Here’s the final part of our pick of the best Caribbean cruise itineraries for the year ahead
A Trinidadian busker and his friend. Credit iStock
Big band entertainment
Cunard’s 2016 Big Band Ball Cruise onboard Queen Victoria leaves Southampton for the Caribbean with a welcome stop at Coruna in Northern Spain before crossing the Atlantic. Antigua is the first Caribbean island of five, with St Maarten’s the final one, before heading back to Southampton via the Azores, with plenty of big band entertainment onboard.
Departs 15 November 2016 for 24 nights, from £2,549pp (0845 374 2224, cunard.co.uk).
Big Apple sailaway
Add a hotel stay in New York to an Eastern Caribbean cruise on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 so you can relax during the three sea days after sightseeing in the Big Apple before hitting five stunning islands in a row – the US and British Virgin islands, St Kitts, Dominica and St Maarten – before a leisurely sail back to New York.
Departs 26 November 2016 for 12 nights, from £1,939pp including return flights. Hotel available (0845 374 2224; cunard.co.uk).
Transatlantic crossing
Experience a traditional Cunard transatlantic crossing to New York on the Queen Mary 2 with the added bonus of visiting five Caribbean islands before returning to New York. Tortola on the British Virgin Islands offers sandy beaches and a botanical garden full of tropical plants while little-known Dominica has rare birds in its rainforest, hot springs and magnificent waterfalls.
Departs 19 November 2016 for 19 nights, from £2,369pp including flights (0845 374 2224; cunard.co.uk).
Christmas on Britannia
Fly out to Barbados for a Christmas shopping trip on P&O’s flagship Britannia. The cruise visits nine islands and includes Curaçao, Venezuela and other Caribbean islands. Buy Delft china and Madeiran embroidery when you call at Aruba, spices in Grenada and jewellery in St Maarten.
Departs 2 December 2016 for 14 nights, from £1,449pp including return flights (0843 376 0111; pocruises.com).
California dream
Go to San Francisco on this transatlantic cruise from Southampton on P&O’s adults-only Arcadia. Sailing south to Madeira, the ship turns right for the Caribbean, calling at Barbados and Curaçao, before a full transit of the Panama Canal and on to Mexico’s eco-tourism resort of Huatulco. There is also a day in laid-back San Diego before reaching the Golden Gate city.
Departs 2 January 2017 for 24 nights, from £2,429pp. Flights can be arranged (0843 376 0111; pocruises.com).
Smiling girls in the Bahamas. Credit iStock
Family-friendly islands
P&O’s family-friendly ship Azura has a 14-night returntrip from Barbados starting with two days in Bridgetown before sailing to eight islands including the Dominican Republic’s new Amber Cove cruise centre with shops and bars plus white-sand beaches accessible by chairlift. Other highlights include chic Martinique and the volcanic crater island of Grenada.
Departs 11 November 2016 for 14 nights, from £2,049pp including flights (0843 376 0111; pocruises.com).
Volcanic Honduras
Swan Hellenic’s Natural Wonders of Latin America sails from Ecuador through the Panama Canal to Puerto Limón for an overnight stay in Puerto Rica. Hugging the mainland coast in the Caribbean Sea, Minerva calls at Roatán and Puerto Cortés in Honduras, with included excursions to the volcanic countryside, before heading to Belize City and then Mexico.
Departs 4 March 2016 for 16 days, from £3,71606pp including flights and excursions (01858 897154; swanhellenic.com).
Focus on Cuba
The first leg of Swan Hellenic Minerva’s repositioning cruise back across the Atlantic starts in Mexico’s Cozumel and finishes in Bermuda but focusses on Cuba with an overnight stop in its capital Havana and another at the tiny port of Antilla, near the birthplace of Fidel Castro. A Cuban & Caribbean Medley also calls at Great Inagua, the third largest island in the Bahamas, plus Turks and Caicos, home to the expansive Grace Bay Beach.
Departs 19 March 2016 for 12 days, from £2,306pp including flights and excursions (01858 897154; swanhellenic.com).
Martinique waterfalls
Despite its strong Cuban flavour, with an overnight in Havana and day in Santiago de Cuba, this Voyages of Discovery cruise has plenty of other Caribbean offerings, including Jamaica’s former fishing village resort of Ocho Rios, French colonial Guadeloupe, with its tropical rainforests, and multi-ethnic Martinique’s dense forest and waterfalls.
Departs 11 April 2016 for 15 days, from £1,699pp including flights (01858 898406; voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk).
Caribbean to Canaries
Get a double dose of sunshine when you cross the Atlantic from Barbados to the Canary Islands as Voyages of Discovery’s 540-passenger Voyager returns to Europe for the summer. There’s a day in St Lucia to see the dramatic volcanic Pitons tower over the island and take a jeep safari through the rainforest before crossing the Atlantic to visit two Cape Verde islands.
Departs 25 April 2016 for 16 days, from £1,779pp including flights and gratuities (01858 898406; voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk).
A row of colourful Caribbean houses
Eastern Caribbean classic
A classic seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruise with Holland America Line will get you to the coral reef island of Turks and Caicos where the Grand Turk Wall reef is a haven for divers, while the clear blue waters are safe for kayaking and paddleboarding. There are also calls at Puerto Rico and St Maarten, plus the cruise line’s private Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas.
Departs 23 October 2016 for seven days, from £599pp cruise only (0843 374 2300; hollandamerica.com).
ABC Islands
Holland America Line’s new ship, MS Koningsdam, which launches in April, will be sailing from Fort Lauderdale on a roundtrip to the Bahamas and southern Caribbean in November. The cruise also includes the Dutch ABC islands of Aruba, which has sparkling beaches; Bonaire, with its excellent diving, and Curaçao with its fascinating mix of Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese buildings.
Departs 9 November 2016 for 14 nights, from £998pp cruise only (0843 374 2300; hollandamerica.com).
New Year in the Cayman Islands
Say goodbye to 2016 when you welcome in the New Year after exploring the Cayman Islands, then sleep off the party during a day at sea in the Caribbean sunshine. This Holland America Line return trip to Fort Lauderdale also calls at Falmouth, Jamaica’s newest cruise terminal, and Mahogany Bay in the Honduras with its own private beach.
Departs 27 December 2016 for 10 nights, from £1,398pp cruise only (0843 374 2300; hollandamerica.com).
Western Caribbean roundtrip
Carnival Cruise Lines offers a variety of short hop Caribbean holidays, with its five-day Western Caribbean roundtrip cruise from Miami to Jamaica’s Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands one of the most appealing. There are regular sailings in March, April and May but the cheapest price is in January 2017 – proving the cruise line claims that early birds catch the best deals.
Departs 7 January 2017 for five days, from £2,96pp cruise only (0843 374 2272; carnival.co.uk).
Las Vegas, Miami and the Caribbean
Fly to Las Vegas for three nights in the bright lights then fly to Miami for a hotel stay before joining Celebrity Reflection on a seven-night cruise that will take you to San Juan in Puerto Rico, Philipsburg in St Maarten and Basseterre in St Kitts – once the base for pirates such as Captain Kidd and with plenty of British and French colonial history.
Departs 8 November 2016 for 12 nights, from £1,459pp including return flights, internal flight and hotels (0808 102 0023; jetlinecruise.com).
Cinnamon sticks and starfruits at a Caribbean market. Credit iStock
Magic in Port Canaveral
Family-friendly Carnival Magic was refurbished with a Fun Ship upgrade last year and its Western Caribbean return trip to Port Canaveral near the Orlando theme parks makes it a good choice for combining with a land-based holiday in Florida. The cruise takes in Belize, where you can snorkel over the Northern Hemisphere’s longest barrier reef, or visit the ancient Mayan site of Altun Ha. The cruise also visits Mexico and takes you to the diamond-clear waters of Mahogany Bay in Roatàn.
Departs 30 April 2016 for 8 days, from £511pp cruise only (carnival.co.uk; 0843 374 2272).
Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans
Jetline Cruise has some exceptional packages including a fly-rail hotel and cruise holiday based in Chicago, Memphis and New Orleans. After two nights in Chicago take an Amtrak overnight train to Memphis for two nights and then another train to New Orleans for another two nights before joining Carnival Dream on a roundtrip from New Orleans to Montego Bay in Jamaica and finally Mexico.
Departs 4 September 2016 for 15 days, from £1,499pp including return flights, hotels and rail travel plus free entrance to Gracelands in Memphis (0808 102 0023; jetlinecruise.com).
Disney to Haiti
Stay at the Disney Caribbean Beach hotel for seven nights after flying to Orlando before joining Royal Caribbean‘s Freedom of the Seas at nearby Port Canaveral in Florida. The seven-night cruise goes to Labadee in Haiti, where Royal Caribbean has a fantastic private beach that offers watersports and the 2,600-foot long Dragon’s Breath zip line. Jamaica, Grand Cayman and the Maya ruins in Cozumel are also on the itinerary.
Departs 17 July 2016 for 15 nights, from £2,299pp including return flights, Disney hotel and transfers (0808 102 0023; jetlinecruise.com).
Retro cruise
Midnight gala buffets, cocktail parties and knobbly knees contests are all part of the fun on 1980s throwback seadays during special Carnival Journeys cruises by Carnival Cruise Line. Try the southern Caribbean trip from Puerto Rico to Jacksonville, Florida, via Trinidad and Tobago and five other islands. You can also expect local cultural events, Academy of Fun lectures and authentic Caribbean cuisine.
Departs 13 April 2016 for 10 days, from £529pp cruise only (carnival.co.uk; 0843 374 2272).
Duty free in Barbados
Spend two nights in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, before boarding Celebrity Equinox for its Ultimate Eastern Caribbean cruise calling at St Thomas, gateway to the US Virgin Islands but with buildings going back to its Danish foundations. The cruise also calls at Barbados where duty free shopping, the beach and cricket calls.
Departs 18 January 2017 for 13 nights, from £1,699pp including return flights, hotel and transfers (0808 102 0023, jetlinecruise.com).
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