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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Puerto Rico And A Cruise Vacation

It was time for a vacation.   A round trip cruise from Puerto Rico, to some of the islands in the Caribbean, was the first thing that came to my mind.  In the need for a relaxing vacation, I decided to revisit a few of the islands in the Caribbean.  I decided to take a Southern Caribbean cruise.  It had been many years, since I had traveled that route.  Living in Puerto Rico, it is very easy to get on a cruise.  This vacation was more of a get away, last minute trip, and having the ability to jump on a cruise ship, without having to take a plane, is a great plus.


Puerto Rico means rich port, and Puerto Rico, has the most exiting port in the Caribbean, San Juan.  The port of San Juan, is one of the busiest in the world, and is the second largest cruise port in the Western Hemisphere.  The city welcomes over a million cruise ship passengers every year.  As you get on or off the ship, at the port in San Juan, you are in the old city, Old San Juan, one of the major attractions in the island of Puerto Rico.  The Southern Caribbean cruise took me to these ports and islands: Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St. Lucia; St. John's, Antigua; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.  I love the Caribbean, and I enjoyed very much coming back to these islands.



All the cruise lines offer your typical "discover the island' tours, but they also have some exotic or adventurous tours:  Kayaking, hiking, jeep and helicopter tours.  There is a tour for everyones taste.   Having toured these islands before, I decided to do my own thing, at my own time, while we were at port.  I did some shopping, walked around the different towns, socialised with the locals, and had a taste of the local restaurants.  The cruise lasted 7 days and it was very relaxing.



Talking with some folks on the cruise,  I was surprised, that some had very little time to visit Puerto Rico before they got on-board, and that at the end of the cruise, they only had time to take one tour, before catching their flight back home.  In my opinion, of all the islands in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico has the most to offer.  There is so much to see, than your typical "city tour."  If you are planning on taking a cruise to the Caribbean, that begins or ends in Puerto Rico, it is a great idea to take a few days, before or after your cruise, to explore some of the sights.  A few of the travelers during my cruise, were disappointed they were not able to spend more time in Puerto Rico.


Taking a round trip Caribbean cruise from Puerto Rico was a great choice for a vacation.  Even better, I only had to take a short cab ride to get home.


What are your favorite islands in the Caribbean?


2 comments:

  1. There are a lot of good vacation spots to visit when in Caribbean islands. Puerto Rico is one of them.

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  2. It's not as much of a misnomer as it used to be. Puerto Rico is slowly but surely becoming the rich port it's named after.

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