Western ports

[grobbins]

We have never done a Western Carribbean itinerary. What do you like/dislike about the Western ports? We are considering a Western but we do love the beauty of the the islands we have been to before. We have done Eastern and Southern. We are primarily beach people escaping from the midwestern snow in February. Thanks!

[pazandak63]

Loved Cozumel..of course. Nice beaches, low prices, and usually a longer time in port.

Grand Cayman...beautiful but a bit spendy. Last time I went I did the Sting Ray city and went back to the ship...Shopping was very expensive as was food and beverages.

Roatan...Tropical and beautiful. Poor...When you arrive there is no real town area by the dock. You have to get through the mob that wats your money and rent a taxi to other areas of the island.

Belize...other than the long tender in...Belize was nice. Lots to do. We went up the River Wallace to Altum Ha ruins then returned to the ship. Shoiing not spectacular.

Hope this helps

[Sheffie]

Grand Cayman - Stingray City is on the top 5 things I have done in my life. We used the Buccaneer for our excursion.

 

Cozumel - There was great snorkeling last spring break; hopefully it will recover soon. Paradise Beach is a nice place to hang out, too.

 

Costa Maya - Did a great excurion with a local company to the ruins. VERY interesting. (Check out David and Ivan's tour on the Costa Maya board.) Majahual is an interesting little fishing town with a nice beach to hang out at.

 

Belize - would do the cave tubing next time using a private company.

 

The western itinerary is great, but it doesn't have the beautiful hilly islands that the Eastern does. I would do either again in a heartbeat.

[patnjohn]

If you like beaches - 7 Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is one of the best. Paradise Beach in Cozumel too.

[DEL67]

We prefer the Western intineraries because there is more variety - everything from snorkeling to ruins to cave tubing to beaches. However, we are not beach people.

[loveglory]

Cozumel is great- wonderful snorkeling and good shopping.

 

Costa Maya- This place is still developing, but there is a nice pool, some bars, a beach with hammocks, and shops. You can also go to take a tour of Mayan ruins. I did this on Christmas. Not your traditional celebration, but very nice.

 

Grand Cayman- Do Stingray City. The rays are like puppies-- very friendly. It's also nice just sitting on the boat, and the ride there has beautiful blue water.

 

Jamaica- It's been a while since I've been there, but I climbed Dunns River Falls. A tip- steer clear of the markets.

 

Key West- Good shopping/bar hopping place. Also, the tour of the Ernest Hemingway house is very cool. But avoid this if you are allergic to cats. They're all over the place.

[cruisinqt]

We've done quite a few western caribbean cruises on several different cruise lines including Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and are now trying out Princess for the first time. The western caribbean has a few ports that are truly great and these are the ones I would pick for a future cruise in the Western caribbean:

 

The beaches in Grand Cayman are beautiful with white sand and crystal clear blue water, some of the prettiest I've seen. But you have to try out the stingray excursion where you swim in waist deep water with huge stingrays that are as gentle as puppies. Nativeway watersports charged us just $30 per person for adults and $20 for kids. It included a wonderful snorkeling stop where we saw an eel and beautiful black coral. This has been by far our favorite excursion of all time. We leave on the Grand Princess tomorrow and are renting a car in Grand Cayman this time around. Avis offers cruisers an all-inclusive deal that includes a driving permit, insurance, and gas for the day for only $45. I would do a Western Caribbean cruise just to see Grand Cayman alone, but there are other ports that are definitely worth seeing.:)

 

One of the other ports we really like is Cozumel. It's the best Mexico has to offer in my opinion. We really like Paradise beach which it's free to enter, has free lounge chairs, hammocks, umbrellas for shade, clean restrooms, freshwater showers, and a great beachside restaurant. And for $8 per person you can use all of their water toys for the entire day. This includes 2 water trampolines, a floating iceberg to climb, kayaks, floatie mats, and snorkel gear. This is our favorite beach getaway in the western caribbean itinerary. They even offer temporary henna tattoos, great massages at cheap prices, and hair braiding. There are also a lot of water sports to choose from like parasailing, waverunners, etc.;)

 

The cave tubing in Belize is a must. They take you through beautiful foliage in the jungle to get to the caves and you feel like you're in a rain forest. The caves themselves are full of history of the mayans since they believed that caves were port holes to another world that people went to when they died. The history of it all is interesting and so are the stalagmites and stalagtites. It's quite fun drifting down the river in a large inner tube, and the prices are pretty reasonable too.

 

Key West has beautiful beaches, great night life, and you can walk right into town from the ship without having to get a taxi. We love that port because we can shop around town, eat at a nice restaurant, take our stuff back to the ship, and still have time to hit a beach for a couple of hours since you dock right there in the middle of the town. Everything is within walking distance and the place is very picturesque.

 

These are my favorite western caribbean ports. The others like Costa Maya, Progresso, Jamaica, and Cancun are good, they're just not as great as the three I mentioned above. Grand Cayman is most definitely beautiful, but the other ports don't have that "ooh ahh" aspect because of their beauty. They are pretty, but not overly beautiful. But they have some of the nicest beaches and the snorkeling in Mexico and Grand Cayman is well known as some of the best in the world. :) World class snorkelers come from all over the country to snorkel in the amazing barrier reefs surrounding several of these ports. Snorkeling around the black coral in Grand Cayman was truly awe inspiring. In Cozumel you can swim with dolphins, in belize you can swim with tame nurse sharks, and in most of these ports you can explore beautiful mayan ruins. I think you would be impressed with all of the cool things there are to do in these ports. Give it a try!:D

[CaribbeanBound]

Here's our VERY detailed review of ports in the Western Caribbean:

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/westerncaribbean.html

[Raceroc]

Sting rays

Tubing

Snorkeling

Dolphins

Beaches

Pools

Ruins

Ziplines

Partying

Shopping

The list goes on....

 

Plenty to do... LOTS of fun!

 

 

I have not been to the Eastern Carrib yet, so I can't compare, but I have not been disappointed with the west and will go again and again.

[caprcorn28]

My personal experience is that the Western Caribbean is a smoother ride....and everyone else's points are very good as well!!!

[SPARKY12]

I got sea sick on the eastern carib. but not on the western. I didn't care for the ships that leave puerto rico after midnight, i thought it was 2 am and 5 hours later you're in another port. The ships docking woke me up.

[pazandak63]

OK...I think we are down to the Valor or the Miracle in Jan/ Feb....the only real difference here is ship size and Roatan vs Costa Maya...If you have any further advise..I sure welcome it.

Thanks, Karyn

[Bonnie J.]

In Belize go cave tubing with Reggie!!!!! check out regtour.com! We were at same place, same time as cruise ships. NCL charged $93, were told Princess was $98. Reggie charges $45! It was one of best tours we have ever taken and have been on LOTS! of cruises. I had left my phone number on email and Reggie called me to answer questions I had! We had a fant=stic time on this tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lou_70]

I have sailed both several times...

 

If you are a beach person maegan's bay is alot better than 7 mile beach in cayman.

 

Jamacia and Cozumel do not have the beaches Eastern Caribbean has. I have noticed that there are alot more "fun" excursions in the Western than the Eastern.

 

It just matters on your tastes.. I am not a beach person, but when I am in St. Thomas I go directly to Maegans Bay, everywhere else I just walk around and drink all day.

 

Western Caribbean I do excursions on every island.. Stingray City is wild and you should get a private tour for it. Jamacia Dunns river falls is great and so is chanakuba farms horseback riding... Cozumel has awsome snorkeling...

 

 

Have fun either way you go... thats what it is all about.

[photocruiser]

Tulum in the Yuccatan, you can visit the Mayan Ruins and snorkel or lay out at the beach. It is spectacular.

 

 

Photocruiser

[photocruiser]

Here is the beach at Tulum in the Yuccatan

 

 

Photocruiser

[pazandak63]

Very Cool pic!!!!!!!!!! thanks for sharing...any info on Costa Maya?

[pazandak63]

Very Cool pic!!!!!!!!!! thanks for sharing...any info on Costa Maya?

[pazandak63]

Very Cool pic!!!!!!!!!! thanks for sharing...any info on Costa Maya?

[Bonnie J.]

Megan's Bay is in St. Thomas NOT Cayman! Last time in St. Thomas we went there and were disappointed. Disney was there and the beach was full of screaming kids. Going back to Coki beach instead.

In Cayman, if you are snorklers, turn right after you get off the tender and walk about two blocks to a good snorkling spot. Can't remember name but is is not a beach just flat coral. But check with Capt, Marvin for Stingray City,. This is a great tour! You can sech for info on him on this board.

Costa Maya was built for cruise ships. There are only shops & vendors there. Beach by the pier was closed last month. You can take $3 cab ride to the 'town' but only thing we saw there were vendors and a beach.

Roatan has nice beaches, Tabyanna is great for snorkling but take a cab to beach next door ( a hotel) and walk over and it only costs you the cab ride vs. think it was $78@ for ship's tour there. You DO NOT pay cab driver until you get back to the ship.

In Belize you tender into the city. There are no beaches here. You must take a water taxi to one of the Cayes. BUT, go cave tubbinbg with Reggie - see my earlier post, go to regtour.com!

[Jahosacat]

I did the Western last week on the Glory, other 7 cruises have been Eastern or Southern.

 

I like the beaches better in the Southern and Eastern, they seem prettier and smoother.

 

Belize offers many great excursion opportunities, but, it's a 20 min tender ride. We like to do an excursion for part of the day and have time to do something else the rest of the day; Belize isn't good for this. We did a beach excursion and the beach seemed to be mostly dirt and crushed shells. We enjoyed our time in the sun, but, not sure I'd do it again.

 

We liked Costa Maya. We did a ruins excursion and enjoyed the atmosphere at the port.

 

We weren't impressed with 3 sea days, not sure I'd do that again either. But, that could just have been our route; I haven't looked to see what other lines/ships offer in the Western. I did like leaving from Port Canaveral.

 

All in all we did enjoy our cruise. I'm just expressing my opinion that the route we took wasn't great to us.