Eastern Caribbean or Western Caribbean Cruise??

[Charles48]

We are hoping to take 11 of our family members including us on a family cruise in February of 2020. We are from Iowa, so will want a warm weather location and thinking 7 days. We will have four of us that are late 60s and early 70s, four who are mid 30s to mid 40s, two who are early 20s and a 1 1/2 year old baby. We are not familiar with the Caribbean, so wanted opinions of which location might be best. Princess has cruises to both areas in Feb. of 2020. Four of us are cruising on the Royal to the Mexican riviera next month, so that's why we're thinking the Caribbean for next February. Thanks for any ideas!

[suekel]

Both have their strong points.  I love Cozumel, don't really like Belize.  I love St Maartan, St. Thomas is fun but not as walkable.  Southern is the best IMHO but if I had to choose between the 2, I would do Eastern.  Where in Iowa?  I live in Grimes.  

[Charles48]

Waterloo!!

[suekel]

I used to manage the Waldenbooks up there, my son is in CF.  You'll enjoy either cruise.  I did the Mexican Riviera in January on the Grand and it was the best cruise ever.  We're doing the Panama Canal next January.  I love cruising, especially during an Iowa winter!  

[satxdiver]

A western 7 day cruise out of PE would include Cozumel with Belize, Roatan, or Caymans.  Belize is a tender port and the tender ride is ~20 minutes or more.  The ship has to set a good distance from the port due to low water.  It has its good points (Mayan ruins, cave tubing) and not so good points (small port area with a few shops).  Roatan is a port created by Carnival with a really nice beach area, few shops and restaurants/bars.  There is more beyond the port (Mahogany Port) such as beaches, snorkeling, etc.  Only two ships can get into port at the same time.   Cayman is also a tender port but the tender ride is much shorter as the ships can get closer.  It is a very flat island with shops, restaurants etc and is safe.  Cozumel is an island off the Yucatan.   There can be 8 ships in port with 20,000+ pax so be prepared for crowds.  It is a beach paradise which is mostly all that is available.  There is a town area with shops, restaurants and bars.  There are quite a few things for pax like swimming with porpoises.  

[patrickmoran]

Western

[CATGUY7]

I usually start researching by checking out the shore excursions that the ship offers for each port.  That gives me a broad idea of things to do in each poet.  Then I check out the Ports of Call on CC, which offers tons of helpful information.  If you haven’t already, It might help you make a decision for yours too.  

[Potstech]

Getting that many people to agree on an itinerary might be difficult.  Get some i formation on several and get a vote.  Western ones are pretty port intensive while Eastern have a few more sea days.  Cost may also affect your choices.  We prefer Eastern.

[c-boy]

11 hours ago, Charles48 said:

Waterloo!!

 Briliiant !

[paradiselivin1]

Western but to each his own. Grand Cayman is one of our favorite ports. 

[tourismtessy]

We have sailed both and are getting ready to do a 14 day Eastern/Western Caribbean (a 7 day Eastern and 7 day Western all in on trip).  We definitely prefer the Eastern Caribbean.  St Maarten is a lovely port that you can walk very easily.  The beach right next to the port is fabulous and beautiful.  Also shops and restaurants along the beach.  You don't have as much of the street hagglers in the Eastern Caribbean.  When we do the Western Caribbean we pretty much stay on the ship except in Grand Cayman. We love Grand Cayman.  You can't go wrong with either itinerary.  Im not sure if your Western Caribbean choice includes Jamaica but would probably stay onboard there.  Very aggressive street hagglers make for an unpleasant shore experience. 

[skynight]

 

There are two different Western Itineraries. One has stops in Princess Cays, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel with 2 sea days. Two of these, Princess Cays, Grand Cayman are tender ports. The other has itinerary has stops at Grand Cayman, Roatan, Belize City and Cozumel with Belize a long tender ride and Grand Cayman a tender ride. Roatan is basically a nice beach, but the ship channel is narrow. Sometimes ships can not enter the channel due to high winds and the port is missed. Tender ports can also be missed due to high winds making it difficult to operate the tenders.

The ports:

While tours are available Princess Cays and Roatan they are basically a beach day the family can enjoy.

There is little to do in Belize City, you would have to book tours. The tender ride in Belize is pretty long.

Ocho Rios has lots of tours and there is a beach at the end of the pier. The town isn't much, just a marketplace. Not my favorite port of call.

Cozumel has lots to explore. 

Grand Cayman has great beaches and a small town.

 

Eastern Caribbean

This includes Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten plus 3 sea days. I think this is the better itinerary, especially with a group of 11. Both St. Thomas and St. Maarten have lots of beaches and tours, but they also have extensive downtown areas with lots of shopping. It's easy to get on and off, no tenders. In St. Thomas a mall is right at the Havensight pier and it's a short taxi ride to the downtown area. Taxis are also available to take to on tours or to beaches. In St. Maarten it isn't too difficult to walk downtown, but taxis and tours are available to take you there as well to other island attractions.

[MauiLvrs]

Unless it is a SCUBA trip and/or you really want to go to Grand Cayman or Central America .... Eastern 

While it is on the Caribbean Sea ... The western really doesn't look or feel like the Caribbean.

[BarbinMich]

12 hours ago, suekel said:

Both have their strong points.  I love Cozumel, don't really like Belize.  I love St Maartan, St. Thomas is fun but not as walkable.  Southern is the best IMHO but if I had to choose between the 2, I would do Eastern. . . .

I tend to agree since this is your first Caribbean cruise.  We've done a lot of cruises down there, more to the eastern than western.  Prefer the southern for it's variety.  Personally I don't like Cozumel as shopping seems to be the main thing at that port unless you take a ferry to mainland Mexico.  But really liked our two stops at Belize because of the Mayan ruins and the opportunity to see tropical birds.  We're not beach people so probably are atypical of the usual visitor.  The island on which St. Maarten sits actually has two sides:  Dutch (St. Maarten) and French (St. Martin).  Almost all American ships dock/drop anchor at St. Maarten and offer excursions to St. Martin.  St. Maarten has a beautiful large white sand beach not far from the dock and fronts the town of Phillipsburg which is very flat so quite walkable.  St. Thomas is flat near the harbor, but at Havensight (where most ships dock) the land side rises steeply and there's a Skyride takes folks up to the top for wonderful views. 

[Tak8]

I'd also vote for Eastern.  I prefer the beaches on the Eastern route. I'd go Southern first, but I know that wasn't an option.  

[Thrak]

15 hours ago, Charles48 said:

Four of us are cruising on the Royal to the Mexican riviera next month, so that's why we're thinking the Caribbean for next February. Thanks for any ideas!

 

If any of the others in your group have never sailed with Princess before be sure to use the "Refer A Friend" option offered by Princess. Both you and they will receive $25 on board credit for the referral. If multiple people in the group have never sailed with Princess refer each of them individually and receive $25 for each referral while each of those you refer will also receive $25. Use the link above to go to the Princess site to check it out.

 

Note: You must do the referral before the newbies book with Princess.

[Charles48]

Thanks for all of your great opinions!

Suekel, being from the Des Moines area, maybe you could suggest who we could use to park our car next month when we are taking that Mexican Riviera cruise and flying out of Des Moines. We know there are lots that cost less to park at for a week than at the airport. Can you offer any help there?  Thanks so much, again!!!

[suekel]

3 minutes ago, Charles48 said:

Thanks for all of your great opinions!

Suekel, being from the Des Moines area, maybe you could suggest who we could use to park our car next month when we are taking that Mexican Riviera cruise and flying out of Des Moines. We know there are lots that cost less to park at for a week than at the airport. Can you offer any help there?  Thanks so much, again!!!

We always park at Keck Parking.  Right across the street from the airport, $7.00 a day and you can reserve a spot online.  Shuttle runs 24 hours.  There is a Jet too which you may find a Groupon for but we prefer Keck.

[turquoisesea]

I would agree that the southern route is the best.  This year I noticed the southern route was a 10 day cruise but we have done it twice as a 7 day.  The eastern route is much nicer imo than western.  Routan was a nothing port and I do not like any port in Mexico at all.  On the east there are usually only 3 stops- St Thomas, St Martin and the private island.  We will be doing this route for at least the 10th+ time in May.  I never tire of it.  I am anxious to see how they have recovered from the hurricanes in 2017. 

[nattie]

On 3/25/2019 at 11:27 AM, tourismtessy said:

We have sailed both and are getting ready to do a 14 day Eastern/Western Caribbean (a 7 day Eastern and 7 day Western all in on trip).  We definitely prefer the Eastern Caribbean.  St Maarten is a lovely port that you can walk very easily.  The beach right next to the port is fabulous and beautiful.  Also shops and restaurants along the beach.  You don't have as much of the street hagglers in the Eastern Caribbean.  When we do the Western Caribbean we pretty much stay on the ship except in Grand Cayman. We love Grand Cayman.  You can't go wrong with either itinerary.  Im not sure if your Western Caribbean choice includes Jamaica but would probably stay onboard there.  Very aggressive street hagglers make for an unpleasant shore experience. 

When was last time you did Eastern Caribbean? Not a snark. I used to LOVE St. Maarten, but we just did Eastern/Western combo over the holidays and I found Eastern part of it quite depressing. St. Maarten is a ghost of its former self, especially French side. Orient Beach is completely gone... Dutch side looked more cleaned up but still very battered as you go away from beginning of the strip.

For first time Caribbean cruiser, do Western IMHO. I personally love Belize, but to each its own. I believe Princess has great shore excursion to private island in Belize that takes you from ship directly there skipping tender to shore.

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, turquoisesea said:

I would agree that the southern route is the best.  This year I noticed the southern route was a 10 day cruise but we have done it twice as a 7 day.  The eastern route is much nicer imo than western.  Routan was a nothing port and I do not like any port in Mexico at all.  On the east there are usually only 3 stops- St Thomas, St Martin and the private island.  We will be doing this route for at least the 10th+ time in May.  I never tire of it.  I am anxious to see how they have recovered from the hurricanes in 2017. 

the limited part we saw at this time last year ... St Thomas was doing much better than Sint Maarten ( the Dutch side ) as noted above ... we did not go to the French side on this trip

 

[tourismtessy]

2 hours ago, nattie said:

When was last time you did Eastern Caribbean? Not a snark. I used to LOVE St. Maarten, but we just did Eastern/Western combo over the holidays and I found Eastern part of it quite depressing. St. Maarten is a ghost of its former self, especially French side. Orient Beach is completely gone... Dutch side looked more cleaned up but still very battered as you go away from beginning of the strip.

For first time Caribbean cruiser, do Western IMHO. I personally love Belize, but to each its own. I believe Princess has great shore excursion to private island in Belize that takes you from ship directly there skipping tender to shore.

Its actually been quite a few years since we have done the Eastern Caribbean (definitely before the hurricane).  I'm sad to hear your report.  We have been to Belize and did a shore excursion through the ship to a private Cay for the day.  It was quite lovely.  We're just not fans of Jamaica and Cozumel.

[tobyt]

I am sad to say I agree St. Martin French side looks like a war passed through. We love the island and were happy to be there again this month but it is a slow sad recovery process. St. Thomas looked great by comparison. Eastern has always been our preference but now post storm I would go strictly on price.

if you end up in Jamaica please read the boards and consider your group before getting off. It is a port I would gladly never go to again! Love the Southern route but it is a longer time commitment and until balancing work with life and cruises happen 7 days is the usual winter time option!

[CruiseVA]

There are at least two different itineraries for the Western Caribbean cruises. You should look at the options for the various ports for Eastern/Western/and other(Southern) cruises. Then I'd look at the various port sections in Cruise Critic. We did the Southern ones last Spring, and Western last year - both were great for different reasons. We're most likely going to do the Eastern next spring, again, for different reasons. We've done them all on numerous occasions over the years, but, the hurricane's have changed the destinations lately.

Best of luck in the decision making process, in the end you will win (and maybe lose - if you have anyone in  your group that researches travel).

Still a cruise to anywhere is awesome!

[Colo Cruiser]

Eastern!