Weather

• Western Caribbean cruises are available all year. Most of the United States is cold in the winter, but the western Caribbean -- and even south Florida and Key West -- are warm and sunny. Passengers can escape snow and ice during the coldest months of the year and enjoy sunbathing or swimming on a pool deck or exploring outdoors at every port of call. Jonathan Coulton's first JoCo Cruise Crazy to the western Caribbean was done in January. Cruises across the Atlantic to Europe, or to Alaska, have to be done during the warmer months when the weather is tolerable.
  
  

Time at Sea

• Western Caribbean cruise ports of call are less densely packed, so there is more time spent at sea. Western Caribbean cruises usually last a week and stop in two or three ports of call; the JoCo Cruise Crazy experience lasted for eight days and stopped in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. Each of these port visits lasted no more than one day. Out of the seven to day eights spent on the cruise, four or five are spent at sea while two or three are spent on location. For travelers who prefer to sunbathe or swim on the ship, a western Caribbean cruise is an ideal option.
  
  

Time at Ports of Call

• Western Caribbean cruises tend to spend more time at ports of call because they spend more time at sea. Western Caribbean cruise operators know their cruises spend more time at sea than others, so they spend more time at ports of call. A visit to a port of call on a western Caribbean cruise may last all day. On the JoCo Cruise Crazy, for example, visits to ports of call began early in the morning and lasted until late afternoon.
  
  

Ports of Call

• Whether or not you prefer a cruise to the western Caribbean is a matter of opinion. Cruise passengers who prefer to visit Latin American ports of call should choose western Caribbean cruises. Though eastern Caribbean cruises stop in the islands of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, western Caribbean cruises stop in multiple ports of call in Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. Stops in these places allow cruisers to visit both resorts with beaches and historical sites such as pyramids in Mexico's Yucatan. Cruises to other places, such as those mentioned previously, offer much different locales and itineraries.