Those who have sailed the Southern Caribbean...

[LivnLife]

Here are the two itineraries I’m interested in for the So. Caribbean:

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. Johns, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

Or…

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

If you’ve sailed either, can you tell me which ports you did or didn’t like? I can’t decide which ports would be more our style…we’re “beach bums”-- if that helps :D Also, both of these are on AOS, what do you think of the ship? Thanks for your help!

 

~Steph

[MrPete]

I would sail the latter for the ports of Aruba, Curacao, and St. Thomas.

 

Just a personal preference.

[YoungPlatinumGuy]

Agree. #2 all the way. Can't miss Aruba.

[Sea and Me]

We have visited all of these islands. I would choose the first list only because I love St. Lucia. However, then you would have to give up not seeing Aruba. Why not do one and then book the other at a later time?? We were on the AOS it is much too big for our liking since we like the smaller ships. There are many people on this board that really sing the praises of AOS.

 

As far as having found things we didn't like about a particular island we think they all have their own beauty to enjoy. If you like beaches:) I would suggest Megans Bay in St. Thomas voted one of the 10 ten beautiful beaches. Enjoy your cruise:)

[ppdoc]

You are gonna get different points of view here (as expected). I vote for the first choice. Orient beach on St. Maarten is world-known and a great show in itself. St. Lucia is increadibly beatiful...the beach between the Pitons is to die for. And if you want to go to absolute paradise, book an excursion from St.Thomas or take a ferry to St. Johns, you'll never forget it!

[DHADEN]

We have done the S.Iten two times now and I would also suggest the latter like everyone else. Mainly because St. Lucia is kind of "low-class" and dirty. We did not enjoy that. And, I can't remember if it was Antigua or Amalie that was just as bad.

 

LOVED St. Thomas, St. Maartin, Barbados, & San Juan.

 

Hope this helps.

[KKeeganS]

We've done both routes on the AOS. I prefer the Aruba route as much for the islands as for the sea days. We made a bad beach choice in St. Lucia, so based on that experience, it was one of our least favorites. However, that was just our one experience and I know that most who get out on the island of St. Lucia love it. We also found five ports to be a bit intense for us. Pick based on your preferences and tastes - the AOS is a beautiful ship, and you can't go wrong with either choice.

[GMoney]

Barbados is not to be missed.

[EggDropErin]

I have done the first one. You can definitely miss Antigua.

[donutcop]

I'd prefer the 2nd one also. I absolutely loved Aruba and Curacao.

[wrp96]

Hard choice because I loved St. Lucia and Barbados as much as I loved Aruba - but for different reasons.

[Sue L]

I like the 2nd mainly because of the ports, but also on the 1st itinerary has an addtional port which is very exhausting. At least on the 2 nd it looks like you have an additional sea day which for me is more relaxing. We did the s carribean in Feb and we had 4 ports day in a row and I was exhausted, I couldn't wait for the sea day to catch up on some rest.

 

 

Sue

[ppdoc]

I really disagree with St. Lucia being "low class and dirty". In fact, I find that quite a few people judge the island by the port. If you go just a few miles south of Castries, either east or west coast, it is the most beautiful island I have ever seen. We went on our first Caribbean cruise a number of years ago and fell in love with the island. In fact, we just recently spent a week in a villa on the south part of the island. It was paradise. It is a shame that people get this impression of the island, it is truly beautiful, people are very nice and friendly and we just wish everyone could see the less-touristy areas. Hmmm...weird, I almost took the above statement as an insult, I just love the island!

[GMoney]

I really disagree with St. Lucia being "low class and dirty". In fact, I find that quite a few people judge the island by the port.

 

That is so true! Great point. It drives me nuts when people berate the islands and know nothing about them.

[paintedduck]

after sailing to 8 islands on one southern cruise, i would vote for the 2nd itinerary. we loved aruba and curacao and not quite so much st lucia and barbados. just one persons opinion. enjoy your cruise.

gary

[Family Man]

We haven't been yet, but chose the second alternative for our trip next year on the AOS because of the extra day at sea (more time to enjoy that awesome ship).

[Mike & Sue]

Any of the opinions from various posters should be taken with a grain of salt. Everyone has different experiences at all the various ports based on many different variables. I would choose based on other factors, such as date preferences, cost, etc. Do one itinerary then the other some other time, they are all good. By the way we did the same itinerary (the one that does not go to Aruba) on the Serenade, and we enjoyed all the ports. We will be stopping in Aruba next Feb.

[lovemylab]

We booked the St. Lucia/Antigua/Barbados cruise. We chose this itinerary because we wanted to cruise on a Radiance class ship (our last cruise was on a Voyager class). I am hoping that our third cruise will be the Aruba/Curacao itinerary.

[PH8]

I would vote for the second one too......we are gonna do that next year.............we did the first on the Serenade and my biggest complaint on doing it on that ship is lack of pool area..........there is only one sea day and it gets very crowded...........to me, there is more room to spread out on the Voyager class ships.......

[dicechick]

We did the second one purely for the extra sea day and loved all ports. St. Martin is awesome. And as a previous poster said, the ferry to St. John is well worth it -- beautiful beaches.

[MLG4MEE]

We've done both and we liked the Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten, St Thomas cruise better. In fact we have a group going on the Adventure in March of 2008.

[yogimax]

Here are the two itineraries I’m interested in for the So. Caribbean:

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. Johns, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

Or…

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

If you’ve sailed either, can you tell me which ports you did or didn’t like? I can’t decide which ports would be more our style…we’re “beach bums”-- if that helps :D Also, both of these are on AOS, what do you think of the ship? Thanks for your help!

 

 

~Steph

 

Sorry, Steph... and I know this is a stupid comment... but I am partially colorblind. Could you please post in a different color?

[TexasMom2]

We did the Barbados itinerary and loved all the islands, especially Barbados and St. Thomas (St. John). Going back in April '08 on the Serenade. Doing both itineraries B2B would be really cool.

[nanfromatlanta]

Try not to miss Barbados, St Lucia and St Martin.

 

If you get to St. Lucia, try the Land & Sea to Soufriere excursion. It takes a full day, but it is well worth it. You get to walk into a live volcano, see the waterfall from Romancing the Stone, view the Grand Pitons and take a catamaran back to the ship with a stop at an inlet for a swim and snorkle.

 

The countryside and terrain of Barbados is beautiful.

 

St. Martin is our favorite island for shopping and relaxing.

[PH8]

Sorry, Steph... and I know this is a stupid comment... but I am partially colorblind. Could you please post in a different color?

Is this better??

 

Here are the two itineraries I’m interested in for the So. Caribbean:

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. Johns, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

Or…

 

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

If you’ve sailed either, can you tell me which ports you did or didn’t like? I can’t decide which ports would be more our style…we’re “beach bums”-- if that helps :D Also, both of these are on AOS, what do you think of the ship? Thanks for your help!

 

 

~Steph

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