What's your favorite Caribbean island?

Pollycat

PompeyPete wrote: »

Not judging you Polly, but having spent 23 years in the Royal Navy the last thing I ever fancied doing was going on a cruise.

A few years ago my resistance snapped, and we went on a thoroughly enjoyable Cruise/stay [7 + 7] with Thomson* on one of their smaller and older ships CELEBRATION.

Haven't looks back since, though we still prefer the smaller, more intimate ships. Done two Transatlantic [East to West] too....you can't beat the clear, pollution free, starry, moonlit nights on deck. Plus the feeling of safe vulnerability of being hundreds of miles from the nearest land.

Also keep up with the traditional sort of adventures, with the odd indulgent lazy AI thrown in.

*Thomson are now called Marella.

ibizafan wrote: »

PompeyPete, I’m with you. I never thought I’d enjoy cruises, but we’ve done four now. Norway in the winter to see the Northern Lights (we did), the Caribbean, from Lima to Sydney across the Pacific Ocean, and last September to Alaska. Loved all of them, and are doing the Baltic this year. They’re a great way to see places you probably wouldn’t see otherwise. My favourite Caribbean island was probably Tortola, although I liked all those we sailed to for different reasons.

I'm not convinced that a cruise would give us this:

Pollycat wrote: »

If I'm going on holiday I want to see some of the culture of the place and soak up the ambiance.
Eat local food, chat to locals.

Do they do moussaka or pasticcio on board?
Can I sit for 3 hours over lunch, watching the world go by?

By that I mean 'proper' local people watching - delivery men bringing vegetables, the guy selling terracotta pots from the back of his van etc.

Rocking up in a port and having 8 hours to see or do things that I could do at leisure during my 2 weeks holiday isn't my idea of fun.

We've been in various Greek ports and seen the cruise ship passengers swarm off the boat, frantically looking around.
Not for us, but each to their own.

PompeyPete

Pollycat wrote: »

I'm not convinced that a cruise would give us this:

Do they do moussaka or pasticcio on board?
Can I sit for 3 hours over lunch, watching the world go by?

By that I mean 'proper' local people watching - delivery men bringing vegetables, the guy selling terracotta pots from the back of his van etc.

Rocking up in a port and having 8 hours to see or do things that I could do at leisure during my 2 weeks holiday isn't my idea of fun.

We've been in various Greek ports and seen the cruise ship passengers swarm off the boat, frantically looking around.
Not for us, but each to their own.

If you're new to Cruising, then you definitely need to do plenty of homework before booking, as yep it's easy to be disappointed.

But do your homework, and research the Ports-of-Call properly then there's no reason why you can't have a really enjoyable time. That's what I did.

Like I mentioned earlier doing a Cruise and Stay, or Stay and Cruise isn't a bad idea.

koalakoala

Pollycat wrote: »

We're not cruise people.
Never tried it and don't want to (judge me if you wish).

A friend of ours went on a Caribbean cruise and was trying to get us to book (at that time we were holidaying in the Indian Ocean and Far East).
We asked him what he did when the ship docked.
He replied 'we get a taxi to the nearest beach'.

If I'm going on holiday I want to see some of the culture of the place and soak up the ambiance.
Eat local food, chat to locals.

Exactly what we like to do Polly.
Although we did try a cruise, from Singa to Thailand and Malaysia and it wasn't any better than I expected.
Nothing wrong with the cruise as such, just not for me.
I hated being stuck on a ship.

Pollycat

PompeyPete wrote: »

If you're new to Cruising, then you definitely need to do plenty of homework before booking, as yep it's easy to be disappointed.

But do your homework, and research the Ports-of-Call properly then there's no reason why you can't have a really enjoyable time. That's what I did.

Like I mentioned earlier doing a Cruise and Stay, or Stay and Cruise isn't a bad idea.

But we have a really enjoyable time on our holidays as it is.
We don't need to board a boat to do it.
We'd rather fly and stay.

We really don't want a boat with 10 restaurants and 10 bars (or whatever).
We want a resort with lots of different restaurants, that we can stroll past and decide if we want to eat there.
We want to walk past a cocktail bar and think 'oooh, that's looks good, let's try it out'.
We want little local shops that we (I) can pop in and have a browse.

You're not selling it to me and you never will.
I appreciate that lots of people love cruising and I'm fine with that.
What I don't understand is why they feel it necessary to try to convince me that I'd love it too.

Flagellating a deceased equine.

Toucan_toucan

Antigua. Beautiful beaches, lovely people, history, lovely food...

Barbados is also lovely but is very expensive.

Have done both of the above as proper holidays, as well as on cruises - the islands are definitely not all the same, and even an 8-hour stop on a cruise tells you that: look at St Kitts and St Lucia for example, they look completely different before you've even got off the boat!

newatc

Cuba away from the all-inclusive resorts is amazing and very different. Loved it. Might go back again.

Seen several others only via cruise, of those the memorable ones were Grenada and Antigua.

PompeyPete

Pollycat wrote: »

But we have a really enjoyable time on our holidays as it is.
We don't need to board a boat to do it.
We'd rather fly and stay.

We really don't want a boat with 10 restaurants and 10 bars (or whatever).
We want a resort with lots of different restaurants, that we can stroll past and decide if we want to eat there.
We want to walk past a cocktail bar and think 'oooh, that's looks good, let's try it out'.
We want little local shops that we (I) can pop in and have a browse.

You're not selling it to me and you never will.
I appreciate that lots of people love cruising and I'm fine with that.
What I don't understand is why they feel it necessary to try to convince me that I'd love it too.

Flagellating a deceased equine.

Variety is the Spice of Life....and I had exactly the same misgivings about Cruising as you. Cruising simply provides than extra option.

I'm glad I gave Cruising a go.....otherwise I'd never have known what I'd been missing.

Everything you've said about different restaurants, cocktails bars, little shops and the rest....you can still have it all on a cruise.

8 full days, 0900-1800, in different Ports on our last Cruise, including Palma, Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz and Funchal....all fabulous, and with a bit of easy planning easy to explore under your own steam, taking in, if your want, a restaurant, a cocktail bar, and loads of little shops!

PompeyPete

koalakoala wrote: »

Exactly what we like to do Polly.
Although we did try a cruise, from Singa to Thailand and Malaysia and it wasn't any better than I expected.
Nothing wrong with the cruise as such, just not for me.
I hated being stuck on a ship.

Ports-of-Call in a lot of Far Eastern Countries are a bit of a nightmare, because the Ports are so far away from places of interest, with nothing, or very little in the immediate area.

Always best before booking to have a real good look at everywhere the ship is going.

Pollycat

PompeyPete wrote: »

Variety is the Spice of Life....and I had exactly the same misgivings about Cruising as you. Cruising simply provides than extra option.

I'm glad I gave Cruising a go.....otherwise I'd never have known what I'd been missing.

Everything you've said about different restaurants, cocktails bars, little shops and the rest....you can still have it all on a cruise.

8 full days, 0900-1800, in different Ports on our last Cruise, including Palma, Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz and Funchal....all fabulous, and with a bit of easy planning easy to explore under your own steam, taking in, if your want, a restaurant, a cocktail bar, and loads of little shops!

Maybe.
But I'm pretty sure not in the way I mean.
I've looked at Marella ships.
I don't want any of the stuff they're touting.
Not climbing walls, not spas, not entertainment.
None of it.

Why are you trying to convince me?
What is it about people who've done a cruise who feel it's imperative to convert everyone else?
Are you all Jehovah's Witnesses in training?

Are you all fed some sort of subliminal message with your breakfast on board?
"Go forth and recruit others"
"Go forth and recruit others"
"Go forth and recruit others"
"Go forth and recruit others"

koalakoala

PompeyPete wrote: »

Ports-of-Call in a lot of Far Eastern Countries are a bit of a nightmare, because the Ports are so far away from places of interest, with nothing, or very little in the immediate area.

Always best before booking to have a real good look at everywhere the ship is going.

Oh I did my homework and it was all places I'd been before, it was being stuck on a ship I didn't like.
But at least I tried it, just in case my preconceptions were wrong !