for UK board cruisers - eastern vs western caribbean question

[disneyholic family]

so which do you prefer?
the eastern Caribbean (includes St. Thomas and St. Martin)
or
the western Caribbean (includes Cozumel and Grand Cayman)

by the way, it will be on RCCL (either the Freedom or the Allure).

 

[mackay_j]

depends on the ages of any kids and what you all like to do.


We loved - coz, belize, rotan, cayman - but our girls are 15 and 20

Coz- beach with big kid toys (DH even loved this) bit of OK snorkeling


Belize - river tour (amazing wildlife) and Mayan Ruins


Rotan - best reef ever (and we have snorkeled many places)


Cayman - best port for us (family live there - got to see my baby neice for the first time)- however unless you snorkel/beach/ shop - there is not a lot of other things to do there unless you have a very long stop to visit hell rum piont/ stingray city.



Other cruise- more shop and beach based - not so much history and wildlife to see- more also amaricanised (like cayman)

 

[disneyholic family]

kids are 25 and 28

they like to 'do' stuff - either swim with an animal of some kind (dolphin, sea lion) or snorkel...

DH and i like to walk and stop for coffee....

none of us are beach people (and we have a beautiful Mediterranean beach 10 minutes from our house that i walk on almost every day - so really no need to hang out on a beach!!)

 

[mandymouse]

For me the cruise ship (Disney Fantasy) is more the destination than the ports, but if I had to choose it would be the Eastern itinerary as I wasn't a big fan of Cozumel

 

[disneyholic family]

For me the cruise ship (Disney Fantasy) is more the destination than the ports, but if I had to choose it would be the Eastern itinerary as I wasn't a big fan of Cozumel

i'm sure the Fantasy is wonderful..
i was on the Disney Dream in October and she's magnificent!!!
however, there's so little to do in terms of activities on disney ships...
RCCL ships are like summer camp for adults....that's what we're looking for...
and a place where the activities go round the clock...(disney for the most part shuts down by midnight)..

 

[Linda67]

I've just voted for the Eastern

A bit of a cheat really as we have only done the Western previously but we have the Eastern booked for 2014

I didn't think that the ports were that great on the Western, that said, the ship was so wonderful we actually didn't want to get off!

You get an extra sea day on the Eastern and that's another big reason I think we will prefer it

 

[mackay_j]

I've just voted for the Eastern


You get an extra sea day on the Eastern and that's another big reason I think we will prefer it

The very reason why would choose not to do a certain cruise just shows how different everyone is thus why its hard to give advise on any preference.

OP Try look on the cruise critic forum- You will get a good opinion and discussion re the difference between the two from people who have done both (and probably multiple times)

 

[disneyholic family]

The very reason why would choose not to do a certain cruise just shows how different everyone is thus why its hard to give advise on any preference.

OP Try look on the cruise critic forum- You will get a good opinion and discussion re the difference between the two from people who have done both (and probably multiple times)

i'm on CC too (i'm alaska_planner over there)...
i was curious what the UK crowd here had to say..

i posted a poll there between the freedom and the allure (on the RCCL board)..
the week we can go, the freedom goes west, while the allure goes east,..

i think i might end up on the freedom just because it will be easier for us to get to the freedom (in PC)...
we'll be in WDW for 4 days before the cruise and 2 days after...