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Southern Carribean Cruise vs. Anguilla/St. Maarten or St. Lucia
Hi everyone,
Hubby and I are planning our 1-year/honeymoon (one-eymoon?) for July 2012. I found a 7-night cruise out of Puerto Rico, stopping in St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Barbados, and St. Lucia. It seems so wonderful, however which researching what to do in St. Maarten, I found a suggestion to visit Anguilla. I looked up Anguilla and it looks amazing! I have at least 9 hours at each island (8am-5pm) however that still doesn't seem like enough to get in time in Anguilla and St. Maarten at that port. In addition, St. Lucia is also a place I feel we may end up wanting more than just a day at.
In short, I'm now unsure of whether we should just book the cruise, or instead stay at either St. Lucia or Anguilla/St. Maarten for 7 days.
Can anyone provide their opinion or experience on any of these places? As some additional info, we are both 25 yrs old, no children, and would like a place with some relaxing, but also land and sea adventure.
Thanks in advance!
Re: Southern Carribean Cruise vs. Anguilla/St. Maarten or St. Lucia
I've done almost that same cruise (no St. Kitts, added St. Croix). St. Maarten was okay- the weather was so-so while we were there which probably tainted my view of it. The shopping was amazing- better than any other island. Had an "upscale" feel to it but that's probably because our tour guide took us around to the celebrities homes. I know someone who goes to Anguilla every year- he enjoys the fact that it is quiet and not as commercialized. St. Maarten is definitely commercialized.
St. Lucia is very lush and of the islands felt the most authentic. We did a tour but it was all very local. I agree- you could spend a lot of time here.
This was my first and only cruise. I don't think I could do another. It was very hectic trying to fit it all in. I appreciate that I got to see a lot of islands, but we either had a tour or snorkeling trip on every one, or the one island we didn't plan anything (Barbados) we ended up being bored, shuffling along the street trying to find a cab to bring us somewhere. Also the endless lining up and getting back on the ship got old. Finally- it was extemely touristy everywhere we went since the port towns are there to cater to the ships.
It's a pretty subjective decision though. I wanted to relax more on the cruise and that's why I would have preferred staying at Anguilla or St. Lucia (toss up depending on resort you go to, amenities, etc). On the other hand- part of me is pretty cheap and I enjoyed the fact that our meals were covered on the ship. We did Royal Caribbean and it was actually pretty good food-wise (dinner anyways). I went with a huge group though and I don't think I'd like to do a "honeymoon" alone with DH unless we could get our own table.
Did you feel rushed at any of the ports to be able to fit in all the sites? I really want to see the Pitons in St. Lucia, but they are in Soufriere and our port is Castries. Also, Barbados I would love to snorkel and surf! That is just a small list of things I want to do.
Just not sure I could fit it all in to each location you know?
No-i didnt feel rushed at all. we spent 2 nights in san juan pre cruise (i'd been there before a few times but it was nice to hae 2 nights) and then we did zip lining on st lucia and some shopping, barbados we went to the boathouse (or some name like that) for the day=beach, bar, restaurant, you rent the lounge chairs and umbrellas for the day and have use of bathroom facilities and showers (nice to use if you want to head into town before going back tot he boat). and you shouldn't try to cram it all in to each location-that's anti caribbean!! slow down!! in st martin we did the sailing on the america's cup ships (i've been sailing al of my life and it was a great experience). you'll see the pitons from the boat, dont worry. it's not the last trip of your life. if dh really wants to do it then do it and do what you want to do next time
Thats a great way of looking at it! I will mention that when discussing the options w/him once I hear back from the travel agent!
Also have to agree- even though I wouldn't necessarily do a cruise again, I'm glad I at least tried it. You can't really go wrong with a floating resort, sun, sand, etc. My DH loved it even though he's really big on just relaxing. He's not quite as picky as I am (e.g. I got a bit bored on our sea day just laying around- and I got tired of the ship's shtick). He said he'd like to cruise again. I probably would- but not the same destinations.
We did the very popular Cosol tours at St Lucia where you saw the Pitons, the drive through volcano, and you took a boat ride to a famous resort to lay on the beach. It was by far the highlight of the week! As long as we were on a tour it didn't feel rushed- everything was handed to us. I just missed getting to explore some of the things I would have preferred seeing (e.g. you usually only got to "explore" at the port and that was always very touristy). Also we were wrecked at the end of each tour (usually lots of drinking, walking, sun).
yes-when you stop in st thomas take the fery to st john. tons of great places over there.
the boat place was super fun!! i think it was $15 a person or something. nice to have a dedicated beach area, chairs, umbrella etc...
Miranda- just looked up Cosol tours and that looks like a great tour that covers all of St. Lucia!
ali- I will def look into St. Johns snorkeling!
Ah, so glad I posted this thread. It has given me lots of good information!!
We did a very similar cruise....for snorkeling, you have to check out Barbados, where you can snorkel with sea turtles, it was a highlight of our trip! we used this company, but you can do it on your own, or there are lots of excursions that offer it.
http://www.barbados.org/barbados-turtle.htm
http://www.shasacatamarancruises.com/
Spark- thanks! I am going to add that to my list of great ideas I have received from this board.
As an update to everyone... I ended up booking last night for the July 8th sailing out of San Juan, PR!! Got a balcony view at the aft of the boat.
I can't wait!