CRUISES TO THE CARIBBEAN-do you pick your cruise based on the ship/and or ports?

[Virtopia]

I'd say ports and then ship. I'm a huge fan of Southern Caribbean cruises now, then Eastern and then Western. I love Curacao and Aruba. However, I know I want to do Oasis Class early 2020, so I will look at Eastern routes.

[tlaffin]

Mostly based on the ports, but we also try to find an itinerary on a ship we haven't sailed before. We typically only take one cruise a year or every two years, so we like to try something different if we can. However, if the itinerary is too good to pass up, we'll happily sail a ship we've been on previously!

[katiel53]

We have to fly to the port so that is one consideration. Our next and probably most important is the ship. After that the itinerary, although we have had many cruises and it's getting to be more frequent that we don't get off the ship.

 

The last 4 cruises have been on Allure and the next is on Harmony. The specialty dining is important to us and the Oasis class has the ones we enjoy. The rock climbing, surfing and zipline aren't things I would do, but I know others enjoy them.

 

We all enjoy cruises for different reasons and having a nice cabin, great food and fun time in the shows and casino make the cruise for us.

[CozGurl]

We absolutely cruise for the ports. We focus on ports with the best snorkeling since we love that so much. We're newish to cruising so we're looking for cruises that are port intensive to get the most port bang for our buck. I'll have no idea about a ship until we're booked.

[riclop]

Ship by far all these ports are old to us.

[SchoolNurseMom]

Oldmom~ we also live in North Georgia and drive to most Florida ports. I work for a school district with a balanced/modified calendar. So, for us, it is timing of the weeks I can go, price then ship. New ports that we’ve not been to are a plus, but not necessary. We can usually find something new to do in a port, or just stay on the ship and enjoy everybody else being off!

[Neeny12]

1. Timing (When work and family obligations permit)

2. Ship (DH > At least 2 Flowriders)

3. Ports (they are not guaranteed; just happy to go somewhere; don’t necessarily have to get off the ship; will try to see somewhere new when possible)

[barb in ga]

Another Georgian here! We drive to PC, but we've found that ATL to FLL is just as easy to fly, and takes less total time than the drive.

 

For the Caribbean, we pick ship first, preferably Oasis class. DH loves the entertainment and food options.

Freedom class is also good, and we've done Quantum class(from NJ) Voyager class, Radiance class, Vision class and Sovereign class as well, but we wouldn't likely choose those again unless the itinerary and price were a real deal.

 

We're booked on Symphony for the Western Med, but I'm not sure I'm willing to fly to Miami to sail her Caribbean itineraries.

 

We've done Southern twice from San Juan, which was nice, but the biggest ships are our favorite!

[psupa]

Since we prefer not to fly we cruise from NJ or NY and sometimes Baltimore. We love Royal and it doesn't matter where the ship goes if we get a good price. Now with that said we are cruising the Carnival Sunrise next May from NY doing a 14 night partial canal (Atlantic side), Costa Rica, Grand Cayman and private island. Then in Oct 2019 we are booked on the NCL Dawn doing a 14-night southern from NY going to the ABC islands plus some others. We just could not pass up those itineraries and I wonder why Royal can't do something like that from Bayonne or Baltimore.

[mcatmcat]

its a combination of how many days at sea ans which ships are skipping nassau or jamaica for me.

[vacationlover_mn]

When we were newer to cruising: ports, price, dates. Now: ship, price, dates :)

 

 

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[BND]

We pick for ship and length of trip usually. The ports are a nice idea, but they can change and have several times on us. This past fall, we did a b2b on Oasis that basically turned into two western Caribbean cruises due to the hurricane damage. We've skipped Coco Cay a few times and Grand Cayman once. We do love cruising out of Baltimore for the ease since we live about an hour away, but we try to go to FL every couple of years.

[cruiseguy1016]

Most important to us are the ports. We always choose based on itinerary. For the most part, the ship that brings us to the ports does not matter.

[LuCruise]

Based on the ship (and home port is consideration too...Florida or NYC). When I mention to people that I'm going on a cruise, the first thing they ask is where we are going? I always first respond, "it doesn't matter...it's about the ship, not the ports". We like the ships with lots of things to do and great entertainment. We currently on Mariner next week (super kid friendly after refurbishment), and also have Symphony and Anthem booked.

 

Also, our kids are at an age now that we don't want to pull them out of school, so summer or March break for us....so timing is important too.

[boscobeans]

We've been doing the Caribbean for 18 years and will continue.

 

There is ALWAYS something new to see or do and never get bored with the ports.

 

We choose our cruises based on:

 

Season, always cruising (or almost always) during the months from January to March.

 

Length, preferring longer 10-12-14 days cruises.

 

Since we rarely cruise on any lines other than Royal Caribbean or Celebrity the ship is not that important, they all suit our needs very well.

 

After years of wasting time and money on flights to Florida or Puerto Rico we choose to sail from any port in the Northeast, Cape Liberty, Boston or Baltimore.

 

Eastern or Southern Caribbean are our choices, some have included Bermuda as well.

 

bosco

[George C]

Used to be ports but after 50 Caribbean cruises it’s now the ship and perks on ship , we also stay on board for many of the ports.

[Cruisegirl6]

Georgec- I totally can relate, next week I be on my 79th cruise! I will get off at Cuba as I never seen it before, but I would never booked the Majesty myself, we have family going so when they asked us to join we couldn't say no lol. I just wish cruises went to other ports more often like they did years ago....I remember Martinique, Guadaloupe, Grenada, Nevis, and Antigua to name a few. I would be getting off on those islands for sure!

[island lady]

Having PC only 20 minutes away from home is incentive enough to pick due to embarkation port...but we do mix it up...even with embarkation ports we have to fly to. ;)

[Northumberland]

As we enjoy exploring and experiencing new places, we like to choose cruises that have at least some places we've not been to before or haven't been to in awhile. That said, budget does play a part in decision making as does the length of cruise. As we have to fly to where the cruise ports are, it doesn't matter which cruise port we choose.

[grest]

We usually do Caribbean, because it is easy and relatively inexpensive since we live in Florida, but once in a while it is nice to see a new port.

[kruise runner]

Cruise Choices:ship:

We live in Ontario Canada and usually try get away during winter . We pick our cruise usually on time frame, ships of interest and reviews. Caribbean is islands of choice then departure port. Cost always being relative to budget. Since Buffalo Airport is only 40 minutes away , fly from there. We presently cruise out Port Canaveral . This is our favourite port, Miami next. We have done most of islands and usually enjoy the ship on port days.. Happy Cruising

just waiting to cruise

kruise runner:cool:

[NateUpNorth]

Ports, then price, then cruise line.

However I totally understand those who start with the ship. Maybe once we're in the "been there, done that category".

[NateUpNorth]

Cruise Choices:ship:

We live in Ontario Canada and usually try get away during winter . We pick our cruise usually on time frame, ships of interest and reviews. Caribbean is islands of choice then departure port. Cost always being relative to budget. Since Buffalo Airport is only 40 minutes away , fly from there. We presently cruise out Port Canaveral . This is our favourite port, Miami next. We have done most of islands and usually enjoy the ship on port days.. Happy Cruising

just waiting to cruise

kruise runner:cool:

 

40 minutes and Ontario? We're 5 minutes from Queenston/Lewiston bridge, we're probably neighbours. ;p

Port Canaveral also our favorite.

[accio_7]

100% the itinerary as I try to make it a habit to visit one or multiple new ports while on vacation. I think for my fall 2020 cruise I will book either a Southern Caribbean or Bermuda itinerary :)

[sparks1093]

We live in Ga- so we only cruise to the Caribbean-since it is a cheap vacation to drive to Port Canaveral/Fort Lauderdale since we pay for private school/college for our son. We prefer Western routes on Oasis-Freedom Ships-ports do not really matter much to us anymore.Do you pick your cruise for the ship-ports-or combination of both?

 

Combination of factors. We've done the Nassau/Freeport (or private island)/Port Canaveral itinerary several times because that's the standard itinerary for sailings from the northeast ports, which don't involve flying and that are 7 days long. We picked Anthem because it was least expensive and a new cruise line/ship for us.