Freedom of the Seas - Western Caribbean Getaway

Where this cruise calls, day by day

4 ports and 2 sea days over 5 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Miami, FL

   United StatesDepart

   PortMiami is the busiest cruise port on earth and behaves like it: a lettered row of terminals strung along Dodge Island - A for Royal Caribbean, B for Norwegian, C for MSC, D through F for the Carnival brands, V for Virgin. Traffic funnels in over the Port Boulevard causeway or through the tunnel under Government Cut, and on a Saturday with six ships turning around, both back up.

   • Ocean Drive and the Art Deco district in South Beach, 20 minutes across the causeway
   • Wynwood Walls and the warehouse murals around it
   • Calle Ocho in Little Havana - a cortadito and the domino tables at Maximo Gomez Park
   • Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a 1916 bayfront villa in Coconut Grove

   Getting ashore

   Terminals A-G and V sit on Dodge Island, reached by the Port Boulevard causeway or the PortMiami Tunnel; Miami International is about 8 miles west, usually 20-30 minutes but longer on a heavy turnaround morning.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season and August ashore is punishing)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3

   Labadee

   HaitiPort

   Labadee is not a town. It is a fenced peninsula on Haiti's north coast leased by Royal Caribbean, with beaches, an alpine coaster, a zip line and no way to leave it — you will not see Haiti, and plenty of guests never register that they are in it. Calls have been suspended and reinstated repeatedly as conditions on the mainland change, so treat it as a soft item on an itinerary.

   • Dragon's Breath Flight Line zip line over the water
   • Dragon's Tail alpine coaster
   • Columbus Cove and Nellie's Beach
   • Arawak Aqua Park inflatables

   Getting ashore

   Docked at a pier built in 2009 — you walk straight off into the resort, and a tram runs the length of the peninsula.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr; Aug-Oct is hurricane season, and calls are also subject to Haiti's security situation year-round

4. Day 4

   Falmouth

   JamaicaPort

   Royal Caribbean built this pier in 2011 beside a genuine Georgian town - Falmouth has some of the best-preserved 18th-century architecture in the Caribbean, most of it derelict. The port itself is a gated shopping village designed to imitate the town next to it. Outside the gate the vendor pressure is immediate and heavy, and most passengers leave on an excursion rather than explore.

   • Luminous Lagoon bioluminescence, on evening calls
   • Bamboo rafting on the Martha Brae
   • Dunn's River Falls, about 90 minutes east
   • Good Hope Estate for zip lines and ATVs

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock; the port village is at the gangway and old Falmouth is just outside the gate, but expect persistent hustling from the moment you step through.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest; May and October are the two rain peaks, and Aug-Oct is hurricane season

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   Miami, FL

   United StatesArrive

   PortMiami is the busiest cruise port on earth and behaves like it: a lettered row of terminals strung along Dodge Island - A for Royal Caribbean, B for Norwegian, C for MSC, D through F for the Carnival brands, V for Virgin. Traffic funnels in over the Port Boulevard causeway or through the tunnel under Government Cut, and on a Saturday with six ships turning around, both back up.

   • Ocean Drive and the Art Deco district in South Beach, 20 minutes across the causeway
   • Wynwood Walls and the warehouse murals around it
   • Calle Ocho in Little Havana - a cortadito and the domino tables at Maximo Gomez Park
   • Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a 1916 bayfront villa in Coconut Grove

   Getting ashore

   Terminals A-G and V sit on Dodge Island, reached by the Port Boulevard causeway or the PortMiami Tunnel; Miami International is about 8 miles west, usually 20-30 minutes but longer on a heavy turnaround morning.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season and August ashore is punishing)