Getting There

By Plane

The bigger islands, like St. Thomas, have regularly scheduled air service on North American carriers, and the smaller islands are tied into this network through their own carriers.

If you're coming from the United Kingdom, you'll likely fly first to Miami and then take American Airlines or some other carrier on to your final destination. There are no direct flights from North America or Europe to any of the B.V.I. You will most likely make a connection in St. Thomas, St. Croix, or San Juan in Puerto Rico after first connecting in the mainland U.S.

By Cruise Ship

A high percentage of Caribbean cruises make at least one stop in the Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas is the most popular port, followed by historic Frederiksted in St. Croix, and Road Town in Tortola. Miami is the cruise capital of the world, but ships also leave from San Juan, New York, Port Everglades, and other points. Most cruise ships travel at night, arriving the following morning at ports of call, where passengers can go ashore for sightseeing and shopping.

The Cruise Lines -- Once you've decided that a cruise to the Virgin Islands is right for you, you'll need to choose your cruise line. Two helpful resources for choosing a cruise line are Frommer's Cruises & Ports of Call (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) and Cruise Vacations for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). Below you'll find a rundown of various ships cruising the Virgin Islands.

Carnival Cruise Lines (tel. 888/CARNIVAL [227-6482]; www.carnival.com) offers affordable vacations on some of the biggest and most brightly decorated ships afloat. It's the richest, boldest, brashest, and most successful mass-market cruise line in the world. Its boats leave from Miami, Tampa, New Orleans, Mobile, Port Canaveral, and San Juan, and stop over at selected ports throughout the eastern and western Caribbean, including St. Thomas, St. Lucia, San Juan, St. Martin, Barbados, Martinique, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. Most of its cruises offer good value, last from 4 to 8 days, and feature nonstop activities, lots of glitter, and the hustle and bustle of armies of passengers and crew members embarking and disembarking at every port.

Celebrity Cruises (tel. 877/202-4345; www.celebrity-cruises.com) maintains 10 medium-to-large ships offering cruises of between 7 and 11 nights to such ports as Key West, San Juan, Grand Cayman, St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, Antigua, and Cozumel, Mexico, among others. The line is unpretentious and classy (several notches above mass-market), but offers pricing that's nonetheless relatively competitive. Accommodations are roomy and well equipped, and the cuisine is among the most refined on the seas.

Princess Cruises (tel. 800/PRINCESS [774-6237]; www.princess.com) places more emphasis on luxury living on a mass scale than any other line afloat. The company's ships usually carry fewer passengers than similarly sized vessels on other lines. Cruises last between 7 and 15 days, and include stops at such islands as Aruba, Barbados, Caracas, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Martin, St. Kitts, and St. Thomas.

Royal Caribbean International (tel. 866/562-7625; www.royalcaribbean.com) leads the industry in the development of megaships. This mainstream, mass-market cruise line encourages a restrained house-party atmosphere that's somehow a bit less frenetic than that of other "party-style" cruise lines. 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 Miami, San Juan, or Fort Lauderdale as their home ports, Royal Caribbean ships call regularly at such ports as St. Thomas, San Juan, Ocho Rios, St. Martin, Grand Cayman, St. Croix, and Curaçao. Most of the company's cruises last for 7 days, although some weekend jaunts from San Juan to St. Thomas are available for 3 nights.

Seabourn Cruise Line (tel. 800/929-9391; www.seabourn.com) is an upscale, expensive outfit known for luxurious, small-scale ships. Its deluxe Seabourn Legend and Seabourn Pride spend from 10 to 14 days sailing the eastern Caribbean, leaving from Fort Lauderdale. There are more activities than you'd expect aboard such relatively small ships (10,000 tons), and an absolutely amazing amount of onboard space per passenger. Cuisine is superb, served within a dining room that's unapologetically formal.