There is perhaps no more iconic a cruise than a Caribbean cruise. Why this is the case we dare not hazard a guess, but it seems clear that Caribbean cruises are not only wildly popular, but also deeply connected to the very idea of a cruise vacation. If you were to ask a person selected at random off the street to describe a cruise, there is a good chance they would describe a Caribbean cruise, one that involves sipping exotic cocktails on deck and playing on beaches with white sand and clear water. However, the mere fact that Caribbean cruises are associated in the popular conscious with cruises in general does not imply that you should actually go on a Caribbean cruise. No, the latter doesn’t follow from the former, but you should take a Caribbean cruise anyway, and here’s why.
Let’s start with the obvious: the Caribbean, located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and North America, is awesome. It is a paradise on earth for many people, especially for those who live in less hospitable climates. There are over 5,000 islands and cays (i.e., a small, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs) scattered throughout the Caribbean, and you’d be hard pressed to find one that doesn’t have a beach worth laying on. The Caribbean, alternatively called the West Indies because of the (understandable) folly of Christopher Columbus, also consists of the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea is famous for its beautiful water, which is paradoxically clear and a rich greenish blue color all at once. The Caribbean Sea is also home to many coral reefs; in fact, there are over 20,000 miles of them, comprising about nine percent of the world’s coral reefs. This makes the Caribbean an ideal place to snorkel, provided you’re willing to set down your piña colada and slip on some flippers. Speaking of snorkeling, there are lots of activities to do while in the Caribbean, which is the next reason to take a Caribbean cruise.
What types of things can you do? Besides the classic beach and ocean activities touched on above, there are a number of other ways to occupy your time while you’re at port in the Caribbean. For example, many islands in the Caribbean offer jeep excursions you can take to check out the sights on land. The tropics are loaded with plant and animal life, much of which will be unfamiliar to those from colder climates (the inhabitants of less hospitable lands mentioned above). Such excursions, along with any number of other activities (like flying across the top of a forest on a zip line, another popular thing to do in the Caribbean), might be offered through your cruise line, or you can book a reservation with an independent business. Either way, you’ll have no shortage of things to do as you cruise through the Caribbean.
These are merely a few of the reasons you might want to take a cruise vacation to the Caribbean. There are additional reasons you might want to go – for example, the fresh-seafood cuisine – but what humble information we’ve provided should be enough to convince you that Caribbean cruises are a great and worthwhile endeavor.