CARIBBEAN – LESSER ANTILLES
As a traveler in the quest to see all 193 United Nations countries, how to see the 14 Caribbean countries presents the greatest variety of options: cruise, fly between islands, local boats, crew on a sailboat? With unlimited time, crewing on a sailboat or working on private yachts would be the cheapest.
Costs for accommodation, food and transportation between islands would all need to be factored into the decision. Ferries between island countries basically don’t exist (exceptions are the Virgin Islands and Martinique, Anguilla and St Barts). Flights between islands are relatively expensive and irregular. LIAT offers 9 island hop flight packages for $800, but needs to be booked 6 months ahead and then may only be available out of season? Intercaribbean Airways has some interisland flights. Accommodation is generally expensive with hostels not an option in many places.
Seeing the four islands in the Greater Antilles – Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica (I had been to Cuba) could be based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There are no boats and few flights between the islands and Fort Lauderdale services them all and often to multiple airports in countries.
Cruising. For the Lesser Antilles, cruises become the cheapest way to see the most UN countries and territories – accommodation is free every night, breakfast and dinner free every day, transport between islands free.
The Caribbean cruise season avoids the hurricane season starting at the end of November and ending in early April. The ships then reposition to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
Only one company – the Italian company MSC Cruises – stops at all of the eight countries in the Lesser Antilles. So with accommodation, restaurants, inter-island transport, transport to and from airports all provided on the boat, the decision to go by cruise became a no-brainer. Then throw in five territories (with possibility of seeing an additional 3-4) and cheap flights from France,
The negative is that you only have a limited time on each island – about 9-15 hours depending on port. This allows you to see the highlights but gives little chance to really feel the culture. With the ship usually departing in the early evening, there is not much chance to see local night culture. Optimizing the time spent on land would require some organization to determine the sights and transportation. The “Rough Guide” posts represent my attempt to maximize my experience in each country.
There are thousands of cruises through the Caribbean in the “cruise season” from the end of November until early April when the ships reposition to northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Trying to navigate either the myriad search engines specifically orientated to cruising or the individual cruise lines is difficult. The FaceBook group “Every Passport Stamp” has a meet-up group where one can post trips and find fellow travellers. That is how I learned about MSC as the only cruise that visits all 8 countries.
Since those initial investigations in 2018, I have placed deposits on 3 cruises by MSC CRUISE – Lesser Antilles but none panned out mostly because of covid. I am now looking to going in March 2022.
The Trip. Booking should be at least 10 months before as these trips book out early.
Start and end at Fort-de-France, Martinique. See all 8 countries – Dominica, St Lucia, Barbados, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Antigua & Barbuda, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenadine and St Kitts & Nevis – plus 5 territories – Martinique, Guadeloupe, British Virgin Islands, St Martin/Sint Maarten in the southern Caribbean (throw in quick spins to St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, Anguilla, St Barts). Relatively cheap flights from France.
Cost. 2 people: 3240 (1619/person).
2022. The last two cruise dates are March 5-19 and March 12-26.
Climate. Tropical and humid with an average temperature of 75°F to 85°F. The climate is moderated by trade winds. The rainy season is from June to October and the island is vulnerable to devastating cyclones (hurricanes) every eight years on average.
Seasons. There are two climatic and three tourist seasons on Martinique. The high season is between December and the end of April, with soaring prices and great crowds of travellers. From May to the end of November, Europeans tend to go elsewhere, as the weather is fine back home and travel possibilities are numerous. Summer months (July and August) are a sort of intermediate season, as island residents often take advantage of the good weather to visit the mainland. Prices and tourist services, as well as airplane tickets tend to be rather pricey, or even extremely expensive at this period, so be sure to book in advance to avoid paying double.
All in all, if you wish to avoid tourist masses but still take advantage of a pleasant temperature, we would advise you to visit the Caribbean in May and June, as the climate in this period of the year is rather dry with an acceptable level of humidity, and tariffs are still quite on the low side.
July and August are hot and humid months, but don’t be discouraged by tourist clichés saying that the so-called “cyclone” period is a horrible one: it does rain rather often, but the weather is still rather pleasant especially if you are planning to sightsee. Don’t count on taking a cruise ship in September, though, as you have considerably higher chances of meeting up with a hurricane or a tropical thunderstorm in this season.
