Star Princess - Eastern & Western Caribbean Adventurer

Where this cruise calls, day by day

9 ports and 6 sea days over 14 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 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Roatán

   HondurasPort

   Roatán is a long, thin island sitting on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and the day splits by pier. Carnival ships use Mahogany Bay at Dixon Cove, which has its own manufactured beach and a chairlift down to it; Royal Caribbean's Port of Roatán is in Coxen Hole, the workaday capital. Neither is really where you want to be - the reef at West Bay starts about twenty feet off the sand, half an hour west.

   • Snorkel the reef straight off West Bay Beach
   • West End village for dive shops and lunch
   • Gumbalimba Park's macaws and capuchins
   • A day pass at Little French Key

   Getting ashore

   Both Mahogany Bay and Port of Roatán are alongside berths, not tenders; West Bay Beach is a 30-45 minute taxi from either, and drivers negotiate hard.

   Best months

   Feb-Sep for the clearest water; Oct-Jan is the wet season, with November the heaviest month

5. Day 5

   Belize City

   BelizePort

   The barrier reef keeps ships several miles offshore, so everyone tenders - a 20 to 30 minute ride each way that eats an hour of the day and gets cancelled outright in a stiff easterly. Tenders land at Fort Street Tourism Village, a fenced shopping compound; Belize City beyond it has a serious crime problem and is not a place to wander. The day is really about what is inland.

   • Cave tubing through the Caves Branch river system
   • Altun Ha or Xunantunich Maya ruins
   • Snorkelling Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley
   • The Belize Zoo, which keeps only rescued native animals

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - ships anchor several miles out and the run to Fort Street Tourism Village takes 20-30 minutes each way.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is dry and the tender ride is calmest; Jun-Nov is wet with hurricane risk peaking Aug-Oct

6. Day 6

   Cozumel

   MexicoPort

   Cozumel is an island 12 miles off the Yucatán that runs almost entirely on cruise traffic - three piers, up to six ships at once, and a downtown built to absorb them. Which pier you draw matters more than anything else: Punta Langosta puts you in San Miguel on foot, while Puerta Maya and the International Pier sit a few miles south and need a taxi. The reason to come is underwater, on the Palancar and Colombia reefs.

   • Snorkel or dive Palancar Reef
   • Chankanaab Park's lagoon and shore snorkelling
   • A beach club day at Mr. Sancho's or Nachi Cocom
   • San Gervasio Maya ruins in the island's interior

   Getting ashore

   All ships dock; Punta Langosta is a walk into San Miguel, while Puerta Maya and the International Pier are 3-4 miles south, about 10 minutes by taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest and calmest; Jun-Nov is hurricane season, and sargassum can wash ashore May-Aug

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Fort Lauderdale, FL

   United StatesPort

   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)

9. Day 9

   Princess Cays

   BahamasPort

   Princess leases the southern end of Eleuthera near Bannerman Town - a 40-acre beach strip rather than a whole island, and a close neighbour to Disney's Lookout Cay. It is a tender call, which slows the day noticeably, and the offering is deliberately plain: a long beach, a barbecue lunch included in the fare, and bungalows, floats and snorkel gear for rent.

   • The half-mile beach and its roped swimming area
   • The included beach barbecue
   • Snorkel gear, kayaks and banana boats (extra cost)
   • Private beachfront bungalows (extra cost)

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - roughly 15-20 minutes each way, and choppy conditions cancel the call outright.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr for the calmest tendering; Aug-Oct calls are the most at risk of being missed

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Puerto Plata

    Dominican RepublicPort

    Two purpose-built cruise terminals serve the same north-coast town: Carnival's Amber Cove, a self-contained resort compound east of the city, and Taino Bay, which opened in 2021 much closer in. Both are designed to keep you inside them, and many passengers never leave. Puerto Plata itself — Fort San Felipe, the gingerbread houses around Parque Central — takes a taxi and some initiative.

    • Mount Isabel de Torres cable car to the Christ statue and botanical gardens
    • Fortaleza San Felipe on the waterfront
    • 27 Charcos de Damajagua, a canyoning route of waterfall jumps
    • Playa Dorada or the beach at Sosúa

    Getting ashore

    Both are docked berths but neither is in town — Amber Cove is roughly 20-25 minutes by taxi from Puerto Plata, Taino Bay about 10.

    Best months

    Dec-Apr; the north coast is wetter than the south year-round and Aug-Oct carries hurricane risk

12. Day 12

    Grand Turk

    Turks and Caicos IslandsPort

    Grand Turk is seven miles of scrub and old salt ponds with a resident population smaller than the ship calling on it. Carnival's cruise center is a self-contained beach compound — pool, bar, Margaritaville — with good sand at the pier and a wall that drops into deep water a few hundred yards offshore. Cockburn Town, the actual settlement, is quiet, weathered and a short taxi away.

    • The beach at the cruise center, running into Governor's Beach
    • Wall diving and snorkeling on the offshore drop-off
    • Cockburn Town's Front Street and the Turks & Caicos National Museum
    • Gibbs Cay stingray excursion

    Getting ashore

    Docked at the Grand Turk Cruise Center with a beach at the gate; Cockburn Town is about 10 minutes by taxi.

    Best months

    Dec-Apr; the island is dry and low-lying year-round, with Aug-Oct hurricane risk

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15

    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)