Traveling on the Caribbean Princess this Dec. I have been trying to "study" up on what we should do as far as Do it Yourself excursions during our port days. I am getting concerned however that b/c we are going at a peak time that the islands will just be too darn crowded with tourists to even have an enjoyable time. (I am including myself in the "tourist" group here). Do most ships dock on the same days?

when in December?
early in the month OR holiday time?

early dec. = ports are relatively empty

Stephy:
If you have the exact dates when you will be at the various islands, there is a website to see how many ships are there that day!!

What ports will you be at??

We did that cruise last January. The ship itself was quite crowded; if you plan on seeing a show, get there 40 min prior. In St Martin, a great way to get an "authentic" experience is to take a cab to Marigot, then ferry to Anguilla. It's a whole 'nother world over there, unspoiled, untouristed and friendly. Princess Cays is also a nice stop....if you like to snorkel, go all the way down to where the pier is....lots of fish there.

We will be at STT & SXM over the holidays. I have a feeling it will be quite crowded. I have never traveled before over Xmas. Does anyone have that website where you can see what cruise lines are docked on what days?

Sure do, Stephy!
www.cruisecal.com

Wife ,daughter and I are going Jan.13-Jan 20 on Caribbean Princess.Please let me know how it went...Can't wait to go...

Had a nice time on Princess cruises! Went to St. Marteen, St. John and Princess Cays.

St. Marteen: This time around we did Marigot with my inlaws for breakfast. We didn't stick around for too long so not to much to report on the town. We then went on to Orient Beach....I must say this place is overrated. I did not like it at all. Too crowded, people charging your for chairs and umbrellas that litter the beach. Too many people for me. I think we should have stayed in Marigot for longer and went back to St. Petersburg and swam on that beach, which we did the year prior and enjoyed it. Then we could have just taken the boat ferry back to our ship instead of rushing to try to get back.

In St. Thomas we did not port in Charlotte Amalie (west of town) so in order to get to St. John we had to Taxi all the way to Red Hook to make the most of the day. It took forever to get to St. John but once we got there and went to Trunk Bay it was worth it. We only had about 2 hrs but it was nice enough for me to want to go back to St. John. Those taxi's are crazy though!

Anyway, Princess Cay's was a nice stop. I was the only one who got off the boat. I enjoyed a nice walk along the beach and shopping at the craft market. Its a very relaxing port for families.

Overall I enjoyed our ports of call except on St. Thomas. I think b/c our ship was so big we could not port in CA. I think I'll try a different destination when I cruise again. Prob. the west Mexican coast or Alaska.