Western or Eastern Caribbean

[FloridaKitty15]

I'm trying to decide if I should go to the western or eastern caribben out of miami on jewel.. On your guys opinion which is the best and why?

[howard6933]

Having been on many, many Caribbean cruises, we definitely prefer the Eastern itinerary. The Western includes Roatan which is really not much at all. Grand Cayman is OK, but if you're a shopper, there aren't very many bargains there especially due to the fact that their money is worth more than ours......I believe it's one Cayman dollar to $1.25 US. :mad: Ocho Rios is a typically poor Jamaican town with the only really inetersting thing is going to Duns River Falls. Other than that, it's a drag. :( In the Eastern you go to San Juan and the nice thing is that you get there around noon and stay until 8PM. At least if you do any tours etc. it will be in the daytime. We haven't been to Antigua is a few years, so I really can't comment about that island.

St. Thomas of course, is a shopper's paradise, so if that's your thing you'll be in shopper's heaven. There are also a lot of wonderful beaches in St Thomas and they usually have a shore excursion to St John, where Trunk Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. ;) There is also Magen's Bay, another beautiful beach, and also Cokie Beach is good. So, in my humble opinion, East beats West. We have the Jewel booked for the Eastern in november. :cool:

[electricron]

The only advantage Western Caribbean cruises have over Eastern Caribbean cruises are Mayan ruins. If you are a history buff, it could make a difference.

Otherwise, they're pretty much the same, lots of beaches and shops. After all, an island resort is like all other island resorts.

In fact, take the beaches and sun out, a Caribbean cruise is much the same as an Alaskan cruise. You'll see basically the same shops and restaurants in every port. The tourism industry is much the same all over the world.

 

What's different are the type of tours availalbe, and that depends upon the history and basic economy and geology of each port.

[FloridaKitty15]

Thanks guys for info..

Yes I'm much of a shopper so is hubby....

I might go in april or wait until november...

[cruiserssandr]

Roatan is a beautiful island once you get out past the port area. We had a blast last year in Belize where we went cave tubing. We didn't shop at all in Grand Cayman but went swimming with the sting rays. We are doing eastern in 3 weeks and as of today still don't have any excursions picked. I guess it's a matter of personal choice.

[Rumncoke]

If you want a really general description of Eastern vs. Western, here's my take:

 

Eastern is more for shopping, Western is more water/beaches. However, both can be found at both. We're water people and enjoy both itineraries equally because we've been to both and have learned where to find what we want.

 

There is so much history all throughout the Caribbean, whether it's Mayan history (Western), discovery/piracy/treasure, slavery/plantation (throughout), if that's one's interests.

 

BTW, Roatan is gorgeous once you get outside the pier area. The snorkeling/diving is wonderful here. Unfortunately, the pier area seems to be very intimidating to first timers (and second/third) just because of the way it is (fencing, etc.). It's such a small area to get everybody to their excursion buses (inside the fence) and the rest to where they want to go (inside or outside of the fence). And, the locals are kind of hovering around the gate to offer cabs, etc., just like any other island, but the space is so limited. Sadly, I've seen alot of people just go back to the ship because of this. This island is a jewel waiting to be polished, although the definition of polishing is as diverse as the demographic on any cruise.

 

 

It's all an adventure, isn't it?

[Tatka]

IMHO Eastern islands are more beautiful.. western are too flat.