Seven Seas Grandeur - Festive Central America & Caribbean from Miami

Where this cruise calls, day by day

11 ports and 4 sea days over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Miami, FL

   United StatesDepart
   Miami, FL port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
2. Day 2

   Key West, FL

   United StatesPort

   One of the few Florida stops that is a genuine port call rather than a turnaround. Ships berth either at Pier B on the old Navy mole or at the Mallory Square pier, and both put you within a few blocks of Duval Street. The island is small enough to cover on foot and crowded enough by noon that the early hours ashore are the good ones.

   • The Hemingway Home on Whitehead Street and its six-toed cats
   • Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, the best swimming beach in town
   • The Southernmost Point buoy, if only to get the queue over with
   • Mallory Square's sunset celebration - only worth planning for if your ship stays late

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Pier B (the former Navy mole) or the Mallory Square pier depending on size; both are a walk of a few blocks into Old Town, with no tender involved.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr (Sep-Oct is hurricane peak and midsummer is airless)

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Cozumel

   MexicoPort
   Cozumel port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
5. Day 5

   Santo Tomas de Castilla

   GuatemalaPort

   Guatemala's Caribbean port sits in the Bay of Amatique next to Puerto Barrios, and it is a commercial pier with a shed of craft stalls rather than a destination. This side of the country is Garífuna and Q'eqchi' rather than highland Maya, and the good excursions reflect that - a river gorge, a coastal town reachable only by boat, and one of the great Maya carving sites.

   • Quiriguá's carved stelae, a UNESCO site about 90 minutes away
   • A Río Dulce gorge boat trip and the Castillo de San Felipe
   • Livingston, the Garífuna town reachable only by boat
   • Las Escobas waterfalls in the Cerro San Gil reserve

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the commercial pier; there is no town at the gate, Puerto Barrios is a short drive, and everything else is an hour or more.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr is driest; this coast is wet most of the year and Sep-Nov is heaviest

6. Day 6

   Harvest Caye

   BelizePort

   Norwegian built this 75-acre island off southern Belize precisely to avoid Belize City's long tender ride - ships tie up at a pier and you walk ashore. What is there is a resort day: a large freshwater pool with a swim-up bar, a saltwater lagoon, a zip line, a ropes course and a shopping village, on Norwegian ships only. Food and drink are for sale rather than included.

   • The saltwater lagoon and the freshwater pool
   • Zip line over the water and the ropes course
   • The butterfly house and wildlife exhibit
   • Boat-and-bus excursions to Placencia and the southern Maya sites

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Harvest Caye itself; mainland Belize excursions leave by boat to Placencia or Independence, adding 20-30 minutes each way.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is the dry season; Jun-Oct is wet and hot, with hurricane risk peaking Aug-Oct

7. Day 7

   Roatán

   HondurasPort
   Roatán port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
8. Day 8

   Puerto Limon

   Costa RicaPort

   Limón is Costa Rica's Caribbean port and a working one - the pier is in town, the town is scruffy and humid, and almost nobody stays. This coast is the country's wettest and its most Afro-Caribbean, with Jamaican-descended Creole culture and rainforest starting right behind the city. Everything worth doing runs inland to the canals, the aerial trams and the whitewater rivers.

   • Tortuguero canal boat trips
   • The Veragua Rainforest or the Braulio Carrillo aerial tram
   • Whitewater rafting the Pacuare or Reventazón
   • Cahuita National Park and Puerto Viejo down the coast

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the pier in central Limón; you can walk into town in minutes, though there is little reason to linger.

   Best months

   Feb-Mar and Sep-Oct are the driest windows - the Caribbean side reverses the national pattern and rains hardest Nov-Jan

9. Day 9

   Panama Canal (Transit)

   PanamaPort
   Panama Canal (Transit) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    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

12. Day 12

    George Town

    Cayman IslandsPort
    George Town port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15

    Miami, FL

    United StatesArrive
    Miami, FL port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore