When is the best time?

[zebra]

I agree with Rose..... and want to add Cozumel, and Curacao to our list of favorites.

[KeithnRita]

Being from the Midwest we like the winter cruises the best. It sure breaks up the dull gray and sometimes white days. As far as islands, we like most of them, especially St Martin. Any warm water beach in the dead of winter is just fine with us.

Our favorite ports to cruise from is Tampa and Port Canaveral.

[DebbieandJerry]

Dina, in reading the replies, you have gotten some great advice.

We, too, love the Caribbean. We have been to many ports more than once because we simply haven't been able to do everything, see everything, experience everything, etc., etc. We, too, do not have children.

Most of the time, we pick the ship because it's the cheapest that we were able to find at the particular time that we wanted to do. We LOVE at sea days. So we tend to shy away from So. Caribbean where it's island, island, island (5 in a row).

As we have experienced more ships, we have come to have our favorites. We love Celebrity because of their service and food. Next would be a tie between Princess and Royal Caribbean. Their staterooms are lovely. Carnival tends to offer the cheapest (unless you find a gonga deal out there and they exist). Holland America tends to be a little bit more sedate. And, we weren't impressed with NCL and the whole freestyle atmosphere. But that's our thing.

We love snorkeling so we try to find ports where snorkeling is top notch. We are not shoppers and jewelry (i.e, diamonds) is something that doesn't interest me/us at all. So, stopping at St Thomas isn't as important for the shopping aspect, but the snorkeling aspect is another story.

The only port that we didn't like was Ochos Rios Jamaica. Been there twice and have no desire to return AT ALL. Folks have said that other stops in Jamaica are nicer so if that's an option, you might want to put that out in a question.

Start checking airfare from CA to FL. This way you will have a general idea of what air will cost if you do it on your own. Most times you will find that it is CHEAPER to book your own. Give yourself at least one day in FL (i.e., ship leaves Sun so you will fly to FL on Sat). We booked our air through the ship the first two cruises and then realized that we would be saving at least $200/per person by booking on our own.

Each of us will have an opinion on what islands we like/dislike in the Caribbean. I think in order to better guide you, it would be helpful to know a little of what you want to do: snorkel, shop, hike, sight see, helicopter ride, zip line, etc.