Carribbean - Western vs. Eastern?

[lucky1ns]

What are your thoughts? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Fouremco]

My personal preference is Eastern, but you need to take a look at all of the ports and what they have to offer, and consider what you like to do, before choosing.

[TFLG]

If you have not done either you can't go wrong. Both are great the first few times. Then you may start to get bored. There are different stops you can make on both so it's hard to say what my favorite would be, but I think I prefer more of the stops on the western.

[Perky1]

I tend to like Eastern better, but now that they Celebrity seems to have dropped Jamaica and added another Mexican port I may go western again. They need to start mixing some of the islands up to come up with some new Itineraries...

[OCruisers]

We use to like Eastern much better ... but now rather enjoy doing a Western. :D:D

[karena1]

We love them both. We look at the itin, we want the most port time possible as we are beach people. So I look at price/itin and then decide which way to go.We have been to all the island (for the most part) many times. So we just look at port times. Although I will say this. we are going to belize this Dec for the first time and CANNOT find a decent beach to go to. All the good beaches you have to take excursions or water taxi and you don't get much of a day. Might me our first visit there and we might not get off the ship since I cannot find anything that works.

[Ozzmund]

Our preference has been 1. Southern, 2. Western and 3 Eastern.

Great snorkeling stops on the Western and Southern.

If you are shopper, look at the Eastern.

 

No bad choices here, enjoy.

[keesar]

I have found that there have been only 3 stops on some of the Eastern and one of the stops is San Juan which is sometimes bypassed or with a late arrival. We just came back from a 4 port Western and loved it.

[39august]

Yes, usually more port time on the western itineraries for 7 nights.

[wombatjoey]

NO to Mexico and No to Jamaica....

 

Southern Carib is best.

[miched]

We like the Eastern and Southern because the ports have more shopping choices and nicer towns. They also have nice beaches. It is nice to look into the stores but we stopped buying stuff years ago because we found that the prices aren’t really that much of a bargain or deal. You can save a few dollars on liquor but found that the saving sometimes isn’t worth the hassle of carting off the ship.

 

Jamaica isn’t really that bad now that RCCL has developed its own “town/shopping” area. The rest of the island is and can be rather nasty but many islands in the Caribbean can be the same if you venture too far away from the beaten track.

 

It depends on what you are after. You need to look at what tours or excursions are offered. Or you can do like we now do and that is to just get off the ship, walk around, have a drink at a bar and then go back on board to enjoy the ship. Not caring where it goes if the price suits us.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Marelaine]

My first choice would be Southern, with Eastern as second choice. You might want to check the itineraries to see if the ship is supposed to dock or tender at each port. It's much easier to come and go from/to the ship if it's docked.

[katysuerx]

I think it really depends on what you are interested in...

 

My preference: 1. Southern 2. Western 3. Eastern

 

Although with San Juan and St. Thomas / USVI, your cell phone will work (if you’re from the US) without additional fees or upgrade so that is a pretty nice bonus.

 

My overall suggestion is: Pick the itinerary that fits your schedule and maybe is a better price/deal. It’s a cruise and everything is pretty fantastic.

 

Bon voyage!

 

 

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[cltnccruisers]

I tend to like Eastern better, but now that they Celebrity seems to have dropped Jamaica and added another Mexican port I may go western again. They need to start mixing some of the islands up to come up with some new Itineraries...

 

I hadn't heard that. We have always ignored itineraries with Jamaica and/or Haiti - the reasons go back to the 1970s. If they've dropped them we'll probably give the western a try in a few years. Europe is in our future while I'm still working but once we're both retired the Caribbean will probably become a staple.

[Jeremiah1212]

I think the Eastern has better scenery since I prefer the mountains and lush green hills. Western tends to have a little more lively port stops. We just did the San Juan/St. Maarten/St. Thomas route. I like the sea days and with that route you have an extra 1/2 day at sea. We don't get off the ship in Jamaica and probably will give Cozumel a break next time we stop there. The days at port with a nearly empty ship are very nice!

[Flafun888]

I don't want to derail the thread topic, but I had to chime in on Jamaica. I heard so many horrible things that I was sure I wouldn't get off the ship when I visited last year.

 

Would have been the biggest mistake ever. We found a wonderful private tour company with hundreds of glowing reviews on CC and Trip advisor. We visited blue hole and scotchies....my DH considers it the best port stop experience of all the cruises we took. We have wonderful memories of that day.

 

For anyone in reasonably good health/fitness looking for something beyond shopping- specifically fun outdoor adventure in beautiful scenery, consider doing some prior research on CC or Trip Advisor, book a highly rated tour guide and take the plunge. We loved Jamaica. :cool::cool:

 

I would never venture out on my own in this port - there is a lot of crime, but with a trusted tour company, you'll be in great hands.

 

I think it's important that people hear the good things about this port stop too.

[OCruisers]

A Western seems to have more "Lively Fun" things to do! :D

:beer-toast:

[cruiser61262]

I have always tried to stay away from cruises to the Western Carribbean because the only port I liked was Grand Caymen. I really don't care for any of the Mexican ports. I was surprised to read the number of people who prefer the western. Maybe I missed something and should reconsider, but for now I like 1.) Southern 2.) Eastern 3.) Western

 

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[san diego spartan]

of the 2 Western. I agree Southern is the best

[Oville]

I think the Eastern has better scenery since I prefer the mountains and lush green hills. Western tends to have a little more lively port stops. We just did the San Juan/St. Maarten/St. Thomas route. I like the sea days and with that route you have an extra 1/2 day at sea. We don't get off the ship in Jamaica and probably will give Cozumel a break next time we stop there. The days at port with a nearly empty ship are very nice!

 

St Maarten really?

[Oville]

I think the Eastern has better scenery since I prefer the mountains and lush green hills. Western tends to have a little more lively port stops. We just did the San Juan/St. Maarten/St. Thomas route. I like the sea days and with that route you have an extra 1/2 day at sea. We don't get off the ship in Jamaica and probably will give Cozumel a break next time we stop there. The days at port with a nearly empty ship are very nice!

 

We were in St Thomas in early Feb, the hurricanes took their toll not only on the island but also on tourism.

[cltnccruisers]

St Maarten really?

 

If it's the spelling you are citing, Maarten is the Dutch side while Martin is the French side.

[miched]

If you do a cruise to Grand Cayman make sure that if you schedule a tour on your own that it is refundable. There is a very high chance that the port will be canceled because it is a tender port and water may be too rough.

 

Also happens occasionally at Cancun because it is too rough to dock at the pier.

 

Happy crusing 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[phoenix_dream]

I agree that southern is the absolute best, but between eastern and western I vote for western by a long shot. On our last cruise on Equinox two weeks ago, the eastern stopped at San Juan in the late afternoon, which I hate. We also did St. Kitts (nice) and St. Maarten, which used to be one of my favorites but I hated it this time - it is nowhere near as nice after the hurricane. That was it. Seas were very rough, but of course that could happen anywhere.

 

Western stopped at Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Key West which is definitely one of our favorites. It is true you can miss Grand Cayman. But don't think it happens a lot - we have sailed there on cruises maybe a dozen times and only missed it once. For the record, Puerto Rico was just skipped this week due to high seas (which is admittedly a rarity).

 

Some cruises have better eastern itineraries, so it really depends on which ship and which itinerary. But overall we have a solid vote for western.

[Saturngrl]

I prefer Western for several reasons. The primary reason is Mr. Sancho's Beach Club in Cozumel It's all-inclusive, has the best massages EVER, swim up pool bars, fabulous service and clean restrooms. The other ports are okay and I do like Labadee and CocoCay. There are smoother seas to sail in the Western Caribbean, versus out in the Atlantic to Eastern or Southern.