Western Caribbean or Eastern Caribbean?

[dltaeg]

Looking at 2 cruises and conflicted on which to go with. Both are in May 2019 and both are on Harmony, price is only £100 difference.

 

Which would everyone recommend as the better destinations (we've never done any Caribbean cruise so its all new to us). Family of 6 too, 3a and 3c (aged 5,8 and 10). Thanks :D

 

Western Caribbean

 

ITINERARY

Port Canaveral (Florida), United States

Cococay, Bahamas

Cozumel, Mexico

Roatan, Honduras

Puerto Costa Maya, Mexico

Port Canaveral (Florida), United States

Eastern Caribbean

 

Port Canaveral (Florida), United States

Cococay, Bahamas

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Port Canaveral (Florida), United States

 

 

 

[arlodog]

It depends on what you like to do. We are sailing on Harmony this fall and picked the Eastern itinerary because we haven't been to one of RCCL's private islands before and we have been to the other ports multiple times. We have done 10+ caribbean cruises and find fun things to do on every island. We love Cozumel, Roatan and Costa Maya but we always do our excursions on our own. These ports can be very affordable on your own for a family. You can read the boards here for ideas and recommendations. You will see the same advice for tour providers over and over if you read it often enough. We have never been led astray by the cruise critic community recommendations when it comes to tours and activities. For our next cruise we are taking our 4 year old granddaughter with us. In San Juan we will take the public transportation to the Fort and tour it and fly a kite. I will probably book a private tour with Bernard again in St. Martin (I have been on his group tours before, but don't want to subject others to the whims of a 4 year old!) and will just have a beach day at Labadee. We are treating Harmony as the destination and not as worried about the ports, I usually like a 4 port itinerary, but with the mega ships I like 3 so I can enjoy the ships amenities.

[ARandomTraveler]

Usually I would say Eastern, but between those itineraries, I’d choose the Western. St Maarten is currently not a good port to visit because they are still severely damaged from the hurricane. I’m assuming the San Juan stop is very short (it seems like they usually leave at 1 or 2pm), and Coco Cay gets skipped a lot if the weather isn’t great because it’s a tender port.

 

Costa Maya has some nice beaches, and Honduras and Cozumel have good snorkeling. I guess you’ve got Coco Cay on this one too, but at least the other ports have things to do.

 

I don’t know, I don’t really like either of these choices. I guess you’d really be going for the ship on this one.

 

EDIT to add that I just realized your trip is May 2019 not 2018, so St Maarten should be ok by then. If the San Juan stop gives you a full day, choose Eastern, but if it’s a short stop then I’d still pick Western in this case.

 

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[Clarea]

If you enjoy snorkeling or diving, Roatan is an excellent place for those activities.

[dltaeg]

If you enjoy snorkeling or diving, Roatan is an excellent place for those activities.

 

Can't say I've ever done either haha but would love to give it a try :)

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'd probably go with Eastern.

[fsjosh]

What I hate about the Eastern Itineraries is the back to back sea days. I had that on a cruise once, and was going crazy by the end of the second day. Being on an Oasis class, I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad, but I'd still go western.

[sea shepherd]

If it was me I would just do both. [emoji41] two weeks are way better then one. but that’s me.

 

 

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[accio_7]

If you enjoy snorkeling or diving, Roatan is an excellent place for those activities.

 

 

I booked the Dec 2019 Western Caribbean itinerary on Harmony specifically because people have raved about snorkeling in Roatan :) Costa Maya is another new port for me, I haven’t been back to CocoCay since 2008!

 

 

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[Cru-Zin]

Another vote for Western. Both Puerto Rico and St Maarten were heavily hit by the hurricane. The fort is fun for the kids in PR, but it's a short day.

[LeeW]

The problem here is that the Eastern really doesn't hit any of the interesting smaller islands. But if you want the big ship you are stuck with this. Given that you are paying a lot to fly over your best option is really to do both.

 

If you only can do one, decide based on whether you like ship activities or port activities. Western has more ports, Eastern has more onboard. The kids will really enjoy Oasis-class onboard activities regardless of which you pick but there is a lot to do in any of those ports.

[griffy116]

Our upcoming cruise is Eastern, but we LOVE the Western too. We did a snorkel excursion in Roatan. Probably one of the best places in the world for that. Cozumel, we had done most excursions and did The Cozumel Amazing Race last time there. Another one of our favorite excursions ever. You can't go wrong with either. We plan to spend some money in San Juan and St. Maarten to help those folks so devastated by the hurricane and have a good time there. We love both these places too and have always had so much fun.

[FOXTROT]

Very simple, do a B2B. Problem solved

[BearBear12]

You really can’t go wrong either way, today I would vote Western and in a week I would vote Eastern.

 

 

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