Cruise Destinations

The Southern Caribbean is the one people come back from surprised. It sits further south than the Eastern and Western Caribbean routes most first-timers sail, which means different islands, a different feel, and water that genuinely looks like the brochure.

Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire are the anchor ports. Curacao gives you the painted Dutch colonial waterfront at Willemstad, which is one of the most photographed harbors in the Caribbean. Bonaire is quieter and is a serious diving and snorkelling destination, with reef accessible straight off the shore. Aruba is the beach day, and it is a very good one.

Because it is further south it also sits largely below the main hurricane belt, which makes late summer and fall less of a gamble than it is further north. That is worth knowing if your holiday dates are fixed by school terms.

This is the itinerary we suggest for people who have done a Caribbean cruise already and want the next one to feel different rather than familiar.

See Caribbean sailings

A Mediterranean cruise is the most efficient way to see a lot of Europe without packing and unpacking. You wake up somewhere new most mornings, and the ship moves overnight, so the traveling happens while you sleep.

The trade-off is pace. This is not a sea-day holiday. Ports are close together, days ashore are full, and there is usually more in each city than a day allows. People who love it love exactly that; people expecting a relaxing week at sea are sometimes caught out.

April to October is the season. July and August are hottest and busiest, and the shoulder months at either end give you the same ports with better temperatures and far fewer people, usually for less money.

Excursions in Rome and Barcelona sell out early because the ports are some distance from the cities. Book those the day your window opens rather than onboard.

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Alaska is the itinerary where the scenery is the entertainment. The ship spends its time in sheltered water threading between mountains and glaciers, and a great deal of the experience happens from the deck rather than ashore.

The White Pass and Yukon Route railway out of Skagway is the standout excursion, climbing a gold-rush pass on a narrow-gauge line. Going further inland to Denali turns the cruise into a cruisetour, adding land nights before or after the sailing. That is a decision to make when you book, not later.

The season runs May to September and does not flex. May and September are cheaper and quieter with a higher chance of rain; midsummer gives you the longest days and the best wildlife odds.

This is the one itinerary where we push people towards a verandah. On a Caribbean sailing you are out of the cabin all day. In Alaska the view goes past your window for hours, often early in the morning, and you will want to be able to step outside for it.

See Alaska sailings

The fjords are Northern Europe’s answer to Alaska, and closer to home if you are sailing from the UK or Northern Europe. The ships sail deep inland along water that is often narrower than the ship is long, with waterfalls coming down the rock face on both sides.

Ashore it is scenic railways, small mountain villages, and walking. This is not a nightlife itinerary and it is not a beach one. It is a looking itinerary, and the looking is exceptional.

In high summer you are far enough north for the midnight sun, and the light simply does not go. That is genuinely disorienting the first time and is one of the things people remember longest.

Pack layers and a waterproof regardless of the month. Fjord weather changes through the day and the best scenery is from an open deck.

See Northern Europe sailings

Hawaii is the itinerary where the islands do not blur together. Each one has its own character, and a cruise is the only practical way to see several without a string of inter-island flights and hotel changes.

Maui gives you the road to Hana and the volcanic crater at Haleakala. Kauai is the green one, with the Na Pali coast and waterfalls. Pearl Harbor on Oahu is a genuinely moving half-day and worth planning for rather than deciding on the morning.

The thing to understand before booking is the sailing length. Hawaii is a long way from anywhere, so these itineraries carry more sea days than a Caribbean week, and the sailings themselves are longer. If sea days are a cost to you rather than a benefit, that matters.

A luau is the one excursion we tell people to book rather than improvise. The good ones sell out well ahead, and the ones still available on the day are usually available for a reason.

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The Bahamas is one of the most sailed itineraries anywhere, and for an enormous number of people it is the first cruise they ever take. Three and four-night round trips run from Florida, which means a short flight or a drive to the port, and a holiday that does not cost you a full week of leave.

The private islands are the real draw, and they are why a short Bahamas sailing punches above its length. When the cruise line owns the island the beach day simply works: its own tender or pier, its own loungers, lunch included rather than negotiated. Disney has Castaway Cay and, more recently, Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. Royal Caribbean has Perfect Day at CocoCay. These are genuinely different products, and they are worth choosing between rather than accepting whichever one happens to come with the fare.

Nassau is the other anchor: Paradise Island, the forts above the harbor, and a straw market that is exactly as busy as you expect. Freeport is the quieter call.

Two things we tell every client sailing here: Castaway Cay deserves more than a lounger, and the adults-only beach is the best kept part of the day. Both are on our cruise pro tips page.

It is also the easiest cruise in the world to bolt onto Orlando, which is why we so often plan the two together rather than as separate holidays.

This is the one we suggest for a first cruise, or for anyone who wants to find out whether cruising suits them before committing to a full week at sea.

See Caribbean and Bahamas sailings

This is the outlier on this page and the one people are most surprised to enjoy. It is almost always a river sailing rather than an ocean one, which changes the whole shape of the holiday: a small ship, a hundred-odd guests, and a new town most mornings.

The reason it works is the mooring. River ships tie up in the middle of the town, so the market is a walk from the gangway rather than a coach transfer. You go out, you come back to get warm, you go out again after dark when the lights are actually on. On a coach tour you get one shot at each town and you take it whatever the weather is doing.

Each market has its own character and its own things worth eating and drinking, and after a few towns you start to notice the differences rather than the similarities. Bring boots that handle wet cobbles and a coat you can move in, and accept that it will be cold. That is rather the point.

Two practical notes. The season is short, roughly the back end of November through December, so the sailings are concentrated into a few weeks. And river ships are small, which means the good cabins on the good dates go a long way out. This is the itinerary on this page we most often have to book a year ahead.

This is the one to ask about early. If a particular week matters to you, we would rather have the conversation in spring than in October.