Guides
Princess Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale (Princess Cays)
At a glance
- Sails from: Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), Florida. The airport, FLL, is next door; the port's own cruise page says FLL is next to the port (checked Oct 11, 2026).
- Length: 7 nights is the typical format for this kind of Princess Caribbean sailing. Your length is in your booking.
- Ports: a typical rotation calls at Princess Cays plus two or three of St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Grand Turk, Cozumel, Roatan and Grand Cayman. Your sailing's list is in your booking; ports can change after booking.
- Beach day: Princess Cays is Princess's own beach area on Eleuthera, Bahamas. Ships typically anchor and tender passengers ashore; confirm on Princess's Princess Cays page (it blocked our fetcher).
- Documents: a passport is the safe choice. The State Department's Bahamas page says cruise travelers may use a WHTI-compliant document such as a passport card but strongly recommends a passport [read 2026-10-11 – page dated July 28, 2026].
- Airport to pier: about a 10-minute ride; a taxi is estimated at about $12 on the meter (checked Oct 11, 2026).
- Parking at the port: $25 daily maximum in standard cruise garages and lots (checked Oct 11, 2026).
- Mistake to avoid: booking a flight home that leaves too early. FLL airlines may only check bags up to two hours before departure in peak season .
How the week works
A 7-night Caribbean sailing from Port Everglades gives you a rhythm: a boarding afternoon, one or two sea days, three or four ports and a morning walk-off. The ports are the variable. A typical Princess rotation here calls at Princess Cays plus two or three other islands, and which ones you get depends on the ship and the season. Eastern rotations lean toward St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Grand Turk; Western ones toward Cozumel and Grand Cayman. That grouping is our judgment, so read the itinerary page for your date.
The beach day at Princess Cays is the soft landing in the middle of the week. The rest of the week is a mix of shopping towns, snorkel bays and a reef or ruins day, and you can do most of it on your own for the price of a taxi.
The two decisions that matter most
First, how you get to the pier. FLL is next door, the metered taxi is estimated at about $12, and parking is $25 a day at most. Second, what time your flight home leaves. Book an afternoon departure so a slow walk-off does not cost you the flight. Everything else on this list can be fixed on board.
How to use the full guide
The full guide breaks the week into cards, one per port, each with a clock-time stop list, a photo stop, an insider move, a rain backup and a half-day cut. It also covers where to stay the night before, how to reach the pier, sea days, the points playbook and a printable one-page plan. Start with the route chapter, then the port card that matches your sailing.
Who this is for
This is for first-time and second-time cruisers who want a warm-weather week without a long flight, and for anyone who lives within driving distance of South Florida. It is a sampler by design: a private beach day, a duty-free shopping port, a snorkel or reef day and (depending on the rotation) a Mexico or Cayman stop.
It is a weaker fit if you want long, deep days in one place. Most port stops run roughly eight to ten hours, and a tender port can shave an hour off that.
When to go
Our judgment, not an official ruling: the Caribbean is busiest in winter and school-holiday weeks, and Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November (general knowledge; we did not open a NOAA page for this guide). Port changes for weather are normal in that window. Shoulder weeks in late April, May and early December tend to be calmer on crowds; we cannot quote prices for them, so look them up on the booking page.
What it costs, three ways
We never quote a specific sailing's cabin price because it changes daily. Build your own number with these fields, filling the blanks from Princess's booking page for your date.
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Plan your budget
Your trip budget worksheet
Prices change daily, so we don’t quote them. Fill this in from the official fare pages.
Your trip budget worksheet Item Your amount Budget: cruise fare taxes and port fees gratuities (daily rate in your booking) + $25 x -
Plan your budget
Your trip budget worksheet
Prices change daily, so we don’t quote them. Fill this in from the official fare pages.
Your trip budget worksheet Item Your amount Middle: budget plus one ship excursion a drink or wifi package only if you price it out against what you actually drink a pre-cruise hotel night -
Plan your budget
Your trip budget worksheet
Prices change daily, so we don’t quote them. Fill this in from the official fare pages.
Your trip budget worksheet Item Your amount Splurge: a balcony or suite premium package two excursions a Fort Lauderdale beach hotel night either side
Gratuity rates, package prices and cancellation terms are on Princess's own pages; as of 2026-10-11 princess.com would not open for us, so confirm on princess.com or in your booking before you sail.
Three free or low-cost moves
- Walk the sand at Princess Cays and skip the paid beach add-ons. The beach itself is the draw. Photo subject: Princess Cays beach, Eleuthera, Bahamas.
- Walk Front Street in Philipsburg if St. Maarten is on your list. The port's own site describes direct, walkable access to Philipsburg (checked Oct 11, 2026). Photo subject: Great Bay and Front Street, Philipsburg.
- Watch the sail-away from the top deck at Port Everglades. It costs nothing and is the best view of the Fort Lauderdale shoreline. Photo subject: Port Everglades cruise terminals and the Fort Lauderdale skyline.
Want the whole plan? The full guide below has the day-by-day route, every port, the pier-to-airport logistics, a points playbook and a printable one-pager.
This is the free lite guide. The full day-by-day guide, with maps, photo stops, rain plans and the points playbook, is part of PerkJolt All-Access.
Good to know before you go
We checked the facts below on 2026-10-11, and where a page would not open we say so and label the fact "typically" or "last we checked." Confirm fares, fees, gratuity rates, package prices, port calls and all-aboard times on the line's official page and in your booking / the line's app before you sail.