Do you prefer the EAST or WEST Carribean Cruise?? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We have never cruised but hope to some day so the planning has begun. The only thing we know for sure is that our cruise will be with DCL. Looking at the Carribean cruises, which is better........The EAST or the WEST???
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Just for more info, if we were to choose a 7 night Carribean cruise, we are leaning toward the Western Carribean.
Would you choose the one which stops at Key West with one stop at Castaway Cay -or- the one that skips Key West but has two Castaway Cay stops??
I can't give my opinion since I haven't been on a 7 night cruise, but just wanted to say that I don't think either 7 night cruise has two stops in Castaway Cay. That was on the 5 night Bahamian cruises over the summer. The one that doesn't stop in Key West has an extra "at sea" day.
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We preferred Western, mainly because I thought it was my only shot to get to Key West! You can't go wrong with either choice (either KW or 2 stops at CC)!
I would choose the Western since it has one more port call than the Eastern (although if you would prefer an extra sea day than the Eastern might be for you). Plus, Key West just has to be experienced at least once! That answers the question, of course, about a KW stop vs. CC. As much as I love Castaway Cay, I would not want to do a cruise that stops there twice...I would much rather experience as many different ports as possible!
Granted I have not been on a DCL 7 night only 4 and a 5night,. But I have traveled on other cruiselines. We prefer the Eastern. IMO better ports of call and more time to relax
My family preferred the Western Caribbean because of Key West, our favorite port on either itinerary, but we really enjoyed the Eastern cruise too. Personally, I would not choose 2 stops at Castaway Cay over Key West, but I'm not a "beach person" at all.
If we do another 7-night cruise, we'll probably just choose by price and dates. Or, you could flip a coin -- you can't go wrong either way.
We've done both of those cruises, and while we loved them both, an extra stop at Castaway Cay was our favorite! We spent one of the days "beaching" and the other one biking, hunting for treasure, kayaking, etc. When we did the "Double Dip" we stopped at Costa Maya rather than Grand Cayman. We liked Grand Cayman much better.
If we do another 7-night cruise, we'll probably just choose by price and dates. Or, you could flip a coin -- you can't go wrong either way.
Happy choosing,
Melissa
We, too, were basing our cruise on price and we were originally looking at a 4 day Bahama cruise, however, with the new promotion of Kids Sail Free on a 7 night Carribean cruise, it is like getting 3 nights almost free. So, we started looking at it. By the time we are able to cruise that promotion will be over but one never knows what DCL has planned for the future so we are keeping our options open and doing some preliminary planning.
I would choose the Western since it has one more port call than the Eastern (although if you would prefer an extra sea day than the Eastern might be for you). Plus, Key West just has to be experienced at least once! That answers the question, of course, about a KW stop vs. CC. As much as I love Castaway Cay, I would not want to do a cruise that stops there twice...I would much rather experience as many different ports as possible!
This is the way I am leaning but without having the experience of Key West, I am concerned it wouldn't be as much fun for the kids (13 & 10). Personally, I think DH and I would love Key West but would the children??
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I don't know what the big draw for Key West was. It was nice (we did Western in October). But it wasn't much different from the other tropical stops (except they spoke English and we could use our cell phones). Our itinerary was determined by the dates available to us (DH's work), so we didn't have a choice. But, I'd chose Eastern over Western because I want the extra day at sea! The ports are nice, but I cruise for the cruising, too; not just the places it takes me.
And if I had to chose a double dip at Castaway Cay over Key West, I'd chose Castaway Cay every time! It's the whole reason I cruise the Caribbean with Disney - I love the seclusion, the laid back atmosphere, the lack of "gotta do this!", the storybook perfection of it all!
To answer your question, there are some 7 nts with 2 stops at CC. I was looking at one in particular in Nov 2011. They aren't the norm, but they do exist.
We haven't done either 7 nt, just the 4 nt. That being said, I don't know if we could do any less than 7 from now on. 4 nts just didn't seem like enough. We LOVED our DCL cruise, and can't wait to figure out when we can go again!
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You can't go wrong with either choice (either KW or 2 stops at CC)! 
our DCL cruise, and can't wait to figure out when we can go again! 
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