Southern carribean cruise advice . . Complete newbie

[x_Ange_x]

Hi

We would like to go on a cruise of the southern Caribbean . . I like the look of the ones on royal carribean . .St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados etc

I wouldn't have a clue where to even start looking for packages. Who do you folks usually book through.

Also on top of the flights and cruise are there alot of hidden extras we will have to pay for. I know there will be shore excursions but what else will we have to budget for.

I have seen a 12 day cruise going from New York that I like the look of but would appreciate some advice on what is considered the better cruises and where to sail from etc.

I'm sure I will be along with alot more questions in the coming days but if you think there is something I haven't asked and may not of thought of please put me right.

Thank you in advance for any help x

[Majik]

We are currently on the Disney Wonder Southern Caribbean joined the ship in San Juan and are doing a back to back returning to Port Canaveral. This is the third time we have done it. This is a great time of year to take this cruise.

[bonnies mum]

We are doing a cruise from New York to the Caribbean finishing in Fort Lauderdale later this year.
The main reason we picked this cruise was to have a few days in New York, otherwise we would have picked a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale as you are much quicker in getting to the Islands, don’t know if that is also your plan.
For Southern Caribbean we have cruised with Carnival and Princess previously, Princess being our favourite though we have done RCI on other itineraries and thoroughly enjoyed them too (Allure of the Seas last year was amazing).
The St Kitts, Barbados, St Lucia etc itinery was amazing, every stop was really enjoyable, this was on the Royal Princess think it’s now with Crown Princess.
Only extra costs I can mention is gratuities, bar drinks and any speciality coffees, tbh you could spend very little on board. As you have said excursions which can be pricey depending on what you do and the more stops the more you go ashore, but definately worth it.

[rosered]

We did an 8 night cruise with Celebrity in November . Sailing from Miami we stopped at San Juan, St Martin, St Thomas and Punta Cana. When we booked we got the drinks package and gratuities included in our booking price We also booked all our shore excursions before we left. We stuck to the island sight seeing coach trips which averaged about £40 each. My total on board spend was $8 for a fridge magnet as everything else was paid for! Loved Celebrity and would certainly sail with them again.

[SquishTheWhale]

What time of year are you thinking of? Sailing from New York means several sea days to start which can be very cold if sailing in the winter. I would prefer to sail from Florida so you catch the good weather straight away! Make sure you fly in a day or two early especially in winter to allow for delays.

We've done a 10 day on the Crown Princess from Fort Lauderdale with a similar kind of itinerary and we loved all the stops, it would be my choice for the Caribbean again! St Thomas, Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia in particular we loved. We've also done the Western Caribbean (Cozumel etc) which we didn't like as much.

Do watch for the daily gratuities as they are the thing that really adds up. You are normally looking around $13-15 per day per person. Drinks (with a 15% auto tip on top) are extra unless you get a package or a rate that includes them for free. Princess do a really good non alcoholic drinks package for around $8 a day, this includes mocktails, juices, sodas and hot chocolate. I think RCI do something similar but a little more pricey.
Then of course there are shore excursions, spa treatments, ship board purchases- all extras that you may or may not want to pay for. Look at both the ship excursions and independent ones. We do end up spending quite a bit on excursions as we like to make the most of the ports.