Southern Caribbean 2014. . . Let's Start the Planning!

[poohj80]

We booked a dive/snorkel excursion outside of DCL in Grenada and it was the best water excursion we had all cruise. The snorkeling was awesome with few people (unlike Barbados snorkeling with turtles - was more like bob in water while guide feeds turtles and try not to get kicked in the face). Drove through areas of Antigue, St Lucia and St a Kitts on excursions and there were poor areas everywhere.

 

[Simba One]

My problem with Latin food was at lunch at cabanas. Not dinner. Rice and beans, yakky tacos, lots of fish. Not well done. Not much "normal" selection.
Order for us: Barbados, st kitts, st Lucia, Antigua, Grenada.

 

[MAJPLO]

My preference order

Antigua
Barbados
St Lucia
Grenada/St Kitts the same I think.

 

[holula]

My problem with Latin food was at lunch at cabanas. Not dinner. Rice and beans, yakky tacos, lots of fish. Not well done. Not much "normal" selection. Order for us: Barbados, st kitts, st Lucia, Antigua, Grenada.

I had this problem too. I am NOT a picky eater at all but the Cabanas selections were meh for me. I don't eat fish much, almost all of the chicken was dry and overcooked and there wasn't much else to choose from.

My order would be Grenada, Antigua, St Kitts, Barbados, St Lucia (way, way behind the other islands).

 

[Silverfox97]

We ran into a lot of rude repeaters on that first cruise. The entitled factor was off the charts. Most newbies and Spanish speakers were very nice, if a bit lost getting a feel for a cruise with so many port days.

Food quality - probably the worst I've had on any cruise this time. Cabanas had a huge lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. Sit down meals were inconsistent at best.

Announcements - man I've never hated hearing a cruise director's voice so much. She would just not stop!

We had an amazing cruise and I have to say, the back to back process was great. Captain John rearranged our port days to accommodate missing Gonzalo. I enjoyed all of the islands, but definitely liked our non-DCL tours best. I will probably not book any DCL tours ever again. I hadn't since 2012, and don't know why I did this time looking back. However, I agree with the above three you mentioned. The entitled factor was off the charts. Food has been 'vanillaed' - lots of previous flavorful dishes were very bland. I wouldn't say horrible, but definitely not 'excellent.' MDR service was slowest in 13 cruises.

For us, there was much more good. Stateroom looked great, loved the ports. The seas were so calm. Love Capt John. Daughter had a blast. Went to Villains Tonight only and it was fabulous - Hades was the best! Magic Dave and Buckets & Boards were fun. Found myself missing the Vista Cafe area from the new ships. Hope to spend time in Keys this cruise!!!!!

And Natalie. Oy.

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[cris0809]

Food has been 'vanillaed' - lots of previous flavorful dishes were very bland. I wouldn't say horrible, but definitely not 'excellent.' MDR service was slowest in 13 cruises.

And Natalie. Oy.

Our serving team was quite good actually. We had the fastest service I've ever had (in 15).

I think part of the reason the food suffered on our specific sailing was that they were getting ingredients/produce from new sources. Plus they were very depleted having just come from the TA. Add in your "vanillaed" descriptor and it was underwhelming all around.

Natalie is definitely deserving of an oy.

I'm so happy that it was a better cruise for you than it was for us. The potential was there and the ports were great, it was DCL themselves that under-delivered for us. We will probably do Jewel or maybe Celebrity Summit if we sail out of San Juan in the future.

 

[holula]

Our serving team was quite good actually. We had the fastest service I've ever had (in 15). I think part of the reason the food suffered on our specific sailing was that they were getting ingredients/produce from new sources. Plus they were very depleted having just come from the TA. Add in your "vanillaed" descriptor and it was underwhelming all around. Natalie is definitely deserving of an oy. I'm so happy that it was a better cruise for you than it was for us. The potential was there and the ports were great, it was DCL themselves that under-delivered for us. We will probably do Jewel or maybe Celebrity Summit if we sail out of San Juan in the future.

We loved our servers but we requested them as we had them on a previous cruise in January. It was a little slow maybe one or two nights but nothing major. To me, Cabanas suffered the most food-wise. I did enjoy the shawarma though!

I am probably the only person who has no problem with Natalie. And I agree totally that we would do a different line if we did another Southern. DCL has been underwhelming as a whole the last few cruises.

 

[poohj80]

I am probably the only person who has no problem with Natalie. And I agree totally that we would do a different line if we did another Southern. DCL has been underwhelming as a whole the last few cruises.

We have no problem with Natalie either. This was our 3rd cruise with her and continue to enjoy her.

 

[cris0809]

To me, Cabanas suffered the most food-wise.

Agree with this.

 

[gometros]

Thank you SO much!

Bad news. They never got a new shipment. All that was left was smalls and mediums. I did get a Greek Islands shirt for $10.

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[gometros]

Nope. This is matching shirt FaceBook group rudeness and the lanyards say they are not newbies. Not all of them, but I have heard a ton of awful comments

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Our group, Emily? Do tell.

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[poohj80]

Bad news. They never got a new shipment. All that was left was smalls and mediums. I did get a Greek Islands shirt for $10.

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Thanks or trying! I did get a Greek Isles shirt as well...dreaming of future cruises.

 

[KathleenlovesMickey]

Sitting in port after arriving back to San Juan. Magical cruise! Those of you waiting to board are in for the time of your life!

I do have a HUGE favor to ask...the shops were sold out of Southern Caribbean T-shirts larger than size L. They said they would be getting more for future cruises but not in time for us. Might someone on a future cruise be willing to buy me an XL or XXL and mail it to me when you get home please? I will repay you and then some if anyone can please help me out.

Many thanks for any help!

It was a mad house at 9:05 when they first opened. Women had huge handfuls of shirts. I had someone check for us but they said all were gone but the med and small we wanted 1 XL too.

 

[poohj80]

It was a mad house at 9:05 when they first opened. Women had huge handfuls of shirts. I had someone check for us but they said all were gone but the med and small we wanted 1 XL too.

Thanks for trying! I did get a Greek Isles shirt. ;-)

 

[hoosiercruiser]

I do have a HUGE favor to ask...the shops were sold out of Southern Caribbean T-shirts larger than size L. They said they would be getting more for future cruises but not in time for us. Might someone on a future cruise be willing to buy me an XL or XXL and mail it to me when you get home please? I will repay you and then some if anyone can please help me out.

Many thanks for any help!

I have one for you if you want it. My husband went the first morning and waited for them to open, but all they had was 2XL and 3XL. I was wanting a M or L. He picked up the 2XL for me, thinking I'd have something. But that would be a nightdress on me, lol. So if you want it, I can send it to you, just PM me.

On the B2b, I got the M for me, woohoo!

 

[poohj80]

I have one for you if you want it. My husband went the first morning and waited for them to open, but all they had was 2XL and 3XL. I was wanting a M or L. He picked up the 2XL for me, thinking I'd have something. But that would be a nightdress on me, lol. So if you want it, I can send it to you, just PM me.

On the B2b, I got the M for me, woohoo!

You and your hubby are AWESOME!!! Thanks so much! In fact, I have a size L I would be willing to trade.

Sending PM now.

 

[luvmygrljb]

Did anyone see a southern Caribbean pin? By the last cruise there definitely was not any. If anyone has a pic I would really appreciate it. It was the one soviet I wanted.

 

[holula]

Did anyone see a southern Caribbean pin? By the last cruise there definitely was not any. If anyone has a pic I would really appreciate it. It was the one soviet I wanted.

There were not any on the first cruise.

 

[LoveToCruiseDisney]

Never saw the pin but I did meet several of the nicest people ever! I also thought the service was excellent and thoroughly enjoyed the food onboard...I have several food allergies and had no problem finding food at cabanas or each of the dining rooms. I don't really understand what everyone is talking about. I have cruised 10 times with DCL and on both NCL and RCCL and still say the food onboard DCL is superior to those other lines. We also ate at palo for both brunch and dinner and loved it. On the repo, I did notice more trash being left on tables near the pool area and even in the elevator, but this could be kids or people thinking that there are attendants to pick up after them. The repo was a much livelier group than the 7 night, but I didn't experience any rudeness...in fact, I found the people in the matching shirts to be most friendly.....and I never joined the fb group since I was surprising a friend on this cruise. Sometimes I think people just make their own issues.

 

[LoveToCruiseDisney]

We did 2 dcl tours...snorkel beneath the pitons in at lucia and spices & nutmegs in Grenada. We also booked. Tour in st. Kitts through Thenford grey and loved it! What a wonderful man. We also really enjoyed the DCL tours. Yes, there were areas that were very poor, but I guess we have poor and wealthy places here in New York so it wasn't a surprise to us. I found most of the island people to be very nice...even when shopping in the market. I think you just have to adapt to they way they do business .... we even liked shopping in the ports on the western...different style also. We just adjusted to it, maybe easier than some. I loved our southern itinerary and hope to do it again someday.