5 Night Western Caribbean can't decide

[MoCro]

My and a few of my friends are planning a couples cruise on Independence of the Seas. We can't decide between:

- Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Cruising | George Town, Grand Cayman | Cozumel, Mexico | Cruising | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

OR

- Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Cruising | Labadee, Haiti | Falmouth, Jamaica | Cruising | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

PLEASE HELP lol

 

[Lovetocruise2002]

What are the two ships? That would affect my vote...

[MoCro]

4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

What are the two ships? That would affect my vote...

Both are on Independence of the Seas. The only difference is the destination.

[Lovetocruise2002]

22 minutes ago, MoCro said:

Both are on Independence of the Seas. The only difference is the destination.

Whoops..I totally missed that in the original post. I would do the one Cozumel. 

[MoCro]

Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Whoops..I totally missed that in the original post. I would do the one Cozumel. 

That's what most people are suggesting. Thanks a bunch. :) 

[WannaCruise]

We're returning to Grand Cayman for the first time in a bit and can't wait.  The beaches there are beautiful, so that one gets my vote.

And btw...love Independence.

[cookingyo]

Hated Jamaica, I would do the Grand Cayman / Cozumel itinerary.

[ChessE4]

13 hours ago, MoCro said:

My and a few of my friends are planning a couples cruise on Independence of the Seas. We can't decide between:

- Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Cruising | George Town, Grand Cayman | Cozumel, Mexico | Cruising | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

OR

- Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Cruising | Labadee, Haiti | Falmouth, Jamaica | Cruising | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

PLEASE HELP lol

 

I recommended the Jamaica itinerary for the opportunity to do interesting excursions.  Cozumel is mostly beach and shopping, unless you take the shuttle to the mainland for Mayan ruins, etc.  That ride is a little bumpy and can produce nausea.  I don't get sick, but it's not my favorite commute.  The advantage of the Cayman Islands would be Stingray City.  I would think either one is fine, so it depends upon your cruise objectives -- why are you taking the trip?

[Hutcherl]

Labadee is awesome but Grand Cayman gets my vote for sure.  Have been on over a dozen cruises and seen many beautiful beaches and stunning waters but GC tops the list.  I would be okay if every cruise visited there.  

[Matt]

I picked the Cozumel itinerary as well

[Dimension]

What is is about Jamaica that everyone appears to not like? I am looking at booking the same itinerary on Indy:   - Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Cruising | Labadee, Haiti | Falmouth, Jamaica | Cruising | Fort Lauderdale, Florida

[Matt]

Just now, Dimension said:

What is is about Jamaica that everyone appears to not like?

Falmouth is few options that everyone seems to enjoy. In the grand scheme of Caribbean ports, it seems to have the least favorite excursions, with many requiring long bus rides.

[AshleyDillo]

Jamaica gets an overall bad rap as a port overall from a lot of people.  There's not much immediately within the gated port confines to do and you are not encouraged to venture far from the port without being on an official excursion.

My vote is for the Cozumel/Grand Cayman itinerary.  There's a lot to do in Cozumel and Grand Cayman doesn't seem to pop up on itineraries as much..feels "rarer" to me.  I've only been there once though.  Plus I'm not as much of a beach person, so the Labadee stop is just a big beach day and not as appealing to me.

[Dimension]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am looking at that particular sailing for my wife lived in Jamaica for a year so I wonder if we would have a different experience.

We are doing the Cozumel and Grand Cayman sailing this December 14th. We also have a sailing booking in March that goes just to Cozumel.

[monctonguy]

Also....many cruises go to Labadee....but its defn not as common or often to find cruises with the Cayman stop....so I would do it while you have the chance...cruises to Labadee can be found anytime...

[MoCro]

15 hours ago, WannaCruise said:

We're returning to Grand Cayman for the first time in a bit and can't wait.  The beaches there are beautiful, so that one gets my vote.

And btw...love Independence.

Thanks a bunch. Everyone's feedback is making this a pretty easy decision for me. LOL. 

[MoCro]

8 hours ago, monctonguy said:

Also....many cruises go to Labadee....but its defn not as common or often to find cruises with the Cayman stop....so I would do it while you have the chance...cruises to Labadee can be found anytime...

That's a great point! Thanks so much.

[MoCro]

20 hours ago, cookingyo said:

Hated Jamaica, I would do the Grand Cayman / Cozumel itinerary.

Thanks for the input. It's looking like Grand Cayman/Cozumel will be it for us!

[MoCro]

8 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Jamaica gets an overall bad rap as a port overall from a lot of people.  There's not much immediately within the gated port confines to do and you are not encouraged to venture far from the port without being on an official excursion.

My vote is for the Cozumel/Grand Cayman itinerary.  There's a lot to do in Cozumel and Grand Cayman doesn't seem to pop up on itineraries as much..feels "rarer" to me.  I've only been there once though.  Plus I'm not as much of a beach person, so the Labadee stop is just a big beach day and not as appealing to me.

You're like the second person to mention Grand Cayman being a rare stop. So that will more than likely be what we go with. I am super excited and plan to book with our travel agent in the next few days. 

[hsweat22]

I picked the GC/Cozumel one....GC is one of my favorite ports!

[USCG Teacher]

Sounds like you've already made your mind up, but I'm going to pile on with the pro-Grand Cayman folks.  I'm not particularly fond of Jamaica, I love Cozumel/Play del Carmen, and Grand Cayman has some of the most beautiful water and beaches in the Caribbean.  

[Flacruiser99]

I hate tendering to Grand Cayman.

[Momof4crazytocruise]

The beaches in Grand Cayman are beautiful. But in principle, I am not a fan of tendering, and I was not happy with how they rushed us off the ship based on our excursion times, but neglected to tell us that we arrived early, and ended up rushing to get on the tender boats, only to find our excursion didn't adjust, and we were 2 hours early for it. As first time cruisers, we didn't know any better. I would much rather have a docked port. I didn't mind Falmouth, but we planned from the get go just to go to a private beach club. It was lovely.