Which would you choose?

Having a hard time choosing between these 2 cruises. Would love some opinions on which you would choose and why.

The first is Carnival Horizon and the itinerary is Eastern Caribbean- 8 nights

Start: Miami Grand Turk San Juan St. Kitts St. Maarten End: Miami

Next is on Carnival Magic and the itinerary is Western Caribbean-7 nights Cozumel plus

Start: Port Canaveral (Orlando) Cozumel Belize Mahogany Bay Costa Maya End: Port Canaveral (Orlando)

The difference between them being 7 or 8 nights really isn’t a factor to me nor is the starting port. I’m more interested in nicer ship, better ports, etc. Both are the first week of December. All advice and opinions are welcome and much appreciated :)

Start: Miami

Nicest and newest ship is the Horizon, although the Magic is one of better Carnival ships. I liked sailing from Miami since it is so close to the airport; if you're driving, this is a moot point.

The OP doesn't state what they like to do in port - if snorkeling, the western itinerary is better; if shopping, the eastern. If hanging at a beach, either will be fine.

For ports, both are good. Our preference is Eastern.

How long would you be in Costa Maya for? I've been to all of these ports, and my favorite excursion at any of these ports was Maya Chan all-inclusive day resort in Costa Maya. The only problem was, we were only there from 7:30-2 pm. If I ever have the chance to go back for a full day, I would jump at the chance. Otherwise, if the Magic cruise also only has a short day there, I would pick the Horizon cruise because as a whole, those ports are much better. As far as the ships are concerned, I've been on both and loved both of them; the Horizon maybe slightly more because it has more. But then again, I love the Dream class ships because you can do laps around the ship on the lanai. On the Vista class, you can't go all around because of the Havana area in the back. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either of these cruises.

Having a hard time choosing between these 2 cruises. Would love some opinions on which you would choose and why.

 

The first is Carnival Horizon and the itinerary is Eastern Caribbean- 8 nights

Start: Miami Grand Turk San Juan St. Kitts St. Maarten End: Miami

 

Next is on Carnival Magic and the itinerary is Western Caribbean-7 nights Cozumel plus

Start: Port Canaveral (Orlando) Cozumel Belize Mahogany Bay Costa Maya End: Port Canaveral (Orlando)

The difference between them being 7 or 8 nights really isn’t a factor to me nor is the starting port. I’m more interested in nicer ship, better ports, etc. All advice and opinions are welcome and much appreciated :)

Well, since you said the 7 day vs 8 day isn't a factor, the Horizon would be my choice for me, because I haven't sailed her.

Grand Turk - love this beach day

San Juan - great port for history and to enjoy town with a walking tour if you haven't been here

St. Kitts - beautiful island to get out and do an island tour (lava rocks are great)

St. Maartin - island is still a disaster but I am willing to go and put my money into the economy. If it was my first time here I would probably book through the cruise ship and opt for a water/boat based activity

I prefer the Western Itinerary however as there is more to do. So if this is a first cruise or you haven't done these ports, I would chose the Magic.

Cozumel- great beach day, snorkeling, dolphin encounters @ Chankanaab, cultural activities such as day trip for ruins at Tulum etc

Costa Maya - great beach day or ruins at Chachobben

Belize - a water sports port from amazing snorkeling to cave tubing or take a longer trip to great ruins at Altun Ha and explore River Wallace

Roatan - beautiful island for an island tour including a stop at west bay beach for some local food and snorkeling from shore. Fun to zip line, see sloths, monkey and birds and go to iguana sanctuary.

Horizon. It's a newer ship, 8 days is better than 7, and not as many ships go to St Kitts as they do to the other ports.

Start: Miami Grand Turk San Juan St. Kitts St. Maarten End: Miami

Flip a coin both are good

I would chose the newer ship and extra night on the Horizon.

Horizon, new ship and it doesn't go to Cozumel.

It really depends. What do you like to do? Do you like active excursions or just plopping on a beach to relax?

I love the Western Caribbean because I like snorkeling and tubing/ziplining/exploring ruins in addition to enjoying the beach.

Horizon.

Horizon. I've tried going to St. Kitts and St. Maartin, but a couple hurricanes decided otherwise.

Even though the Eastern Carib. itinerary is a pretty good one, I'd choose the the Magic out of Port Canaveral. We cruised on the Vista last year, and didn't care for it. Since the Horizon is a sister ship to the Vista, I have absolutely no desire to cruise on it. Port Canaveral is a much better port to sail from than Miami. The Breeze is our favorite ship, and our next cruise is on the Magic (sister ship to the Breeze). Since both San Juan and St. Maarten are still recovering from hurricane damage, there may be some places that are currently inaccessible until repairs are completed.

I would do the eight day. Going from Miami would also be a plus for me.

Horizon by a huge margin. Not just the ship but the itinerary

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Another vote for the Horizon ... that itinerary is the best by far. :)

Horizon. Bells and whistles. Love those islands.

Still, the other itinerary is also great. The Magic is a great ship too. Instead of this being an "either or" I would do one now and one later.

I've been to all of those ports except for St. Kitts, but I've been to the Western ports multiple times, so Horizon would win the itinerary category for me. A new port and 3 other ports I've been to once, or 1 port I've been to once and 3 ports I've been to many times. I will say Cozumel Plus is cool, because it has some excursions you wouldn't get to do on itineraries that don't stay as long in Cozumel.

As far as the ship itself, Horizon is a bit bigger and newer with some more bells and whistles. I've been on the Magic and loved it, but I'd love to try the brand new ship, so Horizon wins there too.

You didn't mention it, but the one factor that would make Magic win for me is price. If they are similar, I would take Horizon in a heartbeat and never look back. If Magic was a lot cheaper, I would go with that. If it's within a couple hundred dollars, I would probably end up on the Horizon, but if it was much more than that, my cheapness would probably take over and I'd be on the Magic.

We're partial to the Eastern Carib. Love St. Martin - we spend the day at Club Orient (Club O) - not just Orient Beach. You don't say when you're going but parts of St. Martin is open for business. Club O will rent you a chaise & 2 umbrellas for about $20. Don't know if either of the restaurants have reopened. You can check out Club Orient on Facebook. Grand Turk is great. Just get off of the boat, through the cruise terminal and you're on the beach with free chaises and umbrellas.

We're partial to the Eastern Carib. Love St. Martin - we spend the day at Club Orient (Club O) - not just Orient Beach. You don't say when you're going but parts of St. Martin is open for business. Club O will rent you a chaise & 2 umbrellas for about $20. Don't know if either of the restaurants have reopened. You can check out Club Orient on Facebook. Grand Turk is great. Just get off of the boat, through the cruise terminal and you're on the beach with free chaises and umbrellas.

Unless there has been a massive amount of construction along Orient Beach within the last two or three months, I don't think there are any bars, restaurants or restrooms along the beach yet.

I like the beaches on eastern better. I don’t like St. Kitts too much, but the black sand beach is a cool thing to do. Another thing we did was go to Nevis from St. Kitts once, but not sure if hurricane hit it!

Horizon all day. Love the Magic, but that is one of our least favorite itineraries outside of Cozumel.

Easily Horizon for me. Newer ship, one more day, and ports I want to go to. Sailing out of New Orleans and Galveston most of our cruises are to those western ports.