Western vs. Eastern Itinerary (which one?)

[smuggs]

OK....so, I'm narrowing my choices. For the 5 of us in my family (2 adults and 3 kids (9,7,3)), I am looking at the

 

- Dream for 10/30 Western Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, Costa Maya)

- Valor for 10/31 Western Caribbean (Grand Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya)

- Liberty for 10/30 Eastern Caribbean (Nassau, St. Thomas, San Jaun, Grand Turk)

 

If we take the Dream, we will squeeze into a single cabin for 5 that has 2 baths; If we take one of the other two ships, we would stay in 2 connecting cabins. It would cost about $300 more (give/take) for the 2 cabin approach, so the $$ aren't a real issue. I'm thinking, which ship and itinerary will we enjoy the most. As for excursions, we're looking for a mix of "adventure" and "relaxation". Given that we will have a 3 year old, we know that there will be certain excursions that we will not be able to take our littlest one on. We're OK with that, so long as we can create a nice balance of exploring, learning, and having fun while also spending time with the entire family.

[MamaParrotHead]

OK....so, I'm narrowing my choices. For the 5 of us in my family (2 adults and 3 kids (9,7,3)), I am looking at the

 

- Dream for 10/30 Western Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, Costa Maya)

- Valor for 10/31 Western Caribbean (Grand Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, Costa Maya)

- Liberty for 10/30 Eastern Caribbean (Nassau, St. Thomas, San Jaun, Grand Turk)

 

If we take the Dream, we will squeeze into a single cabin for 5 that has 2 baths; If we take one of the other two ships, we would stay in 2 connecting cabins. It would cost about $300 more (give/take) for the 2 cabin approach, so the $$ aren't a real issue. I'm thinking, which ship and itinerary will we enjoy the most. As for excursions, we're looking for a mix of "adventure" and "relaxation". Given that we will have a 3 year old, we know that there will be certain excursions that we will not be able to take our littlest one on. We're OK with that, so long as we can create a nice balance of exploring, learning, and having fun while also spending time with the entire family.

 

First of all, you WILL end of being grateful for the 2 cabin plan. We had it with our kids and it was WONDERFUL to be able to stretch out and let everyone have their space in the evenings before bed and the mornings when the last thing anyone who isn't a "morning glory" wants is to have that many people underfoot in a space the size of a cabin. Plus having the extra bathroom/shower for everyone to use while getting cleaned up was a plus, not to mention the extra TV for the little bit of downtime that we did have in the cabin.

 

We did the Western on the Glory with kids aged 4, 6, 10 and 15 (same itinerary as the Dream you're considering). GC was OK, Coz was great (we went to Chankanaab), Roatan was great (did Tabayana Beach through the ship), Belize was one of those ports (secondly only to Jamaica) that I won't be in a rush to go back to.

 

We just booked the Liberty on a similar route as you have your eye on, the only exception being that we're headed to Half Moon Cay rather than Nassau. I'd hit a resort with a daypass in Nassau, we're heading to St. John when we port in St. Thomas (we've been there once and it is very nice, clean, safe with lots to do and see), San Juan we're going to explore the forts and do the free trolley and do some shopping, Grand Turk is a total beach day for us (as the word is that there's really not much to do or see, but the beach is great).

 

The other thing that may be a factor is the tendering issue. Grand Cayman isn't a long tender, but the process is still kind of a pain. Belize is a TOTAL pain and a LONG ride into Belize City. Where as the only tendering on the other route is Half Moon Cay.

 

For me, our Western route was really structured and busy. This next one we're looking forward to a little more laid back style, as other than St. Thomas/St. John, we're really not on a schedule to meet tours or anything. When you're dealing with getting up early for excursions, being active and in the sun and ocean all day, and some later nights when they want to go to Camp for a bit, it's exhausting for everyone, LOL.

 

 

Good luck deciding!

[starcat]

I would recommend the eastern over the western itineraries. If you haven't been to St. John, it is nice to take a boat there from St. Thomas, you can get an excursion to Trunk Bay Beach in St. john which is one of the most beutiful beaches in the world. At Grand Turk there is a really nice Margarittavile right where the ship docks. It has several swimming pools, restaurant, swim up bar etc.

[smuggs]

...I just realized that I was slightly wrong on the Valor itinerary....it actually goes to Roatan rather than Costa Maya. I wish this one left on 10/30 rather than 10/31 just so we could settle in on the ship before halloween activities.

 

.....(original post - with corrected itinerary below)....

OK....so, I'm narrowing my choices. For the 5 of us in my family (2 adults and 3 kids (9,7,3)), I am looking at the

 

- Dream for 10/30 Western Caribbean (Belize, Roatan, Cozumel, Costa Maya)

- Valor for 10/31 Western Caribbean (Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel)

- Liberty for 10/30 Eastern Caribbean (Nassau, St. Thomas, San Jaun, Grand Turk)

 

If we take the Dream, we will squeeze into a single cabin for 5 that has 2 baths; If we take one of the other two ships, we would stay in 2 connecting cabins. It would cost about $300 more (give/take) for the 2 cabin approach, so the $$ aren't a real issue. I'm thinking, which ship and itinerary will we enjoy the most. As for excursions, we're looking for a mix of "adventure" and "relaxation". Given that we will have a 3 year old, we know that there will be certain excursions that we will not be able to take our littlest one on. We're OK with that, so long as we can create a nice balance of exploring, learning, and having fun while also spending time with the entire family.

[tbjl24]

My vote would be the Liberty with 2 cabins. Even better would be if you can get the same itinerary that replaces Nassau with Half Moon Cay.

 

HMC is soooooo much better!!!! Very relaxing beach day and absolute paradise!

 

The other ports are pretty sweet. I like to think the Eastern Carib tends to be more kid friendly.

 

Mexico always seems to be a drink fest!(Not there is anything wrong with that!)

[hlb76]

I have been to a few places on your list heading out to a few more this week. (Check out my sig)

 

I think with the 3 year old you might find some places better than other for there enjoyment. Last thing you want to go is stress about what there is for them to do or there safety.

I suggest Liberty. San juan you can run around the Forts. Grand turk sit at the beach or in the pool. St Thomas and Nassua offer many beach stops as well as other thing.

[smuggs]

i was just scanning thru the excursions and it does seem that there are some ones that we can do with the 3 year old at Cozumel, Roatan, Grand Cayman, and Costa Maya...Belize seems to be the only real outlier....perhaps if we go Western, we could make that our snorkling day. I'm also thinking about educational components since we'll be taking the kids out of school for a couple days to do this trip (along with another several days in Feburary for our annual ski trip)

 

Being from South Jersey, a beach day isn't all that exciting....we do day trips and long weekends at the shore often enough (granted, it's different in the islands), so I'm kind of not leaning toward doing beach days, except for maybe one.

 

So, I think I now have myself talked into a Western Caribbean....leaving us with the choice for those dates on the Valor or the Dream. Benefits of the Valor that I see are that for about the same price I get 2 OV connecting cabins...Benefit of the Dream would be newer ship with really cool water slides and the waterworks that we could take the little guy into (assuming he's graduated potty training, of course :D)