During weeks 1 through 13 our Caribbean cruise goes north from Antigua to St. Croix
On the first 13 weeks of our Caribbean sailing vacation adventure we cruise to: Antigua, Nevis, St. Kitts, St. Barts, St. Maarten, Anguilla, Virgin Gorda, Tortola, St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix. The first step in planning your family vacation adventure is to select the week(s) of your stay. Our annual itinerary is divided into 4 groups on the tabs above each with 13 weeks. For each week, the itinerary shows the Sunday arrival date that begins the week for each of the next 5 years. Weekly stays consist of arrivals on Sunday afternoon and departures the following Sunday morning. Sunday departing flights that will get you home by Sunday night are quite common for most places in the USA. Saturday departures from your home that get you here Sunday are likewise quite common. If you leave home Friday evening, you can arrive sometime Saturday. In this case you can stay Saturday night in a hotel or check with us to see if we can accommodate you for the extra night depending on whether we had guests the previous week. The extra day really helps you absorb the overnight flight and be prepared to "jump start" your vacation.
Caution: We are mariners. We navigate using charts and we use marine locations like ports, bays, harbors, marinas and docks. We reference cruising guides as discussed in Trip Guides. Landlubbers use maps and land locations like cities, towns and streets and tourists guides. In our itineraries we provide marine locations. These marine locations do not always correspond to the land locations. For example, in Anguilla we will meet you at Road Bay. But the nearest town there is called Sandy Ground not Road Bay. So the taxi driver might not know where Road Bay is located. For this reason we usually also provide the nearest town name. To make sure there is no misunderstanding we also provide the exact GPS coordinates of the waypoint of our intended anchorage. You can copy-and-paste this GPS location into the "fly to" of Google Earth to see that exact location. You could then find that same corresponding location on a land map like those links given in the weekly itinerary. Be careful not to try to find our boat using the GPS because we might have to anchor elsewhere. But we are within radio range and we will come and get you at the dock or beach specified in the weekly overview. If there is a choice of docks usually use the dinghy dock rather than the commercial dock.There is more info at Ground Transfers.
There are two ways to start your planning. You may be constrained by date or you may be constrained by location. If you must vacation at a specific time like Easter, Spring Break, Christmas or Summer Vacation, then choose the date and our location will be determined more or less. Remember there are no bad locations on our itinerary! The worst you can do is Paradise! Remember also that others are probably constrained by the same dates (especially Christmas) so plan early. If you are not constrained by dates, then pick the location you want and look on the itinerary to see when we will be there. In most cases we are at that location twice each year. Also check out the conditions and ways to customize your vacation.
To help you select the right weeks to match your sailing enthusiasm, here is a breakdown by week according to the amount of sailing difficulty.
Short sails with no passage required: Weeks 2, 8, 11, 19, 21, 24, 27, 28, 30, 32, 34, 35, 40, 46, 49.
Little sailing with a short passage: Weeks 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 29, 30, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, 52.
Typical sailing with a typical passage: Weeks 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 44.
Longer sails with a longer passage: Weeks 1, 3, 9, 12, 16, 17, 23, 37, 38, 50, 51.
Overnight sailing required for a long passage: Weeks 6, 13, 31, 33, 36, 39, 42.
Copyright (c) 2009 Family Affair. All rights reserved.