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Topic: Caribbean Cruise

Mary Poppins
Just Boarded
Member # 5560

posted 04-02-2005 12:53 AM

I plan to go on a 10 day Caribbean cruise with my family (two teenage daughters) and wondered if someone could tell me what the best time of year is for cruising that part of the world, and also which part of the Caribbean - i.e. Eastern, Western etc. Is early December a reasonable time weather wise?

Posts: 5 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 04-02-2005 05:13 AM

I'm sure our experts will help. Have you chosen your cruise line, yet?

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

Jamaica Jeff
First Class Passenger
Member # 2487

posted 04-02-2005 01:04 PM

I know Princess offers some nice 10 day cruises from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean. Check the websites of the different lines for prices and trips. I think Jan to March is a nice time. Weather is nice and it is not hurricane season.

Posts: 287 | From: south jersey | Registered: Oct 2001 | IP: Logged

jff1
First Class Passenger
Member # 5530

posted 04-02-2005 01:57 PM

August through mid November can become a little chancy with Hurricanes. If you can avoid that time it is best. I prefer eastern or southern carribbean... my favorite ports are St Maarten & Aruba. Last year I was surprised to enjoy Dominica as much as I did. I have done Princess and RCL and enjoyed both.

Posts: 30 | From: DFW - Texas | Registered: Mar 2005 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 04-02-2005 02:42 PM

Teenage girls will probably enjoy one of Royal Caribbean's big 'Voyager class' ships with Ice Skating rinks, etc.

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

Mary Poppins
Just Boarded
Member # 5560

posted 04-02-2005 03:48 PM

Thanks guys, that was helpful. Summer vacation in Aussie is December/Jan and my girls have nearly two months off, hence the timing. Isn't it quite wet in the Dec-Jan-Feb period? My sister-in-law who lives in L.A. recently went to Nassau and she said the water was cold. Whenever I checked the weather in Jan/Feb it seemed to be rainy.

Posts: 5 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-02-2005 03:52 PM

Late November through May are very nice months with the best weather IMO. I prefer the Western and Southern routes to the Eastern. The Eastern just seems a bit more 'touristy' than the other routes. The Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico on the Western run is beautiful and historically interesting. Many of the ports in the Caribbean are tourist traps but if you like to explore, there are many beautiful sights to discover. Have a great cruise!

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

MO cruiser
Just Boarded
Member # 4914

posted 04-12-2005 10:36 PM

Mary Poppins,
NCL will have a new ship sailing out of Miami in January, the Norwegian Jewel. It sails to Great Stirrup Cay,Ocho Rios, Georgetown, and Roatan. The rates for the 8 Jan 06 look very reasonable, you might look into this cruisehttp://www.travelserver.net/travelpage/ubb/icons/icon6.gif
http://www.travelserver.net/travelpage/ubb/icons/icon6.gif

Posts: 5 | From: Poplar Bluff, Missouri | Registered: Jul 2004 | IP: Logged

Mary Poppins
Just Boarded
Member # 5560

posted 04-17-2005 03:01 AM

Thanks, I will defnitely look into it

Posts: 5 | From: Australia | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged

mec1
First Class Passenger
Member # 4287

posted 04-17-2005 08:10 AM

Mary P

Do you have a gigantic desire to o to the Caribbean? In my opinion it is overcrowded, full of american tourists and not particularly attractive. If you haven't done it before, I would have thought that a cruise to Thailand and Malaysia and papua New Guinea would be far more interesting for you....

Posts: 1675 | From: London, England | Registered: Nov 2003 | IP: Logged

eroller
First Class Passenger
Member # 1649

posted 04-17-2005 09:37 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mec1:
Mary P
Do you have a gigantic desire to o to the Caribbean? In my opinion it is overcrowded, full of american tourists and not particularly attractive. If you haven't done it before, I would have thought that a cruise to Thailand and Malaysia and papua New Guinea would be far more interesting for you....

Coming from Australia, I would think a cruise to the Caribbean would seem far more exotic .... as would the "American tourists". Thailand and Malaysia are in Australia's back yard ... and guess what, they are filled with Australian tourists.

Ernie

Posts: 7046 | From: Miami, Florida USA | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-20-2005 12:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mec1:
Mary P
Do you have a gigantic desire to o to the Caribbean? In my opinion it is overcrowded, full of american tourists and not particularly attractive. If you haven't done it before, I would have thought that a cruise to Thailand and Malaysia and papua New Guinea would be far more interesting for you....

Those places are full of 'Asian tourists' and very dirty.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

mec1
First Class Passenger
Member # 4287

posted 04-20-2005 06:53 PM

Lasuvida - what an atypically American response!

Posts: 1675 | From: London, England | Registered: Nov 2003 | IP: Logged

sympatico
First Class Passenger
Member # 797

posted 04-20-2005 07:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
Those places are full of 'Asian tourists' and very dirty.

How do you know? Ever been there?

LA friends just got back from Thailand and Malaysia and loved it so much they are going back next year.
Their pictures were wonderful.

Posts: 3305 | From: Toronto, Ont. Canada | Registered: Jul 99 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-21-2005 12:30 AM

quote:
Originally posted by sympatico:

How do you know? Ever been there?
LA friends just got back from Thailand and Malaysia and loved it so much they are going back next year.
Their pictures were wonderful.

It was a joke-get it, a joke because of mec 1's ridiculous comments about 'American Tourists' and the Caribbean. He must have never been there or only visited to busy cruise ports.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-21-2005 12:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by mec1:
Lasuvida - what an atypically American response!

Let us not call the kettle black. You sound to be 'typically British'-uptight!

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-21-2005 12:35 AM

quote:
Originally posted by sympatico:

How do you know? Ever been there?
LA friends just got back from Thailand and Malaysia and loved it so much they are going back next year.
Their pictures were wonderful.

We have been to Malaysia twice and Thailand three time-loved it!! incredible people and scenery. The comment was because of mec 1's silly comment about 'American tourists'.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 04-22-2005 06:22 AM

It' interesting how one man's meat as another mans poison.

I went to las Vegas a few years ago and though that it was WONDERFUL, we have nothing like it here in Britain. However, many of my American friends asked me why on earth I'd bother to go there of all places?

Mind you I do not get too excited about Westminster Anbbey and the Houses of Parliment.

lasuvidaboy said: He must have never been there or only visited to busy cruise ports.

A serious question: does the Carib have any non-busy cruise ports?

[ 04-22-2005: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

desirod7
First Class Passenger
Member # 1626

posted 04-22-2005 11:19 AM

I have cruised

*3 day nowhere--worst behaved people
*Caribbean--ordinary people; middle America and Southerners
I would imagine the Mexican Riviera a west coast version of the Caribbean
[if St Thomas is a port, I will stay on board, yuch]
*New England--interesting mix of people
*TransAtlantic--most fun and eccentric people

quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
I went to las Vegas a few years ago and though that it was WONDERFUL, we have nothing like it here in Britain. However, many of my American friends asked me why on earth I'd bother to go there of all places?
[/b]
[ 04-22-2005: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

[ 04-22-2005: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

Posts: 5727 | From: Philadelphia, Pa [home of the SS United States] | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-22-2005 12:04 PM

The Caribbean has so many islands that the large cruise ships do not visit to begin with. On many islands, small towns are away from the busy tourist spots where the ships drop off literally thousands of passengers on certain days. There are mini higher end resorts, bed and breakfasts etc. that are not over run with tourists from the ships. Want to visit an Island that is beautiful and quiet??, take a small sail cruise or if you have the money there are charter operations that will take you and your group to places that are off the beaten path. The Caribbean can be a very crowded place and the same goes for ports in the Med, Northern Europe, Alaska-any area where the major liners operate. Many people like the crowds and many do not and the Caribbean offers both. The cruise lines seem to be entering areas that traditionally have not seen large ships and that is a good and bad thing. Those unspoiled ports could end up like Alaska's few VERY busy cruise ports. On the other hand, Alaska is huge and also offers large areas that are far removed from the huge crowds. It is a personal preference. As for Las Vegas, being only a 35 minute flight from my city, it is a great weekend getaway that offers a wide range of resorts from fun, tacky and inexpensive to very luxurious. Like cruise ships, it offers something for every pocket book and taste.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 04-22-2005 12:38 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
The Caribbean can be a very crowded place and the same goes for ports in the Med, Northern Europe, Alaska-any area where the major liners operate.

The difference is that the Med has many large cities which can easily absorb six ships, for example. An island or Alaskan ports cannot do this so well.

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 04-22-2005 02:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

The difference is that the Med has many large cities which can easily absorb six ships, for example. An island or Alaskan ports cannot do this so well.

That is true Malcolm. Have you been to Florence or Venice during the high season?-EEK!!! Talk about huge crowds of tourists! The thing is some people like the crowds and the excitment that comes from them. From my past Caribbean cruises, many of the people I met are from smaller towns or even rural areas of the States (and other countries) and may find the crowded shops, beaches and tourist sights fun-tons of people watching! Living in a large metropolitan area myself, I like to get away from that sometimes while on holiday. It is still possible in the Caribbean to take a private excursion to a more remote area of the island that you are visting and to me that is the best. The other option is to fly to the region and stay at a beautiful secluded resort.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 04-22-2005 05:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
The Caribbean has so many islands that the large cruise ships do not visit to begin with. On many islands, small towns are away from the busy tourist spots where the ships drop off literally thousands of passengers on certain days.

You find this in the Mediteranean too.
I think it is a very strange to discuss wheter the one or the other cruise area is better - they are just different.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

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