I know there's some cruise topics, but I just wanted some direct answers:
What place is better to cruise: Eastern Caribbean or Western?

I'm trying to go on a 7 night cruise in March, but I can't decide whether to go on a Eastern Caribbean cruise that goes to St. Thomas, St. Martin, and Nassau. Or a Western Caribbean that goes to Cozumel, Belize, and Key West. Prices are almost the same. Just need to decide between East and West.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

12/19/2007 8:44:14 PM

Southern Caribbean

12/19/2007 9:28:15 PM

Alaska

12/19/2007 9:31:53 PM

Given those choices, Eastern

12/19/2007 9:38:13 PM

yeah maybe ill get around to those two^^, but for right now i'm just focusing on east or west

both are through carnival, and around the same price, just the destinations are different.

12/19/2007 9:38:16 PM

I'd def do western. I have been on 10+ cruises, 8 of them being the Carribbean. There are much better island choices as well as weather in the western c. PM me with any cruise questions or if you want a great travel agent who can hook it up. She got me upgraded to a nicer room for free and $100 ship board credit for the same cost as the cruise website.

12/19/2007 9:48:48 PM

West is going to be cheaper shopping/excursion wise.

12/19/2007 10:05:04 PM

good stuff. keep the opinions coming please

12/19/2007 10:54:20 PM

i did west to grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya. it was really fun.

[Edited on December 19, 2007 at 10:55 PM. Reason : oh and belize]

12/19/2007 10:55:37 PM

have done a 6 night to west: Ft. Lauderdale, Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamacia

just got back from 7 night to east/south: San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarteen, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados

of those two i enjoyed the east/south better. shopping was better in st thomas/st maarteen

haven't been to nassau so i can't comment on that, didn't go into cozumel as we went to the mayan ruins in tulum, so can't comment on that either.

I found the east/south to also be much more scenic than the west, although i did love key west.

my vote would be east (dependant on the season though)

and 13 night alaska FTW this fall!!!

12/20/2007 2:13:52 AM

what type of activities do you want to do? I usually either do a pub crawl or go to the beach

1. St Thomas - cool island with a nice view, not entirely commercialized, good beaches and decent snorkeling (I'd imagine you'd want to go to the beach here)
2. St. Martin - never been
3. Nassau - Commercialized, you'll likely be shuttled to a resort to hit up the beach (don't plan on swimming or snorkeling here). They have some awesome resorts, but I probably wouldn't go back to Nassau.

4. Cozumel - Lots of beaches or you can head into town to do shopping. Beautiful, clear water with nice sandy beaches.
5. Belize - You'll probably do an excursion out to its reef (second largest only to the great barrier reef) to do some snorkeling and chill on an island. The downtown is kind of cool seeing the old buildings, but you won't spend a long time there (especially with the people all over you to buy something).
6. Key West - Prepare to drink, more bars than anywhere else I've ever been to within walking distance to the boat. They have beaches, but I didn't know anyone who went to the while we were there. We walked to the southern most point of the US and then did a pub crawl back.

12/20/2007 8:48:35 AM

^^thanks for that breakdown

right now i think western is sounding like the better deal. i really want to do cozumel and key west. i think the carnival ship that goes to the Eastern Caribbean is better (East is Glory, West is Legend) but the excursions might outweigh the actual ship in the decision process

12/20/2007 6:50:48 PM

ship gets boring no matter how yo ucut it. just get drunk and watch shows...doesnt matter what ship thats on.

12/20/2007 7:47:00 PM

really? i always heard the ship was one of the best parts of the trip

but who knows. i guess all ships are different

12/20/2007 8:34:56 PM

shrug. i mean, if i was more of a gambler it might be cool, but i mostly would just go and work out and then drink at one of the lounges and watch shows. its cool if you like shopping or paying for the spa or whatever i guess.

12/20/2007 9:54:52 PM

ship can get boring if you let it, just like the rest of the vacation... we prefer port intensive cruises as that's what we're there for.

although at sea days can be great for just relaxing and doing nothing. If it's excursions you're looking for, then the western you mentioned might be better. the Saints are more shopping ports...

key west is awesome, we're going to spend some good time down there soon... i want at least 4 or 5 days on the key.

I think the best thing of a cruise is that you can do as much or as little as you want, both in port or at sea, make it what you want. We never feel the pressure or rush to do anything and just enjoy the relaxation aspect.

12/20/2007 10:34:18 PM

i think the ship does make a big difference. You can see reviews of the ship on the carnival site. I've had great experiences on both small and huge ships, it's all about the staff.

12/21/2007 10:20:07 AM

http://www.cruisecritic.com

your best friend

12/21/2007 11:08:50 AM

thanks for all the input. just one more question...

5 nights or 7 nights?

i'm thinkin if i'm going to cruise, i need to go ahead and go with the 7 nights. but i've talked to some people who say that 7 is too long (get a little boring on the ship). but 5 nights seems a little short. anybody who's done both?

12/22/2007 1:22:10 PM

how many ports, and can you post the itineraries... we have done a 6 and a 7. Each had only one day at sea. I think days at sea would more dictate which one. For a 5 day you might feel like you just got on the ship when it's time to get off! We really enjoyed our 7... but that's just us.

12/22/2007 3:46:13 PM

I've been on several cruises, and never really gotten tired of the boat. Theres always something to do.

12/22/2007 3:58:13 PM

I wanted to see if any other nc state people were looking at cruises and I found this. We did Western last year on the Triumph but unfortunately this year it is going to the eastern. In 2006 I did the Eastern Caribbean on the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. It is more expensive on RCCL and there were fewer in our age range but we still had a GREAT TIME. I hadn't done a Carnival since like 1999 and we did one last year for spring break on the Triumph. There must have been 1,000 college kids on it. VA tech, nc state, uncw. etc etc. It was a blast so we decided to do Carnival again this year. We haven't booked yet but I went ahead and made a group on facebook and about 60 people are interested. Of those I bet only 10 go haha. Point being is all of yall should get you and your friends and go on the same ship. That way we have more nc state people this year. VA tech annoyed the hell out of me last year. It is perfect the one we are looking at though. Carnival Valor....7 nights(which is what you want) and an inside guarantee right now at 500 a piece. The guy who played at the piano bar last year is actually going to be on the glory. The only way I would do eastern now is if all the westerns were sold out. Either way I want some interest. I am not even one of those people trying to get 8 rooms to get mine for free, I just want more people from around here to go. BUT my travel agent can get us a 1 hour open bar one day if we can have 8 rooms of people from the same affliation(like school) on the same ship. Either way a cruise is a cruise, a bad day on a cruise is still better than a good day at work/school.

12/30/2007 5:35:08 AM

Quote :

"i did west to grand cayman, cozumel, costa maya. it was really fun. [Edited on December 19, 2007 at 10:55 PM. Reason : oh and belize]"

i did the same cruise my junior year spring break. it was lots of fun except for belize, but that is probably because we didn't plan anything for belize so when we walked through the gate past the guards with machine guns (i assume to keep the locals away from the ships), the locals harassed us the whole time to take us here, take us there, "take us to the girls". we walked into a shop and some woman accused me of stealing something. so after an hour of that we went back to the ship and drank all day. which is pretty much what we did every day, except this time i passed out and got super sunburned.

anyway, that is a fun cruise.

12/31/2007 12:24:27 AM

good islands:
-st. thomas
-jamaica
-antigua
-barbados
-old san juan, puerto rico
-US virgin islands
-Brittish virgin islands
-Grand Cayman

Bad islands:
-st martaan
-martinique
-aruba
-cozumel (not an island, but shitty all the same)

1/1/2008 1:28:54 PM

oh and ps:
theres more queers in key west then at carolina

1/1/2008 1:29:45 PM

Depends on what you are looking for...

I liked western because it seemed to be more variety. Cayman was awesome, and I actually like cozumel alot. They had some great snorkling there (just find someone when you walk off the boat). Had a guy snorkling with us in ~40 ft. water, diving down looking for cool animals in the crevices and stuff. Jamaica was a cool site too ... use Peat Taylor Tours in jamaica ... It was a great deal, and he really gives you the personal touch, while showing you the best places. We left our water shoes in his van, and he brought them back to us at the dock, as he was 30 minutes away by then.

Def. go to stingray city in cayman, and just get a tour once you get off the boat there too. Ship packages are so expensive. The only reason to use the ships tours is when you want one of those all day tours out to mexican ruins or something far away, as they will guarantee that you will get back in time.

Labadee (through royal car.) was on our tour, and was actually a really nice place to just relax and enjoy nice water, get some sun. Im not sure what carnival offers as a 4th stop.


OK, so carnival is alot different from royal carribean ... I would recommend Royal Car. (I did eastern with carnival, and western with royal, and really enjoyed the royal boat more. It has the climbing wall, awesome food, lots more to do than the carnival ship did)

[Edited on January 1, 2008 at 2:28 PM. Reason : .]

1/1/2008 2:26:23 PM

anyone ever gone on a european cruise? i'm debating eastern or western mediterranean.

1/1/2008 3:29:58 PM

Quote :

"good islands: -st. thomas -jamaica -antigua -barbados -old san juan, puerto rico -US virgin islands -Brittish virgin islands -Grand Cayman Bad islands: -st martaan -martinique -aruba -cozumel (not an island, but shitty all the same) "

while we agree on some, i disagree on others.... i'd place jamaica on the bad.... and put barbados up there too... did not enjoy that place. although i want to go back and go to a different part of the island. also i enjoyed st. martin and LOVE aruba... but i guess it's more what you have in terms of personal preference. They all have their pros and cons...

1/2/2008 9:14:41 AM

Be sure to check out the Western Carribean cruises on Norwegian leaving from Charleston. Stops are in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Key West. They leave every Saturday afternoon and return the following Saturday morning. It's an easy drive to Charleston compared to Florida ports.
http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/home.html

1/2/2008 10:23:59 AM

freestyle cruising isn't for me. I like the way it always has been. That's why i think traditional will always be more popular. like I said if anyone wants in on our trip march 2nd on the carnival valor let me know. I will tell you all the information and we can have more wolfpackers on there!!!!!!

1/2/2008 6:12:19 PM

ive been on both, and between those choices - Eastern was better. Belize and Key west SUCK

1/2/2008 6:17:41 PM

Eastern is more laid back. Western gets a lil wilder, especially on spring breaky

1/3/2008 4:36:38 PM

st. johns is the place to be.

1/3/2008 5:16:42 PM

go western

1/3/2008 5:43:48 PM

Well I worked as a captain of a yacht in the eastern caribbean this past summer. I would say do that, its a lot of fun and more tropic/more diverse.

1/4/2008 10:53:26 PM

Still is anyone interested in our Carnival Valor trip for spring break this year? 500 a piece. You are on and good to go!

1/6/2008 5:28:37 AM

any takers?

1/11/2008 1:19:01 AM

http://ncst.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2355426267

1/16/2008 5:40:09 AM

Wanted to add my 2 cents.

I preferred the Western Caribbean. Why because some of the locations weren't as touristy as the Eastern locations. I always found the Bahamas and other palces that are frequently visited by cruises too touristy. I found that Caymen Islands and Belize to be very cool. Both have terrific Snorkeling/Scuba diving and I personally think are much better than the Virgin islands.

I too would recommend getting an excursion on land versus on the ship. You'll save money, it won't be as crowded and they take you to better locations. Just make sure you get back in time for the boat. In Belize I did this Rappelling through the canopy jungle and that was really cool. highly recommend it.

I also have done the a Mediterranean Cruise and loved it too. left from Barcelona and went to Nice/Monte Carlo, Pisa, Rome, and more. It was a fun trip but expensive. Also the Euro is very high now since the dollar is low and so things are more expensive. just keep that in mind.

Lastly i would recommend not going with Carnival. I've been on probably 10 cruises in my life and I would highly recommend any other cruise line. Why cause the service, quality and overall experience was better. But you get what you paid for, IMO. So Carnival is still fun and a party ship but I like to get the most bang for my buck.

2/29/2008 11:30:26 AM