Favorite ports of call in Caribbean?

[BippityBoppity]

DH and I have never cruised with Disney but we are in the planning stages of fall 2019.
No children. We are late 50's and have been to WDW several times. We are trying to figure out which itinerary we want. Not willing to tender in so we must choose itineraries that dock. We have been to the Caribbean one time and it was back in 2008. Thinking along the lines of Eastern Caribbean since we've done Western. DH didn't care for our experience in Jamaica so we will not be going back there.

This trip will be more laid back for us. Probably won't do any excursions. We want to enjoy the experience of the ship. But, I will need to purchase a few souvenirs.

Thank you

 

[cedricandsophie]

I don’t know where eastern Caribbean goes but we just got off the 11 night Fantasy. I think it was southern Caribbean but I d9nt remember since the islands aren’t important to us. I did love Martinique, Barbados, st kitts and Aruba.

 

[GrumpyBelle]

St. Thomas was one of our favorites.

 

[KashasMom]

I dislike all beach/shopping time so I don't enjoy the Eastern. We loved a B2B Southern on Princess (great itineraries!) but DCL doesn't go there - at least not when we can go for the amount of time we can now go. We also like the Western because it's a more active vacation. If you plan to spend your time enjoying the ship, does the itinerary matter?

 

[DCLPrincess]

I really enjoyed Cozumel and Jamaica. But I enjoy the ocean and adventure.

 

[chamberlain]

We enjoyed St. Maartin and San Juan a few years ago. The nice thing about San Juan is that the ship docks right next to Old San Juan which has shops, restaurants, forts, etc. within walking distance.

 

[MeggyScumEsquire]

We love Old San Juan, but other favorites are St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, and Curacao! We are definitely beach people and don't do a ton of shopping, but we love to cook so tend to bring home spices and such from our visits, and I've found some nice artwork as well - great reminders we can keep up for in between trips!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The Western tenders at leqst twice. The Eastern does not.

 

[bumbershoot]

Not sure if Disney goes there, but we loved Antigua. Though the main reason was for our all day "eco-tour" excursion, so maybe that won't work for you.

 

[KashasMom]

Not sure if Disney goes there, but we loved Antigua. Though the main reason was for our all day "eco-tour" excursion, so maybe that won't work for you.

DCL has a NYC to San Juan with a stop in Antigua Nov. 2019.

 

[KashasMom]

The Western tenders at leqst twice. The Eastern does not.

We haven't done Western on DCL in a very long time. Which ports use tenders...Grand Cayman & ?

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the Western in 2017 and only had a tender in GC. Cozumel and Jamaica didn't, don't know if they go somewhere else sometimes that does?

 

[dclpluto]

St Thomas, St. John, st marten
Jamaica has some very nice excursions probably the best excursions dcl has to offer in the carrib

 

[southerngirl528]

Not willing to tender in so we must choose itineraries that dock.

I don't think in all my Disney cruises I have once tendered in. DCL is pretty great about rarely tendering. I do know there are a very few locations where they tender. I'll bet a DCL advisor could tell you which ones in short order. Happy planning, btw!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

GC is always tender. I may be messing up Cozumel with another port in my head.

 

[dcassetta]

My favorite cruise port is Grand Cayman, but that is always a tender port which won't work for you. Outside of that, then my favorite is St. Lucia. I would also recommend a stop in Saint Thomas, but that so that you can take a day trip over to St. John.

 

[DCLPrincess]

GC is always tender. I may be messing up Cozumel with another port in my head.

Cozumel does not tender it's Cabo that tenders.

 

[Lori74]

I loved St. Martin. You have the french side and the dutch side. So much to explore! Hopefully by the time youll be cruising it will be a bit more recovered from the hurricane. Its funny how an island or a place can just make you feel something special in your heart. Id take any island ive been too over a regular day at home, but St. Martin just made me feel something. Have fun planning! Let us know what you come up with!

 

[dvcdisney]

Most of our Caribbean cruises have been Eastern (only 2 Western). But my favourite is San Juan. Unfortunately, we have only been there once since the schedule hasn't work well for us.

But we love it, the weather, the convenience of the port, the relax atmosphere (no one tried to solicit our business as they did in some islands), cultural and friendly.

 

[Van Houten]

We did Eastern Caribbean on DCL, and absolutely loved Antigua and St. Kitts. This was a closed loop cruise out of San Juan, and we had a total of 5 ports, all docked (the other 3 were Barbados, Martinique and St. Lucia). But if I'm not mistaken, the route is only offered in February-March timeframe.