Eastern or Western, help us decide!

[justcruisin]

Did RCL western this fall but missed Grand Cayman, would love to do western again, but eastern is about $400 cheaper. I expect some of the price difference is for 1 less port. Any strong opinions to help me decide?

 

[AnnMorin]

And are doing the Eastern again this year. I really loved grand cayman-stingray city is so cool. Cozumel is pretty interesting, I think I would like key west better without my son in tow. It is not the most child-friendly place, although the aquarium was neat.

However......

I find the Eastern much more relaxing. The western seemed to fly by with the extra port. I love the two days in a row at sea to get to St. Maarten. Also I really enjoyed how the climate and water changed each day (getting warmer and bluer) the hills make those island much prettier IMHO to pull up to. The shopping is much better on the Eastern too.

Would I go Western again- yup probably will , or maybe just go to Grand Cayman for a week, but if had to recommend one over the other I would pick the Eastern. It just seemed more tropical to me.

I think you will find that if your interests are water sports Western is better, and if your interests are relaxation and shopping the Eastern wins.

 

[prymsu]

i love that extra sea day, and after my last cruise decided that i would only look at seven day cruises that had three sea days.

 

[lsmac]

We have done the Western several times (the last with Disney) and while I like it, it gets too busy! I had to come home and rest! I have not done the Eastern with Disney yet ( Ann: please note I said YET) so can't comment on Dis specific, but we really enjoyed the extra sea day and the ports were better for shopping. I can only think that also having Castaway Cay thrown in would make the Eastern more appealing!

Lisa
(still working on getting hubby to commit to the Dec Eastern cruise with the Dis moderators and AnnMorin)

 

[AnnMorin]

Originally posted by lsmac
( Ann: please note I said YET) Lisa
(still working on getting hubby to commit to the Dec Eastern cruise with the Dis moderators and AnnMorin)

YET? Ahh is there a chance again? Has DH wavered some?

 

[lsmac]

>>>YET? Ahh is there a chance again? Has DH wavered some?>>

Well considering I just had to spring for a $900 transmission for his Harley, to my way of thinking, that means I get some restitution in the form of a cruise! Like how that works?

Lisa

 

[AnnMorin]

That's the way I always think- Jay got me the ring on the cruise so I got him a Saab for Christmas. Give and take makes a happy marrige. So I say go a head a book and tell your DH happy valentines day-how could he get mad with such a sweet thoughtful wife?

 

[KLondon]

Having done both....

- Western is good if you like to keep busy (I think). The two days at sea are nicely placed to rest up from the ports-of-call.

- Eastern is good if you like to shop. I liked the Eastern excursions less, though.

 

[Cara]

We chose the Eastern for our first cruise due to several points:

a) Loved the idea of an extra day at sea, b) Timing. Our best guess as to when DD's spring break would be. Also her birthday will be during the cruise, and c) The itinerary seemed more "child friendly." I would love to see Grand Cayman at some point. Someday, maybe!

Cara

 

[BrianD]

I'm bumping this up because my wife and I are in the same dillema. Eastern or Western? It's our first cruise, and honestly, both itineraries sound great.

I'm interested in hearing some more responses. We've heard from the Eastern fans, how about you Western fans. Why do you like the Western better?

Thank you all very much!!!!

 

[patriciahuang]

My husband, me and our daughter are supposed to join DCL's 4N Bahamas cruise this May 4, but, unfortunately, we have to postpone and move our trip to next year. So , now we are thinking to upgrading to the 7day caribbean for next year...since our trip this time must be worth the LONGGGG wait again

Read both the eastern and the western itineraries of Disney and both sounds fabulous. What do you suggest eastern or western? Please help....want to make our cruise next year a super duper great one, my daughter's soooo disappointed we had to postpone our trip to next year and want to make up for that

THANKS!

 

[KLondon]

As I mentioned in my past post, we've done the 4N Eastern and the 7N Western. Notwithstanding the fact that 7 nights are better than 4 and I may not be comparing apples to apples here, but I would opt for the Western myself.

The Western ports-of-call were great for kids of any age (mine are 10 and 7). Some examples of what we did:

Key West has a neat shipwreck museum and a cool little aquarium (their 'touch tank' was a huge hit with my kids). We also took a trolley tour of the town that was interesting for whole family (the kids even got souvenier coins from the trolley driver). There is shopping there, but we're not too much into shopping except for souveniers.

Grand Cayman has a turtle farm that was pretty enjoyable. The kids even got to hold sea turtles. As well, we did the Stingray City Snorkel Tour which is not to missed. Very cool for the kids and parents alike.

Cozumel has a ton of excursions that we would have liked to do, but the age of our kids was limiting. In the end, we took the excursion to Chankanaab national park. It was well worth it for us. There's just a lot of stuff to do there, including a sea lion show (unlike any I have seen before), dolphin encounter, Mayan 'jungle' with a recreated village, etc., a beach, and lots more. The cab ride to/from the park can be worth the price of admission....

And, of course, Castaway Cay is a highlight of any cruise route. I urge you to take full advantage of everything there - including bike rentals and snorkelling. My youngest (7 year old) did the snorkelling reef there for the first time ever and had a blast. Hint: get a disposable underwater camera and shake the rubber strap under water. You'll get loads of fish to follow you! (The camera is also great for Stingray City if you go...).

Also, the 2 days at sea during the Western are great for resting up from excursion fatigue. Of course, on those days we tended to take advantage of some of the ship's entertainment and educational offerings (e.g. they ran a lecture series on how the ship was built, themed, etc. that is not to be missed).

To finish up this long-winded note.... The Eastern cruise we took stopped at Nassau and Castaway Cay. Nassau just did not impress us vety much. We took the harbour boat tour, which was okay but not a highlight. We are not shopaholics and were just really turned off by the Straw Market and plethora of jewelry stores. Of course, other Eastern ports-of-call may be way better, but I can't tell you anything first-hand.

Hope this helps!!

Kevin