The Eastern Or the Western? and WHY???

[PhotobearSam]

We are looking at going on our first cruise and would like to know if you recommend the Eastern or the Western and why...


Thanks for any replies...

 

[WDWLVR]

We've done both and loved them both so first off you can't go wrong with your choice

What are you looking for on your cruise?

Shopping? I'd pick the Eastern

Relaxing Sea Days? Again the Eastern (3 sea days vs. 2).

Lots of ports? Go with the Western (3 ports and Castaway Cay vs. 2 ports on the Eastern)

Diving? I would say the Western wins here, but there is great diving in the Eastern too.

Like I said you can't go wrong with either and the best thing is they both has Castaway Cay as a stop!

 

[MO64RN]

I have done both and personally prefer the Eastern. The ports are prettier, the shopping is better, and overall it was a much better time. I must tell you though on the Western we bypassed Grand Cayman so I never did get to see it but will this fall as we are going on RCCL with some different ports than Disney. The only repeat for me will be Cozumel.

 

[Scratch42]

The Rumoured Upcoming Repositioned Cruise!

I have only done the Eastern so far and we loved it! Right now have a Western booked for Jan 2005 but with this rumoured repositioned cruise my make it a July 2005 and do DL to boot!

What time of year were you thinking of sailing? That would be a deciding factor.

I know, more questions for your questions!

Scratch

 

[RellingTwin]

We have done the "regular" Eastern, a "modified" Eastern (due to a hurricaine), and the Western. Of the three we enjoyed the Western the most. We LOVED Cozumel and Grand Cayman (hard to say which we enjoyed most) and Key West was great fun, although that had more to do with the group of people we were with then Key West itself. We had a "Savanger Hunt" with about 40 fellow cruisers and had an absolute blast!
All that said...it could be we loved it so much because we were looking forward to it and planning it, for 2 years (since the 1st Western we booked , turned into an Eastern).
In Ports we have done:
Eastern: St Martin/Dawn Beach
St Thomas/ 5 Star Snorkel Trunk Bay DCL trip

Modified Eastern: Bus tour in Prurto Rico
St Thomas Trunk Bay (on our own)

Western:
We swam with the StingRays with Capt. Marvin in Grand Cayman, and booked a private Snorkel/dive trip with Eagle Ray Divers in Cozumel.

We did re-book the new Eastern cruise with Antiqua, but if Disney had not offered a new port we would have re-booked a Western.

Do some research on the Trip Repot boards and on the ports offered on each cruise. The cruise itself is almost identical, the ports are the only variable.

No matter which you pick you will have a wonderful time, then book the "other" cruise before getting off the ship!

Also keep in mind that the ports you visit ARE subject to change depending on weather and port conditions.

 

[Masonpips]

I've done both; the likes and dislikes:

Western:
Key West; doesn't do much for me; it's a hotter New Orleans and if you're in the mood to party, probably a great stop, but we found it hot and humid (and we used to live in Houston so we were used to both) and very touristy. We didn't do an excursion - this year on the New Year's Eve cruise we'll either do a sail trip, a jet-ski thing or just stay on the ship and enjoy it.

Grand Cayman; my FAVORITE port -wish you had until 10 p.m. there - the stingray experience is one of the highlights in my 38 years - absolutely FABULOUS. We didn't do any shopping, but will this year

Cozumel - I had been 3 times prior during Mexico vacations (trips to Cancun w/jaunts to Cozumel) so we never left the ship.

So, likes on the Western included visiting ports that I wasn't 100% sure I had to get off the ship and thus enjoyed time on the ship with everyone else off - that rocks beyond belief - it's like having the ship to yourself.

Eastern:
Extra day at sea - NICE
St. Maarten - loved Orient Beach and the "freedom" to experience another culture. I found the transportation and locals to be friendly/less annoying than in Mexico trips. The shopping rocks - bought a lovely tanzanite necklace/earrings and my dh bought a Tag watch and both were excellent deals. The market area provided adorable tropical clothing for my daughter and I that night at dinner. VERY enjoyable port

St. Thomas - LOVED it - we hired a private daysail w/another family of 4 (each had our own sailboats) and went to St. Thomas - a PERFECT day (though our most costly excursion of both cruises)

I think the ports on the Eastern are more to my liking with the exception of Cayman; it's my absolute favorite.

We now cruise according to the kid's school schedule and honestly it doesn't matter to us which one we end up on. This year is Western again and I've checked next fall (2005's) schedule and the week they'll have fall break will be Eastern. That way they miss only 3 days of school.

You really can't go wrong with either!

 

[PhotobearSam]

Thanks for all the responses so far...

We own and operate a motel and chalet business here in Canada so anytime between March and early October is out for us...

We are looking at October, November, early December, Jan and Feb...

When is best? We want to do a week at Disney too along with it so low crowds are a big imporatance there...(Have been in October, early Feb and Early December and loved all these times at the park)

Keep it coming...this is sooo much fun....

 

[Masonpips]

October is fabulous on the ship - not too hot and most people are working on school schedules. Two issues that change that:

1) Halloween - the MNSSHP (?) the party at WDW brings in DROVES of people to the parks - on the ship it's really fun, but if you can plan not to be at the parks during Halloween (unless you love crowds)

2) NJ School Week - I'm sure if you do a search on the boards you can find the dates but it's typically early Nov and most of NJ goes to Disney (no offense meant at all, I'm just talking crowd control). We cruised last year (11/1) with a TON of Jersey folks and had a blast - I just know it can be crowded.

I think mid-Oct and mid-Nov (week prior to US Thanksgiving) are probably the best.

I'm more worried about Dec/Jan this year only because of Castaway - we had a fabulous day there last year but the water was just a tad bit chilly. Add two months of winter and I expect it to be downright cold this year. The other ports will be fine - they're all much farther south.