Help with choosing a Southern Caribbean itinerary

[CaliTwinMom]

Hi! We are looking to book a Southern Caribbean cruise next spring but we are torn between which of the itineraries to choose.
They both sail in and out of San Juan and are both in the Magic.
Choice 1-Aruba, Curaçao, Dominica, St. Maarten plus 2 sea days
Choice 2-St.Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados plus 1 sea day
Some background info-we have done Western, Eastern, and Bahamas cruises with DCL and loved them all although the Eastern ports were definitely our favorite. It will be myself, my husband and our 2 daughters who are 11. We are avid snorkelers and would prefer stops with great beaches, pretty water and of course great snorkeling. For those of you who have been to some of these Southern islands, which cruise would you recommend?

 

[Calantha]

Hi! We are looking to book a Southern Caribbean cruise next spring but we are torn between which of the itineraries to choose.
They both sail in and out of San Juan and are both in the Magic.
Choice 1-Aruba, Curaçao, Dominica, St. Maarten plus 2 sea days
Choice 2-St.Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, Barbados plus 1 sea day
Some background info-we have done Western, Eastern, and Bahamas cruises with DCL and loved them all although the Eastern ports were definitely our favorite. It will be myself, my husband and our 2 daughters who are 11. We are avid snorkelers and would prefer stops with great beaches, pretty water and of course great snorkeling. For those of you who have been to some of these Southern islands, which cruise would you recommend?

If I were choosing I would pick itinerary 2 because I have never been to Barbados. That being said, we snorkeled on Curacao, and it was really good, and I expect the snorkeling on Aruba would be equally good. It’s unfortunate there is no Bonaire stop.

We did a speedboat tour on Antigua in 2019 with snorkeling, and that was a lot of fun. In Dominica we did a river tubing adventure, I’m not sure if they have much snorkeling or beach activities. I think St. Kitts has some good beach options too, but we’ve only done a land tour, and same on St. Maarten.

On St. Lucia where we snorkled it was OK but not great, I don’t know if there were a lot of other spots to choose from.

For the sake of good snorkeling, I would pick #1.

 

[gatordoc]

The ABC islands have the best snorkeling in the Caribbean. So Choice 1 if that’s the primary goal.

 

[auntlynne]

Aruba is a very easy destination for Americans (this is somewhat my mantra). My sister said her best snorkeling was there on our recent cruise. @Calantha . It was near /off a beach. I would do a little more research in these beaches: Arashi, Boca Catalina, Tres Trapi. Based on watching a bunch of videos, these all are good options, some better than others.

There are a bunch of swimmable beaches on this side of the island. The side (right side, per map orientation) is rough water in a more ragged coastline.



We love the VI and Bahamas. I have not discovered a favorite in the Western Caribbean.

Looking back on this year’s S Caribbean, my favorites were in this order:

1 Aruba
2 Bonaire
3 Curacao
4/5 slight win to St Lucia (the Pitons)
4/5 St Kitts

Aruba was the only one I had previously visited (fly-in vacation).

I would revisit any of these.

Would visit Nevis if port was St Kitts. We visited Frigate Bay. Nice water temp (May).

St Lucia - a lot of excursions were focused on the Pitons (+ water time), but it was a lot of driving time through windy, hilly roads.

Port visit to St Maarten. Had some relaxing beach time on an island tour. (Not on a big ocean-facing one). Experienced the commercial jets coming in for a landing low over the beach.

We did not get to a beach in Curacao. Our priority was downtown. It was our last port. We were tired and @ lot of the beaches were 35+ minutes away. (And reportedly beautiful with good snorkeling).
+++++++
When researching cruises, I discovered

Antigua has 365 beaches. There’s got to be something good.

Dominica also has a Piton. (Like St Lucia, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so considered a significant aspect of the world in which we live - that’s just my paraphrasing).
++++++++
We had picked out Choice #2 (as a B2B with the San Juan > Florida cruise) if we were to do a cruise in the Spring. (We have an Eastern cruise this fall).

I would also look into which one would allow me an extra day in Puerto Rico. I would like to visit El Yunque Rainforest, not far from San Juan. If never there before, also a day in Old San Juan.

I know practically nothing about Barbados, other than being home to Rihanna - and that geographically it is sitting out in the Atlantic, the farthest east of most of these West Indies islands. I would want to find out what the ocean conditions are here.

My preference for Choice #2 is based on visiting some new places and the possible B2B combination. Based on the ports I have visited - and depending on price and available cabins, I might recommend Choice #1 to others.

We had 2 Sea Days. Only one, especially when paying for a Disney experience, seems too few.

Tough choice. Good luck.

 

[RedHead0186]

I would pick itinerary #2. I've been to St. Maarten (you can hit it on one of DCL's Eastern Caribbean itineraries), which is why I picked #2 (it's all new ports to me).

If you really like having some sea days to break things up, then I'd go with #1 since it has 2 sea days. If you're okay with a more port-heavy itinerary and less sea days, then I would say #2.

 

[Calantha]

Also, to toot my own Trip Report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-magic-–-8-night-from-san-juan-–-5-13-may-2023.3919629/ - it will be done later this week and cover a lot of the islands that are in your 2 options.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Dominica also has champagne reef which is a really neat place to snorkel. Due to geological activity it makes tiny bubbles come up from the ocean floor. Either choice will be good but st. Lucia is on my bucket list so I would pick that one.

 

[CaliTwinMom]

If I were choosing I would pick itinerary 2 because I have never been to Barbados. That being said, we snorkeled on Curacao, and it was really good, and I expect the snorkeling on Aruba would be equally good. It’s unfortunate there is no Bonaire stop.

We did a speedboat tour on Antigua in 2019 with snorkeling, and that was a lot of fun. In Dominica we did a river tubing adventure, I’m not sure if they have much snorkeling or beach activities. I think St. Kitts has some good beach options too, but we’ve only done a land tour, and same on St. Maarten.

On St. Lucia where we snorkled it was OK but not great, I don’t know if there were a lot of other spots to choose from.

For the sake of good snorkeling, I would pick #1.

If Bonaire was included we would definitely be picking #1. I knew the snorkeling was good in Curacao, and thanks for confimring this, but I hadn't heard much about snorkeling in Aruba or St. Maarten.

 

[CaliTwinMom]

Aruba is a very easy destination for Americans (this is somewhat my mantra). My sister said her best snorkeling was there on our recent cruise. @Calantha . It was near /off a beach. I would do a little more research in these beaches: Arashi, Boca Catalina, Tres Trapi. Based on watching a bunch of videos, these all are good options, some better than others.

There are a bunch of swimmable beaches on this side of the island. The side (right side, per map orientation) is rough water in a more ragged coastline.

View attachment 764009

We love the VI and Bahamas. I have not discovered a favorite in the Western Caribbean.

Looking back on this year’s S Caribbean, my favorites were in this order:

1 Aruba
2 Bonaire
3 Curacao
4/5 slight win to St Lucia (the Pitons)
4/5 St Kitts

Aruba was the only one I had previously visited (fly-in vacation).

I would revisit any of these.

Would visit Nevis if port was St Kitts. We visited Frigate Bay. Nice water temp (May).

St Lucia - a lot of excursions were focused on the Pitons (+ water time), but it was a lot of driving time through windy, hilly roads.

Port visit to St Maarten. Had some relaxing beach time on an island tour. (Not on a big ocean-facing one). Experienced the commercial jets coming in for a landing low over the beach.

We did not get to a beach in Curacao. Our priority was downtown. It was our last port. We were tired and @ lot of the beaches were 35+ minutes away. (And reportedly beautiful with good snorkeling).
+++++++
When researching cruises, I discovered

Antigua has 365 beaches. There’s got to be something good.

Dominica also has a Piton. (Like St Lucia, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so considered a significant aspect of the world in which we live - that’s just my paraphrasing).
++++++++
We had picked out Choice #2 (as a B2B with the San Juan > Florida cruise) if we were to do a cruise in the Spring. (We have an Eastern cruise this fall).

I would also look into which one would allow me an extra day in Puerto Rico. I would like to visit El Yunque Rainforest, not far from San Juan. If never there before, also a day in Old San Juan.

I know practically nothing about Barbados, other than being home to Rihanna - and that geographically it is sitting out in the Atlantic, the farthest east of most of these West Indies islands. I would want to find out what the ocean conditions are here.

My preference for Choice #2 is based on visiting some new places and the possible B2B combination. Based on the ports I have visited - and depending on price and available cabins, I might recommend Choice #1 to others.

We had 2 Sea Days. Only one, especially when paying for a Disney experience, seems too few.

Tough choice. Good luck.

Thank you for all the info. Glad to hear good things about some easy shore snorkeling in Aruba. If you were to do St. Lucia again, would recommend taking a boat trip to the Pitons? or would you suggest skipping the Pitons completely and focusing on something else on the island?

 

[CaliTwinMom]

Also, to toot my own Trip Report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-magic-–-8-night-from-san-juan-–-5-13-may-2023.3919629/ - it will be done later this week and cover a lot of the islands that are in your 2 options.

I've actually been following your trip report and anxiously waiting for your next posts! I love that you partnered up with two other people on the report, it has been super helpful to see the trip through 3 different points of view.

 

[CaliTwinMom]

Dominica also has champagne reef which is a really neat place to snorkel. Due to geological activity it makes tiny bubbles come up from the ocean floor. Either choice will be good but st. Lucia is on my bucket list so I would pick that one.

That sounds super cool. Since both cruises stop at Dominica I will definitely be doing some research about the champagne reef.

 

[auntlynne]

Thank you for all the info. Glad to hear good things about some easy shore snorkeling in Aruba. If you were to do St. Lucia again, would recommend taking a boat trip to the Pitons? or would you suggest skipping the Pitons completely and focusing on something else on the island?

I could not miss the Pitons. That is what I think of when I hear St Lucia.

I think @Calantha‘s excursion sounded really good. I still might have had issues with any speed-boat vessel. I do better on a water taxi or ferry, due to design of their access. I imagine if I could get time in the water + seeing the Pitons, that would be enough for me. Fewer stops would have been more enjoyable.

I earmarked an excursion that offers water time in the Bubbly Pool under the Piton on Dominica if I were to go there.

I bet you will have a great time.