Cruising the Southern Caribbean

I recently went on my second cruise to the Southern Caribbean and had a wonderful time, as good as the first. When coming back home I was thinking on how this cruise compared to the prior one, how different the places I visited were and how useful it would have been for me to have all the information I gained through these experiences prior to travelling, just to be able to decide where to go, which cruise line to choose and what to do in each port.

Then, it just came natural to me the thought that someone else could use this information, so here we are, me writing, you reading.

When you come to the Southern Caribbean to take a cruise, the first thing is where you are going to sail from. That's an easy choice for me: San Juan, Puerto Rico. Main reasons for choosing this departure port for me (that is, apart for the fact that I live here) have to do with the fact that San Juan is a very accessible city coming from the continental US, it has a variety of attractions for tourists (see related links for other articles like Ten Things You Should Do In Puerto Rico and pictures of Puerto Rico) and has a great infrastructure for cruise takers.

Then it comes to selecting the cruise line. Everybody knows the major two are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Between these two, which are the two lines I cruised with, my choice is to select either based on destination or on price and quality.

If you are planning on take more than one cruise through the area in your life, then destination is not that important on your first cruise, although there are some ports that are definitively better than others. I could go on an on telling you of each port I visited, how nice it was, what you can do in each city, what shore excursions you should not miss, etc. And I will, only not in this article (see below). Of course, the nicer the destinations, the more expensive the cruise tends to be.

In terms of price and quality, from my personal both lines (Carnival and Royal) are really worth the money you pay, and are excellent options in terms of quality. I would say that I perceive Royal to be more expensive and somewhat of higher quality than Carnival, which tends to be more accessible and not that outstandingly polished. Still, you can find bargain deals for both lines.

Finally in terms of selecting your cruise, I've heard people say that you should always go to a travel agent to find good cruising deals. That is not true at all. I booked a good offer in the Carnival website and not necessarily that good of a deal when booking through a travel agent.

Here are the two cruises I took:

Royal Caribbean: Adventure of the Seas. San Juan, Sea, Aruba, Curacao, Sea, St Maarten (currently, replaced by Dominica), St Thomas.

Carnival: Carnival Victory. San Juan, St Thomas, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts.

You will notice St Thomas repeats, as it is quite difficult to find a 7-day cruise departing from San Juan that does not stops in St Thomas.

Each island the cruise visits has its unique flavor. And spending a whole day at the ship, be it a day at sea or just not spending much time on ground on one of your destinations, is wonderful as well.

I mostly enjoyed Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten, Barbados, Antigua, and St Kitts the most (not in order of importance). St Thomas is the shopping mall of the Caribbean, if you want to buy jewelry, watches, liquor and perfumes.

For those looking for a suggestion, if you just want to relax spend as little as possible and have a good time, you should try Carnival. If you want better quality in terms of activities in the cruise and nicer ports of call while spending a bit more, go with Royal.

Other important thing you should consider would be the specific ship. You can get lots of information on the ships in the cruise lines web sites. I can tell you about the ones I cruise: Adventure of the Seas is definitively bigger, with more common areas you can access; Carnival's room was nicer though (especially if you have a balcony, since their fence is made of glass!).

The price you would pay is minimal when you consider it is all-inclusive (the food, shows, activities, etc.). You have to consider shore excursions, which came at a price and will increase your expending, but still it is fantastic to go to a floating resort and every day awaken to a new island.

In summary, a great vacation destination is a cruise through Southern Caribbean and hopefully with this tips and comments you will finally decide to hop on.

For those eager to get more detailed and information, I will be posting a series of articles covering the ports of call I visited and even will publish some pictures of each cruise so you can see to believe. Just check my profile page for other articles or just post a comment or drop me a line and I'll be more than glad to share.