katieomax

I am planning a 10 year anniversary trip for next Decemeber/January. We have never been to any place in the Caribbean and are having trouble choosing a destination. So far we are looking at Turks and Caicos (great beaches), St. Lucia (gorgeous island), St. Thomas, Grand Caymen or the BVI. I am open to suggestions from people who have traveled to some of these locations. I am picky about accomodations and am looking for a nice, luxurious feeling resort that has good food, some activities and nice beaches. I am not real particular about a lot of night life. Turks and Caicos and Grand Caymen are easy to travel too which is nice, we are located in Minnesota so flights can be tough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

mamamo

Just got back from ten year in USVI and BVI. Loved it!!!!
Stayed at the Ritz in St Thomas and let me tell you it was spectacular. The service level was some of the best I have seen. I know some of the TA reviews can be picky but having been a former event planner I am picky and the week we were there (right after Thanksgiving) they were top notch. It was like they were mind readers. WE hung out a ton at the pool/beach and food and drinks were fab. Also, for our ten year we arrived to bottle of champagne in room, choc covered strawberries with tuxedos on them and a HUGE bouquet of fresh flowers. During the planning stages I was very torn whether or not to stay at Ritz or St. John (westin / caneel). Talked to so many people but was glad I went with the five star resort. You can get to St. John very easily. St. John really is soooooo beautiful. We hired a boat/captain for the day (coordinated through the Ritz) and went to the top snorkle spots on St. John then hit the BVI (norman, tortola, jost, corona island/sandy spit, etc...) Was the best day ever. The snorkling (if you like that) is great off the beach at Ritz (ranked in the top 10 resorts for snorkling).
Been to Caymans--- great place too. I liked USVI and BVI due to mountainous islands. We will for sure go back to Ritz St. Thomas and St. John.
PS. we connected via Miami from midwest.

Weadles

I've been to three of your choices, most recently Turks and Caicos, which we really loved. Thanks to a recommendation here from Blamona, the Fodors and tripadvisor expert on the island, we stayed at The West Bay Club, which is a very luxurious condo property on the quiet end of Grace Bay Beach. We visited just before Thanksgiving and had the best weather we have had in ten years of traveling to the Caribbean. Every day was sunny and 80 degrees with just enough wind so that you didn't fry on the beach. On top of that, many mornings there were only a few couples on the beach, so it was like staying at a private residence.

The only downside to that resort is that the restaurant on site is not good. The food is passable at best. But if you rent a car or are willing to take a taxi ( which can be pricey) you will find that many of the restaurants on Turks and Caicos are excellent. In fact some of them feature chefs who have appeared or competed on the Food Network.

I'm not sure what activities you are looking for, but Turks and Caicos is a pretty quiet island. There's plenty of water activities and you can also take day trips to the outer islands. But that's about it.. Town didn't impress us, but we weren't really looking to shop.

We've also been many times to Grand Cayman, but for weather and beach, I honestly think you're better off going to Turks and Caicos at that time of year. We have been all over the Caribbean and had not so wonderful weather in many of the islands in December/January. However, Turks has a reputation of being one of the drier islands and at least during our visit, we could not have asked for more beautiful, perfect weather.

You should keep in mind that Turks and Grand Cayman are two of the most expensive islands in the Caribbean. But you can get around that a little bit if you stay in a condo and prepare some of your meals there, although groceries on both islands are way higher than here in the U.S.

Anyway, congratulations, and have a great trip!

qwovadis

Ritz St Thomas caneelbay.com littledixbay.com Grace Bay Resort or ParrotCay.com for Provo. GC flat ok not great
for upscale Marriott.com there for me. It is storm season insuremytrip.com for the rare possibility. Might also look at
pinksandsresort.com and La Casa Que Canta and Capella Pedregal
Pacific Mexico for less weather risk and easier flights from MN

Congrats!

qwovadis

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katieomax

Weadles, what room type did you stay in at this resort? It looks nice.