Destination index
Cruise destinations
Each region guide covers when ships sail there, how long a typical itinerary runs, which homeports reach it, and every port we have written up along the way.
Cruise regions
Alaska
The Inside Passage and Gulf of Alaska — glaciers, small former gold-rush towns and the shortest cruise season of any major region.
Western Mediterranean
Spain, France and Italy in a single week, with a major city almost every morning and the shortest sailing distances in the Mediterranean.
Greek Isles & Aegean
Santorini, Mykonos and the Aegean islands, with Ephesus on the Turkish coast — the most scenic and the most tender-dependent Mediterranean region.
Adriatic
Croatia, Montenegro and the Italian east coast — walled medieval towns, short sailing distances and fewer ships than the Western Mediterranean.
Mexican Riviera
Mexico’s Pacific coast from West Coast homeports — the drive-to region for California, Arizona and the Southwest.
Western Caribbean
Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, reached from Gulf Coast and Florida homeports.
Eastern Caribbean
The Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and the northern Leewards — walkable towns and short tender-free port days.
Southern Caribbean
The ABC islands, Barbados and the Windwards — the driest, most culturally distinct corner of the Caribbean.
The Bahamas
Short sailings from Florida to Nassau, Freeport and the cruise lines’ private islands — the easiest first cruise for a group.
Choosing a region for a group
For a couple, the region is a matter of taste. For twenty or forty people it is mostly a logistics question, and three things decide it: how many of the group can drive to the homeport rather than fly, how many of the port days require tendering, and whether the season you can all take leave in is the season the ships are there.
Drive-to access is usually the biggest single saving. A Western Caribbean or Bahamas week from a Gulf or Florida homeport puts most US families in a car rather than on a plane, and for a group of thirty that difference outweighs almost any fare comparison.
Season is the constraint people notice last. Some regions sail year-round; others have a window of five or six months and nothing outside it. If your group can only travel in one particular month, that often decides the region before anything else does.
Departure ports
Where the voyages actually start — terminals, parking, airport transfers and where to put a group the night before.
Not sure which region suits the group?
Tell us roughly when, roughly how many, and where people are travelling from. We will come back with the regions that actually work for that combination.