Caribbean Vacation Cruises
With over 7,000 islands to choose from in the Caribbean Sea, major cruise lines regularly
schedule cruises to about 30 Caribbean islands throughout the year. This wide selection of
island paradises in the Caribbean attracts more cruises than anywhere else in the world.
According to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), the Caribbean together
with the Bahamas has a 44% share of the cruise market.
Caribbean Cruises are offered year-round from Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Cape Canaveral,
Tampa, New Orleans, Galveston and San Juan, Puerto Rico. With so many islands,
Caribbean cruises often include stops at one or two islands on 3-day cruises and as many
as five islands on 7-day cruises. Major cruise lines offering regularly scheduled cruises
to the Caribbean are Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Celebrity
Cruises, Holland America and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Cruise lines typically offer Eastern Caribbean Cruises, Southern Caribbean Cruises,
Western Caribbean Cruises or Special Caribbean cruise itineraries. The island destinations
visited on Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises are located reasonably close to south
Florida. Southern Caribbean cruises visit islands adjacent to Puerto Rico and just off the
coast of South America. Therefore many cruises lines depart from San Juan, Puerto Rico on
Southern Caribbean Cruises. Special Caribbean Cruises are often longer than 7 days
(usually 10 or 11 days) and circle the entire Caribbean allowing passengers to experience
islands in each area.
Eastern Caribbean Cruises
Eastern Caribbean Cruises usually include calls on islands located between Florida and
Puerto Rico. Eastern Caribbean Cruise ports may include St. Thomas, St. John's, and St.
Maarten (US Virgin Islands), San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Tortola and Virgin Gorda (British
Virgin Islands). Nassau (New Providence Island) is technically in the Bahamas, but many
cruise lines stop in Nassau on their Eastern Caribbean Cruises.
Western Caribbean Cruises
Western Caribbean Cruises include visits to islands just south of Cuba, especially Jamaica
and the Cayman Islands as well as ports near Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Some Central American countries are also included in Western Caribbean
Cruises. Ports of call on Western Caribbean Cruises include Key West (Florida), Georgetown
(Grand Cayman Island), Ocho Rios (Jamaica) and Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Costa Maya and
Progreso (Mexico), and Belize City (Belize).
Southern Caribbean Cruises
Southern Caribbean Cruises include calls in the islands east and south of Puerto Rico as
well as islands just off the coast of South America. Southern Caribbean ports of call
often include Aruba, Barbados, Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St.
Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and Trinidad. Many Southern Caribbean
Cruises depart from San Juan, Puerto Rico because these destinations are located so far
south of Florida.
Special Caribbean Cruises
Special Caribbean Cruises are also offered by the major cruise lines. These
cruises either depart from south Florida on a long cruise to the southern Caribbean
islands or they circle the Caribbean visiting up to 6 islands. Since the southern islands
of the Caribbean are 1,000 miles south of Florida, Southern Caribbean Cruises from Florida
simply require more time.
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