What Caribbean Islands Can You Visit on a Caribbean Cruise?

A Caribbean cruise remains one of the most luxurious types of cruise around, and for very good reason. Sparkling blue seas, appetizing food, white sandy beaches and warm weather have made the Caribbean islands one of the favourite destinations for years. Each Caribbean island offers something different however, and here is just a taste of what each island is all about.

Barbados

Caribbean

The most easterly of the Caribbean islands, Barbados is the gateway to the West Indies. As such, it was the first island to be visited by settlers in the 1500s and the name of the island comes from the settlers' first discovery of the Bearded Fig Tree: Los Barbados, the bearded ones. Its great natural beauty, together with its natural caves, miles of beaches, tropical gardens and plantation houses, draws in scores of tourists.

What Caribbean Islands Can You Visit on a Caribbean Cruise?

St Lucia

Green jungles, stunning beaches, a volcano you can beyond doubt drive into: St Lucia is the extreme Caribbean island. The island has a strong French colonial affect and this can be seen in the housing and naming colse to the island. Make sure to see one of the iconic elements of St Lucia: the twin pitons Gros Piton and Petit Piton.

Antigua

The island has 365 beaches, one for every day of the year if you fancied living on the lovely island. Secluded coves and rolling hills derive Antigua's place as one of the Caribbean's real beauties. Its arresting history includes its Western discovery by Christopher Columbus in 1493, as well as its point as a sugar, cotton, coffee and tobacco plantation island before the abolition of slavery.

St Maarten

St Maarten is the world's smallest island that is shared between two nations: the Netherlands and France. Because of this, the two halves of the island difference in numerous ways, manufacture it a arresting place to visit. On top of this, its exquisite restaurants and well-stocked duty-free shops make it a tourist favourite for a good bargain!

Grenada

This Caribbean island is known as the 'Spice island' as the land is dotted with cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg and mace plantations as well as lush rainforests. St George, the capital, looks roughly Mediterranean with its cobbled streets and pretty buildings. Make sure to check out a rum distillery if you can or, at the very least, sample some flavoursome Caribbean rum.

Aruba

The floating markets of Aruba are not to be missed, and the gorgeous coral reefs and divi-divi trees make the Dutch island a firm favourite on Caribbean cruise lists. Because of its location, temperatures on the island remain mostly the same throughout the year. Alongside its special attractions are the thorough features of all Caribbean islands: white sandy beaches and warm turquoise waters.

What Caribbean Islands Can You Visit on a Caribbean Cruise?

What is the Best Caribbean Cruise Line and Route?

Caribbean cruises are all the rage these days. When you consider the range of amenities and facilities, the various ports of call, and the range of activities on offer, Caribbean cruises are pretty good value. They offer much more than any one Caribbean resort can offer, and can be great fun no matter what the weather is like. Modern cruise liners are huge and can commonly cope rough weather in gait without the passengers on board even noticing. The popularity of Caribbean cruises has resulted in some cruise lines operating in the region, as well as some dissimilar routes to select from. So how do you determine which cruise line and route?

Firstly, let us take a look at the Caribbean cruise lines on offer. The big names are Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian, and it makes sense to look at these three first. They have made their names based on their prestige of reliability, service and range of amenities, services, activities and routes. The pick of these would have to be Royal Caribbean. They have the largest and most Modern fleet of cruise ships in the Caribbean, and, despite normal fares being a tad expensive, have some surprisingly cheap Caribbean cruise holder deals especially in the off season. Any way if you are planning your vacation for a high season, book well in strengthen as Royal Caribbean is often sold out months beforehand. Norwegian is also a great cruise line and a miniature economy than Royal Caribbean, while Princess is someone else good selection for those seeing for a deal. There are some other Caribbean cruise operations that work on theme-based cruises, such as Celebrity, which may suit unavoidable travelers' tastes.

Caribbean

Now, on to Caribbean cruise routes. Ordinarily cruises take place in a unavoidable area of the Caribbean, visiting the ports of call particular to that region. Basically, the Caribbean Sea can be divided into Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern areas. Depending on the distance of the cruise, one or a few of these regions can be explored. There are also cruises just to one destination, such as Bermuda or the Bahamas (both of which are technically not authentically part of the Caribbean, but close enough!). Personally, I think the Eastern and Southern routes are the most interesting. The Eastern routes commonly stop in at amazing places such as Antigua, St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla, all of which are steeped in history and have the friendliest people. These routes may also take you straight through the French and Netherlands Antilles, which have their own distinctive cultural climate and magnificent sights. The Southern cruises also take you to magical islands such as Trinidad, Tobago, Curacao, Aruba, Barbados and Bonaire. Those with adequate time and money can authentically consolidate these two regions into one cruise, seeing what I consider to be the best of what the Caribbean has to offer!

What is the Best Caribbean Cruise Line and Route?

What is the Best Caribbean Cruise Line and Route?

Caribbean Cruise Weather - Best and Worst Months to Go

Caribbean cruise weather has fewer risks for vacationers planning a trip at sea rather than spending a week on an island for a straightforward surmise -- the ship can move away from bad weather while an island can't.

Someone may one day organize detachable islands, but in the meantime vacationers should reconsider two major factors connected to weather in planning a cruise. First is the annual Caribbean hurricane season and second is the climatic characteristic drop while the winter -- especially for the sea water.

Caribbean

Hurricane Season
The hurricane season runs from June 1 until November 30, but the region has on median few storms in June and November. July averages three storms, while August, September and October median four, according to the U.S. National Weather Service.

Caribbean Cruise Weather - Best and Worst Months to Go

Storms in August and October have a moderate risk of developing into hurricanes while September has the highest risk of all.

For these reasons, September is the worst month of the year to take a cruise. April and May are exquisite times to go because they are outside of the hurricane season, although some Caribbean destinations see more rainfall than general in May.

Families inspecting a cruise with children on summer break should take benefit of June in single because of the lower storm risk, followed by July.

Air and Water Temperatures
The Caribbean has a credit for year-round warmth. While it's mostly true, there are some modest variations in climatic characteristic from month to month. Air and water temperatures are noticeably cooler in the northern climates while the winter, which makes a Bahamas cruise less exciting from December straight through February.

Anyone curious in taking a Caribbean cruise in the winter should reconsider a southern cruise as a best choice for warmer weather than either an eastern or western cruise.

Eastern, Western or Southern?
Each of the three major destinations has varying conditions by month. Western cruises in single are known for heavy rainfall in the interiors of the Central American countries that lie along the Caribbean coast, such as Costa Rica and Belize.

The wet interiors are a major factor in planning day-long excursions to Mayan ruins, cave tubing, zip lining, etc. The same is largely true of the Mexican island of Cozumel.

Despite the heavy fall rains, western cruises tend to be more favorite in the fall than eastern in part because the Central American destinations see fewer effects from hurricanes.

No matter which cruise you take, know that the risk of bad weather goes up in the fall and that either you like to swim or lie on the beach will be sorely tested if you visit the more northern destinations in the winter.

Caribbean Cruise Weather - Best and Worst Months to Go