Thoughts on Southern Caribbean Cruise

[AquaDame]

We're hoping to do this in 2019 and hoping it is offered.... it is closed loop out of San Juan? Would love to go on The Wonder again

Yes, it is except for the repo cruises before and after of course. The longer 10 night was out of PC on the Fantasy however.

We loved the itinerary in October 2014 (I think?) on the Magic so much we booked a second on RCCL for Jan 2016 and will be sailing again January 2018 on the Wonder... After this I might have to give my husband a break though - as others have said getting to SJU isn't easy from the west coast!

 

[mhconley]

We wanted to book the 10 night southern on the Fantasy this summer but could not afford it. We booked the 7 night southern B2B with the 4 night eastern on the Wonder for this coming January. A 5A verandah stateroom was less on the 11 night Wonder B2B than an inside stateroom on the 10 night Fantasy cruise, and that even includes 3 nights on the beach in San Juan before the cruise. We're paid in full and patiently awaiting check in.

Martin

 

[littleaussie]

We did the Southern Caribbean in September 2014 and loved it so much. 5 islands with only 1 sea day was exhausting but it was well-worth it. We are an active family, though.

We are going again in January, 2018 but this time we will only have 4 islands and 2 sea days.

I've been on a 4 night to the Bahamas and a 15 night Panama Canal but I still love the Southern itinerary the best. As posted above, there's just something about the vibe and more relaxed atmosphere.

 

[jrabbit]

....
We loved the itinerary in October 2014 (I think?) on the Magic so much we booked a second on RCCL for Jan 2016 and will be sailing again January 2018 on the Wonder... After this I might have to give my husband a break though - as others have said getting to SJU isn't easy from the west coast!

We LOVE San Juan. Who knew Rice and Beans could be Soooo Good! And the plantains! Casa Cortez (the Choco Bar) - great food and drinks! Pina Coladas (who cares who invented them first). And in January - Warmth!!

We were on the Sept/Oct 2014 cruise, took the repo from Galveston to San Juan in January this year and are doing a Southern in January 2018 as well!!

And yes getting to and from San Juan from the west coast is a bit of a hike. Cost to get TO San Juan has been reasonable, but 2 or 4 times as expensive to LEAVE!!

Where do you fly out of?

 

[anna08]

We did this spring's Southern out of San Juan for our 20th anniversary so I completely understand the week limit due to kids at home! I don't know if your itinerary is the same as ours, but the ship went to the southern most stop and worked it's way north - the ports got nicer and nicer each stop. We really loved the 16 hours we were in San Juan before our cruise - if you can make sure to walk around the galleries and boutiques and enjoy the local food.

In retrospect from prior cruises, I recommend getting off the ship whenever you can - at least to find a cafe for a cup of coffee or lunch on the beach where there's free wifi so you can fetch and send email and call the kids' sitter using wifi. The ports for the most part have a more relaxed atmosphere when you get off the ship and there is no or little haggling as you walk through, especially if you are getting off later than the majority. Just do some Trip Advisor research for where to drink/eat before you leave.

Each island stop was really different from the last, but they all have the intense sun in common, so to do a southern, you are better off prepared for sun and heat every day - 7 days was plenty for this reason. We did a mix of our own bookings for excursions and DCL ones - if you want specific recommendations, let me know. Our most relaxing day was booking a room at the Marriott in St. Kitts and hanging out in our own waterfront little gazebo. The breeze and drinks were amazing!

 

[AquaDame]

We LOVE San Juan. Who knew Rice and Beans could be Soooo Good! And the plantains! Casa Cortez (the Choco Bar) - great food and drinks! Pina Coladas (who cares who invented them first). And in January - Warmth!!

We were on the Sept/Oct 2014 cruise, took the repo from Galveston to San Juan in January this year and are doing a Southern in January 2018 as well!!

And yes getting to and from San Juan from the west coast is a bit of a hike. Cost to get TO San Juan has been reasonable, but 2 or 4 times as expensive to LEAVE!!

Where do you fly out of?

Definitely looking forward to more mofongo!! We fly out of PDX normally - this January we are routing through Houston since JFK was not kind to us last time with their snow storm!

 

[Nicks80]

We did the 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise this past spring (April 2017) out of Puerto Rico. Ours was on the Magic (loved our MDR servers and the bartenders at Promenade Lounge!!!), had one day at sea, a 5 port stops (Barbados, St Lucia, Martinique, St Kitts and Antigua). The January 2018 itinerary has some new stops that we would love to try. The Southern Caribbean trip was so fun! It is a lot of ports in short amount of time, so one day in port we just stayed on board. It was nice to experience the pools and things without a lot of other people. Also, not really a lot of kids on this itinerary so our little family was seated at our own table in the MDRs. I guess they didn't have any other families to pair us with.