The Travel Professor
Join me on a journey across the broad spectrum of interesting travel topics. We’ll discuss destinations domestic and abroad, some familiar and some off the beaten path. We take a look at suppliers like cruise lines, air carriers and tour operators and find their bargains and special offerings. Got questions? Email thetravelprofessor@gmail.com.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Cruise itineraries

As a cruise traveler you have plenty of warm weather itineraries to select from. Some of the most popular 7 day sailings are termed Eastern, Western or Southern Caribbean cruises.

Eastern itineraries tend to visit the ports of the Bahamas, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and St Martin/Maarten. Western sailings tend to visit Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica. Southern Caribbean cruises generally originate in San Juan and sail to lower Caribbean islands like Antigua, Aruba, Grenada, Barbados and so forth. Longer sailings combine the various itineraries and permit you to visit more islands.

Shorter 3 or 4 days cruises tend to visit the islands of the Bahamas. You also have some specialty cruises that sail to Bermuda or down the Pacific coast of Mexico.

The itineraries and ports of call are one of the factors that I consider when selecting a cruise line. Many other items also impact my buying decision but I’m normally looking to visit new islands and destinations.

I research the both cruise line web sites for specials and itineraries. Cruising.org is a great resource and a great place to go for detailed information. Destination wise I start at
www.caribbeantravel.com and www.visitmexico.com then click through to specific islands and locations.

Bon Voyage!