My wife and I are notorious for planning our vacations way in advance.  That being said, we are planning a cruise to the Southern Caribbean in January, 2010 but are debating which one to take.  We are looking at the 7 day cruise from San Juan and the 8 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale.

The cruise from San Juan looks nice as we can hang out down there for a few days prior to sailing.  But, there is a stop every single day and we've already been to St. Thomas and Antigua which are on the itinerary.  But, the other stops looks fabulous.  The only thing that has me concerned about a stop every day is we have no sea days and we do enjoy going up to the top decks to enjoy a warm sunny day at sea.  It also seems to me that we'd be getting up early every single day with no days to sleep in.

The cruise from Fort Lauderdale has three stops in St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts.  The cruise from San Juan also stops in St. Lucia and St. Kitts but also calls at Dominica and Barbados as well in addition to the two ports we have already visited.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has taken either of these two cruises as we are debating which one to take.  Any suggestions and comments are most welcome.  Thanks in advance.

i can feel you on that one being undecided on a few cruises..lol, But i like the one from San Juan... it stops at Barbados wich is awesome, maybe you can  compare as far as wich ones has the best excursions...etc...But i like the one from SJ..godd luck in wichever you choose..happy sailing

Take the one that has stops everyday and stay on board at the two ports you've been to and enjoy the ship while everyone else is at port. 

I'll let you know when we get back, we leave in 9 days for the one out of FT. Lauderdale to St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Marteen.

We took the San Juan one In January.  I like the port everyday, but if you like to stay on board you could do that on the days they are in port where you have been before, but it is not the same as being out to sea if that is what you like to do.  There is also the option of just hanging at a beach on a day when you don't want to go explore an island.  You can sleep in every day too.  We never did set an alarm or get a wake up call, we just got up when we got up.   It was a great cruise!

cbrose

I was on the Southern Caribbean out of San Juan in early February and although there was a port each day, we didn't feel tired at all. We did what we wanted to do, whether it was explore the port, sleep in, chill on the pool deck all day, etc. Since you've already seen those two ports, I'd say go on it anyways and make those two days your relaxing days. All of those ports were beautiful to see, even St. Thomas which we've seen before and we'll see it again next year!!!

timman19:

My wife and I are notorious for planning our vacations way in advance.  That being said, we are planning a cruise to the Southern Caribbean in January, 2010 but are debating which one to take.  We are looking at the 7 day cruise from San Juan and the 8 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale.

The cruise from San Juan looks nice as we can hang out down there for a few days prior to sailing.  But, there is a stop every single day and we've already been to St. Thomas and Antigua which are on the itinerary.  But, the other stops looks fabulous.  The only thing that has me concerned about a stop every day is we have no sea days and we do enjoy going up to the top decks to enjoy a warm sunny day at sea.  It also seems to me that we'd be getting up early every single day with no days to sleep in.

The cruise from Fort Lauderdale has three stops in St. Maarten, St. Lucia and St. Kitts.  The cruise from San Juan also stops in St. Lucia and St. Kitts but also calls at Dominica and Barbados as well in addition to the two ports we have already visited.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has taken either of these two cruises as we are debating which one to take.  Any suggestions and comments are most welcome.  Thanks in advance.

That's an easy decision.  Take them both.  

My thanks to everyone for their suggestions.  San Juan it is!  My wife looked at both options and likes the cruise and my idea of heading down there a few days before sailing so we can explore Puerto Rico.  Well, it's not until January but I am sure it will be well worth the wait.

 I think you said you were going in Jan. 2010 we are going on Jan.24th 2010 out  of San Juan when we booked it was 448 days until we left and now only 280 days not that I'm counting.

Yes, we are going in January 2010 but don't have a sailing date as of yet.  We are still trying to figure that out but are hoping to go right after New Year's if we can.

we are going on the victory too in January. Looking forward to my first cruise. We picked thisone just because of all the island choises. If we decide to lay about one day or more we have that option as well. But we can still tour a different island each day and then next time maybe be more choosy or do it all over again!

I really liked cruising out of San Juan. We spend two days before our cruise this past Feb. just hanging out and taking in the sights in San Juan and Old San Juan. If you decide to do this one, let me know. We had a great tour driver in Barbados and I will look up his info for you. He will take you whereever you want to go and he will show you his favorite spots on the island as well. When we first started to talk to him about driving us to the lighthouses of the island, we did not agree on a price so he lowered his price. In the end we paid him his original price because he was worth it. Just let me know.

We ended up deciding on the Victory and sail from San Juan on January 17!