Next February, I'm considering vacationing in the Caribbean with my family (includes 3 children, ages 14 (girl), 13 (boy), 11 (boy))<BR><BR>Can anyone recommend a place in the Caribbean where :<BR>pools/beaches are great<BR>service is good (contrary to what I have been reading)<BR>food and amenities are good<BR><BR>Friends have recommended the old Merv Griffin Resort (which I believe is now the Atlantis) but it appears that most people had given the Atlantis a 'thumbs-down' on service and food price.<BR><BR>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated !

It's not that warm in the Bahamas in February - we were there first week in March on our first experience & while beautiful, we were wrapped up in beach towels trying to keep warmer.<BR><BR>You really need to go to the southern Caribbean to find consistent temps year round.<BR><BR>My family has always loved Barbados -- a good resort for children is Bougainvillea Beach on the south coast. If you want all inclusive Turtle Beach is also on south coast & supposed to be nice.<BR><BR>Another place our grandchildren have enjoyed is Cancun. It's the Mexican caribbean. In addition to water activities you can take day trips to ruins if they are interested and there are some great ecological parks there.

Rent a villa and stay on St John. The best family vacation you will ever take!<BR>www.usvi-on-line-com has a lot of villa rental companies to choose from ( we have only used caribbean villas so can only vouch for them ).<BR><BR>The Bahamas are expensive ( not that St John isn't) and crude....think Vegas-Caribbean.<BR><BR>Another good choice would be Cayman Islands. <BR><BR>L <BR>

St. John or the BVIs...<BR><BR>I keep hearing wonderful things about Grenada but I have never been.

Marty,<BR>We really enjoyed Aruba with our two teenage boys. The beaches are white sand and clear water, and we had great service and good food. The island is quite "Westernized" - lots of American shops, etc (duty-free), but as this was the boys first trip south, we wanted that. It's very safe, and there is tons to do. We took a catamaran snorkelling tour that was the highlight of the trip. Aruba is also outside the hurricane belt, and the weather is fairly consistent year round - hot, but with almost constant tradewinds keeping it comfortable.