Eastern or Western

[lucygoosey]

Which do you prefer and why?:rolleyes:

[Sheffie]

That is like asking me which one of my grandchildren do I like the best! I like them both! The Western has GC, which has Stingray City!; Cozumel, (which hopefully will have great snorkeling again soon) and the Mayan Ruins. The Eastern has such pretty islands! and good snorkeling.

 

Have done both. Can't choose! Maybe that is why we are doing the Southern next time!

[Keith1010]

I like the Western better than the Eastern, particularly if it includes Grand Cayman. I find Grand Cayman to be a nice Island with nice nice activities to do along with good shopping. I also just like walking around Cozumel and usually these itineraries include Key West which is enjoyable as well. I do not care for Jamaica and St Marteen which you wiill find on the Eastern itineraries. Just my opinion.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have cruised both quite a number of times, but if I had my choice - Western.

 

Love Grand Cayman, Cozumel - hope they get back on their feet> Also like the other poster said - itineraries that have Key West on them.

[geoherb]

... I do not care for Jamaica and St Marteen which you wiill find on the Eastern itineraries.

I've only seen Jamaica on the western itineraries. We avoided doing another western Caribbean cruise for 14 years because we never wanted to go back there. Finally, we took our second western Caribbean cruise in 2003 on the Grand Princess. We booked it because it was not scheduled to go to Jamaica. The ironic part is that we ended up stopping in Montego Bay to let a sick passenger off. Seeing Montego Bay at night from the safety of our ship was nice--and is as close as I ever want to get to Jamaica again.

 

We just got back from our fifth eastern Caribbean cruise--10 wonderful days on the Maasdam. This year we decided to stay on the ship most of the day when it was docked in St. Thomas. We only walked a few blocks from the dock to buy some things. Last year we stayed on the ship in St. Martin.

[Roz]

Just got back from a 10-day Eastern...did a 7-day Eastern last year. Liked every port except for St. Thomas. This time I took the ferry over to St. John, which is a beautiful island.

 

Roz

[spongerob]

My preference would be eastern. Grand Cayman is getting overcrowded and report of six or seven ships in port at the same time have been common lately. It's not a big enough place for that many people, and with the tendering, there have been many complaints about long waits to get ashore and back to the ship. Cozumel also requires tendering.

 

Having been on both, eastern cruises seem a little more laid back and relaxed, while western cruises attract more families and partiers, some of whom seem to book their cruises only to purchase copious quantities of liquor. I don't go home empty-handed, either. :)