Central America Cruises

Central America sailings are the mainland side of the Western Caribbean - Belize, Honduras's Bay Islands, Guatemala and Costa Rica's Caribbean coast - usually as week-plus round trips from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, sometimes ending with a partial Panama Canal visit. The draw is what lies inland and offshore: Maya sites, rainforest and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. That makes these the most excursion-heavy cruises in the Caribbean; a day spent at the pier misses the point.

Two practical things shape port days here. Belize City is a tender port: the water off the city is too shallow for big ships, so they anchor about two miles out and run passengers in by tender, roughly 15 minutes each way, to the Fort Street Tourism Village. Allow for tender queues when booking a cave-tubing or Maya ruins tour, and know that rough weather can cut a tender day short. Norwegian avoids the issue with Harvest Caye, its own island about 115 miles south of Belize City, so a Norwegian "Belize" call is often not Belize City at all. Roatan works the same way along company lines: Carnival Corporation ships, including Princess, use their own Isla Tropicale terminal (formerly Mahogany Bay), while Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, MSC and Virgin dock at the town pier in Coxen Hole on the other side of the airport. Which one you get changes what is walkable from the ship.

The comfortable season is November through April, the dry months; late summer brings heavy rain and the Atlantic hurricane season peaks from August to October. These itineraries suit active travelers - divers, snorkelers and anyone who would rather climb a Maya temple than shop the pier.

Sources: cruisehive.com, cruisemapper.com, aoml.noaa.gov