Which do you prefer-Eastern or Western Caribbean?

[Thorsbuddy]

Have done both twice. Wife got sick on the first B2B so I decided to take her back again.

 

Eastern: St Maarten Maho beach. I am sure when I go back again I will get hit by one of those planes. Last time I was there I was blown into the water by a 747. We have a superb video of me tumbling down the beach into the water. Nearly broke my leg but it was such great fun.

 

Western: Ochos Rios (Climbed the falls 6 times on our own so much better and quicker) Not bothered about anything else there.

 

Quite a few places that I have not been too so only a limited view. Will have to sort that out in the future and we both so want to do the southern.

[Nothin' But Sun]

I am crushed! I booked my family on the Maringer Western Caribbean in December. Now I am hearing all the ports stink!! Grrrreeeeaaat. Looks like I'll be walking the plank on this one. Well lesson learned. My wife said she didn't want to do anything but stay on the ship all week anyway. Too bad I already booke Nachi Cocom Beach Break for Cozumel. At least we can drink a little. So next time I will do the Eastern. I would do the Southern but I've heard terrible things about Peurto Rico and the people. Thanks for the info guy/gals......I am sooo crushed...uggg feel my pain..;) :D

 

Don't worry. The Western is just fine. I actually like a bit of both but one outweighs the other only by a tiny bit. I have done 2 Eastern and going on our 2nd. Western. Really it's all about the floating resort anyways for us:)

[RevSmith]

Both...frankly just put me on a ship...I'll go anywhere.

[njmelis24]

I would prefer the eastern but as many have said I definitely love the southern route. When we were on AOS I had the best time of the whole cruise when we were in Antigua. We're going on our first western cruise next Sept but I have been to all the ports on regular vacatons so I don't really mind going back. I really don't care where we go, we just wanted to try LOS and I wanted to come back to RCCL!! :D

[LoveCruisin4Fun]

i love the eastern caribbean ports, especially st marteen

[glgolfer]

Eastern - San Juan for the Butterfly People and the La Malorquina restaurant.

 

St Thomas to restock our supply of good single malt whisky.

 

St Maarten - Guavabery Liquor. Sorry Everyting Cool closed

 

Western - Grand Cayman - Shopping at Bernard K. Passman's

 

Cozumel - Mini golf http://www.czmgolf.com/ and a massage at Barefoot Sally's http://www.barefootincozumel.com/. Also Tulum ruins.

 

Jamaica - Firsttimers - Dunns River Falls.

 

Costa Maya - Kohunlich Ruins.

 

Belize - The Jade Museum on the street behind/outside the tourist trap area.

[floridawannabe]

I am crushed! I booked my family on the Maringer Western Caribbean in December. Now I am hearing all the ports stink!! Grrrreeeeaaat. Looks like I'll be walking the plank on this one. Well lesson learned. My wife said she didn't want to do anything but stay on the ship all week anyway. Too bad I already booke Nachi Cocom Beach Break for Cozumel. At least we can drink a little. So next time I will do the Eastern. I would do the Southern but I've heard terrible things about Peurto Rico and the people. Thanks for the info guy/gals......I am sooo crushed...uggg feel my pain..;) :D

 

Granted, I've only been on the Western route but we really enjoyed the Mariner's Western trip this past summer. Loved Labadee, more beautiful than we thought. We had never been to Grand Cayman so we were just touristy, but we liked it and we didn't hear anything negative about it. Our first trip to Cozumel was gray and rainy and left a bad taste in my mouth. However, this past trip was sunny and bright and with the beautiful water, I can see why people like it. Didn't care for Ocho Rios that much.

 

Have fun, very jealous as it may be a while before our next cruise.

[Lisichka]

My first pick would have been Southern. But seeing that was never an option, I chose Eastern.

 

Western:

Loved Jamaica

Like Cozumel

Cayman Islands I did not care for at all

Labadee was so-so

 

Eastern:

Absolutely love St. Johns

St Thomas is good

St Maarten is fun

Puerto Rico-may as well stay on the ship

Bahamas is ok

[VAHockeymom]

Grand Cayman is my absolute favorite port hands down. But also loved Cozumel (best snorkeling) and Belize, etc etc etc. The eastern route was awesome too. I'm doing the southern next year and so far I'm thinking that I don't really care where I go as long as I'm cruising!!!!:D :)

[shipknotshore]

We've done both and don't really have any complaints with either. I believe it really depends on what you are going to do while in port...an excursion that you've pre-booked, a leisure day on a beach, shopping, etc. ie: Grand Cayman: the 1st time we booked an excursion to go snorkeling and see the sting rays and had a great time, 2nd time we just took a cab and went to see a couple of sights and shopped - not nearly as enjoyable as the 1st time there.

 

I think planning in advance is really the best way I've found to have a more relaxed time...I don't like arriving in a port and having no clue what there is to do. Planning is really fun if you're using cruise critic, everyone is so helpful and members always have great tips on excursions, etc.

 

Have fun!!!

[CarolinaGirl]

I am crushed! I booked my family on the Maringer Western Caribbean in December. Now I am hearing all the ports stink!! Grrrreeeeaaat. Looks like I'll be walking the plank on this one. Well lesson learned.I would do the Southern but I've heard terrible things about Peurto Rico and the people.

 

 

Western itinerary is great. Don't feel bad about choosing this one. You will have a great time on the Mariner. Eastern itinerary is also great, a very different experience. Don't be afraid of the Southern itinerary. We cruised from PR a couple of years ago, and I can tell you firsthand that the most rude and obnoxious people onboard the ship were from the mainland US -- not the Puerto Ricans!

[jillyfish]

All of our friends and relatives always ask us "why do you always go to the same places" ....... St. Thomas, St. Maarten and with any luck, a private beach.

Last March we thought we would try something different and went from Fort Lauderdale on an 8 day to Southern Caribbean, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and St. Maarten, we really weren't impressed with St. Lucia or St. Kitts. We have also been to the Western, once on purpose and once beacuse Hurricane Jeanne kept us from going East.

St. Maarten and any cruise lines private beach is still our favorite. So, back to "the same 'ol places" for us!! ;)

[CLQ]

We did enjoy Eastern slightly more than Western. But we would do Western again tomorrow. We basically don't care where the ship is going. Just let us get on.

[cruiserbryce]

the western carib cruise we just did was our favorite one yet. We loved the ports and the ship was great (Liberty). If I had to choose between the 2 for a cruise it would be tough, but I think I would do western again

[Sky616]

We really enjoyed the southern route with Aruba and Curacao on Adventure of the Seas which also took you to St. Thomas and St. Maarten.:)

[MikeNJ1109]

On any given 7 day cruise, give us one day in Aruba, one day in either Curacao or St. Thomas, and the rest of the days at sea...every other port is extraneous "Been there, Done That".

Michael & Silke

[Luv2cruise95]

[quote name='cukoobananas']I am crushed! I booked my family on the Maringer Western Caribbean in December. Now I am hearing all the ports stink!! Grrrreeeeaaat. Looks like I'll be walking the plank on this one. Well lesson learned. My wife said she didn't want to do anything but stay on the ship all week anyway. Too bad I already booke Nachi Cocom Beach Break for Cozumel. At least we can drink a little. So next time I will do the Eastern. I would do the Southern but I've heard terrible things about Peurto Rico and the people. Thanks for the info guy/gals......I am sooo crushed...uggg feel my pain..;) :D[/QUOTE]
Oh don't feel bad. We've done both and loved them both. You can't go wrong being on the Mariner anyway. In Ocho Rios we climbed Dunn's River Falls which was awesome....exhilarating and scary at the same time....definitely can't do that one with little ones but if your children are older......a lot of fun....our daughter was 10 I believe when we did it.

[minnie00]

[COLOR=purple]We did Princess Western last year and RCCL Eastern this year. I liked the ports of the Eastern better but we have booked the RCCL Western for next year. We skipped doing and beach stuff on the Eastern. We live in Phoenix and after a long hot summer by the pool we are more interested in seeing sights and shopping than a beach day. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Eastern:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]This was our fav cruise because we liked RCCL so much more than Princess
Coco Cay - loved it, very clean, nice beach[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]St Thomas - thouroughly enjoyed shopping here !!!![/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]St Martin - also shopping was fantastic !!![/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Last day back to port was very wavy and I was very green all day. I had not experienced this at all for either cruise. I hope that isn't the norm.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Western:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Princess Cay - nice island for laying out[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Ocho Rios - we did a long tour here, next time we are just doing a beach day. didn't like the shopping or uneasy feeling here[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Grand Cayman - we shopped here as well and really found great prices on some nice watches...:cool: [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Cozumel - did a tour here and shopped last year. next time we are going to have lunch and just shop and relax.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]Looking back...Cozumel had the best prices on watches and jewelry of all our stops so far. I got a smokin deal on a Michelle watch last year. [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080]None of the Eastern stops could match it. ;) [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#800080][/COLOR]

[Irishwhiskey]

Actually we prefer the southern Carribbean

[sicsinohio]

Been both east and west...doing the southern in March and can hardly wait! Never been on a cruise I didn't love...put me on the ship and you can take me anywhere as long as it's warm and sunny!:D

[dagadget]

[quote name='3redheads']We've done both. Have even done the Southern on the Serenade.

Which do you prefer and why?

For me:

Eastern:
no interest in San Juan
would like to try St. John while visiting St Thomas
St Maarten-Little Divi Beach and the treetop obstacle course were good!

Western:
can't stand Ochos Rios
Cozumel-one of my favorites
Cayman-I've seen enough stingrays

I wish there were more exotic itineraries :confused: They just aren't offered during the times we are able to go.[/quote]


Just wait a few years and their will be Central caribbean cruises to exotic and not seen in ages Cuba, Santiago, Havana come to mind but their are other places in Cuba, after all it's the largest of the Antillies and has not been cruised to since the 1950's well before modern cruising was popular. All we need is a new government interested in Foreign currency and friendly to the world unlike the Castro era that is rapidly drawing to a close........ Now how about them apples :D

[DC2OC]

[quote name='Irishwhiskey']Actually we prefer the southern Carribbean[/quote]

[COLOR=DarkOliveGreen][B][SIZE=4]Same Here![/SIZE][/B][/COLOR]

[familycruzer]

I have done western a few times and picked my Explorer cruise because it hits some eastern ports. I am not sure what I will think about San Juan and Casa De Campo and I have been to Ladadee twice. The saving grace of the cruise will be St Thomas plus the fact that I picked a cabin with a huge balcony and it will be winter back home in PA. No matter what, I will have a good time.

Cozumel (love it)
Ocho Rios (hated it and will never return)
Grand Cayman (would love to go back and do something other than a stingray tour)

[DeRon]

[quote name='tcronier']

[COLOR=black]Maybe someone can help - trying to find a good beach to go to in St. Maarten. Don't want a tour to a beach, just take a taxi to a beach and go and spend the day. Any suggestions???? I know alot of them say there might be some nudity, and I am not worried about that, cuz I don't care. But want somewhere hubby and I can go and relax and just sit. [/COLOR]

[COLOR=black]Thanks![/COLOR]
[COLOR=black]Trina[/COLOR][/quote]
We just got back from Orient Beach, and LOVED it! This was my favorite day on the cruise.

[golfer1966]

If I could move Grand Cayman to the Eastern, Id never go West again. We really dont care for Jamaica anymore and not thrilled with Labadee either. ( prefer coco cay ) We liked the Southern the best so far.... then Eastern.