Which would you choose?

[pattyedwards1014]

Eastern or Southern?

[cb at sea]

What time of year? If it's summer, the southern will be HOT and HUMID...really!

If it's spring or fall, I'd go southern....summertime would find me in the Eastern Caribbean!

Another consideration is the departure port...I like to leave from the US...not San Juan!

[NYCRUISR]

Southern from San Juan in the winter months. Eastern ....never a problem for us in April or May.

 

We are going west in July this year and expect it to be plenty HOT.

[zoomerica]

I too would choose Southern, but also like to sail from US port.

[yogimax]

Southern for the simple reason that we haven't done it yet.

[Toothfairy754]

Southern because I just got back and loved most of it. :)

[PhoenixCruiser]

We like both! What are the ages? What ships are you considering? We need more information :)

 

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[Theresa522]

I would go for Southern in a heart beat!! :D

[Philly Steve]

Definitely southern. I LOVE Barbados, St Lucia and especially Grenada. :cool:

[Ocean Boy]

Southern hands down. The islands are awesome. As far as the heat and humidity goes it is all over the Caribbean not just the southern routes.:rolleyes:

[DonnaK]

Southern because the itineraries are more unique. The Eastern itineraries contain the same old repetitive ports that you are bound to visit again and again on future cruises.

[Happy ks]

We haven't cruised the Caribbean (yet) but the Southern route appeals to me more just because I don't think you will find as many ships down there.

 

Hopefully, our first Caribbean cruise will either be a longer one, or start in Puerto Rico. We haven't planned one yet.

[Arubamoose]

SOUTHERN.....especially if it went to Aruba or Curacao.

[Shooraq]

Southern rules - much more interesting ports, more to work with. :) Done it 3 times now.

[jobowl]

no question southern. Love them beaches

[ChuckL]

One other thing to consider is that the Southern itinerary is very ports intensive and will generally only give you one day at sea to enjoy the ship.

[Ocean Boy]

One other thing to consider is that the Southern itinerary is very ports intensive and will generally only give you one day at sea to enjoy the ship.

 

The Aruba route has two sea days.

[krillsister]

Southern in a heart beat.

[rummenroman]

Done both, and would do the southern again and again!

[green eyed lady]

Our favorite cruise was southern on Adventure :D

[printingchick]

Itineraries identified as "eastern" are really just the northern islands typically included in a southern itinerary - for example, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. On the way, they generally hit a random island such as Nausau or Key West. Eastern itineraries include a lot of sea days because you're having to travel a decent distance to reach those southern ports.

 

Southern itineraries typically originiate in Puerto Rico. They visit a wider variety of ports, mixing the typical tourist favorites with some less developed islands like Dominica and St. Kitts. They typically have only one, no more than two sea days.

 

I much prefer the southern Caribbean to any other Caribbean itinerary. The ports offer a wider variety of experiences, including rain forests, black sand beaches and historical ruins - along with the usual fabulous beach resorts. Many of us cruise to visit multiple locations on one vacation and I find it more interesting when those locations are all very different from each other.

 

I always thought that flights to San Juan would be too expensive and take too long. I've discovered that, from the northeast, the flight to San Juan is not much longer than a flight to Miami. And while the cost is higher, you can usually avoid the pre-cruise hotel stay because the ships don't leave Puerto Rico until 8:00 to 10:00 at night.

 

There are so many ports bunched up close together in the southern Caribbean, you can sail in that area multiple times and still keep hitting new ports. Eastern and Western itineraries tend to be pretty standard. In the west, there is Cozumel (or some Yucatan Mexico location), Grand Cayman, Belize, Jamaica, Labadee (private island) and Roatan. In the east, there is Naussau, CoCo Cay (private island), St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Southern ports include St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Kitts, Dominica, Barbados, Grenada, Tortola, Barbados, Antigua, Aruba, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Curacao...you get the picture.

[katiel53]

Southern for sure!

[UandMe4Ever]

Southern, for sure...especially if its a 12-14 nighter..So many port days and many sea days as well. Love to it that way! Waiting for our 11/7 on the Explorer again..12 nights.

[atlrefs]

Eastern or Southern?

Southern, love going to new destinations!:)

[Gottacruise3]

Southern, AHHHHH ST Lucia