Best Cruise to St Maarten?

[mufc99]

Before I spend the next week trolling thru a hundred posts, which cruise would be recommended to take in St Maarten?

 

We would be willing to go on a cruise up to 10 nights.

 

Have been looking at the 7 nights on Allure, but just wondering if there would be a better option?

 

I know a guy who really recommended Grand Turk and have noticed Carnival cover both places in their southern cruise!

[TC Cruiser]

Crickets.

 

Many have been on a cruise to St. Martin before but since ships change their itineraries around all the time nobody can tell you which ship to go on, especially without knowing the dates. It's probably best if you do your homework and perhaps throw out a short list of ships you are considering along with the other ports that you visit. Those types of posts tend to generate more responses.

 

When planning a cruise I tend to visit every cruise line's site and search by dates and general itinerary and narrow it down to one or two ships per line for round one.

[mufc99]

Because we would probably only do the Carribean once, because we are traveling from the other side of Australia, we liked the idea of going on one of the biggest ships in the world, just for the fun of it.

 

However, the itinerary that we looked at has it only going to 3 places and one of those was Haiti - we saw that on a docco and wasn't too impressed, as it was just a beach that has been set up for the cruise ship.

 

Had a quick look at a couple of ships that do a slightly different itinerary, though they were a lot cheaper, they got a few average reviews.

 

Are there any islands that would be a must do, or are they all pretty much the same?

 

Somebody recommended Grand Turk & also wasn't impressed with Nassau.

 

We would be travelling in May or June.

[navybankerteacher]

Because we would probably only do the Carribean once, because we are traveling from the other side of Australia, we liked the idea of going on one of the biggest ships in the world, just for the fun of it.

 

However, the itinerary that we looked at has it only going to 3 places and one of those was Haiti - we saw that on a docco and wasn't too impressed, as it was just a beach that has been set up for the cruise ship.

 

Had a quick look at a couple of ships that do a slightly different itinerary, though they were a lot cheaper, they got a few average reviews.

 

Are there any islands that would be a must do, or are they all pretty much the same?

 

Somebody recommended Grand Turk & also wasn't impressed with Nassau.

 

We would be travelling in May or June.

 

By Haiti, I assume you are referring to Labadee - Royal Caribbean's private beach. Not a very good beach and it is so remote from anything Haitian that it could be anywhere. Grand Turk is small, and is pretty much just a beach stop, and Nassau (Bahamas - not Caribbean) is a kind of dreary port, and Jamaica has some interesting spots, but is not the sort of place you would want to wander about on your own.

 

Of course, everyone has different views, but my suggestion would be to look for an itinerary sailing from San Juan, a beautiful old Spanish colonial port - worth a day or so pre- or post-cruise, with port calls at St. Maarten (my favorite - a two nation island) and then possibly Aruba and Curaçao, possibly Barbados (those three being southern Caribbean).

[TC Cruiser]

By Haiti, I assume you are referring to Labadee - Royal Caribbean's private beach. Not a very good beach and it is so remote from anything Haitian that it could be anywhere. Grand Turk is small, and is pretty much just a beach stop, and Nassau (Bahamas - not Caribbean) is a kind of dreary port, and Jamaica has some interesting spots, but is not the sort of place you would want to wander about on your own.

 

Of course, everyone has different views, but my suggestion would be to look for an itinerary sailing from San Juan, a beautiful old Spanish colonial port - worth a day or so pre- or post-cruise, with port calls at St. Maarten (my favorite - a two nation island) and then possibly Aruba and Curaçao, possibly Barbados (those three being southern Caribbean).

 

I agree with these recommendations and Labadee and Grand Turk are destinations fabricated for cruise ship passengers. The only awesome private island in my opinion is Half Moon Cay, which belongs to Carnival and HAL ships.

 

The super mega ships are limited by their size to which ports they can visit. There is a tradeoff between going on a monster ship and getting a good feel for the Caribbean.

 

In general, the eastern and southern Caribbean itineraries are more scenic than western, although Grand Cayman is a favorite of mine for western itineraries.

 

Some scenic islands include St. Thomas (although I prefer to take an excursion to neighboring St. John's island for Trunk Bay), St. Maarten, Curacao, and Tortola. I have yet to cruise to Barbados and St. Lucia but they look beautiful as well.

 

You might enjoy sailing on a Solstice class ship with Celebrity if you want an upscale and elegant looking ship. You won't be zip-lining or ice skating while onboard but they are larger ships that probably have nice itineraries out of San Juan.

 

You can browse some past cruises and their ports in my photo gallery at http://www.svee.org/Vacation.

[navybankerteacher]

If you are limited to May or June 2016, the choices are quite limited as many lines leave the Caribbean after April. There is a Royal Caribbean Adventure sailing from San Juan on May 7 and a Carnival Conquest from Fort Lauderdale on May 14. If you are talking about 2017, I would urge you to consider late April as you would have a much wider choice of lines and itineraries.

[Ski Mom 2]

We love the Wind Star line and left from St Martin in January 2016 and cruised to Barbuda, Dominica, St Lucia, St Kitts, Isle de Saints, and St Bart's. We loved the small ship (Wind Surf with 300 passengers), the sails, and all the small ports of call where we were the only ship at a few of those stops.

 

We also cruise many years ago out of San Juan on a Royal Caribbean that stopped in St Martin. We fell in love at that time with St Martin and on this most recent cruise we actually booked a condo on the beach in Grand Case and stayed for a week prior to our cruise.

 

On this trip we fell in love with St Bart's and if I ever have a lot of extra money I'm returning to St Bart's!

[gtaylor]

Note that Cruise Critic has a great cruise search engine, where you can view available cruises by many criteria, including ports that they visit, like St. Maarten.

 

You can provide many other filters, such as when to travel, or cruise line.

 

Go take a look.

 

By the way, I'm not impressed by Nassau or Grand Turk. Grand Turk, possibly if you're a diver. :)

 

gary

[mufc99]

Thanks for all the great info!

 

The only reason we picked May/Jun was to avoid the hurricane season and it gives us time to save up! :-) 2016 is out of the question.

 

Plus we like leaving the Australian autumn/winter seasons to go to warmer climates.

 

Actually saw a Youtube of Nassau & it didnt look too impressive.

 

I did spot San Juan as an option for a sail away - I will have to check out the cost of the extra flights - its a long way from Western Australia! :-)

[Karysa]

Thanks for all the great info!

 

The only reason we picked May/Jun was to avoid the hurricane season and it gives us time to save up! :-) 2016 is out of the question.

 

Plus we like leaving the Australian autumn/winter seasons to go to warmer climates.

 

Actually saw a Youtube of Nassau & it didnt look too impressive.

 

I did spot San Juan as an option for a sail away - I will have to check out the cost of the extra flights - its a long way from Western Australia! :-)

 

 

If you take a 10 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale or Miami you will visit pretty much the same islands as a 7 day cruise from San Juan and you can plan it that you have 2 sea days up front ( one that doesn't stop in Nassau ;) ). The sea days will give you a chance to relax and get over your jet lag. Just a thought.:)

[navybankerteacher]

Thanks for all the great info!

 

The only reason we picked May/Jun was to avoid the hurricane season and it gives us time to save up! :-) 2016 is out of the question.

 

Plus we like leaving the Australian autumn/winter seasons to go to warmer climates.

 

Actually saw a Youtube of Nassau & it didnt look too impressive.

 

I did spot San Juan as an option for a sail away - I will have to check out the cost of the extra flights - its a long way from Western Australia! :-)

 

If you can include April itineraries you will have a much wider selection - with probably better pricing - sailing from Florida ports, as long as you do not hit a heavy spring vacation week. San Juan does represent more cost/travel time, and I only suggested it if you limited yourself to May/June. In April, you can still hit cool weather north of the Caribbean, so you might want to exclude any itineraries stopping at Grand Turk or any (dismal) Bahamas port - aside from lack of interest.

[Karysa]

 

I agree with naveybankerteacher that you will have more options cruising the Caribbean in April. Taking a 10 day cruise will limit the number of spring breakers if you are interested in doing that.

[navybankerteacher]

 

I agree with naveybankerteacher that you will have more options cruising the Caribbean in April. Taking a 10 day cruise will limit the number of spring breakers if you are interested in doing that.

 

Good point on the ten day itinerary minimizing the Spring breakers. A quick look shows Royal Caribbean's Seranade of the Seas sailing 4/7 and Celebrity Equinox sailing 4/14 - both 10 day - with Equinox having a rare overnight at St. Maarten.

[Karysa]

Good point on the ten day itinerary minimizing the Spring breakers. A quick look shows Royal Caribbean's Seranade of the Seas sailing 4/7 and Celebrity Equinox sailing 4/14 - both 10 day - with Equinox having a rare overnight at St. Maarten.

 

 

Are either of these still sailing these routes in May or do they leave before then?

Edited April 27, 2016 by Karysa

[gtaylor]

Are either of these still sailing these routes in May or do they leave before then?

Doesn't look like it.

 

Use the search tool I pointed to in post #8.

 

gary

[mufc99]

The only reason St Maarten is on the to do list is because my wife wants to go to that beach! Likes watching planes! :-)

 

Otherwise we would probably be heading somewhere else!

 

Must say, the Southern Carribean looks a bit more interesting, even though we wont be on one of the biggest ships in the world - that was another draw card!

 

Will have to check out these southern cruises.

[Karysa]

Doesn't look like it.

 

Use the search tool I pointed to in post #8.

 

gary

 

Haha I figured navy had already done the work here and would more than likely know the answer. You're such a keener Gary.:)

[Karysa]

The only reason St Maarten is on the to do list is because my wife wants to go to that beach! Likes watching planes! :-)

 

Otherwise we would probably be heading somewhere else!

 

Must say, the Southern Carribean looks a bit more interesting, even though we wont be on one of the biggest ships in the world - that was another draw card!

 

Will have to check out these southern cruises.

 

You are planning a Caribbean cruise from Australia to stop at Maho to see the planes because your wife "Likes watching planes!" Are you James Packer? Oh wait Mariah would never sail commercial. :eek::D

[mufc99]

You are planning a Caribbean cruise from Australia to stop at Maho to see the planes because your wife "Likes watching planes!" Are you James Packer? Oh wait Mariah would never sail commercial. :eek::D

 

Hahaa Our to do list is getting pretty short!

Canada/Alaska was an option, then she said it would be too cold! :-)

 

Hey, we liked the Hawaii cruise tho....twice.

[Karysa]

Hahaa Our to do list is getting pretty short!

Canada/Alaska was an option, then she said it would be too cold! :-)

 

Hey, we liked the Hawaii cruise tho....twice.

 

I love Maho but I will tell you that there are people on this board that just can't figure out why anyone would waste a day in the Caribbean going there! They probably won't come out of the wood work to post on here but trust me they type amongst us. :D

[navybankerteacher]

I love Maho but I will tell you that there are people on this board that just can't figure out why anyone would waste a day in the Caribbean going there! They probably won't come out of the wood work to post on here but trust me they type amongst us. :D

 

Here I come : out of the woodwork ---of course having spent childhood summers near an unfenced airport I long ago had my fill of getting buzzed. Maho is interesting, I suppose, but one of the lesser beaches on St. Maarten.

 

If OP is willing to miss getting sand-blasted, he might consider HAL Zuiderdam's ten day 4/9/17 partial Panama Canal itinerary - halfway through, turning around in Gatun Lake, stopping at Half Moon Cay (possibly cool Bahamas) for a beach day, then Aruba and Curacao for a taste of the southern Caribbean, and Colon, Panama and Porto Limon, Costa Rica (these last two not great).

 

HAL ships are not the liveliest - but their comfort, food, and service generally match the best of the mass-market lines - I sailed Zuiderdam on that itinerary in 2009 and enjoyed seeing the century-old canal technology working exactly as built-- do not miss their Panama buns.

[Karysa]

Here I come : out of the woodwork ---of course having spent childhood summers near an unfenced airport I long ago had my fill of getting buzzed. Maho is interesting, I suppose, but one of the lesser beaches on St. Maarten.

 

If OP is willing to miss getting sand-blasted, he might consider HAL Zuiderdam's ten day 4/9/17 partial Panama Canal itinerary - halfway through, turning around in Gatun Lake, stopping at Half Moon Cay (possibly cool Bahamas) for a beach day, then Aruba and Curacao for a taste of the southern Caribbean, and Colon, Panama and Porto Limon, Costa Rica (these last two not great).

 

HAL ships are not the liveliest - but their comfort, food, and service generally match the best of the mass-market lines - I sailed Zuiderdam on that itinerary in 2009 and enjoyed seeing the century-old canal technology working exactly as built-- do not miss their Panama buns.

 

You were not in the woodwork and I never remember you telling people that it was a waste of a day. I never recommend it for a beach day but rather a beach stop. With Mullet a 15 minute walk away I can't imagine staying at Maho all day myself but to each his own.

 

HAL "not the liveliest" is that code for "has early bird specials" or "shuts down by 11"? I have read enough reviews and seen enough ambulances at the HAL ships in port to know that I personally am not quite ready for them just yet and will likely not be until at least 60 I would think.;):D

 

ps: You can avoid getting sandblasted quite easily at Maho by avoiding the middle of the beach for those who don't know.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Karysa

[navybankerteacher]

You were not in the woodwork and I never remember you telling people that it was a waste of a day. I never recommend it for a beach day but rather a beach stop. With Mullet a 15 minute walk away I can't imagine staying at Maho all day myself but to each his own.

 

HAL "not the liveliest" is that code for "has early bird specials" or "shuts down by 11"? I have read enough reviews and seen enough ambulances at the HAL ships in port to know that I personally am not quite ready for them just yet and will likely not be until at least 60 I would think.;):D

 

ps: You can avoid getting sandblasted quite easily at Maho by avoiding the middle of the beach for those who don't know.

 

HAL does appeal to a slightly older demographic -- but much of the "nearly dead" blather is from the uninformed repeating second or third hand clichés.

I see as many walkers and scooters on Celebrity and significantly more on Cunard.

 

Yes, there is not much going on after 11:00 PM; and the shows, while reasonably good, are not as varied/energetic as, say, those on Royal Caribbean or NCL -- but the accommodations, service and food quality are, in my experience, distinctly superior to that on the above two and, I think, an edge above that on Princess and Celebrity.

 

Of course, if the wet tee-shirt and hairy chest contests are more important elements than good music, then HAL falls well short of NCL and Carnival.

[Karysa]

HAL does appeal to a slightly older demographic -- but much of the "nearly dead" blather is from the uninformed repeating second or third hand clichés.

I see as many walkers and scooters on Celebrity and significantly more on Cunard.

 

Yes, there is not much going on after 11:00 PM; and the shows, while reasonably good, are not as varied/energetic as, say, those on Royal Caribbean or NCL -- but the accommodations, service and food quality are, in my experience, distinctly superior to that on the above two and, I think, an edge above that on Princess and Celebrity.

 

Of course, if the wet tee-shirt and hairy chest contests are more important elements than good music, then HAL falls well short of NCL and Carnival.

 

I have read that the service and food on HAL is very good.:) I think you need to keep in mind that this lady wants to go on a cruise that goes specifically to Maho because she likes watching planes. I really think that they should research it carefully before embarking on a trip from Australia for a 10 day cruise on a HAL ship. :eek::D

[mufc99]

With Maho, we must have watched Youtubes of it many times - maybe we are sad?:-)

 

We like the idea of spending the afternoon in a bar, at the beach, on a hot sunny day watching the planes come in!