Eastern Caribbean comments/help?

[canadian cruising couple]

Looking at going on another cruise in mid-December, and I am feeling a little "westerned out" (have done Western twice in the last 18 mo). We have never been to Eastern Caribbean. Curious about what other pp's experiences are, and what the weather is like (according to the "average temp" charts, looks similar to Western for December). Planning on going with my family - 4 of us in our early 20s, and mom and dad. Probably on a Voyager class ship - we loved the Mariner on our last cruise.

 

Any thoughts?

[glen tev]

st thomas and st marteen are very nice and almost to use this lightly 'americanized' with a european flavor.Western to me gets boring,not a big jamacia fan and being tendered into grand cayman is hit or miss depending on weather.You would probably love eastern caribean.

[Maybebell]

We have done both the Western and Eastern Caribbean. We personally liked the Eastern alot better. We were on Mariner of the Seas, and we also loved the ship. I liked this cruise because we had 3 sea days instead of 2. We went to coco cay, St. Thomas, and St. Marteen. It was alot more relaxing then the western cruise. The views were breath taking in St. Thomas, and st. Marteen. We did tours on both so we could see the islands. We did Godfreys in ST. Thomas and we recommend him. He was wonderful. I am hoping the next cruise will be back to the Eastern caribbean.

Sherrie

Mariner of the Seas 11/2005

Navigator of the Seas 5/2003

[atlcple2]

We have done the Eastern Caribbean 3 times and the Southern Caribbean 1 time (we hit St. Martin on that cruise as well). St. Martin is our absolute favorite island in the Caribbean! We love it so much that we are going on a land vacation there for 1 week in September! I highly recommend the Eastern Caribbean! We never tire of it and have yet to go on the Western cruise, though it looks like we will be doing that maybe in January of '07 because of dates and available itineraries.

 

St. Thomas - If you are a beach person and aren't into a lot of shopping (like we are) be sure to go to Megan's Bay. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! It is part of a national park there and there is a bar with food/drinks/snacks, bathrooms w/showers and very peaceful. We usually take a cab there and spend the day. There are always open air taxi's for return.

 

St. Martin - if I had to pick two places to go, my first would be Orient Beach. Lots of people watching, water sports, bars and restaurants, beach chairs and umbrella's, etc. It is a "clothing optional" beach and for the most part, you will see topless women and a few totally nude people walking the beach (though in recent months, it has been reported that they are cracking down on the totally nude people on the north end of the beach). If you have time, do your shopping in Merigot. Beautiful little French Fishing Village with nice shops and boutiques, restaurants, etc. We enjoy shopping there much more than in Phillipsburg. It is a little more expensive because they use the Euro, but not the touristy/crowded shopping area like Phillipsburg. We usually rent a car for the day. The offices are right at the dock and they take you to pick up the car in Phillipsburg. You deliver it back there and they take you back to the dock. You can see the entire island in the time you are there if you enjoy doing that. St. Martin is not to be missed!

[kittyg]

St. Martin - if I had to pick two places to go, my first would be Orient Beach. Lots of people watching, water sports, bars and restaurants, beach chairs and umbrella's, etc. It is a "clothing optional" beach and for the most part, you will see topless women and a few totally nude people walking the beach (though in recent months, it has been reported that they are cracking down on the totally nude people on the north end of the beach).

 

Mariner 5/28/06

 

We saw sporadic topless-only women on Orient Beach. I doubt my 8yo even noticed altho my teen boys were speechless at the 5 women who were sunbathing that we passed by on our walk.

 

I saw one totally nude man towards the north. He was facing away and appeared to be over 60 so I didn't try and sneak an additional peak ;)

 

We did the bus tour in the morning that stopped at Merigot and then went to Orient in the afternoon. Half the entertainment on the tour is watching the driver maneuver the bus on the narrow streets past cars parked on both sides.

 

Merigot took dollars, usually in the same amount as the Euro price, which was better than the exchange rate of a Euro equaling $1.30.

[golfer1966]

I agree with Glen. My wife and I have done both and like the Eastern better too. Jamaica is just ok. If I could add Grand Cayman and ditch San Juan, I'd do that in a mniute. We went to Orient Beach on St Maarten and it was very nice. You will see some nudity, but if your ok with it, its a nice beach. We have also been to Megans Bay on St Thomas and in my opinion, its over rated. Driving to it you see it from a high mountain and its beautiful to see, but its typically very crowded and the beach is narrow. There is no reef or coral there, so if you want to snorkel, forget it. We LOVED taking the ferry from St Thomas to St John and going to Trunk Bay. The beach is very nice, less crowded and the snorkeling was great. If you just want to hit a beach....maybe Megans is ok for that if you dont mind crowds, but if you want beach and snorkeling, I would recommend Trunk Bay.

[greatdanemom]

Yes, we have to vote Eastern, too. We just returned from an Eastern on Mariner after two previous Western cruises. St. Martin & St. Thomas are just beautiful islands and Mariner is an incredible ship to sail on. You can't go wrong with the ship or itinerary she sails.

 

Cheryl

[cruiseapril]

CocoCay is just beautiful, with very good swimming areas. A not-to-miss destination.

 

We agree that Magen's Bay Beach in St. Thomas is very nice-especially if not too many ships are in. We enjoyed two hours of swimming, as it was so warm and pleasant (in April.) Wonderful sandy bottom.

 

Enjoy the Eastern itinerary!

[Twaincruisers]

We vote for the eastern itinerary--St Thomas and St Maarten are two of our favorite places for people watching, browsing, and eating and drinking! Megan's Bay is beautiful from a distance, but never been there. We like to hang out in the downtown area of St Thomas' port and, also, the view is great from the tram near the ship as well. St Thomas has an Atlantis submarine which had a lot to see, including a shark on our trip. In St Maarten we like to walk Front and Old streets for browsing and then park ourselves at a cafe on the boardwalk. There are few at the near end of the boardwalk that are on the beach side under trees; the rest are on the other side of the boardwalk with umbrellas or inside seating. The America's cup racing excursion is an absolute must!