Queen Mary 2 - Caribbean Celebration from New York

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports and 7 sea days over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   New York, NY

   United StatesDepart

   New York sails from two very different places. The Manhattan Cruise Terminal occupies Piers 88 and 90 off Twelfth Avenue in the West 50s, a 1930s finger-pier arrangement with rooftop parking and Midtown at the end of the block. Brooklyn's terminal in Red Hook is calmer and roomier but further from a subway. Either way the ship must clear the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which rules out the largest ships afloat.

   • The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, a ten-minute walk from the Manhattan piers
   • The High Line and Chelsea Market, with Hudson Yards on the way back
   • The sailaway itself - past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazzano; be on deck
   • Red Hook if you sail from Brooklyn: Louis Valentino Jr. Park has the best free Statue view in the city

   Getting ashore

   Manhattan berths at Piers 88 and 90 (West 46th to 54th Streets) with drop-off on Twelfth Avenue, while Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is in Red Hook; reckon 45-60 minutes from JFK or Newark and 30-45 from LaGuardia, all of it hostage to traffic.

   Best months

   May-Oct (Bermuda and Canada/New England runs; Sep-Oct adds foliage sailings)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5

   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

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

   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

8. Day 8

   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

9. Day 9

   Roseau

   DominicaPort

   Dominica is the anomaly of the Eastern Caribbean: it has very few good beaches, and that is rather the point. The island is volcanic, steep and covered in rainforest, with hot springs, gorges and a boiling lake in the interior. Roseau is small, tin-roofed and a bit ragged, and the pier is right in it. Wrong island for a beach day; the best one in the chain if you want to be in a river by ten.

   • Trafalgar Falls and the hot springs above Roseau
   • Titou Gorge
   • Emerald Pool
   • Champagne Reef, snorkeling over volcanic vents

   Getting ashore

   Docked on the Roseau bayfront in town, with most sites 20-40 minutes inland by taxi; some ships instead use the Cabrits berth at Portsmouth, an hour north.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is drier, but Dominica is wet in any month; Aug-Oct is hurricane season and the island took a direct hit in 2017

10. Day 10

    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

11. Day 11 · At sea

12. Day 12 · At sea

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15

    New York, NY

    United StatesArrive

    New York sails from two very different places. The Manhattan Cruise Terminal occupies Piers 88 and 90 off Twelfth Avenue in the West 50s, a 1930s finger-pier arrangement with rooftop parking and Midtown at the end of the block. Brooklyn's terminal in Red Hook is calmer and roomier but further from a subway. Either way the ship must clear the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which rules out the largest ships afloat.

    • The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, a ten-minute walk from the Manhattan piers
    • The High Line and Chelsea Market, with Hudson Yards on the way back
    • The sailaway itself - past the Statue of Liberty and under the Verrazzano; be on deck
    • Red Hook if you sail from Brooklyn: Louis Valentino Jr. Park has the best free Statue view in the city

    Getting ashore

    Manhattan berths at Piers 88 and 90 (West 46th to 54th Streets) with drop-off on Twelfth Avenue, while Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is in Red Hook; reckon 45-60 minutes from JFK or Newark and 30-45 from LaGuardia, all of it hostage to traffic.

    Best months

    May-Oct (Bermuda and Canada/New England runs; Sep-Oct adds foliage sailings)