One thing you should be aware of, though, is that a lot of islands drive on the left side. I've lived in countries that do that, so switching is no biggie for me, but it could be disorienting if you're not used to it.

[cransplash]

Thanks everyone for the helpful tips!

[summerkutie]

1. Which cruiseline and ship did you go on? Would you recommend it? We went on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas and would highly recommend it! Hands down our favorite cruise to date. H has been on 5 Eastern Caribbean cruises and 1 Western Caribbean cruise aside from the Southern, and I've been on 2 Western cruises aside from the Southern and we would go back to the Southern hands down.

2. What time of month did you go/would you recommend? We went mid-November and thought it was perfect. Kids were in school, weather was hot but not overbearingly hot.


3. We are thinking of staying a few nights in San Juan prior to the cruise- any good locations/hotel recommendations? GREAT idea! Friends of ours missed their ship due to a flight delay/cancellation and had to pick up the ship in Aruba a few days later. To avoid a disaster like that, we flew into San Juan a day early which was perfect. We stayed at the Caribe Hilton and loved it. Great hotel, great pool area, great rooms, etc.. and it was close the airport, downtown, and the cruise pier.


4. What excursions would you recommend? If you have the name of the tour company, that’d be great too.

In Aruba, we snorkeled and spent the rest of the afternoon at Moomba Beach.

In Curacao we did a day at the beach by boat excursion which was perfect. We relaxed, swam, and then went back into town and did some sight seeing and shopping.

In Dominica we did a waterfall and river tubing excursion which was a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend booking an excursion here, as the port area is very poor and there's not much to do or walk to from there except for a small area of shops and tents.

In St. Thomas, we did a 1/2 day champagne catamaran sail over to St. John. HIGHLY recommend this excursion through the ship! The boat took us over to Honeymoon Beach in St. John where we could beach comb and snorkel. On the trip back, it was like a party, they played Caribbean music, and served bottomless drinks and snacks. I even got to drive the boat.



All excursions were booked through Royal Caribbean.

Link to my travel site for this trip:

sites.google.com/site/ourlovefortraveling/southern-caribbean-cruise-2009

HTH!

[cransplash]

May 18, 2012 9:21:52 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

Link to my travel site for this trip:
sites.google.com/site/ourlovefortraveling/southern-caribbean-cruise-2009

Thank you! Am reading it now.
Sort of off topic, but I love your criss-cross back dress (red)- do you remember where you got it? I'm looking for criss-cross back dresses for our upcoming cruise...

[ashap]

May 16, 2012 10:38:59 GMT -5 cransplash said:

I know this is far in advance, but we are trying to decide which cruise we want to go on next year (b/w W. Caribb vs, So, Caribb). I am leaning towards So. Caribbean, but had a few questions:

1. Which cruiseline and ship did you go on? Would you recommend it?
we went on the celebrity summit, absolutely loved it!
2. What time of month did you go/would you recommend?
went in January, we had great weather
3. We are thinking of staying a few nights in San Juan prior to the cruise- any good locations/hotel recommendations?
caribe Hilton was huge, lots to do on property, if we went back I think I would do old San Juan.
4. What excursions would you recommend? If you have the name of the tour company, that’d be great too.
st. Lucia - cosol tours was ah-maz-ing! This is the best excursion I've been on in any of the 12 islands I've been too!

If you have any other tips or suggestions, I’d appreciate it. Thanks

check out cruise critic for tips, tricks, and comparison of the lines/ships

[summerkutie]

May 18, 2012 17:09:38 GMT -5 cransplash said:

May 18, 2012 9:21:52 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

Link to my travel site for this trip:
sites.google.com/site/ourlovefortraveling/southern-caribbean-cruise-2009

Thank you! Am reading it now.
Sort of off topic, but I love your criss-cross back dress (red)- do you remember where you got it? I'm looking for criss-cross back dresses for our upcoming cruise...

I got it from Victorias Secret, and they still sell it! They have it in the cocktail dress length and the maxi dress length. Super comfy and very flattering fit

[cransplash]

May 21, 2012 9:59:36 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

May 18, 2012 17:09:38 GMT -5 cransplash said:

Thank you! Am reading it now.
Sort of off topic, but I love your criss-cross back dress (red)- do you remember where you got it? I'm looking for criss-cross back dresses for our upcoming cruise...

I got it from Victorias Secret, and they still sell it! They have it in the cocktail dress length and the maxi dress length. Super comfy and very flattering fit

I'm heading there now. BTW, how is their sizing? fwiw, I am usually a size 6 in dresses (BR, Loft, Limited...)

eta: What kind of bra do you wear with this type of dress?

eta #2: I found the cross-strap back maxi dress, but can't find the cocktail dress length?

[summerkutie]

May 21, 2012 19:54:08 GMT -5 cransplash said:

May 21, 2012 9:59:36 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

I got it from Victorias Secret, and they still sell it! They have it in the cocktail dress length and the maxi dress length. Super comfy and very flattering fit

I'm heading there now. BTW, how is their sizing? fwiw, I am usually a size 6 in dresses (BR, Loft, Limited...)

eta: What kind of bra do you wear with this type of dress?

eta #2: I found the cross-strap back maxi dress, but can't find the cocktail dress length?

That's a bummer! I've been seeing that dress on the site for a while, hopefully it's just sold out for now or something. Honestly, I'm sure the maxi version will be just as flattering and beautiful as the cocktail length.

I'm a size 6 in pants, but at VS I usually order my dresses in a Small and they always fit perfectly. I think size 4 and under is a good fit for extra-small.

[cransplash]

May 22, 2012 8:34:45 GMT -5 summerkutie said:

May 21, 2012 19:54:08 GMT -5 cransplash said:

I'm heading there now. BTW, how is their sizing? fwiw, I am usually a size 6 in dresses (BR, Loft, Limited...)

eta: What kind of bra do you wear with this type of dress?

eta #2: I found the cross-strap back maxi dress, but can't find the cocktail dress length?

That's a bummer! I've been seeing that dress on the site for a while, hopefully it's just sold out for now or something. Honestly, I'm sure the maxi version will be just as flattering and beautiful as the cocktail length.

I'm a size 6 in pants, but at VS I usually order my dresses in a Small and they always fit perfectly. I think size 4 and under is a good fit for extra-small.

Perfect- thank you!