Jeffrey J. Nappi seems to think in
nt.com:

The wife and I are planning a vacation in Jan. for my 50th birthday. We
have never been to the Caribbean so we are looking for ideas on where to
go. We enjoy leisurely shopping excursions and good food, an all-
inclusive resort would be nice but not mandatory, Casinos would be nice
also. I have been looking at the Caymans, St. Martin, and St. Lucia as
possible spots. Not really interested in the Bahammas. Any advice or
pointers to web sites would be greatly appreciated.

Jeff


Jeff,


Want some advice? Take me as a guide.

Seriously, hard to say what you would like.

Personally, I enjoy Aruba very much, but it may not be the "tropical
island" you have in mind, especially if you have experience with Hawaii.

It is not lush, but desert. However, the weather and water are excellent,
the people are friendly, speak English, and it is safe, the resorts on Palm
Beach quite enjoyable at various levels of expense, with great shopping and
casinos. Aruba is entirely out of the hurricane belt, and it has a constant
trade wind of 10-20mph that keeps you cool.

I would recommend you visit your library and get a copy of Fodor's
Caribbean.

Or, browse the internet using a search engine.

Other great islands are the US virgins, especially St. Johns for a quiet,
romantic vacation. St. Maartin and Lucia are also great, but more leafy.
Watch out for hurricane season, which runs from about now until mid-fall,
but there are weather patterns you can gamble on and be relatively safe
from a disruptive vacation,

Have fun.

-- ipgrunt