Jillycheesefries Posted July 23, 2018 #1 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Family of 5 booking our first cruise. We have young kids & when we are in port we plan on having relaxing days on beautiful beaches...not doing excursions. With this in mind, which itinerary would you choose? For us the important factors in choosing ports would be: -beautiful beaches -clean/safe -easy to get to (don’t want long drives) We seriously just want to get off the ship and spend the day on the beach. Calm water for our 2 year old is preferable. Ability to get a cabana or beach service would be amazing. Two itineraries we are considering are: Western Caribbean: Miami-Roatan Honduras-puerto costa maya Mexico-Cozumel México-Cococay Eastern Caribbean: Miami-Bassaterre, St Kitts, Charlotte Amalie St Thomas, Cococay Which would you choose if you were us and why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted July 23, 2018 #2 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Family of 5 booking our first cruise. We have young kids & when we are in port we plan on having relaxing days on beautiful beaches...not doing excursions. With this in mind, which itinerary would you choose? For us the important factors in choosing ports would be:-beautiful beaches -clean/safe -easy to get to (don’t want long drives) We seriously just want to get off the ship and spend the day on the beach. Calm water for our 2 year old is preferable. Ability to get a cabana or beach service would be amazing. Two itineraries we are considering are: Western Caribbean: Miami-Roatan Honduras-puerto costa maya Mexico-Cozumel México-Cococay Eastern Caribbean: Miami-Bassaterre, St Kitts, Charlotte Amalie St Thomas, Cococay Which would you choose if you were us and why? Eastern Caribbean as it is nicer and safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GC456 Posted July 23, 2018 #3 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Eastern Caribbean as it is nicer and safer. This :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papaflamingo Posted July 23, 2018 #4 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Eastern Caribbean as it is nicer and safer. Ditto. Great beaches in all ports named. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted July 23, 2018 #5 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Cozumel has Nachi Cocom for a great beach day. Costa Maya has Maya Chan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eriksgarden Posted July 23, 2018 #6 Share Posted July 23, 2018 If beach is the criteria, why not a cruise stopping at Labadee? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted July 23, 2018 #7 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Flip a coin can not go wrong with either one have been to all the ports multiple times except CocoCay which is just a beach stop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolloman Posted July 23, 2018 #8 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I would say eastern hands down. Western is typically cheaper so if you do decide this route I would only choose a sailing which hit Grand Cayman, 7 mile beach is walking distance for some, from the pier. Stay away from Belize or Roatan. Cozumel, although beautiful water, you will have to drive for something decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jillycheesefries Posted July 23, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted July 23, 2018 If beach is the criteria, why not a cruise stopping at Labadee? I’d love to do Labadee but it’s not offered :( We want to go on Symphony or Harmony and none of the cruises in Feb include Labadee anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONECRUISER Posted July 23, 2018 #10 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I would say eastern hands down. Western is typically cheaper so if you do decide this route I would only choose a sailing which hit Grand Cayman, 7 mile beach is walking distance for some, from the pier. Stay away from Belize or Roatan. Cozumel, although beautiful water, you will have to drive for something decent. First 20 yrs I cruised starting in 1980's Western Caribbean was always the higher costing cruise, would cost us and priced $500-1000 more then EC cruise. Never figured out why and that WC is now consistently the cheaper one... But to OP, yes would stick with Eastern traveling with younger family... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted July 24, 2018 #11 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Eastern would be our choice for you. Very safe and conveniently located pretty beaches. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted July 24, 2018 #12 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Of those two...Eastern. But, we love them both...more activity excursions on Western that we like...if we just wanted beaches..would do Eastern or Southern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted July 24, 2018 #13 Share Posted July 24, 2018 If the same ship does both itineraries make it a B2B cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jillycheesefries Posted July 25, 2018 Author #14 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Thank you for the helpful replies, everyone! I really appreciate it. Eastern Caribbean it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted July 25, 2018 #15 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Thank you for the helpful replies, everyone! I really appreciate it. Eastern Caribbean it is. Excellent choice. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iamcruzin Posted July 25, 2018 #16 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Eastern for beaches and safety. We only sailed one Western and that was enough for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floating Lanai Posted July 25, 2018 #17 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Roatan is one of my absolute favorite ports (maybe even my favorite), only due to Little French Key (LFK) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eslader Posted July 25, 2018 #18 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I'm unclear on the safety concerns for western. I've done a number of western itineraries and have never once felt unsafe. What are people experiencing that I'm missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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