Cruises.com.au Blog

So many US cruises sail the Caribbean. It is perhaps the word’s most popular destination, certainly for cruises out of Florida. Here is a brief view of what destinations one might find on a Caribbean cruise and an explanation of the Caribbean:

Caribbean Islands: It is difficult to describe the Caribbean islands in geographic terms. What we now call the Caribbean (West Indies) is a region comprised of many island countries, dependencies and territories. This region starts just south and east of the Gulf of Mexico (below the Straits of Florida – USA), extends west to the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean Sea is bound on the east and south by the land mass of Mexico, Central and South America.

Nassau, Bahamas: The Caribbean islands are separated from the Atlantic Ocean by three main island groups:

1. Bahamas (to the north) consists of over 3,000 individual islands and reefs. The most popular of these islands are Nassau and Freeport.

2. Greater Antilles consists of Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Haiti, and Dominican Republic.       

3. Lesser Antilles (southeast) is divided into two groups Leeward Island, Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, British Virgin Islands – about 50 (mostly uninhabited).

John Pond
News Editor, Cruise Passenger