Condé Nast Traveler picks

Caribbean Cruising

print

e-mail

It used to be that if you wanted a tropical vacation with all the bells and whistles, you headed for a resort. No longer. Now you take a cruise, and, in a region like the Caribbean, instead of settling on one island for your trip, you get a smorgasbord of different landscapes and cultures.

About the biggest challenge you face is leaving the ship at all. Today's cruise ships lay on more diversions—indoors and out, on land and sea, for the body and the mind—than you'll find at any landlubber resort, even the all-inclusives the Caribbean specializes in. Take a look at this menu of onboard options: a rock climbing wall with 11 routes; a surfing simulator for bodysurfing; an interactive water park with umbrella jets and spray cannons; whirlpool tubs suspended 112 feet above the water; ice skating; a boxing ring; mini-golf; art auctions; and a karaoke lounge.

And that's just a partial list—from one ship. Granted, it's the largest passenger ship afloat—Royal Caribbean's brand-new 3,600-passenger Freedom of the Seas—but even on smaller vessels the cruise lines pull out all the stops to keep you amused around the clock. You already know about the tax-free shopping, spas, casinos, discos, and Vegas-style revues, but how about photo kiosks for do-it-yourself digital imaging (Princess Cruises)? Or bungee trampolines (Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas)? Or a one-of-a-kind Cirque du Soleil nightclub (Celebrity's Century)?

Used to be, too, that cruising was the preserve of the idle rich or folks with oodles of time on their hands. Now, it's for everyone: the well-to-do and piggy bank savers, old and young, honeymooners and dynamos with fast-track careers, seekers of historic sites and seekers of exotic shops. Everyone.
But what makes cruising the ultimate in vacations is that the ships offer something-for-everyone diversity, and they take you to different destinations. You go to bed here, you wake up there; dinner in Tortola, breakfast in Sint Maarten. That's where cruise ships shine: They transport you to ports with the greatest of ease, the liveliest of diversions, and the snuggliest of comforts. Cruising is convenient, too—you get to discover magical little islands like Jost van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands and Mayreau in the Grenadines, with your own medical team tagging along, on call around the clock.
Almost half of all the cruise ship passengers in the world sail in the Caribbean, which is not surprising, really: Like the ships themselves, the Caribbean is chockablock with attractions. For starters, think of all the different cultures in this one small corner of the globe—Amerindian, Spanish, British, French, Indian, Indonesian, Irish, Dutch, and American. Think of the stunning variety of scenery—beach and mountain, desert and rain forest, lake and waterfall, reef and volcano.

Since you can't see and do everything on every island, work out a rough plan of priorities before leaving home—what you'd like to do each time you go ashore. Water sports here, shopping there, sightseeing somewhere else. Forget about beaches and sightseeing on St. Thomas, Sint Maarten, Aruba, and Curaçao: The array of high-end duty-free goodies is so mind-boggling and distracting there, you might miss the last tender back to the ship. But remember, there's a lot more than tax-free baubles—like tropical beachwear, street market gewgaws, local crafts, and art—and since today's megaliners have their own bountiful shopping arcades, save some of your allowance for last-day-at-sea sales aboard ship.

In Central American ports, you have all those extraordinary reminders of the Incan and Mayan civilizations. On Barbados, St. Kitts, and Nevis, you can visit elegant plantations houses. You can also tour several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as Brimstone Hill on St. Kitts, the forts of Old San Juan, and the picturesque waterfront of Curaçao's Willemstad.

Most ports have beaches and basic water sports nearby, but for sun-filled, sand-in-the-toes days allocate time on islands such as St. Barts, Grand Cayman, Tortola, Antigua, Grenada, and Mexico's Cozumel. Many cruise lines own private tropical islands and put passengers ashore for a full day of snorkeling, windsurfing, sailing, parasailing, beach barbecues, and even beach massages. No crowds, no minivans, no hassles.

For a feel of the true Caribbean—that natural, colorful, exotic Caribbean—make Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Costa Rica your priorities. Scramble up waterfalls (Jamaica), paddle through mangrove forests (St. Croix in the U.S. Virgins), hike around a boiling lake (Dominica), drive up volcanoes (Martinique and Guadeloupe), or take a canopy tour—a thrilling Tarzan-like escapade by rope or aerial tram among the tropical treetops (Jamaica, Dominica, St. Lucia, or Costa Rica, which has a long Caribbean coastline).

This year, Caribbean cruisers have their choice of some 70 ships ranging in size from just under 100 passengers to 3,600 passengers, with fares from less than $100 per person per day to well over $1,000. They cover the entire sea basin and more, from the Bahamas to Tobago, Mexico to Barbados. Somewhere among the largest fleet ever you'll find the right-size ship, the right fare, the right itinerary, and the perfect departure date.

To make cruising more accessible, the lines have introduced new U.S. departure ports, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, Jacksonville, Mobile, Galveston, Houston, New Orleans, Charleston, Norfolk, Baltimore, New York, and Boston. Cruisers in the Northeast have a choice of several roundtrips from New York: 10 and 11 days on Holland America's new Noordam, 7 days on Princess and NCL (the latter year-round).

Okay, you're interested, but you're still not sure if you want to spend all that time on a ship. The cruise lines have an answer for that one, too: "sampler" cruises of two, three, or four days—from Galveston, on Royal Caribbean and Carnival; from Fort Lauderdale, on Costa and Royal Caribbean; and from New Orleans, on Carnival. Even a two-day sailing will let you sample the cruise experience and check out one or two foreign ports. Chances are you'll sail for home wishing you had another three or four days on your ultimate vacation.

Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.