Help, Norwegian Jewel Eastern or Western Caribbean?

[travelling mom]

I'm in the process of trying to decide which cruise to book. We are a family of 4 with two teenagers and we have never been to the Caribbean before. Can anyone give me suggestions? Thanks

[MIcruisers3]

Well, it really depends on where you want to go. We're taking the Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Jewel, which includes Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Great Stirrup Cay, and Antigua. I went to St. Thomas and Antigua last year on the Dawn, which was included in their Southern Caribbean itinerary and those ports are very nice, although I wish I had taken a shore excursion. Perhaps I will this time around. I took a Western Caribbean cruise on the Sun a few years ago and the only port we've been to that the Jewel is also traveling to is Grand Cayman. I took a shore excursion at Grand Cayman and that is really the best way to see the island. I think that the best way to see all of the islands is to do a shore excursion because most of the Caribbean islands have the same type of ports, same tourist stores like Tanzanite International. I enjoy walking downtown in all of these places just to explore, but if you really want to get into the heart of the islands, you can't just hang around downtown. All of these islands are beautiful and do look very different in terms of the architecture, and sometimes the landscape. I really couldn't say if Western or Eastern Caribbean is better, I liked both. You should look at the shore excursions offered for the Jewel on the NCL website and read through the descriptions. It might give you a better idea of what there is to do on the Eastern and Western islands.

[howard6933]

Eastern or Western is not a heck of a difference. However, the Eastern offers a somewhat better shopping experience if that's what you go for. St Thomas and St Maarten are "shoppers paradise". The Western is more for the snorkel and swim crowd. Cozumel is a pretty good snorkel place and Grand Cayman is good also, especially Stingray City. Actually, Cozumel is also a pretty good shopping port as well. In the final analysis, you're going to have a great cruise no matter which one you choose.;)