Vacation in Carribean islands
 

My mom asked me to look up information for a family vacation. It's our first one ever! It's my parents, me (21), and two sisters(20,14).We've picked the following places to consider: Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, Jamacia, St. Lucia, U.S. Virgin Islands. We are planning on going from Dec 25 for a week. Cruises are out of the question. Can anyone offer advice on which places I should/shouldn't spend time on. I've looked up some basic information and all they say is that most of them are very busy during the time we are looking to go.

Any suggestions are very helpful. Thanks!

December 25 is a very busy time at all those Islands. Maybe even booked by now. Also, Bermuda is the most northerly of the Islands on your list and might not be warm enough for your group. Please give us more information aboout what your group plans to do. Do you want hotel rooms or one larger unit? Do you want all-inclusive or not?
Dominican Republic, Jamacia and St. Lucia have many all-inclusives if that is what your group wants.

This is the busiest and most expensive week of the entire year, and some islands have 10- to 14-day minimums during this period, so you do need to plan for that. You will need to make reservations soon, but you should still find plenty of options available to you because tourism to the Caribbean is down slightly this year.

Forget Bermuda. It's way too cold.

Otherwise, you've hit on the busiest and most popular islands in the Caribbean, and you've named most of them. Do you have any particular interests? Food issues? Budget constraints?

If you've never been on a vacation in the Caribbean before, then I'd recommend an all-inclusive resort, which will help cushion the blow for expensive meals.

I'm assuming you all have passports. If you haven't applied yet, then you need to do so asap and expedite the service. Otherwise, you're limited to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

I recommend Puerto Rico because you don't need any passport to get there plus it's lots of fun specially on Xmas! Many hotels should be booked by now but they have what they called "paradores" which are small very comfy, clean and nice hotels in different parts of the island. Go to http://www.gotoparadores.com

I agree that Bermuda is too cold, so get rid of that one.
We really enjoyed Barbados. Very eclectic, even though it is the most British of all the Caribbean islands. There is quite a bit of nightlife. Many gourmet restaurants with wonderful menus, the food is served with pomp and style. The dress code in these places is "smart casual," meaning that no shorts are appreciated.
There are also plenty of restaurants that feature simpler foods.
Beautiful beaches and many hotels to choose from.