Need Advice: Western or Eastern itinerary

[Chesneygirl]

We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids 11 & 14) considering doing a cruise on the Epic next summer. The ship itself looks very beautiful and exciting with all the themes it has plus its NEW.!!

We've done Bermuda and the eastern Caribbean with GT, STT and San Juan in the past. Also went to Antigua and found it very dirty with the exception of Dickinson Bay.

We LOVED STT and Bermuda very much and have always wanted to go back to both but would also like to give other islands an opportunity so that we are not limiting ourselves.

Having said that, we have never done the Western Caribbean and would be interested in knowing more about it.

We love beautiful clean beaches similiar to USVI - St John/St Thomas and Bermuda. We especially loved our time at Trunk Bay in ST John. We went to St Martin last year and found it to be just ok.

Does the Western Intinerary offer beautiful clean beaches or is it mostly "dirty"?

I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced both.

The ports of call for Eastern:
Bahama's
St Thomas
St Martin

Western:
Costa Maya
Isla Roatan
Bay Islands
Cozumel

Thanks for any help in helping us decide.

[AFT_LOVER]

and WEST is our favorite since it has many different islands to cruise many time to all of them. Grand Caymen is #1 with the great snorkeling & scuba to see the beautiful reefs to see & the creatures living in them. Beaches and pink & white sands similar to Bermuda. The mexican ports were destroyed years ago by a hurricane and have been rebuilt, so this is a first cruise in December on Jewel for us to see both of them. Rotan & Belize are new ports for us & I have read & views DVDs on them and want to see them & their beaches & people. Then 2010 on Epic to see them again & even better.


We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids 11 & 14) considering doing a cruise on the Epic next summer. The ship itself looks very beautiful and exciting with all the themes it has plus its NEW.!!

We've done Bermuda and the eastern Caribbean with GT, STT and San Juan in the past. Also went to Antigua and found it very dirty with the exception of Dickinson Bay.

We LOVED STT and Bermuda very much and have always wanted to go back to both but would also like to give other islands an opportunity so that we are not limiting ourselves.

Having said that, we have never done the Western Caribbean and would be interested in knowing more about it.

We love beautiful clean beaches similiar to USVI - St John/St Thomas and Bermuda. We especially loved our time at Trunk Bay in ST John. We went to St Martin last year and found it to be just ok.

Does the Western Intinerary offer beautiful clean beaches or is it mostly "dirty"?

I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced both.

The ports of call for Eastern:
Bahama's
St Thomas
St Martin

Western:
Costa Maya
Isla Roatan
Bay Islands
Cozumel

Thanks for any help in helping us decide.

[gtalum]

I prefer Western to Eastern, but that's a personal choice. I like both, and I'm doing another Eastern next month.

Western generally has more exciting activities, and Eastern has prettier mountainous islands.

[njhorseman]

FYI, on the Western itinerary, Roatan and "Bay Islands" are not two separate ports. Roatan is one of the "Bay islands" and is the single port of call there.

For a quiet beach oriented vacation, I guess I'd prefer the eastern itinerary.

[njhorseman]

and WEST is our favorite since it has many different islands to cruise many time to all of them. Grand Caymen is #1 with the great snorkeling & scuba to see the beautiful reefs to see & the creatures living in them. Beaches and pink & white sands similar to Bermuda. The mexican ports were destroyed years ago by a hurricane and have been rebuilt, so this is a first cruise in December on Jewel for us to see both of them. Rotan & Belize are new ports for us & I have read & views DVDs on them and want to see them & their beaches & people. Then 2010 on Epic to see them again & even better.


Just don't cruise on the Epic and expect to see Grand Cayman and Belize, because they are not on that ship's itinerary. ;)

[chachi]

I would pick Western because I really do not like Nassau. I prefer port days to sea days, so I wouldn't go on a cruise with only 2 ports that I like.

[albean99]

We live in Texas and have done all of the Western ports and we're planning on doing the Eastern one. Roatan is extremely poor so if you get off it's best to have a tour planned. We didn't and it was sad and a bit scary. Having said that I do love the gorgeous wooden bowl w/lid I bought there and got a cute wooden bracelet from the scads of little children selling them for $1. All the ports have good and bad things about them so it's often down to what you enjoy. Having been to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Costa Maya 3 times is more than enough for me.

[ddakrt]

I like Epic's eastern itinerary more. Personally I haven't been to St. Maarten (but always wanted to, hello Maho Beach! :D) nor Nassau, so Eastern is better for us.

I'm not big on Epic's western itinerary, I feel that the Spirit and Pearl's western route offers far more than the Epic's.

[SeaShark]

One thing for you to consider....especially if you do not like crowds...


Epic's Eastern Itinerary includes a stop in Nassau.

While the Epic is in Nassau:

Disney's Wonder will also be there (2500 passengers)
RCCL Oasis of the Seas will also be there (5400 passengers)


All that on top of 4200 people from the Epic....


The port will be very crowded....:rolleyes:

[ddakrt]

One thing for you to consider....especially if you do not like crowds...


Epic's Eastern Itinerary includes a stop in Nassau.

While the Epic is in Nassau:

Disney's Wonder will also be there (2500 passengers)
RCCL Oasis of the Seas will also be there (5400 passengers)


All that on top of 4200 people from the Epic....


The port will be very crowded....:rolleyes:

People that hates crowds probably wouldn't be sailing the Epic anyway. :D

[psyfi]

sounds to me like you would enjoy the Eastern better--While I prefer the western for the varying cultures, seems like you would prefer the more "Americanized" and "clean" Eastern ports better.

[justcake]

It all depends on the itinarary. Cozumel is really nothing to see unless you take an excursion. I was there after the hurricane and it was rebuilt but nothing interesting right off the boat.
We loved Roatan but it is a third world country. We did not take an excursion but walked around at the port and enjoyed the people of Honduras. The port was fairly new when we were there I think and the locals were very quiet and not on top of you like at some islands. We bought so well price local crafts that are some of our favourites. I have heard that the beaches are unbelievable although we didn't go.
Have never been to Costa Maya so can't comment.

As for the eastern, I don't like Nassau and won't be getting off the ship. We have never been to St. Maarten or St.Thomas so we're excited to go somewhere new.

Bermuda is still our favourite and we can't wait to go back.

[GigCrusier]

Oh, such an easy question! Hands down... Do what we are doing. Back to Back Epic voyage and experience both Eastern and Western.

[Cruisin'cockney]

One thing for you to consider....especially if you do not like crowds...


Epic's Eastern Itinerary includes a stop in Nassau.

While the Epic is in Nassau:

Disney's Wonder will also be there (2500 passengers)
RCCL Oasis of the Seas will also be there (5400 passengers)


All that on top of 4200 people from the Epic....


The port will be very crowded....:rolleyes:
Plus Carnival Sensation - another 2000 + passengers in the mix!

[david_sobe]

Both are nice but I booked eastern on the Epic. The main reason is because of Cozumel. I have been there and done that. I wanted to do western but Cozumel is a tourist trap being it is the largest cruise port in the world. It was ok but not worth going back. I dont think I would get off the ship unless there was an excursion.