Getting There

If you'd like to sail the Caribbean in a hotel with an ocean view, a cruise ship might be for you. Cruises are slow and easy and are no longer enjoyed only by the idle rich who have months to spend away from home. In fact, most cruises today appeal to the middle-income traveler who often has no more than 3 to 5 days to vacation.

Miami is the cruise capital of the world, but San Juan is second. Unless you have never visited Miami and would like to include it as part of your extended Caribbean itinerary, there is justification in flying directly to San Juan by plane and beginning your cruise here. It puts you immediately in the Caribbean, which means you save a 2-day ocean voyage just to get here. Instead of sailing from Florida, you can spend the time getting to know Puerto Rico.

Most cruise-ship operators emphasize the concept of a total vacation. Some are mostly activity centered; others offer the chance to do nothing but relax. Cruise ships are self-contained resorts, offering a large variety of services and activities onboard and sightseeing once you arrive in a port of call.

For those who don't want to spend all their time at sea, some lines offer a fly-and-cruise vacation. You spend a week cruising the Caribbean and another week staying at a first-class hotel at reduced prices. These total packages generally cost less than the cruise and air portions would cost if purchased separately.

Another version of fly-and-cruise is to fly to and from the cruise. Most plans offer a package deal from the principal airport closest to your residence to the major airport nearest to the cruise departure point. It's possible to purchase your air ticket on your own and book your cruise ticket separately, but you'll save money by combining the fares in a package deal.

Most cruise ships travel at night, arriving the next morning at the day's port of call. In port, passengers can go ashore for sightseeing, shopping, and a local meal. Cruise prices vary widely. Sometimes the same route with the same ports of call can carry different fares, depending on the ship's luxury (as well as your accommodations onboard). Consult a good travel agent for the latest offerings.

Some of the most likely contenders include the following: Ambassador Tours, 50 First St., Suite 610, San Francisco, CA 94104 (tel. 800/989-9000 or 415/357-9876; www.ambassadortours.com); Cruises One, 1415 NW 62 St., Suite 205, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 (tel. 800/832-3592 or 954/958-3700; www.cruiseone.com); Cruises of Distinction, 4557 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 (tel. 800/634-3445; www.cruisesofdistinction.com); Cruises Only, 1011 E. Colonial Dr., Orlando, FL 32808 (tel. 800/242-9000 or 407/898-5353; www.cruisesonly.com); Kelly Cruises, 1315 W. 22nd St., Suite 105, Oak Brook, IL 60521 (tel. 800/837-7447 or 630/990-1111; www.kellycruises.com); and Hartford Holidays Travel, 129 Hillside Ave., Williston Park, NY 11596 (tel. 800/828-4813 or 516/746-6670; www.hartfordholidays.com). Any of these providers stay tuned to last-minute price wars brewing among such megacarriers as Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Holland America, as well as such low-budget contenders as Premier.

Vacations to Go, 1502 Augusta Dr., Suite 415, Houston, TX 77057 (tel. 800/338-4962 or 713/974-2121; www.vacationstogo.com), provides catalogs and information on discount cruises through the Caribbean, as well as the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

While Waiting for Your Ship to Sail--While waiting for the departure of your cruise vessel, you might spend the day enjoying the historic district of Old San Juan with its endless sightseeing possibilities and merchandise-crammed shops. Another day can be devoted to the beaches, gambling casinos, and sporting possibilities in the greater San Juan area, including almost unlimited golf, tennis, and watersports. Even if you have only hours to spend before your ship's departure, you can explore the historic old city, either by taking an organized tour or going on your own.

When Your Ship Comes In

The Port of San Juan is the busiest ocean terminal in the West Indies, with an estimated half of the Caribbean's trade passing through here. There are about 710 cruise-ship arrivals every year, bringing some 850,000 passengers.

A spacious walkway connects the piers to the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan, so you can walk there to shop. You can also take a waiting taxi to the beaches of Condado. For advice and maps, contact the Tourist Information Center at La Casita, near Pier 1 in Old San Juan (tel. 787/721-2400). The dock area, now restored, is an attractive place for strolling, with its plazas, fountains, promenades, and beaches.

The Cruise Lines

Here's a brief rundown of some of the cruise lines that serve San Juan and the Caribbean. For detailed information, pick up a copy of one of our companion guides in this series, Frommer's Caribbean Cruises and Ports of Call, Frommer's Caribbean Ports of Call, or Unofficial Guide to Cruises.

Carnival Cruise Lines (tel. 800/327-9501 or 305/599-2200; fax 305/406-4740; www.carnival.com), a specialist in the maintenance of some of the biggest and most brightly decorated ships afloat, is the richest, boldest, brashest, and most successful mass-market cruise line in the world. Fifteen of its vessels depart from Florida or Caribbean ports that include, among others, San Juan, Galveston, Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, and New York. Two of the ships (Carnival Jubilee and Carnival Destiny) define San Juan as their home port, from which 7-day excursions are made to such southern Caribbean ports as St. Thomas, Antigua, Aruba, Dominica, Barbados, Tortola, Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. If you prefer to depart from one of the ports of Florida (especially Miami), know in advance that many of the company's cruises make San Juan a focal point of their stopovers. Most of the company's Caribbean cruises offer good value, last between 4 and 8 days, and feature nonstop activities, lots of glitter, and the hustle and bustle of armies of clients and crew members embarking and disembarking at every port. Cuisine and party-colored drinks are plentiful, although with vessels of this size, they are, by necessity, mass-produced. The overall atmosphere is comparable to that of a floating theme park with hordes of visitors, loaded with whimsy, and with lots of emphasis on partying in a style you might have expected in Atlantic City. Lots of single passengers, some of them with gleams in their eye, opt for this line, and some actually get lucky. Despite the presence of lots of unattached or loosely attached adults, the line makes special efforts to amuse and entertain children between 2 and 17.

Celebrity Cruises (tel. 800/722-5941 or 800/280-3423; www.celebrity.com) maintains 8 medium-to-large ships offering cruises of between 7 and 10 nights to such ports as Key West; Grand Cayman; St. Thomas; Aruba, St. Lucia; and Cozumel, Mexico, among others. Passengers interested in maximum exposure to Puerto Rico usually opt to cruise aboard Galaxy, a 77,713-ton megaship that's based (Dec-Mar) in San Juan, and which embarks every week throughout the year for tours to such southern Caribbean islands as Barbados, St. Kitts, and Aruba.

Despite a merger of Celebrity with the larger and better-financed Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity maintains its own identity and corporate structure within the larger framework. The niche this line has created is unpretentious but classy, several notches above mass market, but with pricing that's nonetheless relatively competitive. Accommodations are roomy and well equipped, and the cuisine is among the most intensely cultivated of any of its competitors afloat.

Costa Cruise Lines (tel. 800/462-6782 or 954/266-5600; fax 305/358-7325; www.costacruises.com), the U.S.-based branch of an Italian cruise line that has thrived for about a century, maintains hefty to megasize vessels that are newer than those of many other lines afloat. Two of these offer virtually identical jaunts through the western and eastern Caribbean on alternate weeks, each of them departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ports of call during the eastern Caribbean itineraries of both vessels include a stopover in San Juan, followed by visits to St. Thomas, Catalina Island (a private island off the coast of the Dominican Republic known for its beaches), and Cozumel. There is an Italian flavor and lots of Italian design onboard here, and an atmosphere of relaxed indulgence. The ships-CostaAtlantica and CostaMediterranea-feature tame versions of ancient Roman Bacchanalia, as well as such celebrations as Festa Italiana, and focaccia and pizza parties by the pool.

Princess Cruises (tel. 800/421-0522; fax 310/284-2845; www.princess.com) has a large and far-flung fleet that totals seven megavessels. The ships cruise at various times of the year through Caribbean and Bahamian waters, sometimes with stops at San Juan as part of the itinerary. The Dawn Princess, a state-of-the-art megaship, defines San Juan as its home port. Departing every Saturday, it pays calls at ports that include St. Thomas, Trinidad, Barbados, Sint Maarten, and Tortola. The Dawn Princess's sibling ship, Sun Princess, sails from Fort Lauderdale on round-trip 10-night cruises that variously cover the eastern and the south Caribbean. Princess is one of the very few lines in the world to offer luxury accommodations and upscale service as a standard feature aboard its megaships. These usually carry a smaller number of passengers than similarly sized vessels on less elegant lines. The company's clientele is upscale, with an average passenger age of 55 or over. A respectable percentage of the staff is British.

Radisson Seven Seas Cruises (tel. 800/285-1835 or 954/776-6123; fax 954/772-3763; www.rssc.com) is noted for the level of glamour and prestige that permeates its cruises. It sends all four of its ships-the Radisson Diamond, Seven Seas Mariner, Seven Seas Voyager, and Seven Seas Navigator-into the Caribbean on a regular basis. Designed along lines distinctly different from those of every other cruise line afloat, the Radisson Diamond is a relatively slow but stable ship that floats atop submerged pontoons similar to those used by catamarans or oil-drilling platforms in the North Sea. Despite the fact that its design is not likely to be duplicated anytime soon within the cruise industry, passengers appreciate it for its fine cuisine, upscale service, and suitability for corporate conventions at sea. The Mariner, carrying 700 passengers, is an all-suite vessel, and the Navigator carries 490 passengers on luxe cruises. The Voyager is a newer version of the all-suite Mariner. Cruises are relatively expensive compared to those offered by less prestigious lines, and roam freely, with less allegiance to a fixed home port than many other vessels. The Diamond defines San Juan as its home port between March and April, when it embarks on short-term cruises of no more than 4 or 7 days in duration. Stopovers include St. Thomas, St. Barts, and Sint Maarten.

Royal Caribbean International (tel. 800/327-6700 or 305/539-6000; fax 800/722-5329; www.royalcaribbean.com) leads the industry in the development of megaships. Most of this company's dozen or so vessels weigh in at around 73,000 tons, are among the largest of any line afloat, and represent a roster of floating hardware that's more impressive than that of many national navies. Marketed as a mainstream mass-market cruise line whose components have been fine-tuned through endless repetition, the line encourages a restrained house-party theme that's somehow a bit less frenetic than that found aboard the more raucous megaships of other cruise lines, including Carnival. The company is well run, and there are enough onboard activities to suit virtually any taste and age level. Though accommodations and accouterments are more than adequate, they are not upscale, and cabins aboard some of the line's older vessels tend to be a bit more cramped than the industry norm. Using either Florida ports or San Juan as their home port, RCI ships call regularly at such oft-visited ports as St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, Sint Maarten, Grand Cayman, St. Croix, and Curaçao. Most of the company's cruises last for 4 to 7 days. If Puerto Rico is the focal point of your itinerary, your best bet is Adventure of the Seas or Serenade of the Seas, offering 7-night cruises through the southern and eastern Caribbean regions, using San Juan as a base. Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line in the business that owns, outright, two tropical beaches (one in The Bahamas, the other along an isolated peninsula in northern Haiti) whose sands and watersports facilities are the focus of many of the company's Caribbean cruises.