Celebrity Ascent - Eastern Caribbean Voyage

Where this cruise calls, day by day

5 ports and 3 sea days over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Fort Lauderdale, FL

   United StatesDepart

   Port Everglades is the easy one. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International sits barely two miles from the berths - the shortest airport-to-ship hop of any major US homeport - and the eight passenger terminals are spread far enough apart that traffic rarely knots the way Miami's does. Check your terminal number before you set off; they are not close together.

   • Las Olas Boulevard for lunch, then the walk down to the beach
   • The Water Taxi loop along the New River and Intracoastal, past the yacht basins
   • Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, a 1920s estate hemmed in by condo towers
   • Hollywood Broadwalk, 20 minutes south, for a flatter and cheaper beach day

   Getting ashore

   Eight passenger terminals (2, 4, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29) ring the harbour on separate access roads, and FLL is about 2 miles out - often under 15 minutes door to door.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   San Juan

   Puerto RicoPort

   The piers sit directly under the walls of Old San Juan, which makes this one of the few Caribbean calls where you step off and are already somewhere worth being. Blue cobblestones, 16th-century Spanish fortifications, and a working city rather than a shopping arcade. It is also a major homeport, so a call often lands in the middle of turnaround traffic.

   • Castillo San Felipe del Morro on the headland
   • Castillo San Cristóbal and the city walls
   • Casa Bacardí distillery, reached by the Cataño ferry
   • El Yunque National Forest, about an hour east

   Getting ashore

   Most ships dock at Piers 1-4 in Old San Juan and you walk straight into the historic district; the largest ships use the Pan American piers on Isla Grande, a short shuttle or taxi ride out.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest and busiest; Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season

4. Day 4

   Basseterre

   St. Kitts and NevisPort

   The pier lands you at Port Zante in the middle of Basseterre, a working Caribbean capital rather than a mall. What sets St. Kitts apart is the scenic railway: a narrow-gauge line built to haul sugar cane, now running double-decker cars around the north of the island for about three hours. Expect firm sales pressure from photo vendors with vervet monkeys at the scenic overlooks.

   • St. Kitts Scenic Railway
   • Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park (UNESCO)
   • Timothy Hill overlook across the Narrows
   • South Friars Bay and Cockleshell Bay on the southeast peninsula

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Port Zante with Basseterre at the gate; the southeast peninsula beaches are 20-30 minutes by taxi and the Nevis ferry takes about 45 minutes.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is hurricane season

5. Day 5

   Philipsburg

   St. MaartenPort

   A one-street town on Great Bay: Front Street for duty-free liquor and jewelry, Back Street behind it, and a boardwalk of bars on the sand. The island's real draw is elsewhere — Maho Beach at the end of the Princess Juliana runway, where arriving jets pass a few dozen feet overhead, and the French side at Marigot and Grand Case for lunch.

   • Maho Beach plane spotting
   • Great Bay boardwalk and Front Street
   • Orient Bay on the French side
   • Loterie Farm zip line and hiking on Pic Paradis

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the A.C. Wathey pier; town is a 20-25 minute walk around the bay or a few dollars each way by water taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr; Sep-Oct is the hurricane peak, and damage from Irma in 2017 is still visible in places

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Fort Lauderdale, FL

   United StatesArrive

   Port Everglades is the easy one. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International sits barely two miles from the berths - the shortest airport-to-ship hop of any major US homeport - and the eight passenger terminals are spread far enough apart that traffic rarely knots the way Miami's does. Check your terminal number before you set off; they are not close together.

   • Las Olas Boulevard for lunch, then the walk down to the beach
   • The Water Taxi loop along the New River and Intracoastal, past the yacht basins
   • Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, a 1920s estate hemmed in by condo towers
   • Hollywood Broadwalk, 20 minutes south, for a flatter and cheaper beach day

   Getting ashore

   Eight passenger terminals (2, 4, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29) ring the harbour on separate access roads, and FLL is about 2 miles out - often under 15 minutes door to door.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season)