Rare markeb Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 Kind of an open ended question I suppose... We've never been to Aruba, Bonaire, or Curacao. I'm doing some preliminary research on cruises in late 2025 to early 2026, and Silhouette is hitting all three multiple times. Ascent misses Bonaire and goes to Grand Cayman instead, so it's out. Silhouette is an 8 night itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. Who's done this cruise and what are your thoughts? Any thoughts on weather trends? We're probably looking at December into February, skipping the Christmas cruise. We haven't sailed Silhouette. We love Equinox, both before and after revolution, but she wasn't fully revolutionized. The pics of Silhouette remind me of Equinox, but have some of the look I didn't care for on Summit (wasted space, loss of storage, etc.). We'd probably book a Sky Suite. I've done a little comparison with Silver Sea and glanced at Regent. Silver Sea is intriguing, but sails from Bridgeport to Bridgeport on that route, not Florida. That may not be a big deal with some research. And Regent would be competitive if we were looking at a higher level suite, but we're not. We'll look some more, but right now we'd look most seriously at Celebrity. We're not as down as some on the board, but Summit didn't feel as special as our previous cruises on Celebrity, even though Alaska certainly did. We're not in a hurry. I haven't pinged our TA to see what they have to offer. Celebrity's pricing is in our comfort zone. For the first time in a long time we don't have a booking on any cruise, so we're free agents to look for the best offer. And ultimately to compare different cruise lines. Appreciate thoughts of the group. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 Great itinerary, going for the second time this Sept on Beyond… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mahdnc Posted July 18 #3 Share Posted July 18 (edited) We've been to the ABC islands on several 14 night Caribbean sailings when Celebrity was doing them and it is a favorite of ours (both the itinerary and the islands). The standard of living is much higher than what you see on many of the other Caribbean islands so they present themselves very well. Nice and clean. Although the 3 islands have strong Dutch ties, they are all markedly different. When I have asked Dutch crew members onboard Celebrity ships what their assessment of the islands are. They often say that Aruba is the most Americanized and that they prefer Curacao because it is the most "Dutch". The Americanization comment about Aruba is a recognition that it is the most commercially developed island and of course attracts the most American tourists. When I think of Aruba, I think of its many fine beaches. Bonaire has world class scuba diving and snorkeling. We have dove Bonaire and the Caribbean quite a bit and I would agree with that assessment. So it's not a surprise that Bonaire has built its economy around tourism and has taken steps to preserve the marine ecosystem around the island by declaring much of it as national marine park dating back to 1979. Where Aruba has many big name hotel resorts, Bonaire is nearly devoid of them--preferring to keep the hotel resorts smaller and locally owned. If you don't dive or snorkel, there are fun things to do on the island itself. Diving the Salt Pier at Bonaire We mainly have done diving at Curacao but what I can tell you is that the capital city of Curacao where the ship pier is located is absolutely charming and we much prefer it over Oranjestad in Aruba. Willemstad, Curacao Edited July 18 by mahdnc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 We did Aruba and Curacao on the Beyond in February. Loved both stops. We then booked the Silhouette for April 2026, 8 nights to ABC islands. Now we are contemplating a reposition on the Silhouette in April 2025 -- 10 nights from Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Liberty. Only stops are the ABC islands. Very attractive pricing for non-suites. Under $100 pppd for a Prime Veranda, with no perks. mac_tlc 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted July 18 #5 Share Posted July 18 (edited) Reflection also offers itineraries that include all of the ABC's. We are on one in November. One of our favorite itineraries and ports of call. In Curacao until 8:00 PM and Aruba until 11:00 PM. We have dinner in Aruba when there. Bonaire I believe is a more standard departure time of around 6:00. Edited July 18 by leaveitallbehind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amevola Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 4 minutes ago, mac_tlc said: We did Aruba and Curacao on the Beyond in February. Loved both stops. We then booked the Silhouette for April 2026, 8 nights to ABC islands. Now we are contemplating a reposition on the Silhouette in April 2025 -- 10 nights from Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Liberty. Only stops are the ABC islands. Very attractive pricing for non-suites. Under $100 pppd for a Prime Veranda, with no perks. mac_tlc We will be on this sailing as well. It will be our second time as we sailed it last year, too. We love the ABCs. Having two sea days to begin the trip and four on the way back makes for a lovely and relaxing trip AND it doesn't involve an airport and flight at the end. ☺️ We simply take Amtrak home from New Jersey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted July 18 #7 Share Posted July 18 3 minutes ago, amevola said: We will be on this sailing as well. It will be our second time as we sailed it last year, too. We love the ABCs. Having two sea days to begin the trip and four on the way back makes for a lovely and relaxing trip AND it doesn't involve an airport and flight at the end. ☺️ We simply take Amtrak home from New Jersey. We are also in CT, so ending up in NJ is convenient. May rent a car one-way to get home, maybe fly to FL. from Newark and do a park/fly and have the car there. mac_tlc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix_dream Posted July 18 #8 Share Posted July 18 Been on many ABC cruises on Celebrity on various ships. Loved them all. Definitely my very favorite of all the Caribbean islands. In fact we are doing them later this year on Reflection and I think it is Eclipse we are on in January visiting them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 19 #9 Share Posted July 19 1 hour ago, mac_tlc said: We did Aruba and Curacao on the Beyond in February. Loved both stops. We then booked the Silhouette for April 2026, 8 nights to ABC islands. Now we are contemplating a reposition on the Silhouette in April 2025 -- 10 nights from Ft. Lauderdale to Cape Liberty. Only stops are the ABC islands. Very attractive pricing for non-suites. Under $100 pppd for a Prime Veranda, with no perks. mac_tlc Deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare markeb Posted July 19 Author #10 Share Posted July 19 5 hours ago, PTC DAWG said: Great itinerary, going for the second time this Sept on Beyond… What time of year did you go before? Did you think it was a good time for the itinerary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted July 19 #11 Share Posted July 19 2 minutes ago, markeb said: What time of year did you go before? Did you think it was a good time for the itinerary? Anytime of the year is good as that climate is relatively constant all year, with the rainy season being September to January. But the rains come and go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare markeb Posted July 19 Author #12 Share Posted July 19 4 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said: Reflection also offers itineraries that include all of the ABC's. We are on one in November. One of our favorite itineraries and ports of call. In Curacao until 8:00 PM and Aruba until 11:00 PM. We have dinner in Aruba when there. Bonaire I believe is a more standard departure time of around 6:00. Silhouette is more standard. 9-6, 8-6, and 8-8 in Aruba. I'll have to look at Reflection. It didn't show up in my search, or I got a search term wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare markeb Posted July 19 Author #13 Share Posted July 19 4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said: Been on many ABC cruises on Celebrity on various ships. Loved them all. Definitely my very favorite of all the Caribbean islands. In fact we are doing them later this year on Reflection and I think it is Eclipse we are on in January visiting them. Thanks. We'd really said no more after our last cruise. Do something different on land. But the ABCs look fun. I'd probably be happier with 10 days instead of 8, but I'm going to check it out more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NutsAboutGolf Posted July 19 #14 Share Posted July 19 7 hours ago, markeb said: Kind of an open ended question I suppose... We've never been to Aruba, Bonaire, or Curacao. I'm doing some preliminary research on cruises in late 2025 to early 2026, and Silhouette is hitting all three multiple times. Ascent misses Bonaire and goes to Grand Cayman instead, so it's out. Silhouette is an 8 night itinerary out of Fort Lauderdale. Who's done this cruise and what are your thoughts? Any thoughts on weather trends? We're probably looking at December into February, skipping the Christmas cruise. We haven't sailed Silhouette. We love Equinox, both before and after revolution, but she wasn't fully revolutionized. The pics of Silhouette remind me of Equinox, but have some of the look I didn't care for on Summit (wasted space, loss of storage, etc.). We'd probably book a Sky Suite. I've done a little comparison with Silver Sea and glanced at Regent. Silver Sea is intriguing, but sails from Bridgeport to Bridgeport on that route, not Florida. That may not be a big deal with some research. And Regent would be competitive if we were looking at a higher level suite, but we're not. We'll look some more, but right now we'd look most seriously at Celebrity. We're not as down as some on the board, but Summit didn't feel as special as our previous cruises on Celebrity, even though Alaska certainly did. We're not in a hurry. I haven't pinged our TA to see what they have to offer. Celebrity's pricing is in our comfort zone. For the first time in a long time we don't have a booking on any cruise, so we're free agents to look for the best offer. And ultimately to compare different cruise lines. Appreciate thoughts of the group. Thanks! I've been to the "A" & "C" 5 times and "B" 2 times by sea (plus one week-long visit by land last summer). I would recommend you do a Beyond sailing for 11 nights which includes the ABC's and partial Panama Canal (PC). You get so much more by only adding 3 more nights to the sailing. Yes, obviously a full PC transit through the old locks is best but that shouldn't mean a partial new lock transit should be avoided; it's still very enjoyable and is the only way you get to return to the port you departed. You're already so far south of the continental US, why not add only a few more nights to the sailing and get to stop in Panama, Columbia, and spend a day going through the PC partial transit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NMTraveller Posted July 19 #15 Share Posted July 19 We have done the 14 day Southern Carribean itinerary. It is the best of the Carribean IMHO. An overnight in Aruba would be nice. Bonaire is nice for snorkeling. Curacao is also a nice visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare markeb Posted July 19 Author #16 Share Posted July 19 11 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said: I've been to the "A" & "C" 5 times and "B" 2 times by sea (plus one week-long visit by land last summer). I would recommend you do a Beyond sailing for 11 nights which includes the ABC's and partial Panama Canal (PC). You get so much more by only adding 3 more nights to the sailing. Yes, obviously a full PC transit through the old locks is best but that shouldn't mean a partial new lock transit should be avoided; it's still very enjoyable and is the only way you get to return to the port you departed. You're already so far south of the continental US, why not add only a few more nights to the sailing and get to stop in Panama, Columbia, and spend a day going through the PC partial transit That would be a thought, but looks like Beyond isn't doing that route after April (other than a badly overpriced Christmas cruise next year). It transitions to Ascent and the price literally goes through the roof. To the point that Silver Sea would be in play! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highway180 Posted July 19 #17 Share Posted July 19 We also have done this itinerary a few times.....love it Will be on the Eclipse repo in October, 10 nights Boston to Fort Lauderdale via the ABC Islands. What's not to like? Unfortunately Celebrity has shifted to much shorter sailings in the Caribbean. We tend to lean towards the longer cruises with more sea days Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted July 19 #18 Share Posted July 19 9 hours ago, markeb said: Silhouette is more standard. 9-6, 8-6, and 8-8 in Aruba. I'll have to look at Reflection. It didn't show up in my search, or I got a search term wrong. Reflection, FLL, 11/23/24 - 12/1/24, 8 nights. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hrhbob Posted July 19 #19 Share Posted July 19 Just booked the Apr 25 10 nighter to the ABCs and on to Cape Liberty in a Prime Concierge angled balcony cabin. With AI and gratuities cost was $3200 all in. Though we usually sail in the Retreat Sky Suites, this cruise was about $10.5K for a SS. I’m thinking the Retreat SS is NOT worth $7200 more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordylad Posted July 20 #20 Share Posted July 20 abc's are our favourite Islands....we had a great time with Aruba trikes [you need to be confident on the roads and they can go fast) also did a great beach club in Bonaire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sofietucker Posted July 20 #21 Share Posted July 20 (edited) Love, love love the ABCs! Have visited 6-7 times. Klein Bonaire drift snorkel: go with a good private company. Rent a car for $20 (AARP) and drive up to Playa Porto Mari beach on Curacao (do NOT take a tour; they ALL force you to stop at the liqueur distillery, etc.). Or just hang out in Willemstad. Aruba beaches or catamaran cruises are great. Timing: early Dec is lovely weather post hurricane season, cheap (being past Thxgiving but before Xmas travel) and kids are still in school. Jan. 25th a national holiday in Aruba (which is independent, btw), so much is closed, tours and busses may not be running, etc. Silhouette is fine. It just got renovated, but not revolutionized, is what we've been told. Edited July 20 by sofietucker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamer321 Posted August 12 #22 Share Posted August 12 On 7/20/2024 at 12:48 PM, sofietucker said: ... Silhouette is fine. It just got renovated, but not revolutionized, is what we've been told. Silhouette has been revolutionized. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelayne Posted August 12 #23 Share Posted August 12 21 minutes ago, dreamer321 said: Silhouette has been revolutionized. That ^^^^^ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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