Sail from Tampa or New Orleans and walk in the footsteps of the Maya one day, snorkel with blue angels the next. All the while enjoying the luxuries of the new ms Veendam, the Noordam or the Nieuw Amsterdam.
Notorious pirates once prowled the eastern Caribbean. Now it's your turn as the Westerdam and Veendam sail from Ft. Lauderdale to capture its treasures: The Virgin Islands, Nassau, St. Maarten.
Amazing the difference three days makes. Visit more ports, sample more cultures, enjoy more days at sea basking in the warm hospitality of Holland America Line as you chart the arc of the Lesser Antilles all the way from Ft. Lauderdale to the Spanish Main. Aboard the Ryndam or the Statendam. Or join the Rotterdam as she navigates the giant locks of the Panama Canal to cruise serene Gatun Lake. Awesome!
Ah, the Caribbean; The mere thought of it conjures up tropical visions. Blue sky, warm sun, soft white sand. Palm trees swaying in balmy breezes. A kaleidoscope of flowers. Life, blessedly low-key. Yet, each island is different with its own unique culture, its own unique attractions.
Discover the restored Nelson's Dockyard, home of the invincible British fleet during the Great Age of Sail. Reflect over the great sea battles of the past as you sip a rum punch at the Admiral's Inn. Or storm a beach of your own. There are 365 of them, one for every day of the year.
A Dutch jewel with a tropical touch. In Oranjestad, explore the colorful floating market and Nassaustraat, brimming with quaint shops. Hit the casinos. Or hit the road, venturing into the countryside to see the haunts of the huge green parakeet and the unique rock gardens of Casi Bari.
We bring you to Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, where you may clip-clop through town in a horse drawn surrey. Relax on a white sand beach at the Blue Lagoon. Watch pink flamingos strut their stuff at the Ardastra Gardens.
An island as British as high tea. Where cricket and parades are as much a part of island life as are steel drum bands and palm-fringed beaches. Away, then, to visit the restored sugar plantation of Villa Nova, glistening Harrison's Cave, the charming Andromeda Gardens.
The "B" in the Netherland Antilles trio known as the ABC islands. There are flamingos to see at the sanctuary at Pekel Meer. Fields of coral to see beneath the sea. Polished conch shells to buy in Kralendijk, its quaint capital.
The oldest city in the New World. Where the wealth of the Spanish Main - motherlodes of gold, silver, emeralds, - once poured through its portals. See San Felipe, the fortress that guarded it all, and the dazzling Bocagrande, where emeralds still gleam.
Decidedly Dutch, with a channel that cuts through its capital, Willemstad, like an Amsterdam canal. Spend your day browsing the beautifully restored Dutch colonial buildings brimming with duty-free treasures. Or venture to Chobolobo to learn how the famous orange-flavored liqueur is distilled.
Adventure awaits in the land of perpetual springtime. From Puerto Limón, venture to the Carara Biological Reserve to see the slowest creature on earth ... the sloth. Explore the capital city of San José, where museums beckon and markets burst with luscious local color: mangoes, bananas, pineapples, papayas.
One of the most ruggedly beautiful islands in the West Indies. Tour from Roseau to see Trafalgar Falls, with its extraordinary trio of cataracts, bubbling Boiling Lake, and a sea of greenery where, with a little luck, you might spy the shy Sisserou parrots, indigenous to Dominica.
Columbus originally named the Caymans Las Tortugas, "The Turtles." The name didn't last, but the turtles did. There's a turtle farm to visit. Turtle soup to sample. And a pace as slow as a turtle's crawl to enjoy. Laze on talcum-soft Seven Mile Beach, pedal a glass bottom boat over colorful coral reefs, snorkel in water indescribably clear.
Fresh with the scent of nutmeg, vanilla and ginger, the "Spice Island" turns the sample act of breathing into an exotic experience. Step ashore to explore the picture postcard-pretty harbor of St. George's. And don't forget your souvenir basket of spices!
Gorgeous, green and Gallic, this butterfly-shaped island invites you to a garden of earthly delights: tropical rain forests, wild hibiscus, a laid-back day in the tiny fishing village of Pointe-à-Pitre.
From Santo Thomás De Castilla tour to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. As you explore its massive stone temples, you can't help but ask that age-old, unanswered question. "What happened to the Maya?"
An island for lovers and for lovers of nature. Here, you may drift lazily down the Martha Brae on a gondola made of bamboo. Share a Planter's Punch on the porch of a restored great house. Or spend a leisurely afternoon at Dunn's River Falls.
Inspiration for Hemingway and Audubon... and you. The street scene in Old Mallory Square is pure theater. The Conch Tour Train around the island, pure entertainment.
Officially a département of France, yet magically absorbed into the facinating culture known as Creole. In Fort-de-France, there are croissants and coconut pastries to sample; madras headdresses and Parisian silk scarves to buy. And there are flowers, flowers everywhere....some rare, most wild, all on display at the Balata Tropical Botanical Park.
From the quaint village of Playa del Carmen, tour to the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza or Tulum. In Cozumel, the choices are legion: world class suba diving and snorkeling, fiery fiesta, shopping, tennis at a premier resort.
Part French, part Cajun, totally captivating. Where you can cruise through history on a Mississippi riverboat. Explore Bourbon Street. Write postcards in a cáfe that serves up jazz with its jambalaya!
Spend an unforgettable day visiting wit the Cuna Indians...pre-Columbian, primitive, makers of exquisite multilayer tapestries called molas.
By day, do the monuments of San Juan: El Morro, the fortress that Sir Francis Drake and others failingly put to the test; La Casa Blanca, built for the island's first governor, Ponce de Leon; the cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan. By night, do the town. There are roulette wheels to spin, piña coladas to share wit the moon.
France and Britain fought over St. Lucia for years, each one "owning" the island no less than 14 times. Hence, today, there's both cricket and creole to sample. Plus an open market in Castries to shop, the sulphur baths near Soufrière to dip into. And, of course, the island's famous landmark, the Pitons, to photograph.
Nowhere in the Caribbean are beaches more incredibly peaceful or protected. Snorkel on a self-guided trail so valuable in plant and marine life it is preserved as an underwater national park; tan on a beach that's so pure visual poetry; shop Cruz Bay, so tiny that no one has ever bothered to name its streets.
An island under two flags, half French, half Dutch, living in harmony for over 300 years with only a small stone marker at the border. Explore the Dutch treats of Phillipsburg: chocolates, cheeses, Delftware. Or flee to the French side to linger over a West Indies bouillabaisse or shop for Parisian perfumes.
The "Shopping Capital of th Caribbean," St. Thomas is the place to indulge your love of luxuries at fabulous duty-free prices. Cameras, jewerly, perfumes, watches and fashions are all here. So are beautiful beaches, the undersea gardens of Coral World, harbor cruises on a modern "Kon Tiki."
Resonate with the sound of calypso and steel bands. Where the national bird, the ibis, is red as sin. And so is the magnificent House of Parliament in Port-of-Spain.
Beyond the gateway city of La Guaira, past fields of wild orchids and flaming red poinsettias, lie the treasures of Caracas: tree shaded Bolívar Plaza with its magnificent equestrian ststue of the Great Liberator; the National Capital with its exquisite paintings and murals.