Guides
Caribbean Escape from Fort Lauderdale
At a glance
- Length: 7 nights, round trip from Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale), Florida.
- Signature stop: Half Moon Cay, Holland America's private island in the Bahamas. It is a tender island, meaning you ride a small boat from the ship to shore, not walk down a gangway.
- Typical other calls: Grand Turk, Amber Cove (Dominican Republic), Falmouth or Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Cozumel or Costa Maya (Mexico), Key West, Nassau. Which ones you get depends on the sailing. Typically; confirm on hollandamerica.com's itinerary page.
- Airport: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International (FLL), Broward County's airport. (checked Oct 11, 2026)
- Port: Port Everglades, 1850 Eller Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316; cruise terminals listed on the port site are 2, 4, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26 and 29. (checked Oct 11, 2026) Your terminal is on your boarding documents.
- Best for: first-timers who want one easy beach day, couples, multigenerational groups.
- Most common mistake: arriving at the pier hours early, or booking a flight home too early. Boarding windows and debarkation times come from your booking, not from us.
The route in one paragraph
You board in Fort Lauderdale in the afternoon, sail out past the beach and the Port Everglades jetties at dusk, and usually spend a full day at sea heading east or south. From there the week is a rotation of three to four islands: a Bahamas or Turks and Caicos stop, a Hispaniola or Jamaica stop, sometimes a Mexican stop on a western-leaning sailing, and Half Moon Cay as the lazy beach day in the middle. One more sea day, then back to Florida in the early morning for debarkation. Holland America sells these as Eastern, Western and Tropical Caribbean itineraries; the names tell you roughly which ports you get. Ships and exact calls vary, so treat this as a shape, not a schedule. Confirm on https://www.hollandamerica.com (Caribbean itineraries page) as of 2026-10-11.
When to go
The Atlantic hurricane season runs June through November, and the Dominican Republic advisory we read says tropical storms and hurricanes are common generally from May through November. (checked Oct 11, 2026) The Turks and Caicos advisory also notes the islands regularly experience hurricanes. (checked Oct 11, 2026) The dry, cooler winter and early spring months are the usual favorites and also the most expensive; early summer and late fall can be cheaper but carry weather risk, and itineraries can be changed or ports skipped. Read the line's change-of-itinerary policy when you book. Kids' school breaks push prices up.
Embarkation port in brief
Port Everglades is a working cargo and cruise harbor, not a walkable resort district. Most people fly into FLL, which is close, and take a rideshare, taxi or pre-booked shuttle to the terminal. The port posts a parking schedule: standard garages and lots top out at $25 per day, and the port says it does not accept reservations or pre-payment for parking. (checked Oct 11, 2026) Oversized vehicles up to 24 feet are listed at $18 for the first 5 hours and $35 up to 24 hours (same page). Note that FLL warns that during peak cruise periods airlines may only be able to check your bags up to two hours before your flight, so plan your flight home accordingly. (checked Oct 11, 2026)
For the night before, pick between the beach strip (atmosphere, a rideshare to the port) and the airport/port area (practical, sleepy). Details are in the full guide.
Rough cost, three ways
We do not quote a specific sailing's cabin price. Fill the blanks from the official pages.
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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 Shoestring: fare for an inside or lowest category (hollandamerica.com, fill in your dates and guests), plus taxes and fees (shown at checkout), plus gratuities (check hollandamerica.com's gratuities page), plus parking or ride to pier -
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 Comfortable: the shoestring list plus one ship excursion and a drinks plan -
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 fare a Half Moon Cay cabana or similar upgrade (check hollandamerica.com, we could not open the page), a specialty dinner and a hotel night either side
A note on the blanks: we left them empty on purpose. Cabin fares, taxes and fees, gratuities and drinks plans all change by sailing date and by how many people are in the cabin, so the only honest number is the one hollandamerica.com shows you for your own dates. Fill them in once, add them up, and compare the three totals before you decide how much to spend on extras.
Half Moon Cay is typically a tender port, meaning the ship anchors offshore and small boats carry guests to the beach. As of 2026-10-11 that is our understanding, so confirm on hollandamerica.com. Practically, that means bringing what you need ashore (sunscreen, a hat, water shoes, a small bag), getting in the tender line early if you want more beach time, and checking the daily program for the last tender back to the ship. Missing it is not a risk worth taking.
Three free things
1. Fort Lauderdale, sailaway (day 1). Skip the pool deck crowd and watch the Port Everglades jetties and the Fort Lauderdale shoreline slide past from the outer decks. It costs nothing. Photo: Port Everglades entrance channel and jetty light. Best an hour before sunset.
2. Half Moon Cay (typically mid-week). The beach itself at a private island is the draw; a long walk and a swim at the public stretch needs no purchase, though what is free on the island versus paid is set by Holland America. Check hollandamerica.com's Half Moon Cay page before you go; we could not open it. Photo: Half Moon Cay shoreline from the tender.
3. Grand Turk or Amber Cove (typically). At cruise-center ports like these, the beach and the small shops by the pier are walkable, and a stroll costs nothing. Photo: Grand Turk Cruise Center beach or Amber Cove pier area, early morning.
Safety note for the ports
Any call in Mexico, Jamaica or the Dominican Republic carries a government advisory. As of the copies we opened on 2026-10-11, Jamaica was Level 2 (issued June 23, 2026) and the Dominican Republic was Level 2 (issued June 12, 2025), both for crime. Read them before you go: https://travel.state.gov.
Full guide continues below.
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 what we could on 2026-10-11. Holland America's own pages would not open for us from our research setup, so itineraries, ship names, port calls, fees and prices below are labeled "typically" and are not confirmed. Before you sail, confirm itineraries, port calls, fees and schedules on hollandamerica.com, in your booking, and in the line's app. Anything marked was read on that official page that day.