Caribbean itineraries are getting repetitive. Is it because of the bigger ships?

[Guppy99]

59 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am not wrong at all.  Show me the 14 day Carribean cruises that we used to take.

 

Their competition has 17 day cruises.

so go elsewhere

[DCPIV]

4 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

That's an odd take. Martinique rarely shows up on Celebrity itineraries but I was lucky to visit it on Summit back in 2019. It was one of the most interesting islands I have been to in the Caribbean, and was in much better shape than some of the other islands they regularly go to. It had a number of beautiful areas and I would love to go back to see more.

 

Now they do tend to have issues with workers striking which I believe is why cruise ships don't visit there as often as other islands (they day we were there striking taxis blocked the cruise area preventing tour buses from getting in/out; luckily we had a private guide who managed to schmooze her way out of the blockade).

 

I'm not into arrogant and high maintenance, no matter how pretty you are. 

[DCPIV]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

I am not wrong at all.  Show me the 14 day Carribean cruises that we used to take.

 

Their competition has 17 day cruises.

 

Show me the 17 night cruise that's not really a B2B packaged as one. 

[NMTraveller]

Delete

Edited February 24, 2023 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

20 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

Show me the 17 night cruise that's not really a B2B packaged as one. 

X414 21-DAY ULTIMATE CARIBBEAN (hollandamerica.com)

 

21 days

[Belgian fry]

5 hours ago, Guppy99 said:

I've been to all of these on Celebrity...so, I'm confused.

I was talking about the future, not the past

[WonderMan3]

2 hours ago, DCPIV said:

 

I'm not into arrogant and high maintenance, no matter how pretty you are. 

Well, sometimes it's about getting back what you give. I didn't find the people arrogant, high maintenance, rude or whatever other words people here have been using to deride them. For people to paintbrush an entire island as unpleasant because the particular people they encountered didn't smile at them or didn't accept US dollars is a bit absurd. I mean I got ripped off at a shady casino once in Antigua. I wouldn't tell people to avoid the island or say everyone there is a crook though. I would just caution people to avoid particular establishments like that as there are plenty of very nice things to see on Antigua. Making wide generalizations like this about a whole island is not cool.

[Belgian fry]

52 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Well, sometimes it's about getting back what you give. I didn't find the people arrogant, high maintenance, rude or whatever other words people here have been using to deride them. For people to paintbrush an entire island as unpleasant because the particular people they encountered didn't smile at them or didn't accept US dollars is a bit absurd. I mean I got ripped off at a shady casino once in Antigua. I wouldn't tell people to avoid the island or say everyone there is a crook though. I would just caution people to avoid particular establishments like that as there are plenty of very nice things to see on Antigua. Making wide generalizations like this about a whole island is not cool.

I agree. It’s not cool at all. For example, there is a lot of ignorance on this board about Martinique and Guadeloupe. 
 

A little basic research would tell people that these are not your average Caribbean islands. They are an integral part of France and as such they 1. Speak French (hardly shocking) and 2. Require payment in Euro (the only legal tender of France). Yelling at people in English whilst brandishing Dollars isn’t going to get people very far. 

 

In my experience it’s ignorance and rudeness that cause most problems. 
 

My attitude to travel is that I am going to discover new places, new cultures, new food. It isn’t going to be exactly the same as at home. That’s the whole point. I am the one who needs to adapt. 
 

If all I want is a suntan, I can stay at home, use a sunbed and save a load of money. 

[C4HCG]

6 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Very true and I believe X only stops there on Sundays when most of the businesses are closed.  In mainland France it's generally the same outside of Paris.  On the other hand, French Polynesia like Tahiti are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, random strangers go out of their way to be helpful and aren't expecting a tip

I was told Martinique government only allow ships to stop there on Sundays.  We visited last year and there were a handful of shops open so not the best of days out, we were back on the ship quickly. Shame as it looked a lovely place but not much to do when almost everything is closed.

[C4HCG]

15 minutes ago, Belgian fry said:

I agree. It’s not cool at all. For example, there is a lot of ignorance on this board about Martinique and Guadeloupe. 
 

A little basic research would tell people that these are not your average Caribbean islands. They are an integral part of France and as such they 1. Speak French (hardly shocking) and 2. Require payment in Euro (the only legal tender of France). Yelling at people in English whilst brandishing Dollars isn’t going to get people very far. 

 

In my experience it’s ignorance and rudeness that cause most problems. 
 

My attitude to travel is that I am going to discover new places, new cultures, new food. It isn’t going to be exactly the same as at home. That’s the whole point. I am the one who needs to adapt. 
 

If all I want is a suntan, I can stay at home, use a sunbed and save a load of money. 

As mentioned above, we were there last year. The few shops that were open readily accepted dollars.

[bikerunner]

16 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I just booked Silhouette which has a 10 night to St Maartin, St Lucia, Tobago, Grenada and Antigua.   You mentioned some of these.

I booked that cruise a while ago also, Tobago and Grenada were new to me so it worked.   Plus I always like to be on a cruise or at an All Inclusive for Thanksgiving.  

[Oceangoer2]

17 hours ago, Belgian fry said:

When is it though? I’m looking at early 2025 as we doing a Japan cruise next year. Because it sounds perfect! This Nov. 2023...perhaps not available in 2025.

[cruisemom42]

5 hours ago, C4HCG said:

I was told Martinique government only allow ships to stop there on Sundays.  We visited last year and there were a handful of shops open so not the best of days out, we were back on the ship quickly. Shame as it looked a lovely place but not much to do when almost everything is closed.

 

Untrue. Just had a look at a cruise calendar for the rest of 2023 and ships call there on any day of the week.

[MarkWiltonM]

If you want to go to St. Barths, you'll need a smaller ship and it will tender. Oceania is the only non-luxury line I know that goes there regularly. Oceania also tries to fit in some other infrequently visited islands, such as Guadeloupe. If I'm not mistaken, Oceania is the only cruise line that sails to Bermuda from Miami (the majority of Bermuda sailings are from the New York area). 

 

We have been to St. Vincent and Grenada on Celebrity. Didn't care much for those islands except for the botanical garden in Grenada (St. Vincent also has a very old but smaller botanical garden near the town center). Martinique also has an incredible botanical garden (Jardin de Balata) in the rainforest. Can you tell we're into gardens? 

 

We try to get to the ABC islands and Cartagena, Colombia, as often as we can. Love those semi-arid Dutch islands, especially Bonaire. Great contrast to the volcanic islands that make up most of the Caribbean. 

 

I have not seen any cruises to Tobago out of Port Everglades or Miami but would like to go.  

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, MarkWiltonM said:

If you want to go to St. Barths, you'll need a smaller ship and it will tender. Oceania is the only non-luxury line I know that goes there regularly. Oceania also tries to fit in some other infrequently visited islands, such as Guadeloupe. If I'm not mistaken, Oceania is the only cruise line that sails to Bermuda from Miami (the majority of Bermuda sailings are from the New York area). 

 

We have been to St. Vincent and Grenada on Celebrity. Didn't care much for those islands except for the botanical garden in Grenada (St. Vincent also has a very old but smaller botanical garden near the town center). Martinique also has an incredible botanical garden (Jardin de Balata) in the rainforest. Can you tell we're into gardens? 

 

We try to get to the ABC islands and Cartagena, Colombia, as often as we can. Love those semi-arid Dutch islands, especially Bonaire. Great contrast to the volcanic islands that make up most of the Caribbean. 

 

I have not seen any cruises to Tobago out of Port Everglades or Miami but would like to go.  

 

Coincidently I was just looking at this as it's the only Caribbean port I have not been to go, here are the ones that go to Tobago

 

[TeeRick]

15 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

That's an odd take. Martinique rarely shows up on Celebrity itineraries but I was lucky to visit it on Summit back in 2019. It was one of the most interesting islands I have been to in the Caribbean, and was in much better shape than some of the other islands they regularly go to. It had a number of beautiful areas and I would love to go back to see more.

 

Now they do tend to have issues with workers striking which I believe is why cruise ships don't visit there as often as other islands (they day we were there striking taxis blocked the cruise area preventing tour buses from getting in/out; luckily we had a private guide who managed to schmooze her way out of the blockade).

WM3- I agree with you.  But we went on a RCCL ship.  We enjoyed it and also found it quite interesting.

[2chiefs]

15 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

What Celebrity ship stops at either of these? I've sailed Celebrity 72 times, primarily in the Caribbean, and never stopped there. 

You are right. They don't stop there anymore. I've never been there on Celebrity either. But it appears they have in the past (according to posts on cruise critic). Personally, we love stopping at the private islands. It gives us an opportunity to stay on board and enjoy the ship with few people on board!

[RichYak]

29 minutes ago, 2chiefs said:

You are right. They don't stop there anymore. I've never been there on Celebrity either. But it appears they have in the past (according to posts on cruise critic). Personally, we love stopping at the private islands. It gives us an opportunity to stay on board and enjoy the ship with few people on board!

Beginning late 2024, many Celebrity ships sailing from Ft Lauderdale will make regular stops at Labadee.

[C4HCG]

Not sure this will work but here is the thread when I was told Martinique only on a Sunday. A more regular and reliable poster than me was told this by a crew member it seems. Proved to be wrong but now another poster here may stop having a dig at me and insinuating I was trying to deflect blame. Post 12 on that thread.

Edited February 24, 2023 by C4HCG

[cruisemom42]

Luckily things like this are easy to verify. Again, not trying to say that anyone was lying. 

 

Here's just a short snip of recent cruises calling at Martinique, on many different days of the week. (Including Equinox on a Saturday):

 

[C4HCG]

5 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Luckily things like this are easy to verify. Again, not trying to say that anyone was lying. 

 

Here's just a short snip of recent cruises calling at Martinique, on many different days of the week. (Including Equinox on a Saturday):

 

Thanks - where do I find the cruise calendar - looks really useful.

[cruisemom42]

23 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Thanks - where do I find the cruise calendar - looks really useful.

 

It's from cruisemapper.com, one of several cruise calendars for many ports of call around the globe.

[kearney]

On 2/23/2023 at 9:25 AM, baggal said:

Celebrity is not known for varied and interesting itineraries. 

 

We were very recently on a 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Holland America Rotterdam.  With the exception of St. Marten and St. Thomas  which we had previously visited multiple times, all the other ports were new and interesting to us:  St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Barbados, and Martinique.  We took the ferry from St. Thomas to St. John for a day at the beach there.  And then finally, a stop at Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island (which Celebrity doesn't have).

 

My advise to you is to look at other cruise lines.

We started sailing Celebrity because of its longer itineraries.... up to 14 days... this allowed you to get down to the southern Caribbean and spend some time. Now they don't have the 14 day trips anymore or very few..but we have done a number of 11 and 12 day cruises... hitting a number of islands including the more infrequent stops in Martinique, Dominica, Cartagena. We have been to the ABCs a number of times along with St Lucia, St Kitts, Barbados, Antiqua, Barbados, St Thomas, BVI, St Croix, and the usual Mexican stops. There have been other cruises which stop along various countries in Central America..but those did not fit into our timeline. Now with Covid there have been a number of islands reconsidering cruise ships.. including Grand Cayman.. I hear Bermuda has some additional fee. I do think ship size is a factor. I heard that Martinique allows the ships on Sundays to avoid impacting their normal business activity...  I have not checked itineraries out in the future... but I suspect there are reasons that some of these other places are not showing up... beyond ship size. Tendering can be an issue... we have missed several stops in Grand Cayman because of high winds and seas..and same for Cozumel...before they built additional pier.   I think there may have also been a cruise that stopped in St Vincent...but it was a one off..as I recall... they was before the volcano blew. So I don't know what this poster is talking about

Edited February 24, 2023 by kearney

[kearney]

2 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Not sure this will work but here is the thread when I was told Martinique only on a Sunday. A more regular and reliable poster than me was told this by a crew member it seems. Proved to be wrong but now another poster here may stop having a dig at me and insinuating I was trying to deflect blame. Post 12 on that thread.

I was told that as well... and I recently was looking at a similar cruise and you guessed it.. it stopped on a Sunday. Perhaps it has something to do with number of ships at one time and not a fast rule. but a member of the crew told me that as well.

[cluso]

17 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Very true and I believe X only stops there on Sundays when most of the businesses are closed.  In mainland France it's generally the same outside of Paris.  On the other hand, French Polynesia like Tahiti are some of the friendliest people I've ever met, random strangers go out of their way to be helpful and aren't expecting a tip

 

We have never had a problem with the French islands, or France itself.  Enjoyed Martinque numerous times, including doing bare boating with the Moorings.  

When the Renaissance line dissolved, Princess acquired 2 of the R-ships.  One was renamed the Tahitian Princess.  We had a great cruise around the Polynesian Islands.  However, those cruises didn't last long and Princess pulled out.  From what I heard, there were a lot of "issues" on both sides.

 

BTW, Star Clippers sails to quite a few islands in the Caribbean and Costa Rica, and of course the Med and SE Asia.  We have done over 14 cruises with them.  Different experience and most enjoyable.