Bahamas/Carribean Experts ~ Help please!

[happybratpack]

Hi guys

I'm thinking about visiting the Bahamas for one of my vacation weeks next year. This is a stretch for me, but I'm branching out.

I'm completely clueless however. I'm going to go get some books and such, but can anyone recommend resorts/locations, etc to start looking at? I was looking at Atlantis but that's it so far.

OR would it be better to just do the Bahamas on a cruise and plan a week somewhere else in the Caribbean? I hear mixed opinions. I'm wide open on planning at this point so any suggestions would be great. If anyone knows forums for this I'd appreciate it too.

Thanks!!

 

[MerryPoppins]

I've only done the Bahamas from the Magic. Castaway Cay is just beautiful! We've done the western and eastern 7 day cruises and loved them both.

 

[DawnCt1]

It depends on who is going with you. A Caribbean cruise is always fun. You get to see a few of the islands for a few hours and with some of them, a few hours is enough. We spent one day on Nassau and it was the island that I was least looking forward to. We had a great time. I would enjoy spending three or four days there. Atlantis is beautiful and expensive but if you stay across the street at the Comfort Suites, they have an arrangement with Atlantis that gives guests full privileges. You get the pool, etc but not the big bill.

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

We spent a week in the Bahamas years ago. I would say look elsewhere in the carribbean. There are so many nicer islands. My favorites are
Antigua. Barbados, and St Thomas and St Lucia.

 

[ducklite]

We're looking at a few days in the Caribbean this December. We've been to a several islands on cruises...Jamaica, Cozumel, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Grand Cayman...

We're interested in checking out Antigua, Barbados, St. John, and Trinidad. The Dominican Republic is another possibility.

St. Maarten didn't float our boat--we found it crowded and "seemy" (the French side wasn't as bad), and Grand Cayman is pretty boring unless you want to play golf or sit on a beach. St. Thomas was really "touristy." Cozumel was nice, we'd like to maybe stay at one of the resorts in Cancun in the future. As much as we loved Jamaica, you've got to be careful of how you tour it. We'll go back someday, but only when we can hire a full time local guide for a couple of days in order to leave the resort.

Anne

 

[disneymcgraw]

Hi, I just got home from a Bahamas trip this past Tuesday. It was a mommy trip meaning no kids and no husbands. We stayed next door to the Atlantis at the RIU.

The hotel was all inclusive and we had a mini fridge in our room filled with soda and bottled water. It wasn't a 5 star hotel but it fit our bill. We used the beach most days and did the Dolphin Encounter. We walked through the Atlantis and it's very nice. We felt if we came back with the kids that we might stay there.

Atlantis is huge and they have the waterpark style pools. Myself, I'm there for the beach but for others this would be a plus.
At the RIU and all through the Bahamas everyone was so friendly. We had a wonderful time and I can't wait to go back.

Good luck...