Norwegian Epic - Southern Caribbean from San Juan

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   San Juan

   Puerto RicoDepart
   San Juan port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
2. Day 2

   Tortola

   British Virgin IslandsPort

   Road Town is a small administrative capital that empties into Tortola Pier Park, a purpose-built shopping village at the dock. The town itself is thin, and it clogs when two ships are in. This is a call you leave: most people cross the ridge to Cane Garden Bay, or take the ferry to Virgin Gorda for The Baths, which is the best thing in the British Virgins.

   • The Baths on Virgin Gorda, by ferry
   • Cane Garden Bay
   • Smuggler's Cove at the west end
   • Sage Mountain National Park

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Road Town beside Tortola Pier Park; Cane Garden Bay is about 20 minutes over Ridge Road by taxi, and the Virgin Gorda ferry runs 30-45 minutes.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is hurricane season

3. Day 3

   St. John's

   Antigua and BarbudaPort

   Antigua sells itself on beaches — the local line is 365 of them — and St. John's is a working town with two restored quays of shops right at the dock. The thing genuinely worth the day is Nelson's Dockyard at English Harbour, a Georgian naval yard from the age of sail that still operates as a marina, with the Shirley Heights lookout on the ridge above it.

   • Nelson's Dockyard and Shirley Heights
   • Dickenson Bay
   • Valley Church Beach on the west coast
   • Stingray City Antigua

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Heritage Quay in the middle of town; English Harbour is about 40 minutes by taxi across the island.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr; Antigua is drier than most of its neighbors. Aug-Oct is hurricane season

4. Day 4

   Bridgetown

   BarbadosPort

   Barbados is bigger and more developed than most Eastern Caribbean calls and works less like a beach stop than a country with its own economy — a capital with a UNESCO-listed Georgian core, a calm west coast for swimming and a wild Atlantic east coast that surfs. It is also a major homeport, so calls frequently coincide with turnaround crowds.

   • Snorkeling with sea turtles and the wrecks in Carlisle Bay
   • Harrison's Cave tram tour
   • Bathsheba and the east coast
   • Mount Gay rum tour or St. Nicholas Abbey

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the deep-water port about a mile from Broad Street — walkable, but the route runs through a working port, so most people take the short taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter, though Barbados sits far enough east to be hit less often

5. Day 5

   Castries

   St. LuciaPort

   Castries burned down repeatedly and was rebuilt in concrete; almost nobody comes for the town. The island's draw is 90 minutes south at Soufrière — the two Pitons rising straight out of the water, a drive-in sulphur crater that genuinely stinks, and Diamond Falls. That drive is the day, and the road is winding enough to matter if you get carsick.

   • The Pitons and the town of Soufrière
   • Sulphur Springs drive-in volcano and mud baths
   • Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens
   • Marigot Bay

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Pointe Seraphine across the harbor from town (small ferry or a 15-20 minute walk around) or at La Place Carenage on the town side.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter with Aug-Oct hurricane risk

6. Day 6

   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

7. Day 7

   Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

   U.S. Virgin IslandsPort
   Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
8. Day 8

   San Juan

   Puerto RicoArrive
   San Juan port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore