What is the best and unbeatable Caribbean Cruise Destination for a family?
September 5th, 2010 3 Comments
Posted by admin
There are Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern Caribbean cruise destinations. Which one is the best and unbeatable destination for a family to take a Caribbean cruise and why?
First, there are really just three basic itineraries that all of the cruise lines sail; Eastern Caribbean, Western Caribbean, and Southern Caribbean.
Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Belize City, Belize; Roatan, Honduras; Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, and Falmouth, Jamaica; and a private cruise line island. If you go to Cozumel or Belize there is the opportunity to buy a tour to see Mayan ruins, if that’s your interest. Cozumel considered the best place to go for scuba and snorkeling. If you go to Jamaica the two main attractions are a river raft float trip (not rapids) and the Dunn’s River Falls climb. If you go to Grand Cayman you will likely want to go to 7-Mile Beach or do a swim with the dolphins/stingrays tour.
Cruises to the Eastern Caribbean typically go to St Thomas; St Maarten; Tortola British Virgin Island; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and maybe Grand Turks. The cruise ships will also have a private cruise line island stop. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas and St Maarten as the port stops. In fact both are mainly a beach and shopping stop.
Most Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises have a private island stop where the ship takes food ashore for an all day beach party with games and entertainment. All of the cruise lines have what they call their private island, only ship’s people on them for the day. Royal Caribbean has THE best private island I have ever been to at Labadee, Haiti. Its a huge place that has multiple beaches and many activities. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both use Labadee and another private islands called Cococay, Bahamas. Princess cruise line has Princess Cay, Carnival and Holland has Half Moon Cay, and NCL has Great Stirrup Cay.
The Southern Caribbean cruise itineraries typically start in Puerto Rico and go either to Aruba, Curacao, and St Thomas and St Maarten, OR they go to the southern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia and maybe St Thomas and/or St Maarten. There are a few cruises that do the Southern Caribbean Itinerary from Florida but are longer at 12 to 14 days. The main difference between these two Southern Caribbean itineraries, aside from the different islands, is the Aruba cruise has two "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day.
My recommendation is a Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas leaving from Port Canaveral, OR, Royal C’s Liberty of the Seas leaving from Ft Lauderdale, FL. Both ships have the most on-board activities of any cruise ship out there, for kids and adults. The Western Caribbean gives you great beaches, a great private island and the opportunity to visit Mayan ruins (they are unique to western Caribbean itineraries): http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/class/home.do;jsessionid=0000lIkIid6XQDnnCoZ31XC8Ydw:12h3g0fq2?shipClassCode=FR&br=R
Never heard of a "Northern Caribbean" cruise. Which one of the other itineraries are best-suited to your family will depend on a number of factors – each has its plusses. You may want to check your library for books on cruising, which will describe the various options from which you will need to choose in order to book a cruise [with the help of a travel agent, for first-timers].
To do a Southern cruise, you’ll either need to leave from San Juan or do a ten-day cruise, most likely. Some of the Southern itinerary islands are beautiful and they are somewhat less-busy than either the Eastern or Western. Either the E. or W. would be good for a first-time cruise.
A lot will depend on which line/ship you choose, so be sure and read carefully what the pros/cons of each are. Some ships are very active and some are very quiet, more or less formal, better food and service or lesser. In general, Carnival is a good first cruise, although their ships are very glitzy and noisy, which some people like. Their food and service are pretty good for the price, and they tend to have lots of activities. A Western itinerary may be more suitable for you if you like beach activities and snorkeling, etc.
You might also want to check the library for books on Caribbean ports of call, which will describe the different islands and what the activities on each are like. CruiseCritic.com is an extremely helpful website [although you may find it somewhat confusing if you don't know some of the cruise "lingo" - just browse a lot and you'll become familiar with it!]. Go to "Cruise Styles" and you’ll find descriptions of "family cruises", etc. Go to "Boards" and find discussions of any topic you could possibly think of, including "Member Reviews" and "Ports of Call". Each of the cruise lines also is discussed in separate boards.
We have found the Eastern Caribbean excursions to be cleaner and had a lot of fun but sometimes it depends on the cruise lines and where the decide to port.