Guides
Honeymoon cruises on points: which line, which cabin, and how to pay for it
At a glance
- A honeymoon cruise is a trip where you unpack once and wake up somewhere new each day, which suits couples who want company without planning.
- Pick the line by the couple you are, not by the brochure: adults-only, premium, luxury, big-ship fun, or river.
- Cabin choice matters more than ship choice: a balcony is the usual floor, a suite or a ship-within-a-ship enclave buys space and a quiet lounge.
- Points do not transfer to cruise lines. They pay through card travel portals, cash-back style redemptions, and the flights and hotel nights around the sailing.
- Honeymoon or celebration packages vary by line and change; read the line's own page before you count on a bottle of bubbles or a dinner.
- Book the pre-cruise hotel night. Missing the ship after a flight delay is the most common mistake.
- Our sample week is a representative 7-night Southern Caribbean sailing round trip from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Ask for the honeymoon on the booking, but tell the line your wedding date only after you read what they will actually do.
The topic in plain terms
A honeymoon cruise works because the logistics are handled. Your room, meals, entertainment and travel between islands are one purchase. For a couple coming off a wedding, that is a relief: no hotel check-outs, no train timetables, no decisions about where to eat on day three.
Who it fits. Couples who want quiet and each other lean toward adults-only or luxury ships. Couples who want pools, shows and a lot going on lean toward big-ship lines. Couples who want a small group and a different town each morning might look at river cruising. Couples who think they will be bored at sea should try a three- or four-night sailing before committing to a week.
The three decisions that matter.
- The line. It sets the crowd, the dress code, the food, and whether children are on board. The full guide compares adults-only, premium, luxury, big-ship and river lines side by side, with each line's official page.
- The cabin. A balcony stateroom is the common choice. A suite adds room and often extras. A ship-within-a-ship enclave adds a private lounge and sundeck. Where the cabin sits (midship and low is steadier, aft has wide views and more vibration) matters on a week at sea. Read /guides/cruises/choosing-a-cruise-cabin/ and /guides/cruises/ship-within-a-ship-suites-compared/ before you pay.
- The payment. Points can reach the fare through a card travel portal at the portal's current rate (check the portal), through a cash-back or statement-credit style redemption, or by paying for flights and hotel nights with transferable points while cash pays the cruise. The decision rule is in the full guide.
Timing in one paragraph. Most couples sail soon after the wedding, and that works if you have the energy. If you do not, a trip a month or two later often leaves you rested, lets family flights settle, and gives you time to read the line's celebration page properly. Shoulder weeks at the edges of the busy season are quieter. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 as commonly described, Not confirmed on https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq, so if you sail in it, buy flexible flights and read the line's itinerary-change policy.
What a celebration package usually is. Think of it as a short list of small extras: something in the cabin on arrival, a dinner, a spa item, a photo. Lines name and price them differently, and what is included changes. The only way to know is the line's own page, and then a written confirmation once you book.
Rough cost, three ways (fill your own numbers)
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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 Save: inside or oceanview cabin, shoulder season, cash or portal points. Fare: $ per couple. Gratuities: $ per person per day (check your line's page before you sail). Flights and hotel: $ or -
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: balcony cabin, a celebration add-on you choose, one specialty dinner. Fare: $ per couple. Add-ons: $ Flights and hotel: $ or -
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: suite or luxury all-suite line. Fare: $ per couple. Extras beyond the fare: $ Flights and hotel: $ or
Entry rules pointer
A sailing from San Juan touches U.S. territories and several independent countries. Documents and entry rules differ by country and by your citizenship, and they are set by each country and the line. Check your line's documents page and the State Department's country pages before booking; typical document rules are Not confirmed on https://www.virginvoyages.com/faq. The U.S. State Department lists St. Kitts and Nevis, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda at Level 1 (exercise normal precautions) [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html, Level 1, issued 2026-07-07, 2026-04-10, 2026-07-10 and 2026-05-20 respectively]. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are U.S. territories and carry no State Department advisory.
Honest limits. This guide does not quote a specific sailing's fare, does not name card sign-up offers, and does not promise that a given line will upgrade you because it is your honeymoon. Where an official page spelled something out, we stamp it with the date and page. Where it did not, we say so and give you the page to check.
3 free things
Read the line's celebration page before you tell anyone. Each line describes its own romance and celebration options on its own site. NCL's page, for example, lists named romance packages and a honeymoon registry (checked Oct 16, 2026). Reading three lines' pages costs nothing and shows you what is a package, what is a registry gift and what is only a link.
Walk Old San Juan before you sail. The fortress grounds at Castillo San Felipe del Morro and the lanes around Plaza de Armas cost nothing to wander. Fortress entry fees and hours are Not confirmed on https://www.prpa.pr.gov/, so check the site that runs the fortress before you go.
Price your flight in points before you price anything else. The flight and the hotel night are the part of a honeymoon cruise where transferable points do the most for you. A free search on your airline partner's award page, and a look at the airport's own site at https://www.aeropuertosju.com/, takes a few minutes and tells you whether the points plan is real.
Ready to go deeper? The full guide has the line comparison table, a cabin decision section, a day-by-day sample week, base cards for the night before, and the points-versus-cash rule with your own numbers.
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 2026-10-16. Fares, fees, package contents, itineraries and port calls change often and can change after you book (weather, tendering, port congestion), so confirm everything on the line's own page or in your booking and the line's app before you sail.