What to do on a Western Caribbean cruise?

What cruise line is best and would I want to cruise the eastern,western or southern Caribbean. And when?

• This would be a first time cruise for us. Where and when should we go and on what ship.

• Answer:

  I have been on about 20 cruises with four different cruise lines and here's what I recommend based on my experiences. There are two factors to consider when planning a cruise (1) what activities are on ship, and (2) what port stops will be made that I will enjoy. I have been on Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess. All of these are good cruise lines. Royal Caribbean cruise line has some of the best on board activities including on various ships, ice skating or roller blading, mini-golf, table tennis, rock climbing wall, basketball court and on the new Freedom class ships, Liberty, Freedom and Independence of the Seas the flowrider where you can body surf right on ship. There are always pools and hot tubs and many ship have a Solarium (a cover area) with a pool and hot tubs for adults only. This is in addition to the regular pool and hot tubs for everyone. Some ships have water slides. All of these lines have ships have great gymnasiums with a variety of equipment. The RC's Freedom and Liberty have THE best gyms I have ever seen on ships. The cruise director will organize games and activities around the pool, especially on "at sea" days when there is no port stop. They may also have a midnight party on the pool deck with a buffet, music and dancing one night. Each night there will be a show and it is usually run twice so that no matter what time you go to dinner you can see the show. If you go on the Royal Caribbean ships with the ice skating rink they will have a free ice show that is fabulous. If you are a gambler there will be a casino, except on Disney ships. Each day you will receive a "newsletter" type flier in your cabin that details the time and location of all of the activities on ship the next day. So you will know what is happening and where. Also, most ships will have a channel on the TV in the room that recaps activities for the current and next day. If there is a port stop the next day most ships will have a presentation in the show room or a lounge that talks about where to shop; then this is repeated on TV. Most ships these day have 2,000 to 4,000 passengers so things on ship are very well organized and in most cases the ship does not even feel crowded. When you select a cruise consider that those going to the Caribbean will feature a lot of beach time and water sports related activities like snorkel, jet ski, para-sailing, or just swimming and relaxing on a beach. There are really three basic types of itineraries for the Caribbean. Western Caribbean cruises typically go to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica and a private cruise line island. If you go to Cozumel there is the opportunity to buy a tour to see Mayan ruins, if that's your interest. If you go to Jamaica the two main attractions are a river raft float trip (not rapids) and the Dunn's River Falls climb. If you go to Grand Cayman you will likely want to go to 7-Mile Beach ( a short taxi/mini-van ride ($4-$5 per person each way), or do a swim with the dolphins/stingrays tour. Cruises to the Eastern Caribbean typically go to St Thomas, St Maarten, a private cruise line island and maybe another island like Tortola or Puerto Rico. If you want to do a lot of shopping then pick a cruise with St Thomas as one of the port stops. St Maarten is also mainly a beach and shopping stop. Most Caribbean cruises have a private island stop where the ship takes food ashore for an all day beach party with games and entertainment. Royal Caribbean has THE best private island I have ever been to at Labadee, Haiti. Its a huge place that has multiple beaches and many activities. RC's ships the Freedom and The Liberty which do both the Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries both have stops at Labadee. The Southern Caribbean cruise itineraries typically start in Puerto Rico and go either to Aruba, Curacao, and St Thomas and St Maarten, OR they go to the southern Caribbean islands like Barbados, Grenada, Antigua, St Lucia and maybe St Thomas and/or St Maarten. The main difference between these two itineraries, aside from the different islands, is the Aruba cruise has two "at sea" days with no port stops, while the other has a port stop about each day. The main things that you want to do is book very early and by that I mean 9 to 12 months or more early so that you can get the best price. Also in the Caribbean you want to try to stay away from the hurricane season which in June through the end of October. Secondly, look for the specials that will be listed on each cruise line's web site. Let that help determine when to go. As I said my favorite cruise line is Royal Caribbean but you cannot go wrong with Celebrity, Princess or Holland America. If you are looking for a real budget cruise and a party ship go on Carnival. If you want to basically be informal the whole cruise go on Norwegian. Finally, while you are looking at cruises pay attention to the ship and when it was launched. The best cruises will be on the newer ship, those launched about 2000 or later. That's my experienced opinion and advice.