Eastern or Western???

[DONALDDUC]

Which cruise would you take and why? And and any opinion of what we should pick is appreciated. My sister and I are in early 50,s and mom is late 70's. Mom uses a scooter or wheel chair because of copd. We have cruised all the Disney ships twice. We did do the Eastern side once and never the western because it was cancelled. We are going to cruise 4/2018.

 

[jeepnjudy]

I would go Western since you have not done it before. You will get many opinions but we like the Western better. I think maybe because we are just tired of the Eastern ports!

 

[JWG]

I'd look at the itineraries and pick the cruise with the ports you like most. We prefer the western because they tend to have more activity based excursions (eastern seems to have more "beach" focused excursions). We're not beach people, so the laying around on sand doesn't appeal to us. We also like the Western because it tends to have an additional port day and one less sea day. We like this because it means the ship is usually emptier more often and onboard activities not as crowded. The down side to that is you pay more since you have to pay port fees for each stop.

But, at the end of the day, I'd go with the itinerary you like the most personally.

We enjoyed Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Key West more than Tortola and St. Thomas - but that's just us.

 

[hanscarlet]

Well it depends on what you are trying to get out of your vacations - if it is activities and not really lounging by a beach, then perhaps check out a Western one? Seems like a scooter and a beach wouldn't work too well... however if she's able to get to a lounge chair then maybe she would like the beach? Then on the flip side, if you prefer the ship more and not really the ports, then Eastern may be better because it's more sea days.

We have never done the Western and we did do the Eastern and we loved the Eastern and would do the eastern again (we'd also do the western too, we want to try that one).

 

[lklgoodman]

We did the Western this past Jan. and enjoyed it, it was our first time on the Fantasy. We are going on the Wonder March 4 2018 cruise, it is an Eastern, but goes to San Juan and St. Maarten. We've been on the Wonder before, but it was before it's recent dry dock. I'm looking forward to seeing Frozen and eating at Tiana's. I know you said you are going in April, but I noticed that the March 4 cruise on the Wonder is quite a bit cheaper than the April cruises on the Fantasy. Not sure how flexible your travel dates are, but thought I'd mention it. I know a lot of people prefer the Fantasy because of the Aquaduck and Mid-ship detective agency. While we enjoyed those, I don't think they are worth the extra $$$. I usually look at the prices and the shore excursions when deciding which cruise to pick.

 

[Quellman]

It varies for a lot of reasons. We only have done the Eastern, in fact we have done it 3 times now. We enjoy the days at sea more than days in port. We usually won't get off in port anyway. Yes the boat is fuller on sea days, but we always find enough space. We also like the rocking of the ship so we always go East. I also think that due to there being one less port, East is usually a little cheaper.

 

[ali_in_al]

I've had this same question! Looking forward to the info!

 

[Hubie]

If you really want to enjoy a lot of sea days and a lower cost take a PC cruise.

 

[soniam]

I think of Eastern as more shoppy and easy-going and Western as more active. With kids, I like Western. Do Wester though, since you haven't done it before.

 

[GOOFY D]

Like them both, but slightly prefer Eastern. We like to do island tour and go to Maho Beach in St. Maarten and enjoy Trunk Bay in St. John or other beaches in St. Thomas. Also, enjoy the extra sea day.