help please! Eastern or Western Caribbean itenerary?

[Goldberry]

Hi! I hope someone or all ya can help me with this one: I was on the 4 night Dream last June 16th. I came back to work with loads of stories and pics that my peers at work decided to join me on my planned June 2015 Disney Cruise it will be their first cruise, never been on anything else but they so loved what they heard about DCL and what they've seen so far that they've decided to go. Now we're all busy deciding amongst ourselves what itenerary to do. Me myself like the idea of St. John/St. Maarten as there would be 3 sea days, so more time to enjoy the ship. But I'd like to hear from everyone what their preferences are and why and what excursions they enjoyed and recommend in the ports. Thanks so much! Can't wait to hear from everyone!

 

[Maryrn11168]

I have done both an Eastern and a Western. I would choose the Eastern because of the extra sea day! Love the days at sea! We had never been to any of the islands or ports on either, so it was all new to us...but our next 7 night cruise in August 2014 is an Eastern!

 

[Silverfox97]

Eastern for more sea days and St John (paradise).

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[Goldberry]

I have done both an Eastern and a Western. I would choose the Eastern because of the extra sea day! Love the days at sea! We had never been to any of the islands or ports on either, so it was all new to us...but our next 7 night cruise in August 2014 is an Eastern!

First vote for the extra sea day! I think this is important since it will be their first, more time to explore and enjoy the ship! thanks! )

 

[Goldberry]

Eastern for more sea days and St John (paradise).

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Thanks so much! The pics do look nice on the site but I'm sure the real thing is even better what did you do in St. John?

 

[Madzac]

Following along!! We were also in the june 16 Dream and plan to do the fantasy in summer 2015!!! Wish it could be sooner! Trying to make the same decision but leaning towards eastern tor the extra sea day. Our 4 days was way too short on the Dream!

 

[Goldberry]

Following along!! We were also in the june 16 Dream and plan to do the fantasy in summer 2015!!! Wish it could be sooner! Trying to make the same decision but leaning towards eastern tor the extra sea day. Our 4 days was way too short on the Dream!

Hi! Wow! My feelings exactly on how it wasn't enough! Lol maybe if the eastern wins the vote we'll be on the same sailing again!

 

[Silverfox97]

Thanks so much! The pics do look nice on the site but I'm sure the real thing is even better what did you do in St. John?

We did the DCL excursion to Trunk Bay which was waaaaayyyyy too short. Its pristine. I swam with our DD while DH snorkeled. We are going to Cinnamon Bay on our own in March on the Fantasy and are going to spend a week there in June. Our DD is a much better swimmer now and will be learning to snorkel this summer

We went to Magen's Bay Beach this past March in St Thomas and literally the entire time, all 3 of us were yearning for St John. It's not like St Thomas was bad, it's just that to us, St John is just that much better

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[Goldberry]

We did the DCL excursion to Trunk Bay which was waaaaayyyyy too short. Its pristine. I swam with our DD while DH snorkeled. We are going to Cinnamon Bay on our own in March on the Fantasy and are going to spend a week there in June. Our DD is a much better swimmer now and will be learning to snorkel this summer

We went to Magen's Bay Beach this past March in St Thomas and literally the entire time, all 3 of us were yearning for St John. It's not like St Thomas was bad, it's just that to us, St John is just that much better

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I just checked port adventures, 90 min stay in trunk bay does sound too short! I wonder if it's possible to do beach activities on your own? Island tours sound good, too, esp for us first timers there

 

[WanderlustNZ]

We did the DCL excursion to Trunk Bay which was waaaaayyyyy too short. Its pristine. I swam with our DD while DH snorkeled. We are going to Cinnamon Bay on our own in March on the Fantasy and are going to spend a week there in June. Our DD is a much better swimmer now and will be learning to snorkel this summer

We went to Magen's Bay Beach this past March in St Thomas and literally the entire time, all 3 of us were yearning for St John. It's not like St Thomas was bad, it's just that to us, St John is just that much better

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Great to hear that you loved St John so much. I have the Champagne Catamaran to St John booked for my upcoming September cruise and I can't wait. St John beaches really do look stunning.

OP, I can sympathize with your decision. Both look great with the Eastern offering beautiful beaches and the Western offering more history and culture (at least that's the impression I came to after months of research - I haven't yet been to either). I just couldn't decide and in the end the swaying factor was that the Eastern still had availability with the room type I wanted and the Western didn't. Now having done heaps of research into the Eastern, I'm pleased that that is the one I ended up booking. At St Martin I have opted for a Bernard's Tour as I know that my DH and DS will love Maho beach.

 

[Silverfox97]

I wonder if it's possible to do beach activities on your own?

Yes it is and we will be heading to Cinnamon Bay on our own in March

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[Goldberry]

Yes it is and we will be heading to Cinnamon Bay on our own in March

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Oh okay lol didn't know where cinnamon bay was we'll look into that too! Thanks!

 

[emsmomma]

We are planning an eastern carribean on the fantasy fall 2015. At the time of the cruise our DD will be 4 1/2. We are really wanting to try a catamaran but on the Disney site it says kids have to be 5. Is that true or would they make an exception since she is so close to 5? Or what if you don't book through Disney?

 

[Goldberry]

Great to hear that you loved St John so much. I have the Champagne Catamaran to St John booked for my upcoming September cruise and I can't wait. St John beaches really do look stunning.

OP, I can sympathize with your decision. Both look great with the Eastern offering beautiful beaches and the Western offering more history and culture (at least that's the impression I came to after months of research - I haven't yet been to either). I just couldn't decide and in the end the swaying factor was that the Eastern still had availability with the room type I wanted and the Western didn't. Now having done heaps of research into the Eastern, I'm pleased that that is the one I ended up booking. At St Martin I have opted for a Bernard's Tour as I know that my DH and DS will love Maho beach.

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this! I am leaning towards eastern myself, and will probably do the same thing you did which is research! I hope I can convince them. Do Bernard's Tour operate independently and have their own website?

 

[WanderlustNZ]

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this! I am leaning towards eastern myself, and will probably do the same thing you did which is research! I hope I can convince them. Do Bernard's Tour operate independently and have their own website?

Yes, they do operate independently.

I wasn't sure at first about booking an independent tour, but they get such rave reviews I now feel quite comfortable about booking with them.

http://www.bernardstours.com/
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/201...stic-non-disney-port-adventure-in-st-maarten/

 

[cris0809]

Having done both I would vote Eastern. That being said we're planning a Western next year because the time and budget were right. We'll make our own sea day while everyone else is in port at least once, since 2/3 will be repeats.

 

[ilovetexas]

I really enjoyed both! I've done 7 day Westerns on DCL and CCL and a 7 day Eastern on Celebrity. If you like to snorkel or dive, you can't beat Western. The only downside with DCL was that they went to Costa Maya on Western and I preferred Roatan with CCL.

We just did Eastern in March on Celebrity and booked it again next March with them as well. I'd rather do Western next year but DH preferred Eastern. The champagne catamaran to St. John (from St. Thomas) was the best part of the trip!!

Unfortunately, with DCL you miss San Juan but you do get Castaway Cay so if you're a beach person, you won't care.

You really can't go wrong with either. If you want to relax, go for the extra sea day. Sea days are great and with those movie theaters on DCL, there is always plenty to do!

 

[WanderlustNZ]

The champagne catamaran to St. John (from St. Thomas) was the best part of the trip!!

Even more excited now that I booked this one. It was a tough decision as there were at least half a dozen options at St Thomas/St John that appealed to me.

How did you find the beach? Was it fairly quiet? Trunk Bay looks so very beautiful, but this trip looks like it might take you to a quieter beach.

 

[ilovetexas]

Even more excited now that I booked this one. It was a tough decision as there were at least half a dozen options at St Thomas/St John that appealed to me.

How did you find the beach? Was it fairly quiet? Trunk Bay looks so very beautiful, but this trip looks like it might take you to a quieter beach.

We booked it through Celebrity but I'm sure it's roughly the same trip through DCL. We went just off Honeymoon Beach and stopped to snorkel. The crew would take people to the beach if they wanted to go, but we stayed in the water. I didn't really pay much attention to how many people were on the beach but it seemed fine. Not crowded by any means but not deserted, either. If I had any clue how to post a picture, I would. I think it's more about how many tours are there at one time; I seem to recall two or three other tour boats around us. Very pretty, clear water, great snorkeling. We even saw a sea turtle!

We were only there around 45ish minutes. We spent quite a bit of time sailing over and back. I get motion sick and can't usually handle little boats. This was my first time on a catamaran and I was thrilled to spend 4 hours on it having a great time and not hanging my head over the side.

 

[Goldberry]

Yes, they do operate independently.

I wasn't sure at first about booking an independent tour, but they get such rave reviews I now feel quite comfortable about booking with them.

http://www.bernardstours.com/
http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2013/01/bernards-tours-a-fantastic-non-disney-port-adventure-in-st-maarten/

Wow! Thanks! I'll take a note of this one if you don't mind, let me know of your experience with them after your trip