Cruise Description

21 Night Cruise sailing from Miami roundtrip aboard Explora II.

Highlights of this cruise:

Miami
Miami in Florida is located on the southeast tip of Florida. Miami is best known for its sunny weather, golden beaches and lively nightlife. Also known as the 'Gateway to the Americas', the 15 miles of glorious beaches make Miami popular with all ages, attracting a broad spectrum of tourists.

Tourist attractions include Miami's Miracle Mile - one of Miami's major shopping regions, the Miami Freedom Tower, Miami Metrozoo - one of the finest wild animal parks in America and the Miami Seaquarium - a 38-acre complex of huge saltwater pools.

Miami has a range of communities and districts, amongst them is Downtown Miami, a vibrant and diverse area of Miami, filled with clothes and jewelry shops, restaurants, cafés and fast-food stands. Miami South Beach Area (SoBe) is one of Miami's most exciting areas and is full of art galleries, stylish diners, Art Deco buildings, glorious beaches and many of Miami's top nightclubs.

Castries
St. Lucia is the second largest of the Windward Islands. Located between St. Vincent and Martinique, there is a hint of the South Pacific about this lush, beautiful island. Castries, the capital city of St. Lucia is one of the most beautifully situated Caribbean cities. Surrounded by hills, its large, safe harbor at the head of a wide bay is a constant hive of activity. Castries is a major port of call for cruise ships, which dock at Pointe Seraphine.

The spacious Derek Walcott Square features the 19th-century Catholic Cathedral standing in the shade of a 400-year-old samaan tree. There is also a colorful, bustling market. Morne Fortune, ‘hill of good luck’, affords the visitor the chance to inspect the fortification which defends Castries. It also provides a magnificent panorama of the city and the surrounding area.

There are a wide variety of shopping experiences from Castries market, where local crafts are available, to Po inte Seraphine and La Place Carenage, two duty free shopping centers in Castries where resort wear, Colombian Emeralds jewelry, cosmetics and perfumes are available. A variety of shopping malls with extended opening hours offer a wide selection of boutiques and restaurants.

Virgin Gorda
The British Virgin Islands, about 60 (mostly uninhabited) islands and cays, are one of the Caribbean's most popular destinations. Virgin Gorda is the second largest land mass in the cluster of islands and is known for its dramatic and beautiful landscape. The unusual rock formations known at "The Baths" comprise one of the most famous snorkeling and photographic sites in the Caribbean. It is now incorporated as a National Park, along with two exquisite white sand beaches, Devil's Bay and Spring Bay spanning either side of the boulders with a trail connecting both.

The northern reach of the island known as "the North Sound" is accessible by boat only. Here flanked by the smaller islands - Mosquito, Prickly Pear, Eustatia, Necker and tiny Saba Rock, are some of the islands' finest resorts and restaurants. This area is a Mecca for water sports whether it be windsurfing, kayaking, parasailing or kite boarding.

Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 145 km north-east of Grand Cayman and 8 km east of Little Cayman. It is about 19 km long, with an average width of 2 km.

Progresso
The Spanish colonial Merida, for which Progresso is the port, is a bustling cultural outpost that is very near the Uxmal and Chitzen Itza ruins.