Western, Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruise??

[ceejilly]

I need your advice, seasoned cruisers. I'm planning our first cruise to the Carribean from the UK and I do not know what area of the Caribbean to visit first, it's all very daunting:confused: Your thoughts and passed experiences would be very valuable to my planning. Many thanks

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have done all parts of the Caribbean. Our favorite is the Southern.

[Love the beach]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We have done all parts of the Caribbean. Our favorite is the Southern.
Ours too! Don't much care for the Western but Eastern is nice, too.
Have a great cruise.

[Stevesan]

Best snorkeling and diving: Western
Best Beaches: Southern
Best shopping: Eastern

There are extended cruises (10-14 days) that combine Eastern and Southern ports.

[peaches from georgia]

Definetely the Southern.

[Cruiser 4 Life 66]

Another vote for the Southern.

[JJPacer]

#1 Southern
#2 Eastern
#3 Western :o

[mexico5]

Another vote for the Southern! When we did our very first cruise we chose the Western because it offered the most port days just in case we didn't like cruising! Of course we loved cruising so now it's alright with only 3 ports!

I would sail the Western again if they perhaps switched Jamaica for another port...

[iriemon]

Ours too! Don't much care for the Western but Eastern is nice, too.
Have a great cruise.

That is exactly our feeling, Southern, Eastern and lastly Western. We like to do the southern out of Florida rather than San Juan, don't like the trip to SJ airport.

[K2DangerGirl]

I like cruises that visit islands with all different colonial heritages. Not that I want to open a discussion on the merits of colonialism, but I find it very interesting to get to see islands with Dutch, British, French and Spanish flavor, all while just unpacking my suitcase once. My first cruise was a 10-day Southern Caribbean on HAL that visited Curacao, Caracas, Grenada, Martinique, St. Thomas and Nassau. And possibly somewhere else....I can't remember now! (Not HMC; didn't exist then.)

[SwissMyst]

Southern is most interesting with its own history from the time of Columbus onwards, and not just artificial tourist destination stops like too much of the Caribbean can be. (Diamonds Internationl or Del Sol anyone?) Lots of UK history links on the Southern Caribbean route too.

[meterman2]

I would vote for the Southern, preferably a 10 day-er!

[heidik]

1. southern
2. eastern
3. western (do not care for at all)

[RevNeal]

I've also done all three, and multiple combinations thereof. My favorite are the Southern Caribbean cruises ... and, particularly, any that also include the Panama Canal.

[cruiseapril]

Yet another vote for a Southern. We like to revisit Curacao- interesting island.

[Mary Ellen]

We've also done all three. The only one I wouldn't recommend is a 7-day Eastern Caribbean. A 10-day would be OK, but not a 7.

[VermeulT]

I've also done all three, and multiple combinations thereof. My favorite are the Southern Caribbean cruises ... and, particularly, any that also include the Panama Canal.

I vote with the Rev.... do Panama (if you can afford the 10 days)... best of everything!

[Traveller155]

My vote as well is
#1 Southern
#2 Eastern
#3 Western

Haven't did the Panama Canal yet.

[lorekauf]

I've done a lot of Caribbean cruises. I just returned from a b2b 14 day Western Caribbean cruise (2 -7 day cruises). I loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat. I've done the Southern so many times it's not nearly as appealing.

[terigo]

If you have never been to the Caribbean at all, you will probably enjoy whatever area you visit, but if you have 10 or 11 days, a combination of Eastern/Southern is ideal, IMO.

I will join the club that said.....
1. Southern
2. Eastern
3. Western

[canadarocks]

I'm loving all of the responses because we did a Western Caribbean last year (which I liked, but didn't love) and in March we're doing a 14 day Collector's cruise of the Eastern & Southern Caribbean!

By everyone's answers it seems we've saved the best for last! :cool:

[terigo]

I'm loving all of the responses because we did a Western Caribbean last year (which I liked, but didn't love) and in March we're doing a 14 day Collector's cruise of the Eastern & Southern Caribbean!

By everyone's answers it seems we've saved the best for last! :cool:
yeah, ya did.. :D