Pack your suitcase and get ready to come along with me as I share my travel guide to the sunny Western Caribbean! I recently had the opportunity to take a beautiful spring break vacation all aboard the amazing Princess Cruise ship and am so excited to share details of my trip with all of you today! If you already follow me on Instagram then I’m sure you’ve seen all the adventures that took place, and all I have to say is WOW, what an experience! Don’t forget to read this blog post where I recap all of the FAQ‘s you had while I was on the trip! Keep in mind, there are SO many Princess Cruise routes available with a wide variety of lengths of trips, but the particular route we took was the: Western Caribbean 7-Day Cruise (and I highly recommend it)!
Also before we dive into the post, you need to know that at each port (or location your cruise ship stops at), you have the opportunity to disembark the ship and participate in on-shore excursions that are organized through Princess but executed by locals. Exploring a beautiful destination is why you came to visit after all, right?! Excursions are a great way to get a feel for the people, the culture, and give you the opportunity to participate in very fun adventures that you’d only do while on a vacation like this! After reading the endless descriptions and excursion options, we decided on an excursion at each port. We chose a variety of excursions in order to experience a little of everything such as water and animals, adventure and thrill, relaxation, and culture/history! I highly recommend mixing it up and choosing different activities that will get you out of your comfort zone because I can guarantee you’ll have fun! There are endless excursion options that I’m confident you’ll find something that floast your boat 😉
Day 1: Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, FL
- The easiest way to get to embark on your Princess Cruise is by flying into FLL and taking an Uber or Lyft to the port. It’s a quick car ride from the airport to the ship, and using the new Ocean Medallion made it seamless and easy to check-in and embark once at the port! All aboard, bon voyage!
Day 2: Sea Day
- This is a full day at sea as the ship travels to your first destination all aboard the beautiful Princess Cruise ship. It’s your opportunity to get accustomed to your new “home” for the week! There are so many activities that take place onboard the ship, you will easily stay entertained and occupied with everything they offer! I have a full blog post coming up with everything you can do on your days at sea! We tried fitting everything we could into our time on the beautiful ship, trust me when I say that days at sea are awesome!
Day 3: Grand Cayman
- We arrived bright and early in gorgeous Grand Cayman! We easily disembarked using the Princess MedallionClass technology which makes getting on and off the ship super seamless (more coming soon)! My mom and I decided to partake in an ocean activity for today’s excursion, considering the water in Grand Cayman is absolutely beautiful. It’s the most blue, aqua colored, crystal-like water that I have ever set eyes on! Next up: swimming with dolphins and a private boat out to Stingray City (which is exactly as it sounds)! We had the opportunity to get up close and personal with majestic dolphins and then cruise out to Stingray City, Sandbar where hundreds of wild Stingrays were swimming! We even were able to interact and hold friendly Stingrays in the crystal blue warm ocean water! Definitely an experience of a lifetime.
Day 4: Roatan, Honduras
- We woke up with the bright sun shining, near the coolest shipwreck in even more beautiful turquoise, clear water than I even thought possible! Roatan is actually an island that is known for its coral reefs, beautiful beaches, and tropical foliage (and it definitely holds true). We decided to spend the day relaxing at an all-inclusive retreat kayaking, taking dips in the turquoise water, and indulging in a chef prepared local meal (which was oh-so delicious)! I probably could’ve escaped to a beach chair and relaxed at Big French Key’s all-inclusive retreat all day, every day!
Day 5: Belize City, Belize
- Another bright and early wake up call in a new, stunning, and breathtaking country: Belize! This is one country I’ve always had on my bucket list, so visiting via the Princess Cruise was the coolest experience to me! I know for a fact that this day’s excursion was MY FAVORITE! Truly an adrenaline packed, thrilling experience that I’ll never forget (and everyone has to try if they visit Belize): jungle zipline and cave tubing! We spent the entire day in the county’s dense rain forest which is located at the base of the Yucatan Peninsula! I felt like we were in another world, it was so fun to experience. Speaking of experiences- we ziplined through the lush Belizean jungle and went cave tubing where we saw incredible crystals and stalactites that date way back to when the Mayan’s ruled the area. Our tour guide was a true local and made our experience one-of-a-kind! Although all excursions were fantastic, I definitely give this excursion 5+ stars 🙂
Day 6: Cozumel, Mexico
- Another day, another country! That’s the best part of cruising- you get to travel to so many incredible locations in such a short amount of time! Today we chose an excursion that really allowed ourselves to be immersed in the Mayan culture by visiting the Tulum Mayan ruins that were incredibly well preserved. The ancient Mayan ruins were so educational and almost unreal to see with my own eyes. We followed up our adventure and exploration by a little r&r, Mexican food, and a cerveza on the beach! Life is all about balance right? 😉
Day 7: Sea Day, return to Fort. Lauderdale, FL
- We returned to the ship for a full night and day at sea! It was so nice to be onboard the Princess Cruises ship and enjoy all it has to offer like entertainment, delicious food and drinks, endless activities for all ages (like a movie under the stars or a few hours at the zen spa)! After being on cruise ships before in years past, nothing beats the experience onboard a Princess Cruises ship! The customer experience is out of this world and makes you feel like you matter and you are special. There is so much to discover onboard that we kept ourselves busy until we arrived right back where we started- the Port of Fort Lauderdale!
IN CONCLUSION: I’d say there’s truly no better way to experience the laid-back, breathtakingly beautiful, historical, and magical Caribbean than with Princess Cruises! This one-of-a-kind vacation experience will bring you to life and cruising with the Princess MedallionClass couldn’t have been more streamlined and enjoyable (stay tuned for a dedicated post soon)! Truly something I will always remember 🙂
Have you ever been on a cruise before?! I’d love to hear about your adventure in the comments below! Be sure to follow me @toreystreasures and @princesscruises on Instagram so you don’t miss another one of our upcoming journeys!
A huge thank you to Princess Cruises for partnering with me in today’s blog post! And thank you for supporting all of the brands I love to work with on Torey’s Treasures!