Sipping Coffee in the Caribbean Cup

Smuggler's Cove, Tortola

This morning, I poured my morning vanilla nut coffee into the Caribbean coffee cup Julie bought in St. Thomas a couple of years ago. It reminded me that I haven’t written much about cruising lately.

While Mexico is close for Californians, and distant destinations like the Mediterranean and South Pacific require very long flights, the Caribbean in many ways is the Goldilocks choice, not too near and not too far.

Jay, Julie, Wes and Amy cave snorkeling.

December through May is the perfect time for cruising the Caribbean. While many parts of the U.S. suffer through inclimate weather with the arrival of winter, the Caribbean hits its best weather of the year. Sunny days on the beach, snorkeling through warm, turquoise water, followed by balmy nights, cruising through calm seas, appeals to anyone with a pulse.

Other than peak holiday periods for Christmas and New Year’s, pricing is moderate for the Caribbean in the winter and spring. Hurricane Season, which usually has more bluster than substance, has passed, but prices are still moderate, because school schedules make it difficult for families to get away, keeping demand low at a time when most major cruise lines bring most of their ships to the region to take advantage of the ideal weather.

If you’ve never been to the Caribbean, then any itinerary will give you a great first taste. The Western Caribbean is most accessible from ports further west like Galveston, Texas, and New Orleans, Louisiana, while the Eastern Caribbean can most easily be reached from east coast ports including New York and Charleston. The hub of most Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises is the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, which allows for easily doing East and West back to back, something that an increasing number of Californians opt for, taking advantage of the fact that the flight costs the same no matter how long you cruise.

Beach at Tulum.

The favorite Caribbean cruises for many people embark from San Juan to the Southern Caribbean. Not only are the ports great, but the proximity of the home port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to so many great islands means more port days. Most cruise lines do alternating Southern Caribbean itineraries, making it possible to double your pleasure without repeating many if any ports in a two week sojourn. There also are longer Southern Caribbean cruises from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, but of course it takes a few sea days to get down there and back.

This season, Crown Princess also offers 7 night cruises from Ft. Lauderdale to the fantastic Southern Caribbean ports of Curacao and Aruba, with a stop at their private island in Princess Cays en route.

What kinds of cruises can you take? It’s up to you. 

Do you love fine dining and possibly have a thing for Apple iLife? Try a beautiful Celebrity ship. Do you just want the latest and greatest family cruise experience? You can’t beat Royal Caribbean, especially Oasis Class. For casual fun, how about Norwegian Cruise Lines? Small ships? Windstar or Oceania. Of course, Carnival’s fun ships are the largest year round presence in the Caribbean, and Holland America always does a great job delivering 5 ½ star quality for 5 star pricing. And Princess never fails to hold my interest with great onboard lectures and a wonderfully balanced approach. And there are lots more choices you've probably never heard of!

Does it all sound too confusing? Fortunately, you have a friend in the travel industry to walk you through it all.  Better service leads to better trips.