Eastern vs Western

[lazarru]

We're trying to decide if we want to do a cruise thus year and looking at the difference between the eastern and western. Biggest difference seems to be 3 days at sea vs 2 days, which we kind of like the 2 days better, but not sure. How else would people that have done both compare them? Is having 2 days straight on the ship that much of an issue, we have 2 kids, 3 &5 so I'm guessing we'd spend alot of time at the pool, not sure what else though.

 

[budwmn]

Here's a recent thread where this question was discussed:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=710138

Good luck deciding!

 

[saltwater taffy]

2 times on both cruises. my wife and i pre fer the western. DONT TELL EVERYONE!

 

[soccercruiser87]

We went on the Western this past summer & loved it! We've never been on the Eastern & the only negative thing I've heard about it is something to do with getting up early for customs (around 6 AM) when they arrive at St. Thomas. We're looking forward to trying it someday, but as for the 6 AM thing , I hope that changes! Enjoy your cruise, whichever one you choose! Cathie & The Gang

 

[soccercruiser87]

Sorry guys, I posted under my son's name..he'll love me for that!

 

[tvguy]

We have only done the Eastern. Chose it specifically for the days at sea and the CARIBBEAN ports. Don't think we'd do the Western just because cruising to Florida and Mexico isn't really a Caribbean cruise in my book.

 

[scrapperjill]

We booked the Western because of the less days at sea. It was our first cruise...and couldn't see how we'd want to be on the ship more than off at diffrent ports...however due to our timing (Sept cruise..height of hurricane season)...we were rerouted and did a modifyed Eastern cruise with additional sea days. As it turns out we had a blast on the sea days...and loved every minunte onboard. Funny that we picked the Western mainly due to less days at sea and more days at ports...and ended up having such a great time on the ship...We could have spent the whole time on board. Of course we had to rebook for the Western...to see what it's all about.

 

[lbgraves]

We have done one of each & definitely prefer the Eastern due to the ports & the additional day at sea. Our kids were 3 & 5 for the first & didn't care to leave the ship at all. It was great having the Mickey pool pretty much to ourselves for a few hours. I liked the look of the islands on the Eastern better than the Western, of course Grand Cayman had been hit hard by the huricane & Cozumel is doing major road construction which really made that part of it negative for us.

 

[disneygatorfan]

I haven't done a Western on DCL (Did identical cruise on RCCL though) but I prefer the Eastern ports. I just love St. Thomas and St. John.... I also enjoy the days at sea.

I still want to give the DCL western a try, but I will probably do the Eastern again this year for my 7 day. Mainly because of how much I love St. Thomas and St. John, but also because I want to wait for Grand Cayman to rebuild some from the hurricane. I have heard there isn't much left there.

Needless to say, if someone offered me a choice, I would vote for Eastern.

 

[Robert and Kelley]

We have done both and prefer the Western. We like the port days because we don't get off the ship much anymore and you can enjoy the pools and other things better. The ports on the Western seem a little nicer too. We have no scuba divers in the family so that part doesnt really matter. Then again as long as it is on Disney I would cruise either route.

 

[jrabbit]

We've done both and both are great.

We did have a problem on the eastern however - one that you probably won't have. We went on the easter when our oldest child was playing basketball. He missed two tournaments (both saturdays). He was not a happy camper for those first 2 sea days because "there was nothing to do" and he was pretty sulky about missing the BB. Once we reached St. Maarten he perked right up.

East:
*3 Sea Days which DCL fills with lots of fun activities
*St. Maarten - great beach island with the bonus of gambling on the Dutch side and hanging out naked on the French side.
*St. Thomas - well St. John actually. Some of the best snorkeling around. Absolutly beautiful!! Ok, there is that early morning clearing of customs thingy but hey, you're up and ready to take full advantage of the day - especially since the ship leave port at 4:30.
*Overall the islands are more interesting here on the eastern.
*When we did this cruise, we were traveling at 20knts straight into a 30knt wind. Going up on deck 10, infront of the windscreen in front of the sports court was a blast - a 50knt blast of wind that is. I had a death grip on the 7 and 9 yo otherwise they would have flown away like piglet in "blustery day" (look, I'm a kite). Took the kids back and did the same with DW.

West:
*Key West: if you're into partying neked its the place to be. Our kids weren't to thrilled when we wandered around town. We stayed in town less than 1/2 hour. We did enjoy the snokel excursion here a lot.
*Grand Cayman: Some of the prettiest water this side of St. John. Great snorkeling and sting ray city
*Cozumel: Really good for scuba, pretty good for snorkel. Carlos and Charlies for adult libations on shore. The water between the island and mainland wasn't nearly as nice (kind of a green color) as EVERY other port we've been too.
*Only 2 sea days: and DCL didn't seem to have nearly the variety and quantity of activities as on the eastern. We spent the sea days here waiting for the next stop vs. the eastern where the sea days were a hoot in and of themselves.
--------------

OK with a 3yo and 5yo I would suggest the eastern trip because you will probably will just go the a beach on your own and the beaches are very nice on the eastern. The sea days will be spent by the pool. If the 3yo is fully potty trained then s/he can go to the Oceaneers Club. The 5yo will probably want to spend most of the time in there because the kids have a blast.

Good luck making up your minds. And have fun!!