Southern Caribbean Splendour

by Tim Larison

We have been on a number of Caribbean cruises (Eastern and Western itineraries), but none were quite like our December 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise on the Crown Princess. We found this cruise to be different than our other Caribbean cruises in these ways:

1. The weather was warmer. The itinerary sailed closer to the equator than our other Caribbean cruises. We have sailed in November/December before and this was our warmest and most pleasant weather on a cruise yet at that time of year. The ocean water was at a higher temperature, too, which made for nice swimming conditions.

2. The islands we visited were fun and different. We always enjoy going to new places, and we saw some new islands on this cruise (Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua) that offered some fun excursions. That’s Anne and the boys, above, swimming towards a rock bridge in Antigua.

3. Airfare was higher. Almost all 7 night Southern Caribbean cruises originate in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Flying to Puerto Rico is on average $200 per person higher than a flight to Florida. While we did a 7 night cruise, next time we may consider a 10 to 12 night cruise originating from a Florida port. There aren’t as many of these longer Florida based Southern Caribbean cruises, but the extra cruise cost is about the same as the extra airfare cost in flying to San Juan.

Read more about our Southern Caribbean cruise
in our trip report.  This was one of our best Caribbean cruises ever!