caribbean cruises

michele-p

We are just at the early stages of thinking about a holiday for next year. We've not cruised before but could fancy trying it out in the Caribbean. I'm not sure we'd like to be on a massive ship, possibly a smaller liner, with as many different islands as possible, rather than extra days at sea.

Where to start planning?
We could be flexible on the time of year, not stuck to any dates.
Ideally we would fly KLM from Norwich (via Schipol), flights not really a problem, it would be just the cruise only we'd need,

We are early 40s, and usually love fly drive type holidays, rather than lie on a beach all day type of thing, Would be interested in a bit of snorkelling/diving, water sports, and lots of visits to different towns/cultures. We are quite casual, so husband would not really want to get "dressed" in a tux other than maybe 1 night.

Any suggestions?

[Deleted User]

No one will force you to wear a tux anymore It's gone a lot less formal on the mainstream cruise lines. You can just wear a blazer or smart jacket. Or go hide in the buffet.

Pick an american cruise line if you want it to be more fun. Royal Caribbean/Celebrity are good, Princess has nicer food and is a bit calmer

Remember you can shop around and haggle cruise prices since it is a set package. I've found Thomas Cook and Cruise.co.uk can usually do the cheapest price. Make sure to ask if stuff can be thrown in - drinks packages, wifi, parking, cabin credit..

michele-p

my mum and dad are huge fan of Thompson cruises in the med, I suppose I'd want to make sure we aren't the youngest on board, but do worry about the huge floating city type ships I've seen photos of! I'll start looking at the companies you've suggested. Made me smile, I've never seen my hubby in a blazer/jacket since our wedding day. He's a jeans/tshirt kind normally.

[Deleted User]

Here's the thing - there are formal and informal places to eat on a normal cruise ship. If you don't fancy doing all the dinner jacket stuff (typically 3 in a fortnight cruise) you just go and eat in the buffet rather than the formal restaurant. Americans aren't very 'dressy' like the British, older crowd is. They're also quite fussy so the standards are usually high. Be prepared that they add tips automatically to your room bill.

There was a massive range of ages when we cruised in the Caribbean (honeymoon trip) and they often put you on tables of people of similar ages. If you go on an american cruise line, you'll find you get a younger, less formal crowd. We went on a Carnival ship. We are mid-30s with kids.

I'll be honest.. Thompson isn't 'our kind of cruise' - their ships aren't very new and don't have the better facilities or entertainment as other lines.

You might want to look at the biggest forum on cruising - http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/

If you can, go for a balcony room. Be ready for most Caribbean islands to be quite similar to one another. We really enjoyed Barbados, St Thomas and St Kitts/Nevis the best. We never use the organised tours, as they're commonly overpriced. You can sort stuff out yourself when you get there normally. If you stop at Puerto Rico, be prepared that you need to fill in all the USA visitor visa stuff on the ship as it is USA territory.

loobs40

We are Caribbean cruise addicts! We sail with P&O and they have a number of ships in the Caribbean.


One advantage of P&O is that the flights are included in the cruise price and after handing your luggage over at the airport (Gatwick in our case) You don't see it again till you step in your cabin. After landing at Barbados you get off the plane and straight onto he coaches which are lined up next to the plane i.e. no customs/passport control / luggage carousel etc


Our next cruise is in Feb and I have already booked in advance numerous snorkelling trips using private tours companies i.e., not through P&O. We are quite adventurous zip lining, river tubing, speed boats, bungee jumps (although not in the Caribbean) but we equally love days relaxing/drinking/eating on the beach, which is a completely different experience in the Caribbean. Trip Advisor is my bible for finding out all the different activities and tours on the islands


Re floating cities, yes they are huge, but it also means more to do and see. Think a hotel resort with all the amenities but at sea.


Re dress code, my hubby is still t-shirt and jeans man and was very wary the first cruise we went on but since then he's done a U-turn and absolutely loves the formal dressing in a Tux on the cruise. During the day, well frankly , its just swimming shorts and t-shirt, but he and I love to dress up for the formal nights.


We met a great group of people on our first Caribbean cruise and since then we cruised every year with them and meet up at other times ( we are still recovering from the Hogmanay party they held this year) .


Our group is late 40s early 50s and we have a blast. Mostly in the bars it has to be said of an evening.....


I only have positives to say about going on a cruise. I have tried a few other cruise lines , but I have to say at the moment P&O are our favourites

ibizafan_2

We've booked a Caribbean cruise with Thomson for January 2017 on a newly refurbished ship which will be called Discovery. We thought the itinerary perfect for us as it goes to lots of islands, including Aruba in the southern Caribbean. We've booked a balcony cabin and if you book now you get a free drinks package, which we wouldn't have bothered with as too pricey. Might be worth a look. We thought the ship is going to suit us as its not too big. Also, tips are included. Not keen on the idea of the huge ships myself. Far too many people.

nickcc

We are also thinking of a Caribbean cruise but want to include Cuba. We liked the look of the Archers cruise on board the MSC Opera but, after reading all the negative feedback on various Forums, are in some doubt. Fred Olsen had a cruise similar a couple of years ago but seem to have stopped doing it now. I'll be following this thread to see if you get any suggestions that may help us decide, thanks for raising the thread.

michele-p

Thanks everyone, we will definitely consider all options. I was scanning US cruise sites, and saw this offer, with took my fancy!
http://www.cruises.com/sc.do?tab=media&i=896307&c=64&v=894&month=all

Though we would need to go next year to be able to save up first! My worry with the bigger ships would be that they are stuffed full of too many people, it's a very byast view as I've never been on one though!

Hubby says he would wear his suit once or twice so that's progress.

We would ideally do all our own trips and excursions, very used to DIY holidays, and hate being ripped off, or being in huge groups with strict timescales. And we would hopefully get flights through my husbands loyalty scheme, he works for an airline, we've never had a free or cheap flight, or even allowed in the lounge before, but he's been there over 25 years now, so new rules should kick in next year!

[Deleted User]

I would second the poster that recommends a cruise in Europe rather than the Caribbean particularly if you like to get out and about on port visits to soak up some culture and sightseeing.

Caribbean cruises,popular with elderly and often fat Americans, tend to call into an island for a few hours and most people barely manage
to walk a hundreds yards from the terminal to purchase all the usual tat.
Often there's a couple of large ships in so you may have several thousands people milling around being hassled by the same hucksters - Nassau in the Bahamas for example is a dump and places like Antigua are just a collection of duty free shops.
That's not to say Caribbean cruises are not enjoyable but they are very different in flavour and style from European ones.

michele-p

oh no, fat Americans and huge crowds do not sound like what I have in mind!!

touch*my*food*feel*myfork

I would also add be careful if you are booking your flights separately as should you get delayed etc the ship will not wait for you - if you book with the cruise company then you are likely not to be the only ones of the plane and it will wait for you
P&O - prices include flights
Royal Caribbean - flight prices are shown online with different airlines and you can choose who to fly with