I wanted to treat the whole family on a Caribbean cruise during the Thanksgiving holiday. Holland America is our favorite line and chose the eastern Caribbean itinerary because it included good beach stops for the younger ones. Our age group ranged from 76 (me) to 12 my grandson. Grand Turk is a fantastic stop for all ages, great pool at the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville where we rented a cabana around the pool which worked out very well, giving us a meeting place to store stuff, etc. Puerto Rico was fun, we just hired a bus right outside the cruise terminal for $10 each and got a full 2 hour tour of San Juan and surrounding areas.

The group used the cruise line to book a catamaran boat for a snorkeling and beach excursion on St. Marteens and were very happy with the trip, lunch, etc. Don't try to walk from the cruise ship to St Marteens shopping area, the water taxi is only $6 round trip and runs constantly.

We had balcony staterooms which were nicely decorated, clean and roomy enough for sleeping and showering, the balconies extended the feel of the room and by opening the partitions between balconies gave us some party room. Read more