What's good about the Western Caribbean Itinerary

[Sarangel]

After reading the Eastern vs. Western thread, I'm now a little discouraged about the Western cruise that we have booked for Sept. 2006. Can anyone point out good things to do on the Western itinerary?

Thanks.

 

[jel0511]

We LOVE the Western. We took the western last November and rebooked for 2006. The Eastern just doesn't "do it" for us. We frequently travel to St. John, so the St. Thomas stop doesn't do anything for us and St. Maarten is just icky, IMO. So, all that's left is Castaway Cay. On the Western, we get Key West, Grand Cayman and CAstaway Cay all of which we love. We could do without Cozumel, but this time will probably treat it as a sea day and spend most, if not all of the day on board. The ports on the Western just speak to me more than the Eastern. It's a matter of personal taste. I don't think I've ever sail the Eastern.

Hi Sara!!!!

 

[webray]

We love the western and chose it over the eastern specifically because the eastern ports did not look all that exciting to us after seeing them covered on suite and simple travel show..lol.

Key west, there is more than enough to do for the time you are there..lol, great food, ok shopping and lots to see.

Grand Cayman..again..a full day with lots to see and great food.

Cozumel..again..the shopping here is best, great people, wonderful food, lots to do, we didn't get back on the ship this day until right before we sailed.

Castaway Cay..well, we always just relax on the adult beach there..lol.

 

[mrp4352]

(slight disclaimer, I've only done the Eastern on RCCL, but I still don't particularly care to do it again).

Key West - we just roamed all over the place. Margarita's in Margaritaville, cats at the Hemingway House, rum cake samples from the Tortuga Rum Cake place on the square...

Grand Caymen - sorry, no help there, we didn't get to put in because the weather was nasty

Cozumel - the highlight of the cruise! We did the off-roading jeep excursion. FANTASTIC!! We had the best time on this excursion - it was worth every penny - and the food on the beach was fantastic!

 

[SCDizneyDawn]

I am also a big fan of the Western Carrib. We have gone on 5 Carrib cruises, 3 western and 2 eastern. We are sailing western again in Oct.

In Cozumel, love the snorkling at Chackanabb (spelling??), the beach clubs, and CARLOS N CHARLIES! If you like to have a blast in a bar, this is a great stop. We also always get Vanilla here and shop for silver jewelry. This trip we may stay on the ship during the day and head to Carlos N Charlies for the evening, returning in time for the deck party. On past trips we have been to one beach club that has since changed hands, it had a pool and included open bar, and last year we went to Paradise Beach, which was beautiful, VERY Clean but we spent too much money on food and drink here! Plus, for the two of us, we spent 30 bucks plus tip for cabs. Wish we had tried to find someone to split the cabs with.

In Grand Cayman, we have swam with the stingrays and snorkled, both of which we enjoyed. This trip we are going on an all day tour with Native Way called 'Rays, Reef and Rum Point. Rum Point is a beach and I am very excited about this tour, every report I have read (on cruise critic dot com) has sounded wonderful. It includes a lunch also.

In Key West we have done a sunset tour on a cataraman and shopped and eaten in Margaritaville. This trip we plan to wander around some and either watch the sunset from the ship or from Mallory Square where they have a sunset celebration every night.

Hope that helped you some!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[jrabbit]

What's good about the Western Caribbean Itinerary

You're on the ship for 7 nights - it doesn't get much better than that!!!

Here's my take on the western cruise as opposed to a prior poster that stated:
KW: eat and shop
GC: eat and shop
Coz: eat and shop

Me, I never have figured out why in the world do I want to go to the caribbean and then go shopping. I can shop at home any time I want to.

In Key West there's a great snorkeling trip out the the 3rd largest barrier reef in the world. And there are some very unique sights to see / visit in Key West proper.

Grand Cayman: some of the best snorkeling around - great reefs, lots of fish. And you can "snorkel" with the sting rays here too.

Cozumel: Some very good snorkeling and scuba excursions to do. Carlos and Charlies for a wild time (leave your inhibitions at the door). There are also many great beach destinations (Chakanaab, Mr. Sanchos, etc) with swiming / snorkeling opportunities, shows, other water sports and some pretty good food (or so I've heard).

Some people think that the "sea day, shore day, sea day, shore day, etc" is a great way to go since you're doing "something different" each day. Other people like the eastern because you have a couple of sea days in a row to really "get into your vacation" and then two shore days, sea day shore day done.

The western islands are "flat" islands (no "mountains") and on the eastern the islands are hillier (some would say mountainous) so the look of the islands is very different.

Its a matter of personal preference and what you want to do. We've done both and would do either again in an instant if $$$ wasn't an issue.

 

[SeaSpray]

We specifically chose the western for our first Disney cruise last year because we wanted to see Mayan ruins, so on the day we were at Cozumel, we did the Tulum Ruins excursion. It was fascinating to see the ruins up close like that and to splash around in the Caribbean Sea.

For our Disney cruise next year, we are doing another western, but that's mainly because a group of us DISers from last year's cruise had so much fun together that we decided to cruise together again, and that's the date we all came up with that worked for all of us. Two stops at Castaway Cay!

 

[staceymerrill]

Grand Cayman - Stingray City

Cozumel - Great shopping