The Western Caribbean
on a very large ship

We've been to the Caribbean before — twelve years before, on a much smaller Carnival ship, sailing the Southern islands. This was the other version: Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships on the planet, on a Western Caribbean run that's about as accessible as a cruise gets. We expected to like it. We didn't expect to come away converts to the bigger-ship experience for a particular kind of vacation.

Here's the journal — what surprised us, what didn't, and how to think about choosing between a Western and a Southern Caribbean itinerary.

The big-ship case —

We'll be honest: we came in skeptical. Six thousand passengers sounded less like a vacation and more like a small city. And it is a small city — but the Royal Caribbean designers, to their credit, have laid it out so well that you almost never feel the crowd. There are dozens of dining options, a dozen bars, four pools, a Broadway-style theatre, a comedy club, a skating rink, and a ten-story tube slide that the kid version of you would have lost his mind over. Big ship vacations work because you can do something different every night and never run out.

We did this cruise with my parents and two of our nieces. Everyone had a different perfect day. That's the big-ship trick. — Greg, on the way home

The ports —

The headline ports. Western Caribbean itineraries hit the classic warm-water destinations — places like Cozumel, Roatán, Costa Maya, Grand Cayman, and Royal's private island CocoCay. The water is warmer than the Atlantic; the sand is whiter; the snorkeling is excellent; the beach bars are blissfully unoptimized.

The private-island day. CocoCay is the kind of place that makes you understand why people cruise. Every detail is engineered for maximum vacation-per-minute: clear water, no logistics, beach chairs already set up, a long lunch buffet you can graze for hours. If you've never been on a cruise-line private island, this is the one to start with.

The independent excursions. Same advice as everywhere: skip the ship's bus tours, hire a local taxi for half a day, and you'll see more for less. We did this in two of three ports and would do it again.

See all 54 photos from this trip →

Western vs. Southern Caribbean —

If you've never done a Caribbean cruise before, this is the question we get asked most. Here's our quick guide.

Pick the Western Caribbean if: it's your first cruise, you're traveling with kids, you want shorter flights and warmer water, you want the big-ship experience, you want CocoCay or another private-island day. The Western itineraries are usually 4–7 nights, depart from convenient US ports, and feel like the textbook cruise vacation.

Pick the Southern Caribbean if: you've cruised before, you want islands with their own personalities (different countries, different languages), you want calmer seas and clearer water, you want longer (10–14 night) trips, you'd rather have sea days than spectacle. The Southern islands feel less "cruise port" and more "real place."

We've now done both, and we'd genuinely recommend either depending on what you're after. Read the Southern Caribbean journal for the comparison.

What we'd do differently —

1. Book a balcony cabin if you can stretch. On a 6,000-passenger ship the balcony is your private little island. Worth every dollar of the upgrade.

2. Reserve specialty dining on day one. The included main dining rooms are perfectly fine — but the specialty restaurants are excellent and the best ones sell out. Make reservations as soon as you board.

3. Don't try to do everything. Big ships have so much going on you can exhaust yourself optimizing. Pick three or four things you want to do and let the rest happen.

Want to go? —

Royal Caribbean, NCL, MSC, and Carnival all run Western Caribbean cruises year-round on their largest ships. We can plan this exact trip — or build something around different ports, a longer length, or a different ship. Royal Caribbean is our favorite for the family/big-ship version; if you want the calmer, more grown-up version, ask us about NCL or Holland America.

Plan my Western Caribbean trip

Read the smaller-ship version: The Southern Caribbean, slow and salty (Carnival Valor, 2013)