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I definitely need another Margarita!! I made a mistake in my last post. i meant to say Princess not Royal Carribbean.

Anyway, Princess has excellent food and the service we got on each of the Panama cruises we've done were excellent.

So my vote is still for the Western.

Fins Up!!

What a decision! I've got news for you, you'll have a great time on either.

I guess I'm leaning slightly towards the Eastern. We've done both of these itineraries multiple times, and Ocho Rios and Cozumel are not my favorite stops (although Ocho Rios has a great Margaritaville within walking distance of the ships). Having said that, Grand Cayman alone almost makes the Western worthwhile.

Holland America = blue hair crowd
Princess much nicer for someone who hasn't already retired

Western is the way to go because you really don't want to go to St. Croix. T&C are the only great port of call on the Eastern itinerary and it isn't enough to make up for the other bad and average ports.

Windjammer is gone and probably won't be back.

The Lost Manatee wrote:Holland America = blue hair crowd
Princess much nicer for someone who hasn't already retired

Western is the way to go because you really don't want to go to St. Croix. T&C are the only great port of call on the Eastern itinerary and it isn't enough to make up for the other bad and average ports.

Windjammer is gone and probably won't be back.

I don't think St. Croix will come into play since it isn't a stop.

Hey, we just went on a Western cruise in Jan, Port Canaveral to Private Island, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and had a great time. Can't compare cruise lines but...

3 Margaritavilles to make your donation to JB's retirement fund. It's fun to compare, plus they usually have a fun atmosphere on cruise ship days and gave us bracelets good for free drinks at our next stop, which was cool.

Grand Cayman- fun option to go play with stingrays- that was really cool.
Cozumel- fabulous private all inclusive private beaches to play away the day with beers & 'ritas. Good scuba diving choice if that's your thing. Great Mexican Cooking class offered by a couple of the cruise lines that is a fabulous excursion.

Ocho Rios has a great zip line canopy tour, or you can go up Dunn's River Falls (one of those do it once things though- I'm not a huge fan of Jamaica in general) Or just do like we did and sleep in late and then plant our buts at the Margaritavilla and make the shot guy work out like a madman for his tips.

Here's our pics, mostly boring, but if you want to see the stingrays:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare ... t_=1783616

Hope it works.

OttoCal wrote:Hey, we just went on a Western cruise in Jan, Port Canaveral to Private Island, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and had a great time. Can't compare cruise lines but...

3 Margaritavilles to make your donation to JB's retirement fund. It's fun to compare, plus they usually have a fun atmosphere on cruise ship days and gave us bracelets good for free drinks at our next stop, which was cool.

Grand Cayman- fun option to go play with stingrays- that was really cool.
Cozumel- fabulous private all inclusive private beaches to play away the day with beers & 'ritas. Good scuba diving choice if that's your thing. Great Mexican Cooking class offered by a couple of the cruise lines that is a fabulous excursion.

Ocho Rios has a great zip line canopy tour, or you can go up Dunn's River Falls (one of those do it once things though- I'm not a huge fan of Jamaica in general) Or just do like we did and sleep in late and then plant our buts at the Margaritavilla and make the shot guy work out like a madman for his tips.

Here's our pics, mostly boring, but if you want to see the stingrays:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare ... t_=1783616

Hope it works.

Thanks. Right now we are leaning towards HAL Eastern. My parents are doing a Med cruise on Princess in June, so they want to mix it up a bit.

We been to Eastern 2 years ago and just came back from Western this spring break......hands down Eastern wins!

I was watching something once taking about reading the fine print on cruises. Some state they don't guarantee the seaworthyness of the vessels? lolz!

keynorthwestprthd wrote:I was watching something once taking about reading the fine print on cruises. Some state they don't guarantee the seaworthyness of the vessels? lolz!

They also don't guarantee that you will actually go to the advertised ports of call- important in Hurricane Season or windy days when you tender to ports.

And if you get the Norovirus or something that they suspect is highly contagious, they'll lock you up in your stateroom for a few days and not let you out. You'd probably be too sick to want to go out, but you wouldn't have a choice.

I would go on the one with St Thomas , Grand Turk, and San Juan.

Those are all great stops. If you go on this one here are some tips.

Grand Turk~ Head immediatly though the shopping area. At the far end of this is a cab pick up point. Go to Cockburn town. Not much of a town, just a bar.. and a grocery store of sorts. Check out Her Majisties Prison while in Cockburn. The first thing you do when you get off the ship is walk into the touristy shopping district. It looks like it was made specicly for the cruise ships. Of ocarse you will walk through Margaritaville, you almost do not have a choice as the path takes you that way. Cab fair will run you $8.00 to get there. and another $8.00 to get back.

Do some snorkeling at Govereners Beach to see Conch in their naturual habitat. No, thier natural habitat is not in kitchy store shelves.. surprising I know.

To see the largest supply of Conch shells in your life though take a right on the beach when you get off the ship and walk down to where you go around a bend. You will see a mountain of them washed up on the shore. Do not take any off the beach though. It is the national symbol of the T & C. Plus you would get arrested and fined when getting back on the ship with them.

San Juan - A must see here is Castlile Del Morrro. If you are into the history thing and love huge forts. I loved it. I could have spent the entire day there. To get there walking from the port walk up to the center of old town and take a left. You will not need a cab as it should only take you 15 minutes to walk there. I would tell you the street name but I do not remember it. And if I did it would not help. There are street names in old town San Juan, but there are no street signs. I can say as tempted as you are to walk the waterfront to get to the fort....take the route through the center of Old Town. It is much safer. This is also a good stop to do the shopping if you are looking for suvineers.

As for St Thomas. This will be your snorkeling stop. When you walk out of the shore excurisions area there is a a place to pick up cabs immediatly outside of the fence. Have them take you to the ferry temninal. Take a ferrry from Red Hook to St Johns. Get on another cab and go to Trunk Bay. Before you do this make sure you check when the return ferry times are and make sure they are accurate. I almost became a perminent residant of St Johns because they were not accurate. It is the best snorkeling I have ever done in my life. Pay very close attention to your time. Get a cab from Trunk Bay back to the ferry terminal and head back to Red Hook. Then get on another cab back to the port. Each cab is going to be $20.00 for two people. And the cab rides there are better then any roller coaster you have been on in your life. The ferry ride I do not rememebr the cost. All in all though this day cost about $110.00.

Be advised that on all the islands cab drivers do not have change...or so they say. So make sure you carry 20's and smaller bills unless you want to leave a very large tip. All though the driver in Grand Turk was really cool. He did not have change for a 50 so he just gave me a free ride. I of coase gave him what little singles I did have.

Quint wrote:I would go on the one with St Thomas , Grand Turk, and San Juan.

Those are all great stops. If you go on this one here are some tips.

Grand Turk~ Head immediatly though the shopping area. At the far end of this is a cab pick up point. Go to Cockburn town. Not much of a town, just a bar.. and a grocery store of sorts. Check out Her Majisties Prison while in Cockburn. The first thing you do when you get off the ship is walk into the touristy shopping district. It looks like it was made specicly for the cruise ships. Of ocarse you will walk through Margaritaville, you almost do not have a choice as the path takes you that way. Cab fair will run you $8.00 to get there. and another $8.00 to get back.

Do some snorkeling at Govereners Beach to see Conch in their naturual habitat. No, thier natural habitat is not in kitchy store shelves.. surprising I know.

To see the largest supply of Conch shells in your life though take a right on the beach when you get off the ship and walk down to where you go around a bend. You will see a mountain of them washed up on the shore. Do not take any off the beach though. It is the national symbol of the T & C. Plus you would get arrested and fined when getting back on the ship with them.

San Juan - A must see here is Castlile Del Morrro. If you are into the history thing and love huge forts. I loved it. I could have spent the entire day there. To get there walking from the port walk up to the center of old town and take a left. You will not need a cab as it should only take you 15 minutes to walk there. I would tell you the street name but I do not remember it. And if I did it would not help. There are street names in old town San Juan, but there are no street signs. I can say as tempted as you are to walk the waterfront to get to the fort....take the route through the center of Old Town. It is much safer. This is also a good stop to do the shopping if you are looking for suvineers.

As for St Thomas. This will be your snorkeling stop. When you walk out of the shore excurisions area there is a a place to pick up cabs immediatly outside of the fence. Have them take you to the ferry temninal. Take a ferrry from Red Hook to St Johns. Get on another cab and go to Trunk Bay. Before you do this make sure you check when the return ferry times are and make sure they are accurate. I almost became a perminent residant of St Johns because they were not accurate. It is the best snorkeling I have ever done in my life. Pay very close attention to your time. Get a cab from Trunk Bay back to the ferry terminal and head back to Red Hook. Then get on another cab back to the port. Each cab is going to be $20.00 for two people. And the cab rides there are better then any roller coaster you have been on in your life. The ferry ride I do not rememebr the cost. All in all though this day cost about $110.00.

Be advised that on all the islands cab drivers do not have change...or so they say. So make sure you carry 20's and smaller bills unless you want to leave a very large tip. All though the driver in Grand Turk was really cool. He did not have change for a 50 so he just gave me a free ride. I of coase gave him what little singles I did have.

Thanks for the tips.. I was thinking about the ferry over to St. John's.. I was in St Thomas before and loved it. I think I might keep it simple and just do St. Thomas again rahter than try and get everyone together for another side trip. I might hit you up again for info down the road.

I prefer the Eastern Caribbean over the western though Grand Cayman and Jamaica are beautiful and fun.

Grand Cayman is kind of flat, not nearly as beautiful as most other caribbean islands are and Georgetown is no longer that wonderful picturesque caribbean town that it was it is a tourist shop town now. It is also a very expensive place to go, prices are in Grand Cayman dollars and the U.S. exchange rate is poor. Also, they have a nice Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville here but it is the worst one I've been too but I've only been to about a half dozen of them.

Ocho Rios is as fun as you make it. It's lush and tropical. Dunn's River Falls is fun and you can swim with dolphin's too. Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville is just right off the dock area and is really nice but the views aren't as nice any longer as they have expanded the cruiseship docks available there.

San Juan basically sucks if you're not an adolecent into binge drinking or and adult who likes to act like an adolecent into binge drinking. As mentioned there is the old fortress and there is a lot of tourist shopping available as well. For me the old fort is the only draw.

St. Thomas, you can fit a little shopping in Charlotte-St. Amelie, Blackbeard's tower and it's still possible to squeeze in a trip to Trunk Bay. We took Captain Ed's Golden Catarmaran to Trunk Bay and the Captain really know's how to show his guests a good time, plays great tunes too . If you can hook up with the captian you won't be disappointed. Trunk Bay has the most beautiful beach I have ever personally seen. I've heard there may be a few that are more beautiful, I've been searching but haven't found any that are close yet.

I still like Carnival but if I were taking kids along I would go with Royal Caribbean, they have a much better kids program. I haven't tried NCL or Princess yet but will eventually I think. I like land based caribbean vacations more but cruises work out better for a family in my opinion.