help please! Eastern or Western Caribbean itenerary?

[erocrobro]

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

We went on Bernard's tour in June. It was a really great way to see the island and have some beach time as well. They meet you right at the dock and then you travel in vans around the island. They have a couple of different options on their website or they will take you wherever you want to go if you book a private group, and that's really not that much more if you have a large enough group of people going.

 

[Goldberry]

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!

We thought about a southern Caribbean too! Just so we could have an excuse to spend a few days in San Juan since the port is there? Lol we checked the airfares from SFO to MCO is the same as if we go from SF to San Juan there's still plenty of time to decide

 

[Goldberry]

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.

Awww I hope we have the luxury to make our own sea day! Since we've never been to any of these ports everyone will want to get off and take pictures lol

 

[Goldberry]

We went on Bernard's tour in June. It was a really great way to see the island and have some beach time as well. They meet you right at the dock and then you travel in vans around the island. They have a couple of different options on their website or they will take you wherever you want to go if you book a private group, and that's really not that much more if you have a large enough group of people going.

This sounds great! Thanks! This will definitely be on our agenda then. I really think this is the best thing to do coz my peers will definitely want to go touring, and this option will allow us to linger in one place or not.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

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

Will do

 

[WanderlustNZ]

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.

Thanks. Sounds great.

I would love to see a sea turtle. I've seen some pretty impressive creatures out snorkelling, but never a turtle.

 

[Canadian Girl]

We booked a Western cruise as it was the one available for the dates of our March break. (I am a teacher). I have only been on the Dream. So many seem to prefer the Eastern itinerary. I hope we won't be disappointed.

 

[ilovetexas]

We booked a Western cruise as it was the one available for the dates of our March break. (I am a teacher). I have only been on the Dream. So many seem to prefer the Eastern itinerary. I hope we won't be disappointed.

I'm not a beach person but there is a place in Cozumel (Nachi Cocom) that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! I've also done a dolphin encounter in Cozumel that was wonderful.

Stingray City in Grand Cayman is one of my all time favorites. I go through Moby Dick Tours.

Diving in Honduras (oops, DCL doesn't go there!) and climbing ruins in Belize (DCL doesn't go there, either, but you can do it in Costa Maya).

You absolutely won't be disappointed in Western. Eastern is "prettier" but Western is fabulous, especially if you like to dive or snorkel. The Mesoamerican Reef is the third largest in the world.

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/top-ten-largest-coral-reefs-100603.html