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Eastern or Western Caribbean


lbwallace83
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I am taking my family (husband and 2 sons 11 and 7) on a cruise on wither the Allure or Oasis in March. I am looking for advice on which itinerary is better. My husband wants to scuba dive....I like pretty beaches and animal interactions.

 

Also, does anyone have any favorite excursions on either itinerary?

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I am taking my family (husband and 2 sons 11 and 7) on a cruise on wither the Allure or Oasis in March. I am looking for advice on which itinerary is better. My husband wants to scuba dive....I like pretty beaches and animal interactions.

 

Also, does anyone have any favorite excursions on either itinerary?

 

It's not the prettiest beach, but we've enjoyed spending an hour at Maho Beach in St. Maarten and watching the airplanes land.

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It's not the prettiest beach, but we've enjoyed spending an hour at Maho Beach in St. Maarten and watching the airplanes land.

 

Marginally off topic, I am looking to do this in November. Is it easy to get a taxi back?

 

I am taking my family (husband and 2 sons 11 and 7) on a cruise on wither the Allure or Oasis in March. I am looking for advice on which itinerary is better. My husband wants to scuba dive....I like pretty beaches and animal interactions.

 

Also, does anyone have any favorite excursions on either itinerary?

 

I have done Eastern and Western on Allure.

 

Eastern has the Bahamas (Blue Lagoon Island is gorgeous and has a dolphin encounter), St Thomas (which is nice but beaches tend to be more crowded so perhaps take a trip over to St John which by all account has stunning beaches which are generally speaking a little quieter) and St Maarten (gorgeous island and gorgeous beaches around the whole island).

 

Western has Labadee (private island so not a huge variety of those sorts of activities), Jamaica (some nice beaches, Dunns River Falls) and Cozumel (I did a semi-sub trip here and saw lots of snorkelling groups so guess they do suba diving and it was stunning).

 

Jo :)

Edited by jo24
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The Western Caribbean offers Cozumel, which is a favorite for divers, and there are a few decent beaches. Labadee has nice beaches, but no diving, that I'm aware of. And Falmouth......well, it has shops!

 

The Eastern Caribbean, as Bob mentioned has Maho beach on St. Maartin, but not diving that is good, and then St. Thomas, a great beach on the other side of the island, Megans Bay, but not good diving, and the last stop is Nassau.

 

With the Oasis and Allure, it's the ships that are the destination, not the itinerary, IMHO!;)

 

Rick

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Marginally off topic, I am looking to do this in November. Is it easy to get a taxi back?

Yes, it was for us. We had taken the bus to the beach for $2pp. For the way back, we went to the bus stop and at least 3 different taxis came by asking if we wanted a ride back. We got tired of waiting for the bus and got a taxi for $20 for the four of us. I think the taxi is normally $8pp.

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Yes, it was for us. We had taken the bus to the beach for $2pp. For the way back, we went to the bus stop and at least 3 different taxis came by asking if we wanted a ride back. We got tired of waiting for the bus and got a taxi for $20 for the four of us. I think the taxi is normally $8pp.

 

That is really helpful information, thank you. I have a trip in the morning (couple of hours) and then wanted to head there from lunch onwards for a couple of hours.

 

Definitely something I have always wanted to do in St Maarten so would recommend it to anyone else before I have even been!

 

Jo :)

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That is really helpful information, thank you. I have a trip in the morning (couple of hours) and then wanted to head there from lunch onwards for a couple of hours.

 

Definitely something I have always wanted to do in St Maarten so would recommend it to anyone else before I have even been!

 

Jo :)

 

Jo, the place to go at Maho beach is the Sunset Bar and Grill. Good food, and drink, and excellent for watching planes land!:)

 

Rick

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That is really helpful information, thank you. I have a trip in the morning (couple of hours) and then wanted to head there from lunch onwards for a couple of hours.

 

Definitely something I have always wanted to do in St Maarten so would recommend it to anyone else before I have even been!

 

Jo :)

Only thing I will suggest is to start back at least 2 hours before all aboard time. There can be traffic on the road back to the ship.

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Only thing I will suggest is to start back at least 2 hours before all aboard time. There can be traffic on the road back to the ship.

 

Bob, when was the last time you were there? I understand that they are working on a new road, that will be much shorter than the time it takes today, but not sure when it will be completed.

 

Rick

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Bob, when was the last time you were there? I understand that they are working on a new road, that will be much shorter than the time it takes today, but not sure when it will be completed.

 

Rick

Last time was Dec 2012, so over a year. I was not aware of a new road, and I don't think we used a new road back then.

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Jo, the place to go at Maho beach is the Sunset Bar and Grill. Good food, and drink, and excellent for watching planes land!:)

 

Rick

 

Oh lovely, thank you. We will be heading around lunch but straight after our tour so I was curious about finding something to eat and drink.

 

 

 

 

 

Only thing I will suggest is to start back at least 2 hours before all aboard time. There can be traffic on the road back to the ship.

 

I had heard this but I so appreciate the clarification on it. We have a late departure, 7pm, so had intended on starting back around 4pm to give plenty of time.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

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We have done both the Eastern and Western iternaries and I have to say that the Eastern Caribbean is our absolute favorite. Although it includes the Bahamas, we stay on the ship while it's in port there and take advantage of a spa day or doing activities that are less crowded since many are in port. You have the most beautiful jewelry shopping I think in St. Thomas (we have been using the same jeweler for over 10 years) and over all we just enjoy the ports of St. Thomas and St. Maarten more than the Western.

 

The Western almost always stop in Cozumel or Grand Cayman and we try to do our best to avoid Mexico these days for obvious reasons.

 

Either way...you will be cruising and there isn't much better vacation than that, in m book anyway!

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About Maho Beach, we walked into town after we got off the ship (or you can take the water taxi) and we walked to Back Street which is two blocks over where all the jewelry shops are and there's a van that makes stops along the way (it has a sign that says Maho Beach) on its dashboard. They consider it a bus but its really a van. It cost us $2.00 per person. It makes a few stops along the way picking up townspeople going to work. We told the driver we wanted to get dropped off at Maho beach and it was the next to last stop. The drive took about 20 minutes. On the way back we walked to the stop where he let us off and we hopped into another van that said Phillipsburg and let us back off in town. It was all very simple and cheap. $4.00 round trip per person!

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We have been on both Eastern and Western and our favorite hands down is Eastern. Can't really nail it down to one reason, I just think that it's prettier. It also seems like the islands are closer so you can visit more without so many sea days. We also LOVE watching flying fish from our balcony.

 

That being said, I don't think that I would turn down a cruise to either of them. :p

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Done all ports in both itineraries. Eastern by far. When I first started cruising, I thought I would like the western better but boy was I wrong.

 

I try to avoid itineraries with Cozumel in them. The beaches aren't very good and it's not a pretty island. I don't think there's much to do either.

 

I wasn't impressed with Labadee either. Beaches were just ok and the chairs felt very packed in. Long lines for the buffet. The labadoozies they come around with are all watery from the heat by the time they arrive. The zip line excursion that we looked forward to seemed to take half the day.

 

All three eastern ports have good beaches and shopping. Endless excursion options from St Thomas and St Maarten. You can also get to St. John via St Maarten.

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Western Caribbean sucks in my opinion. Eastern and Southern are the best.

Wow so many bad comments about the Western Caribbean! We are headed out for a cruise in two weeks to the western and this has taken some of the excitement away from our looking forward to the cruise. I'd like to hear from some that have positive things to say! We have not cruised that much yet and are hoping we did not make a mistake! :eek:

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We've only cruised 5 times (6th coming up in March), and other than our Hawaiian and Bahamas cruises - the others have been Western. We love it.

 

We actually love Cozumel! Only been there twice, but we loved it. It's an island, so the fears of "Mexico" are almost non-existant. It's a beautiful island. Lots of good shopping for Mexican stuff too. You can even take a ferry to the mainland for some other excursions, but that's a little bit of a stretch for time, imo.

 

Grand Caymen is stunning. Most beautiful waters. Swim wiht Stingrays seems to be the popular excursions, or just have a beach day. Last time we went, we rented a jeep and drove around the island for the day.

 

Labadee is my favourite port - nice relaxing beach day with some very unique shopping, especially the Haitian art.

 

Falmouth - Been to Jamaica a few times, and it's a nice island too - tons of history. A lot of people are put off by anything that makes them uncomfortable - like "pushy" vendors, and Jamaica has some (as does Haiti). Lots to do in Jamaica

 

We LOVE the Western routes! Now, we've not sailed the Eastern or Southern yet, but we did a 2 week land vacation in St. Kitts/Nevis which was beautiful too.

 

IMO, if there is nice blue Caribbean water, some palm trees, and nice sand, and freindly people with nice caribbean foods, I'm in heaven! You can find those in both the Western and Eastern/Southern.

 

so, do not be worried about western, you will enjoy it, I'm sure.

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Wow so many bad comments about the Western Caribbean! We are headed out for a cruise in two weeks to the western and this has taken some of the excitement away from our looking forward to the cruise. I'd like to hear from some that have positive things to say! We have not cruised that much yet and are hoping we did not make a mistake! :eek:

 

It is just other peoples opinions, so don't worry, go with an open mind and I am sure you will have a brilliant time.

 

For me personally, for example, I don't like St Thomas - bad experience the first time put me off so when I stop there in November I am taking the chance to go to St John instead. Some people love St Thomas.

 

I don't know where you are stopping but Labadee is beautiful. Yes it is RCI private but it's nice for that fact. Some port areas can be overrun with people pushing and selling you things, not here though. I took the coastal boat trip here - was wonderful. Of all the ports I have been to, inside the port area in Falmouth is gorgeous. All new and all the shops you need right there. I took a helicopter flight and got to see a lot of the island. Directly outside the port was a market which made me a little uncomfortable due to how crowded it was but that is because I am nervous person in unfamiliar surroundings and was a single female travelling alone so I just didn't stop there. Cozumel was also beautiful. I took a semi sub trip and seeing all the different fish was fantastic.

 

Yes, I did ship organised tours in each location and I usually do but for me I liked the 'security' that they offered. I have never come across anything bad, I consider myself lucky in that respect but there have been things that I didn't like but that other people would probably love. My last 2 cruises I was alone (apart from the other 6000 people on the ship but you get what I mean) and I just made the most, for me, that I could of each cruise, like I do any holiday.

 

For me, the Western had more of the 'postcard' beaches and sea that you expect from the Caribbean - which just meant more pictures to make family and friends a little jealous ;)

 

Have a fabulous time and let us know how you got on when you get back.

 

Jo :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Edited by jo24
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Wow so many bad comments about the Western Caribbean! We are headed out for a cruise in two weeks to the western and this has taken some of the excitement away from our looking forward to the cruise. I'd like to hear from some that have positive things to say! We have not cruised that much yet and are hoping we did not make a mistake! :eek:

 

I have to apologize for that. Suck was way off key. All of the Caribbean rocks, I promise you. That was snotty of me and looks like an island snot if you will. It's just almost all of my cruises have been down there so I have been to almost all the ports quite a few times. Actually I don't really like any Caribbean island that isn't mountainous or hilly if you will. It just looks so much more tropical and way out there in the islands. St.Thomas, Labadee, St.Lucia, etc I just love. St. Lucia is the queen of them all IMO, just beyond beautiful. Nassau, Cozumel and a few others that are flat just don't appeal to me very much and i stay on the ship. Aruba and Grand Cayman for some reason are exempt from the flat sucky viewpoint. For some reason I really like those 2 islands regardless of being relatively flat. I cruise for the ship though, I love being on them, ports are a side thought for me. Although the Mediterranean is a different story...All about the ports over there.

Edited by Jtd724
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Wow so many bad comments about the Western Caribbean! We are headed out for a cruise in two weeks to the western and this has taken some of the excitement away from our looking forward to the cruise. I'd like to hear from some that have positive things to say! We have not cruised that much yet and are hoping we did not make a mistake! :eek:
Marilyn prefers Eastern, but personally I prefer Western. Next week we are doing Eastern on Independence of the Seas, and then doing a pier transfer in Port Everglades to do Western on Allure the following week.

 

You did not make a mistake - Enjoy your Western cruise!

 

Thom

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I like them all. Any place that has beautiful turquoise water has my vote. Do the research on each of the port votes that you are considering and you would be surprised how beautiful and fun each place can be. I haven't yet ever wanted to stay on the ship. Even in Falmouth we got a private tour and had an awesome day. Nassau is the only place I haven't loved so far. Will probably stay on the boat that half day when the allure is there but knowing me I won't be able to.

 

Debbie

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Wow so many bad comments about the Western Caribbean! We are headed out for a cruise in two weeks to the western and this has taken some of the excitement away from our looking forward to the cruise. I'd like to hear from some that have positive things to say! We have not cruised that much yet and are hoping we did not make a mistake! :eek:

 

What ports are you going to exactly? You did not make a mistake. You just need to pick what appeals to you at each place. Everybody has different opinions. We plan our days to the fullest and very carefully. I'm not one just to walk of a ship then try to figure out what to do. I made that mistake once and what a waste of the day. I research the boards, look at pictures and decide what we want. For example in Grand Cayman, my dad wasn't even planning on getting off the ship because swimming with the stingrays and snorkeling didn't sound like fun to him. It was absolutely beautiful there and we all had one of the best days ever. It isn't just about what you do, a lot of it is what it takes to get there and I think so much of the enjoyment was spending 30 minutes each way on the boat getting to where we needed to be. If you are just a hang out on the beach person you will find a fun beach at almost any port you visit. Just do the research. My advice is to not just look at the activities on the boat. I have done both boat and private excursions. With private excursions your main concern is getting back to the boat on time but I have never felt they are less safe. I took a RCI excursion once before on my first cruise in Honduras. A cab picked up myself and two friends and drove us to the dolphin site through some of the most 3rd world areas I had ever seen. Just us and the cab driver. I can't see how that is any more safe than a private excursion. There are plenty of reputable business out there. Do the search on trip advisor and cruise critic boards.

 

Have a great time.

 

Debbie

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