Western or Eastern route Caribbean on FOS

[donnam504]

Here's my dilemma...DH & I traveled the Western route 2 years ago on the Freedom.It was our 1st cruise & we had a wonderful time.We want to take our kids ages 16,12 &10.They saw our pics, heard our stories & are dying to go (prefer 2 cruise than a 2nd trip to Disney!) I have looked into Eastern itenarary & don't see as many excursion choices as Western.We are a beach family--not interested in shopping. Have read on the boards about the topless beaches,polluted beaches... On Western, we beached in Labadee,Caymans & Cozumel (in Ocho,walked to Margaritiville & back to ship). Concerned about Eastern route & "roughness" of seas (2 of 3 children had a little seasickness on a charter fishing trip in the Atlantic last summer-not far offshore). Have heard that Western route is a "smoother" sail. Also concerned about not visiting Cococay, from what I've read it seems that stop is cancelled frequently. Most likely would be travelling in May...Any thoughts from those who have travelled both routes would be greatly appreciated.

[cruizinmimi]

I recommend the Eastern side. I love the beaches at St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Lots of choices. Go to the Ports of Call board and do some research. Our grandson's favorite beach in St. Maarten is Orient Beach. Lots of fun things do in the water. His favorite is buggie boarding and surfing the waves. He has been going with us since he was little and he is now almost 14.

 

Good luck and have fun researching.

[donnam504]

Thanks for recommendation-do you book your Orient Beach through Royal or catch a cab to the beach...? Is Orient one of the beaches that has a topless area?

[cruizinmimi]

Yes, it is topless but at the other end. We go to Bikini Beach - the opposite end. We just get a cab and go over and we pay for our chairs and umbrella and they have a restaurant and bar right there. Also there are all kinds of toys; i.e, wave runners, boggie boards, snorkeling, parasailing and I think there was a trampoline out in the ocean.

[donnam504]

Can anyone compare their experiences regarding the "roughness" of the ocean (someone told me the Eastern route seems rougher because of proximity to the open Atlantic Ocean)

[Eng23]

Can anyone compare their experiences regarding the "roughness" of the ocean (someone told me the Eastern route seems rougher because of proximity to the open Atlantic Ocean)

I have done both routes on Freedom of the Seas. On the Western route our last night at sea was very rough between Cuba and Florida, 10-14 ft. swells and it was worse for the next departing cruise. Weather plays the biggest factor on the sea conditions, May should not be too bad in either direction. Hurricane season starts in June and usually any early season hurricanes develop in the western caribbean.

[north29]

I have done both a the western, and eastern we do not have children, so our choices will be different, the main thing is that the eastern has only three stops, but we like all the three stops for what ever you want. I love both of them, but our choice, would be, well, maybe the western. Weather can be rough most any time, you cannot even begin to predict it in the tropics, heck the Weather service cannot do a very good job either LOL. However, from my experience(off shore fisherman) May could be the best month of the year for seas, notice I said COULD.

Sorry, I do sound a little vague.

[vickykay]

We mainly do the Eastern - don't recall rough seas (we usually cruise first week in March) - I agree with a previous post - Orient Beach our favorite beach - just beautiful! Last year we went to La Sting (bout mid beach) - great food, chairs, umbrellas, restroom, etc,) You can easily do this on your own -take a cab from the port. We usually then take a cab back to town to shop near the end of the day, and then the water taxi back to the ship - very easy to do. In St. Thomas, Megan's bay is beautiful or you can go to St. John's - check out the port of call boards as to how to get there.

 

Enjoy!

[funfamilyof6]

Eastern may be better for you since you like the beaches, but the Western certainly has a better selection of excursions. Our kids would be bored with the Eastern....they love the water but hate sitting on the beach for any amount of time. We are all very fair and burn easily even with lots of sun lotion. We have to put it on every half hour even with the highest number.

 

The thing we like most about the Western is the extra port it has over the Eastern.

 

As far as weather goes....it all depends on the weather at the time of your sailing and where the storm is.

 

Whatever your decision, your kids will have a great time if they have never been on a cruise before. If you have any questions, please ask away.

 

We are trying to pick a RCCL cruise for this summer, but the Allure seems so big and expensive. In case you don't know, the one thing about doing the same ship more than once is that the main shows only change about every 10 years which is the only reason why we don't want to do the Freedom again. We want different shows. :)

[north29]

On the USA today travel section, that there is so little water on St Thomas, that cruise lines may have to eliminate it from tours. There is not enought water to wash dishes, or to flush toilets.

[ST-UK]

Just off the eastern . Fab ports and only one slight rough day, but not noticable.:)

[CaribbeanCrush]

I think western has more options for teens. I love the beach, but I also like some activity.

[katiel53]

I would do Eastern any day. In St Martin, Orient Beach is great. The most beautiful beach I have ever been to is when we went to St Thomas and took an excursion to St John. The water is so clear and there is a snorkeling area that has a trail with placards telling what fish are there.

 

Also, if you don't feel like going all the way to Orient, there is a small beach near the downtown area. I haven't gone there, but there are many people who do. Also, Maho Beach is where the large planes come in and they are just above your head. Neat experience!

[terpfan101]

I must be missing something about an extra port...but from my research and having just booked a western route on Oasis, it seems that the eastern itineraries go to Nassau, St Thomas, & St Maarten, while the western itineraries go to Labadee, Falmouth, and Cozumel...so both have three ports of call. Did western used to have one more?

[famofsix]

FOS also goes to Grand Cayman on the Western itinerary.

[momphoto]

We have done both east and west routes and actually had the most rough seas on the western route.

 

I am not a beach person but know many people who love St. Maarten for the beaches. We did visit Turtle Bay on St. John during a shore excursion at St. Thomas and it was beautiful...the most amazing snorkling and beautiful waters. Nassau has many beautiful beaches as well.

[SECdawg]

We have done both and our DS is now 16. He prefers western. There are 4 ports and only two days at sea. He likes that better. We are realy into water/beach/snorkeling. He still says that his favorite thing we have done so far is climing the falls in Ocho Rios. He also loves Chaukanaab in Cozumel because you can snorkel from the beach or just chill out inthe lounge chairs and eat nachos. We snorkeled and also did sting ray city in grand cayman. Labadee is a great relaxing beach day. DH and DS are doing the jet skis this year. When we did eastern we did turtle cove in St. Thomas which was just ok. Boat was extremely crowded. In St. Martin we did a sailboat that stopped to snorkel and then sailed down the coastline. Very relaxing and pretty. I am sure they will enjoy either cruise.

[kruzerci]

We have done both many times on various ships and I much prefer the Eastern.

 

Part of Orient Beach in St. Maarten is a nude beach, but there are barriers and signs separating the nude section from the section that most cruisers visit. It's a much prettier beach/landscape than anything you're going to find in the Western route in my opinion.

 

If you go to St. Thomas, we recommend Sapphire beach. It is smaller and less crowded, free entry, but they have bars, lounge chairs, kayaks, etc for a small fee.

 

There is no way to predict seas or weather for either route, they should be generally the same.

 

One huge positive for Western is Labadee, we absolutely love it, its like a little slice of paradise. We're doing Western this year to switch things up a little bit, since we haven't been to Jamaica and Grand Cayman since 2006, but we will go back to Eastern or Southern for a while after this trip.