Insight Guides: Caribbean Cruises by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Caribbean
Publisher: APA
Published: 2016-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

If you want a more unusual itinerary, pick a cruise that goes from point to point rather than round-trip; there are small ships, like those of Noble Caledonia, for example, that roam the region, focusing on more out-of-the-way ports.

Motorized craft off Playa Valdez, Isla Margarita.

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New experiences

To this mix has been added new South and Central American experiences. Venezuela’s La Guaira is a fairly nondescript port, but it is only 40 minutes from Caracas, the archetypal bustling South American city. Cruise lines have been adding it to their itineraries for some years now, but periodic problems (it is a favorite conduit for drug smuggling) has seen it fall from grace, and off the cruise routes, from time to time. The island of Margarita also provides a tiny taste of Venezuelan culture, as well as a good range of adventurous tours.

Panama’s problem was different. Cruises through the canal became increasingly popular but none of the ships actually stopped in Panama itself. There were no cruise ports and no tourist infrastructure. Since Panama regained control of the canal from the USA at the end of 1999, this has all changed. Billions of dollars have been spent on developing cruise ports at Colón (and Balboa) on the Pacific side, and cruise lines have been given financial incentives to call there. Frequent Caribbean cruise passengers needed no incentive to pay Panama a first visit, especially since, from Colón, a historic railway link to Panama City has been reactivated. Now, with the opening of the new channel of the Canal, much bigger ships will be able to transit, giving a whole new reason to visit.

Although the investment has not been as large, the Central American countries of Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala (for more information, click here) have also been sprucing up to encourage cruise calls. Usually found on western Caribbean cruise itineraries, the attractions here include the rainforests and the Maya ruins, and – like Panama and Venezuela – they provide a fascinating contrast in lifestyles to the Caribbean islands.

Meanwhile, ‘new’ islands are coming into fashion: the relatively unknown Saba and nearby Anguilla; the tiny island of Montserrat, all but destroyed in the mid-1990s by its active volcano, but now welcoming cruise ships once more; and the gorgeous Iles des Saintes, a yachting hideaway off the coast of Guadeloupe, visited by the smallest and most exclusive ships.

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