Eastern or Western Caribbean?

[Dacruiseman]

Just wondering which everyone prefers and why? Having trouble deciding on which one, looking for a little help in deciding.

[v3cruiser]

There are pluses for both. Western generally runs cheaper Recently I find myself favoring the eastern(st. maarten, st. thomas, puerto rico, etc. not bahamas) maybe because it seems more european and more tropical to me. The southern is my favorite, you hit a few eastern stops and then hit southern stops like st. lucia and barbados. Ah heck i like them all! Just do them both over time!

[Colorado Kat]

Western. I like the islands better. Love Roatan.

[Keith1010]

Having done them multiple times I would say they each are good. I like some islands of each area the best so to me it's like asking which is better the Eastern USA or the Western USA. There are many nice places in each area as well as a few I don't care of.

 

Since all itineraries are not the same you might want to narrow it down and then come back with a few to get feedback on.

 

Keith

[Bonnie J.]

We prefer the southern- Curacao, Aruba, maybe Dominica, Barbadoes. These islands just don't seem as crowded with as many tourists/ships.

[John Bull]

American cruisers do seem to major on western Caribbean.

But I've found the southern, and more especially the eastern, are far more diverse - in history, culture & topography. A much more rounded experience.

 

Just MHO. as always.

 

JB :)

[Dacruiseman]

Thanks so much for the feed back. We have decided to do the Eastern Caribbean since we have done the Western two times now. I personally was not too excited about the East ( mainly the Bahamas) but I've never been there and will hold my judgement untill I can base it on my own experience.

[printingchick]

I VASTLY prefer Southern (out of San Juan), which is far more port intensive and offers a lot more variety in terms of ports of call.

 

If I had to choose between between eastern and western, I'd go western - simply because it typically has more ports than eastern, which has more sea days. I like sea days...in moderation...but prefer to see as many ports of call as possible.

 

And I agree with the poster who referenced the route including Roatan and Belize, rather than Grand Cayman and Jamaica. I think that itinerary provides more variety.

Edited November 15, 2013 by printingchick

[cb at sea]

Eastern...not a fan of Mexican ports. If you could take Mexico out of the mix, I'd say either! But, Southern, if that was a choice!!!!

[navybankerteacher]

Between Eastern and Western, I would certainly say Eastern for variety of cultures, attractiveness of ports and quality of beaches; an added plus is the likelihood of one or more Southern Caribbean ports might be included.

 

Thinking of the old adage: "You get what you pay for", why do you think the Western cruises are regularly much cheaper?

[JimAOk1945]

If you are interested in seeing Mayan ruins, then you might consider the Western Caribbean itineraries.

We have cruised the Western Caribbean a lot since we were interested in seeing as many Mayan ruins as possible. Now that we have crossed those off our bucket list, we will try the Southern and Eastern itineraries. We are really looking forward to them.