Itinerary A or C on the Fantasy

[Johnnysmom]

Good morning everyone

We are looking at doing a cruise next July before school starts and we have never been anywhere besides the Bahamas. It will be me, my 9 year old son and grandma.

Which would you recommend? Itinerary A to St. Maarten, St. Thomas or Itenerary C to Cozumel, Grand Caymen and Falmouth.

Thanks for your help.

 

[lbgraves]

We prefer the eastern. Prettier ports IMO and an extra sea day are a couple of the reasons.

 

[Justacruiser]

Also prefer the Eastern (A). I think the areas are nicer. some really nice beaches also.

 

[AquaDame]

We did the eastern that went to St Thomas & San Juan last November. It was wonderful, not too many sea days at all. I haven't done a western yet though - that is this January.

 

[jl234]

We just did the eastern and it was great.

If you are thinking July, my recommendation is to do it in the first half of the month because hurricane season really starts in late July/early August.

 

[OKW Lover]

We prefer the eastern. Prettier ports IMO and an extra sea day are a couple of the reasons.

Add another vote for Eastern.

Also, the stop in Jamaica would be another strike against Itinerary C for us.

We did the eastern that went to St Thomas & San Juan last November. It was wonderful, not too many sea days at all. I haven't done a western yet though - that is this January.

I really wish they made this the predominant Eastern itinerary rather than the one with St. Martin. We did this in January and San Juan was spectacular.

 

[Tngrl78]

Interesting... when we cruise in October we will be booking a 7 day on the Fantasy for next year. Trying to decide between Eastern and Western. We were leaning towards the Western because of some good reviews from people we know that have done those areas - not with DCL, but just been to those areas.

One of my strikes against the Eastern was the 2 at sea days right off the bat and 3 at sea days altogether (I think it was 3 - just going off memory but I know it was 1 more than the Western).

Interesting though...may rethink this.

 

[wendyoconnor]

I like the eastern for the sea days. The shopping in all the ports is similar.

 

[msdisney53]

Booked the Eastern because of the extra sea day

 

[tweis]

I'm gonna say Western. We have a western booked for next May. We chose the western because we aren't fans of sea days and we wanted to go to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

 

[Bree]

We prefer Eastern & Southern ports. They are prettier, IMO. We also like our sea days. They give my DH the opportunity to do what he likes (laze around, read & nap) and what I like (I'm a go, go, go personality type on vacation).

 

[racingfandj]

I liked our Eastern Caribbean the best. Having more sea days to relax and enjoy the ship is the best. The others are great, but it just felt like we were on the go so much we didn't laze around too much because sea days were spent running around to accomplish all of the ship activities.

No matter what, you'll have a great vacation!

 

[erocrobro]

I think we will book another Eastern before we do a Western. I loved the sea days, my kids never ran out of things to do, and the Western ports just really don't interest me that much. St. Thomas may have been the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Next time, we are going to go to St. John.

 

[Johnnysmom]

Thanks everyone for the information, we will decide soon.

 

[Moxin]

I've done 8 cruises, with #9 coming up in October. First was a 4 day to Nassau, doesn't count...all have been 7 day cruises since, with the first to the Eastern, and the second to Western.

Since then, all Eastern.

Hopefully that tells you what we think is better.

 

[Tngrl78]

I'm gonna say Western. We have a western booked for next May. We chose the western because we aren't fans of sea days and we wanted to go to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

That was exactly our thinking and we started to lean towards the Western. But after talking it over last night and reading the other comments, the extra sea day might be nice to really explore the ship.

It's got us thinking again...

 

[tweis]

That was exactly our thinking and we started to lean towards the Western. But after talking it over last night and reading the other comments, the extra sea day might be nice to really explore the ship.

It's got us thinking again...

We had 2 sea days last year and my kids nor myself, were huge fans. The kids really wanted to be in the pools but they were so crowded that they were completely out of the question. I'm hoping we can try the Eastern in the next couple of years because they will be tweens/teens and hopefully will enjoy the clubs and not worry about the pools.

We are looking forward to the extra port day.

 

[Pluto1976]

We have did both and I would vote Western if you are the type that likes to be more active. Plus some of the excursions in Jamaica look pretty awesome.

Not that the Eastern was not active and we had a great time, but with more sea days there is more downtime which works for some personality types but not ours. I must agree that the ports are more scenic on the Eastern and the excursions were great. If they could only add one more port stop to the Eastern it would be perfect for us.

 

[Tngrl78]

We have did both and I would vote Western if you are the type that likes to be more active. Plus some of the excursions in Jamaica look pretty awesome.

Not that the Eastern was not active and we had a great time, but with more sea days there is more downtime which works for some personality types but not ours. I must agree that the ports are more scenic on the Eastern and the excursions were great. If they could only add one more port stop to the Eastern it would be perfect for us.

That's exactly what we struggle with... we want to do Eastern, but don't want the extra sea day.

Ugh! We may never make up our minds!

 

[Pudo]

Another vote for Eastern. We have been on 3 Westerns and 3 Easterns, not really a fan of the Mexican ports. Actually enjoy the sea days, starting of the cruise with 2 sea days is relaxing and enjoyable.