cruises from miami to south america

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BIODIVERSE BEAUTY

South america cruises.

Hunt for cultural treasures and outdoor thrills in South America.

Central and South America are a lively mix of cultures, history, music, cuisine and natural landscapes. Lose yourself in the charm of Cartagena, Colombia's colorful and colonial capital city. Travel deep into the lush rainforests of Costa Rica in San Luis Park. Lay back on white-sand beaches like Dzul Ha and Chen Rio in Cozumel, Mexico. Go snorkeling in the warm waters lined with vibrant coral reefs off Belize, and see the Mayan landmark El Castillo in the rainforest near Belize City. Cruise to Central and South America to stroll through the Spanish colonial-era streets of Antigua, Guatemala, with its Baroque churches backdropped by dramatic Volcan de Agua volcano.

This Is What Adventure Looks Like

Hunt for cultural treasures and outdoor thrills in South America

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CULTURE CLASH

South America is diverse in all realms, with cultural treasures waiting to be discovered. Walk the cobblestone streets of Cartagena, Colombia, and Antigua, Guatemala, lined with regal plazas and opulent churches. Then, stop by the local markets to peruse the hand-embroidered, brightly colored traditional garments and take in the fragrant smells of dried chiles.  

CANAL ACROSS A CONTINENT

Sail from the Pacific to the Atlantic side (or vice versa) of the South American coast on a Panama Canal cruise. As you make your way between the two oceans, you'll pass Soberania National Park: Take in the stunning views of its lush rainforests, and keep your eyes peeled for rare parakeets and capuchin monkeys. 

PANAMA CANAL

CABO SAN LUCAS

LOS ANGELES

FIND YOUR PATH TO ADVENTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA

From the Panama Canal to the beaches and Mayan ruins of Mexico, you can choose your own path to South American adventure.

EXPLORE MORE

MEXICO YUCATAN

COZUMEL & CANCUN

SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN

Every country has its own particular history and influences: Get to know the locals to discover what makes them unique.

Learn a few words and phrases Spanish — they'll come in handy as you interact with the locals.

Dare to go beyond the tourist areas and find your way to the places where locals hang out. You'll get a closer look at the typical daily life of the country.

Related Ports

Explore the many adventure-filled ports of South America and the Caribbean: Zip-line over rainforest in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and trek to ancient ruins in Tulum, Mexico. Or take a Panama Canal cruise and see the man-made and natural wonders that line this historic body of water between stops at colonial cities like Cartagena, Colombia,  Antigua, and Guatemala.

St. John's, Antigua

Roatan, Honduras

Banana Coast (Trujillo), Honduras

Cartagena, Colombia

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

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EMERALD REEFS & AMAZON ADVENTURE Miami -TO- Miami

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• Miami -TO- Miami Seven Seas Navigator ® Feb 24, 2025 25 Nights
• Cruise Highlights
• Ship Seven Seas Navigator ®
• Departs Feb 24 2025
• Duration 25 Nights
• Shore Excursions Up to 94 Free
• Contact 1.866.585.0942
• Fares From $12,599  
• Itinerary What's Included Suites & Fares Special Offers Ship Details Land Programs & Hotels Terms & Conditions

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ITINERARY & EXCURSIONS

A PDF of the available Shore Excursions for this voyage will be sent to the email address you provided shortly. If you do not receive it, please check your spam/junk folder and add [email protected] to your contacts.

• Mon, Feb 24 Miami, Florida
• Tue, Feb 25 Cruising the Bahamian Waters
• Wed, Feb 26 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Thu, Feb 27 Gustavia, St. Barts
• Fri, Feb 28 Pointe, Guadeloupe
• Sat, Mar 01 St. George's, Grenada
• Sun, Mar 02 Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
• Mon, Mar 03 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Tue, Mar 04 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Wed, Mar 05 Cruising the Amazon River
• Thu, Mar 06 Santarem (Amazon River), Brazil
• Fri, Mar 07 Boca Da Valeria (Amazon River), Brazil
• Sat, Mar 08 Manaus (Amazon River), Brazil
• Sun, Mar 09 Manaus (Amazon River), Brazil
• Mon, Mar 10 Parintins (Amazon River), Brazil
• Tue, Mar 11 Alter Do Chao (Amazon River), Brazil
• Wed, Mar 12 Cruising the Amazon River
• Thu, Mar 13 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Fri, Mar 14 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Sat, Mar 15 Bridgetown, Barbados
• Sun, Mar 16 Roseau, Dominica
• Mon, Mar 17 Philipsburg, St. Maarten
• Tue, Mar 18 San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Wed, Mar 19 Cruising the Atlantic Ocean
• Thu, Mar 20 Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
• Fri, Mar 21 Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

• Date Feb 24
• Depart 5:00 PM

What's Included

• 2-FOR-1 All-Inclusive Fares
• FREE Roundtrip Air* on Domestic Flights
• FREE Unlimited Shore Excursions
• FREE Unlimited Beverages, Including Fine Wines and Spirits
• FREE Open Bars and Lounges Plus In-Suite Mini-Bar Replenished Daily
• FREE Pre-Paid Gratuities
• FREE Specialty Restaurants
• FREE 24-Hour Room Service
• FREE Transfers Between Airport and Ship*
• FREE Unlimited WiFi*
• FREE Valet Laundry Service*
• CONCIERGE SUITES AND HIGHER INCLUDE: FREE 1-Night Pre-Cruise Hotel Package* and more
• PENTHOUSE SUITES AND HIGHER INCLUDE: FREE Personal Butler and more

*See Terms and Conditions for full details.

Suites, Fares & Availability

Deluxe window suite h.

• Suite Size 301 FT 2
• Balcony Size 0 FT 2

Even the smaller suites on Seven Seas Navigator® are spacious, smartly designed and luxuriously furnished. This suite offers a large picture window that lets you rejoice in magnificent ocean views and plenty of natural light. Settle into your cozy surroundings, pamper yourself with lavish bath products, wrap yourself in a plush bathrobe and uncork your welcome bottle of Champagne as your ship heads out to sea.

European King-Sized Elite Slumber™ Bed

1 Marble Bathroom

• Intimate Sitting Area

Walk-in Closet With Safe

Accommodates Up To 3 Guests

• FREE Unlimited WiFi includes one log-in, one device, per suite *
• Welcome Bottle of Champagne with Fresh Fruit Arrangement
• In-Suite Mini-Bar Set-Up and Refill
• 24-Hour Room Service
• L’Occitane® Jasmin & Bergamot Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions

Regent Plush Bathrobes and Slippers

Vanity and Hair Dryer

• Interactive Flat-Screen Television With Extensive Media Library, Complimentary Movies-on-Demand
• Direct Dial Satellite Phone
• Shoe Shine Service
• Plan My Cruise

Deluxe Window Suite G

• Decks 5 & 6

Deluxe Veranda Suite F

• Balcony Size 55 FT 2
• Decks 8 & 9

Every inch of this suite has been thoughtfully designed to maximize interior space and embrace the magnificent scenery outdoors. From the sitting area, admire the ocean views through the floor-to-ceiling windows, or better yet, take a seat outside on your private balcony to watch the world go by. Elegant finishes such as luxurious bedding and beautiful marble detailing in the bath further enhance your comfort.

Private Balcony

Deluxe Veranda Suite E

• Decks 6, 7, 8 & 9

Penthouse Suite C

The luxurious suite has been carefully designed to maximize space and comfort. Relax on your private balcony and indulge in your lavish bath amenities as you recharge and ready yourself for new adventures in the next port of call. This suite also includes priority online reservations for shore excursions and dining, and you’re encouraged to call on the services of a personal butler for special requests.

This category includes Accessibility Options in suites 928 and 929. For more information about accessible suites click here .

• FREE 1-Night Pre-Cruise Hotel Package Including: - FREE Ground Transfers - FREE Breakfast - FREE Porterage
• INCLUDED & UNLIMITED WiFi includes up to four logins, four devices, per suite
• FREE 15 Minutes of Ship-to-Shore Phone Time
• Guerlain & L’Occitane® Jasmin & Bergamot Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions
• Personal Butler
• Complimentary Pressing on First Night

Priority Online Shore Excursions and Dining Reservations

10% Discount on Premium Wine and Liquor

5% savings on Pre- or Post-Cruise Hotel or Land Programs

5% savings on Regent Choice Shore Excursions

• Selection of Bed Pillow Styles

Daily Canapés

• Personalized Stationery

BOSE® SoundLink Mini II Bluetooth Speaker

• Binoculars, illy® Espresso Maker and Cashmere Blankets
• Essentials Including Men’s Unscented Shaving Kit, Facial Wipes, Sewing Kit, Emory Board, Stain Remover and Hand Sanitizer
• Complimentary Tote Bag

Concierge Suite D

• Decks 7 & 8

In this superbly designed suite, you enjoy the comfort of richly furnished accommodations as well as exclusive luxuries available only in suites at the Concierge level and higher. Your suite includes amenities such as an illy® espresso maker and cashmere blankets, perfect for use in the morning when you wish to sip coffee and enjoy an in-suite breakfast on your private balcony. Take advantage of 24-hour room service when the mood strikes.

This category includes Accessibility Options in suites 832 and 833. For more information about accessible suites click here .

Penthouse Suite B

• Decks 9 & 10

Penthouse Suite A

• Decks 6, 10 & 11

Navigator Suite NS

• Suite Size 385-448 FT 2
• Balcony Size 47-56 FT 2
• Decks 9 & 11

Spoiled for choice will describe your time in this suite. Do you stretch out on a couch in the living room or a lounge on your private balcony? Do you enjoy in-suite breakfast on the balcony or at your inside table? Its spaciousness extends to a large bedroom with a king-sized bed, roomy walk-in closet and a gleaming, gorgeous bath. You’re also encouraged to use the services of a personal butler, making every moment in your suite magical.

1 Spacious Bedroom with European King-Sized Elite Slumber™ Bed

Spacious Living Room

Accommodates Up To 4 Guests

• Choice of Guerlain and L'Occitane® Jasmin & Bergamot Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions
• Priority boarding on Embarkation Day with Suite Access at 1:00 pm

Welcome Bottle of Premium Champagne

Welcome Letter from President and General Manager

Personalized In-Suite Full-Liquor Bar Set-Up

1 Sumptuous In-Suite Caviar Service

Selection of Fig and Tea Leaves Bath Salts

• Delivery of Up to Three Daily Newspapers

World Atlas and Elegant Weather Clock

Grand Suite GS

• Suite Size 519-639 FT 2
• Balcony Size 64-200 FT 2

Step into the richness of a dining area perfectly ensconced within a spacious, art-filled living room. Just outside is a private balcony with a table and chairs just right for in-suite breakfast. The master bedroom is large and inviting, its soothing color palette conducive to a peaceful night's rest on your King-Sized Elite Slumber™ Bed. Two full baths and luxurious bath products invite you to indulge in unrushed 'me time'. 

1 1/2 Marble Bathrooms

Choice of Guerlain, Acqua di Parma and L'Occitane® Jasmin & Bergamot Soaps, Shampoos and Lotions

Guerlain Fragrance and Spongelle Buffer

Priority Check-in on embarkation day with suite access at Noon

VIP Status to Include Dinner with a Senior Officer

Complimentary Cocktail Party for 8

Guaranteed Reservation Each Night in Specialty Restaurant of Your Choice†

Complimentary 25-Minute Personal Fitness Session at the Serene Spa & Wellness™ Fitness Center

• 24-Hour Room Service with Specialty Restaurant Selections During Dining Hours

Luxe Fruit Arrangement and Chocolate Leonidas

• Tea Forte Set-Up

Essentials Including Men’s Unscented Shaving Kit, Facial Wipes, Sewing Kit, Emory Board, Stain Remover, Hand Sanitizer and Dental Care

Master Suite MS

• Suite Size 851-1067 FT 2
• Balcony Size 106-170 FT 2

You'll find Park Avenue chic onboard Seven Seas Navigator® in this spectacular suite. Elegant rosewood furniture, luxe fabrics and a crystal chandelier create sophisticated comfort, while a personal butler is available to fulfil whatever requests you may have. With one bedroom, two-and-a-half baths, a large living room and two private balconies, this sublime suite is perfect for hosting new friends in luxury.

Accommodates Up To 5 Guests

• Complimentary Shore Excursion Bag

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Land programs & hotels.

This exciting expedition affords a look at the jungle of the magnificent Amazon. You will make your way via riverboat to a lodge situated in the heart of the jungle, home to playful monkeys and elusive caiman —both of which you will have a good chance to see.

The Amazon Ecopark Jungle Lodge is scientific and educational property, created and directed by a private initiative in 1991, opening its doors to the public as an Ecotourism Lodge in 1995. It’s approximately one hour from Manaus, and right in the middle of the Amazon Forest, several streams of clear water run through the area. Over 6 miles of jungle trails including un-catalogued species, natural savannahs and creeks enable visitors to explore the jungle, observe orchids and giant trees. The lodge also has a beach and four natural small pools.

DAY 1- December 24th, 2023

Right after the ship’s clearance, your local guide will meet you at the gangway for the 30-minute transfer to the Marina Tauá and to its floating jetty. Here you will board a riverboat for a cruise of approximately 30-minutes along the Rio Negro to the Amazon Ecopark Lodge. With several streams and over six miles of trails running through the area, the Ecopark Lodge is an ideal launching point for jungle explorations. During such expeditions, you are likely to admire orchids, gaze at giant trees and spy un-catalogued species of wildlife.

Before enjoying a chance to spot the creatures of the Amazon, savor the comforts of the lodge by taking a moment to sip a welcome fruit drink and check in followed by an informal buffet lunch.

After lunch, meet your guide in the lobby for your first thrilling jungle excursion. Embark on a motorized canoe —the main form of transportation in the jungle — and cruise through the area’s ‘Igarapes’ or small creeks, for a close-up look at the magnificent jungle scenery. You may stop to visit a local native home along the riverside and, if river conditions permit, you may even fish for voracious piranhas.

In the evening, depart again by motorized canoe and penetrate the dense vegetation until you are completely surrounded by the darkness of the jungle. Your native guide will then begin flashing a strong light on the river’s surface until, with luck; it catches the shining eyes of a caiman. While the caiman remains hypnotized by the bright light, you will slowly approach until the guide is able to catch it with his bare hands, allowing you to take a few photographs before the alligator-like creature is released, unharmed, back into the water.

After this exciting tour return to the lodge for a Christmas Eve dinner with typical specialties from the region.

DAY 2 – December 25th, 2023

Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before stepping aboard a canoe for a journey into the forest, where you will enjoy a guided hike. Learn about survival techniques and the natural remedies used by the locals. Next, visit the nearby Monkey Island. At the Island, you will observe researchers working to rehabilitate monkeys that were once held captive. The spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, wooly monkeys and Capuchin monkeys—many of which are orphans—now roam free in this sanctuary.

When your approximately two-hour canoe and hike exploration draws to a close, return to the lodge where you will be refreshed with an informal buffet lunch.

As the morning eases into the afternoon hours, bid farewell to your friends at the Ecopark Jungle Lodge and by early afternoon, return to Manaus via riverboat and your awaiting vehicle back to the port in time to re-board your ship.

Land Program Step by Step:

Please note: The order of sites visited may vary to avoid congestion. All program details and the timings indicated below are approximate, given here for general reference purposes and subject to change. Final itineraries with the most up to date details will be provided by the Destination Services Team once you board the ship. Please review your final itinerary carefully for any amendments.

As water levels on the Amazon and its tributaries vary, the program itinerary and content is subject to change. Wildlife sightings are not guaranteed. As this program involves walking over uneven surfaces and through dense undergrowth, it is not recommended for guests with physical and/or walking difficulties. This program is not wheelchair accessible. As the canoes are not covered and rain showers can be expected, guests should be prepared to get wet. Ecopark Jungle Lodge accommodations are simple.

DAY 1 - Timings may vary slightly depending on the ship’s arrival time

Your ship docks at the Manaus floating pier

Upon clearance You are met and transferred to the Marina Tauá

8:30am Board a local riverboat and transfer to the Ecopark Lodge

10:00am Arrival, welcome drink and check in

12:30pm Lunch

3:00pm Visit the home of some local residents, learn about the traditions of jungle life

TBA Caiman spotting tour via motorized canoe

TBA Christmas Eve dinner

DAY 2 - Timings may vary slightly depending on the ship’s departure time

7:00am Breakfast

8:30am Jungle recognition walk and visit the Monkey jungle rehabilitation center

11:30am Lunch and check out

1:00pm Depart the lodge and travel by boat back to the Marina Tauá and then by vehicle back to the Manaus port

2:30pm Approximate arrival at the port and re-embark your ship

Expected Weather:

It will be hot and humid with the chance of showers intermittently

Minimum 32 & maximum 36 degrees Celsius

What to Bring: It is recommended that guests bring lightweight clothing, including long-sleeved shirts and trousers, T-shirts and shorts, and a sweatshirt or sweater. Please bring sturdy walking shoes or boots, a hat, a raincoat, sunglasses and sunscreen. It is also recommended that guests bring binoculars.

Currency: Brazilian Real

Electricity: 110 Volts at the lodge

Luggage: Please pack one small piece of luggage or backpack for this overnight

Documents and Visa Requirements: Valid photo ID and your ship’s identification card

Accommodation:

Ecopark Jungle Lodge

Canal Panemão, s/n - Rio Tarumã, AM, 69025-090, Brazil

Phone: +55 21 3005-5536

Hotel facilities: private but simple rooms, reception, restaurant facilities, and a leisure/bar-lounge area.

Land cost includes:

Roundtrip transfers to the lodge

Welcome fruit juice drink

Visits as per the program

Lunch buffet on Day 1

Christmas Eve dinner on Day 1

Buffet breakfast and lunch on Day 2

Beverages: One soda or bottled water during the included meals

One-night stay at the air-conditioned Ecopark Jungle Lodge – Single or double occupancy

Land cost Excludes:

Any meals or drinks not specified above

Gratuities to drivers, guides and tour director

Please note: Land programs that encompass multiple days ashore customarily include extensive and prolonged activity, while those of shorter durations typically have more moderate activity levels. However, each program varies, and participants should be prepared to negotiate a mixture of surfaces, which may include inclines, cobblestones, sand, gravel or natural paths. There may also be a need to climb steps or stairs on occasion. Guests who utilize a wheelchair and those with mobility concerns are advised to check with the cruise line in advance to see if any portion of the tour program may not be considered suitable for their individual situation.

All land programs are capacity controlled and subject to availability. Programs falling under the minimum number of required participants are subject to cancellation. Pricing listed is also subject to change to meet unexpected cost increases for transportation, land arrangements or currency fluctuations. Once purchased, pricing is guaranteed and not subject to change. Mid cruise overland programs must be purchased no later than 60 days prior to your sail date. Cancellations made within 60 days or less prior to the sail date are subject to 100% cancellation penalty.

Price: $699 per guest based on double occupancy.

Land program promotions are per person for guests 1 and 2 for one pre- or post-cruise program only, subject to terms .

Daytime Enrichment

You’ll find time spent on board the ship to be just as enriching as time ashore. Relax by the pool, compete in a friendly game of trivia or bocce ball, and indulge in treats at afternoon tea.

Evening Entertainment

Spa & Fitness

Luxury travel is a holistic experience, one that reenergizes and restores the mind, body and spirit, leaving you with a greater sense of satisfaction and wellbeing. Serene Spa & Wellness™ invites you into a globally inspired, tranquil haven of health, beauty and wellness, offering restorative treatments and services to soothe both the body and mind.

Boutiques & More

• Compass Rose As the flagship restaurant aboard each of our ships, the wonderfully spacious Compass Rose serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and features an exceptional variety of European-inspired Continental cuisine, as well as flavorful vegetarian and kosher dishes. Elegantly decorated in blues and silvers with stunning Versace tableware, Compass Rose delights with a beautifully refined atmosphere bathed in natural light during the day.
• La Veranda Begin your day with breakfast at La Veranda and you’ll forever believe it really is the most important meal of the day. Take in gorgeous ocean views from quiet alcoves jutting out over an iridescent sea while savoring made-to-order omelets and other specialties. Late risers can tuck into enhanced lunch buffets indoors or al fresco on a shaded, open-air deck. Lunches feature a variety of delectable selections, including hot carving stations.
• Pool Grill The Pool Grill is truly a come-as-you-are venue. Enjoy this casual dining experience whether you're getting a bite after sunbathing or swimming in the pool. The Pool Grill is open-air, yet abundantly shaded for comfortable dining at lunch or dinner. Enjoy grilled-to-order burgers, grilled seafood, sandwiches, and fresh salads. Treat yourself to milkshakes and malts or an old-fashioned hand-dipped ice cream dessert with toppings.
• Prime 7 A true classic in every sense, the newly refurbished Prime 7 on Seven Seas Navigator® is the epitome of luxury dining. Dark imperial blue walls accented with gold, light leather chairs and rich wood finishes provide a refined and elegant backdrop for prime steaks and seafood. Large artwork, marble sculptures and intricately patterned floors enhance the décor. Enjoy a cocktail at the bar before savoring a succulent filet mignon or côte de boeuf.
• Sette Mari at La Veranda Each evening, La Veranda transforms into Sette Mari at La Veranda, a casual, intimate dining experience. Choose from authentic Italian specialties inspired by family recipes that span generations, or opt for something with a modern twist like a spice-crusted tuna steak with braised endive, polenta and salmoriglio. Savor it all with a perfectly paired Tuscan wine. Sette Mari at La Veranda is open for dinner only.

Come on along and listen to…The lullabies of Broadway! Our fabulous Production Cast Singers pay tribute to some of the most iconic tunes from an array of the best musicals in town, and throughout the ages! Songs you’ll know and love, and maybe you’ll discover one or two precious little gems. Let us entertain you…because after all “There’s no business, like show business!”

A peek inside the hit-manufacturing machine that was The Brill Building, located at 1609 Broadway, where legendary songwriting teams generated the music that defined the 1950’s and 60’s. This Celebration of “The Brill Building Sound” sings and dances its way through recording studios, a sock hop, pajama party, The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand on a fast-paced nostalgic journey as the beat goes on and on.

The true test of a great song is its quality to endure, to span generations. Tuxedo presents a fresh take on the music of the Rat Pack, the Great American Songbook and the music of legends such as Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Frank Sinatra and many more. Tuxedo also updates the “classics” with dynamic arrangements by contemporary artists like Michael Bublé, Christina Aguilara, Brian Setzer and Harry Connick Jr.

We’ll take you on a spectacular voyage through a world of music, rhythm, and dance. This lively theatrical showcase pays tribute to just a few of the many cultures represented by our various crew members onboard. Feel the organic rhythm of Tinikling from the Philippines, and dwell in the vibrant energy of the Bollywood Musical hits of India. We’ll pay homage to the Chinese New Year and marvel at the precision of Irish dance — and the journey doesn’t end there!

• Card & Conference Room Two complete Card and Conference Rooms can be used for everything from bridge lectures and tournaments to corporate meetings and special events. Gather with a few friends for an afternoon or evening of fun competition with board games, cards and more. Larger groups may increase space by removing the dividing door and combining both rooms.
• Destination Services If the road to a richer life is paved with the lessons of new discoveries, our Destination Services is a great place to start. Learn about the adventures available to suit every taste and comfort level during your voyage from our dedicated staff. They can arrange unique shore excursions designed for smaller groups or assist with tailor-made pre-and post-cruise programs, from a simple stay in a luxurious hotel to a 3-night extension in a remote locale.
• Library Well-stocked and offering comfort for the body and mind, you’ll discover our Library is a most elegant setting for reading and relaxing. Curl up with a classic novel or best-selling mystery, play a strategic game of chess or simply soak up the ambience of a sumptuous reading room. Regardless of what brings you here, our library is a welcoming, low-key treasure you just may find hard to leave.
• Pool Bar When you envision an activity you're only likely to do while on vacation, sipping a frozen drink at a pool bar onboard a glorious cruise ship is probably near the top of the list. You can tick that box at our Pool Bar, where you and new friends can enjoy leisurely conversation over cocktails and frozen drinks in a delightfully relaxed atmosphere.
• Pool Deck Our Pool Deck features a large heated pool, two whirlpools and table tennis. Surrounded by luxurious teak accents, you'll be consistently awestruck by the pool's magnificent vistas high upon Seven Seas Navigator®. You'll also be impressed by our amiable and dedicated crew, who stand at the ready to provide refreshing beverages and lounge chairs.
• Putting Green Our Putting Greens are less about self-improvement than group fun as your ship travels from one destination to another. A popular pastime is gathering friends after an afternoon cocktail and heading to the top deck of Seven Seas Navigator® for a spirited competition as twilight approaches and a delicious dinner in one of our stellar restaurants looms.
• The Casino Get a taste of Monte Carlo excitement at our Casino directly across from the equally inspiring Explorer Lounge. Walk through glass doors into an elegant setting bustling with games of chance that include Blackjack, roulette, poker, and a full craps table, as well as slot machines. The Casino is open every day at sea when not restricted by territorial border limits.
• Galileo's An ideal spot for cocktails or to simply relax and unwind with an after-dinner drink, Galileo's pulls you in with a shimmering, blue-themed interior. Resident musicians entertain with familiar tunes in the afternoon as well as before and after dinner, and the dance floor comes alive when the night sky fills with stars outside. Game shows, night entertainment and live musical events are featured regularly.
• Navigator Lounge The always welcoming Navigator Lounge was recently refreshed with new furnishings that enables more guests to sit and enjoy coffee during the day and cocktails around the piano in the afternoon and evenings. Enjoy an informal Early Riser Continental Breakfast where you can enjoy a variety of coffees, teas and juices with a selection of pastries. Later in the day, stop in for a relaxing pre-dinner cocktail and good conversation.
• Seven Seas Lounge Perfectly tiered for unobstructed viewing and furnished with plush seating, the main show lounge is an intimate venue without a bad seat in the house. The phenomenal entertainment performed here varies from full-scale musical revues to rousing cabaret shows, all backed by our incredible, five-piece Regent Signature Orchestra.
• Stars Lounge Completely reimagined in light dusty rose and champagne tones highlighted with gold, Stars Lounge is a stellar place to meet new friends. Marble tables glimmer beneath evening dance floor lights where guests can enjoy cocktails and dancing before dinner. The lounge is a popular spot for theatergoers to celebrate the excitement generated by that night’s performance at the nearby Constellation Theater.
• Fitness Center Serene Spa & Wellness™ fitness experts lead popular exercise classes, such as Pilates, yoga and meditation and are on hand to offer advice and demonstrate the use of fitness equipment. Equipment includes spinning bikes, dumbbells, treadmills, Technogym Strength Machines, workout mats and step benches. One-on-one training can be arranged with a fitness instructor. Guests under the age of 16 are not permitted in the Fitness Center.
• Jogging Track In addition to planned activities in the Fitness Center, take advantage of other sports-related activities throughout the ship. Deck 12 provides golf cages, shuffleboard, paddle tennis and a full-circle jogging track. Eleven laps around the Seven Seas Navigator® track is equal to one mile.
• Serene Spa & Wellness Serene Spa & Wellness is a globally inspired, tranquil haven of health, beauty and wellness, offering restorative treatments and activities to soothe both the body and mind. Strengthen and elevate both your body and mind as you engage with a variety of treatments and services designed to enhance your whole being, from massages, and body wraps to facials, manicures and pedicures and exclusive treatments curated especially for Regent Seven Seas Cruises®.
• Boutiques Stop into our boutiques and browse a wide range of items — upscale handbags to exclusive fragrances to fine jewelry — in an intimate and unhurried setting. You'll also find clothing, Regent Seven Seas Cruises® logo wear and gift items to share with friends and family. Our boutiques are staffed by friendly salespeople. Opening hours vary and are printed in the Passages daily newsletter.
• Coffee Connection & Club.com Enjoy complimentary coffee drinks prepared by our baristas, as well as delicious pastries, gourmet sandwiches and homemade cookies. Whether perusing international newspapers or simply taking in an always spectacular view, our café is the perfect place to relax, converse and enjoy coffee and snacks throughout the day.
• Reception & Concierge Our welcoming Reception Desk is open 24 hours a day and staffed by personable, knowledgeable men and women who are happy to answer your questions and provide any general assistance you may need. Reception is also where you may contact the ship's Concierge. Postcards and letters may be dropped off here as well; they’ll be delivered to the postal service at the next port of call.

All guests must ensure that their travel documents are valid, including having enough blank passport pages required to facilitate passport stamping and visas on arrival, where applicable.

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Fares and category availability are subject to change without notice. Please contact Regent Seven Seas Cruises to confirm category availability. Itinerary and/or ports of call are subject to change at any time due to prevailing weather conditions, or any other cause, at the discretion of Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

*For pricing terms and conditions, click here . Advertised fare includes air-related government taxes, surcharges and fees. 2-for-1 All-Inclusive Fares include flights, hotel and transfers, where applicable. 2-for-1 All-Inclusive Cruise Fares include applicable credits for guests arranging their own pre- and post-cruise flights, hotels and transfers. Fares are per person, based on double occupancy and reflect all savings. Some airline-imposed personal charges, including but not limited to baggage, priority boarding, and special seating, may apply.

Terms and Conditions / Ticket Contracts

All itineraries are subject to change and route lines indicated on map may not indicate ship's actual navigation. Pricing is per person based on double occupancy in U.S. Dollars (unless otherwise noted). For complete information on terms and conditions, itinerary, liability of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Inc. (RSSC), health and travel documents, liability limits, etc., please contact your travel professional or call Regent Seven Seas Cruises at 1.844.4REGENT (1.844.473.4368) for more information. To read our full Terms & Conditions , including our Ticket Contract and Insurance Information , visit www.rssc.com/legal .

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• South America Cruises

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Take the scenic route on a South American cruise

Choose from distinct South American cruise itineraries that will take you places far beyond your imagination. From ancient civilizations to dramatic vistas of rushing waterfalls, South America cruises make an impression. Discover the lost city of the Incas from high atop the mountains in Machu Picchu. Mingle amongst the real "March of the Penguins" in the Falkland Islands, where hundreds of thousands of Magellan penguins make their home. Or cruise Beagle Channel at very southern tip of this mysterious continent and enjoy some crisp fresh air as you marvel the glaciers all around you. If you've ever wondered what's at the end of the rainbow, wonder no more. Browse our South American cruises with the Best Cruise Line in South America according to Cruise Critic, and start planning your next great holiday.

^Buy an air ticket and the 2nd guest flies for free. *View for full terms and conditions.

NEW! Experience Antarctica with Norwegian

Prepare to embark on an experience like you've never had before. When you cruise to Antarctica, you get to take in breathtaking views and infinite beauty from the comfort of your balcony or the top-deck. Set your eyes on whale-abundant waters and catch a glimpse of penguin colonies as you sail past and feel free to experience all the wonder that surrounds you.

Things to Do on a South America Cruise

Discover Brazil's largest city, São Paulo, and its architecturally significant buildings. Mingle amongst the real "March of the Penguins" in the Falkland Islands, where hundreds of thousands of Magellan penguins make their home. Or cruise Beagle Channel at the very southern tip of this mysterious continent and enjoy some crisp fresh air as you marvel at the glaciers all around you. If you've ever wondered what's at the end of the rainbow, wonder no more.

Discover the lost city of the Incas from high atop the mountains in Machu Picchu. Mingle among the real "March of the Penguins" in the Falkland Islands, where hundreds of thousands of Magellan penguins make their home. Or cruise Beagle Channel at the very southern tip of this mysterious continent and enjoy some crisp fresh air as you marvel at the glaciers all around you. If you've ever wondered what's at the end of the rainbow, wonder no more.

South America Cruise Image Gallery

• Patagonia, Chile
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• La Boca, Buenos Aires
• Zihuatanejo
• Ixtapa beach
• Waterfall in Torres del Paine
• Arica, Chile
• Coastal avenue of Montevideo

Explore South America Cruise Ports

South America HOTELS

• SAN ANTONIO
• BUENOS AIRES
• RIO DE JANEIRO

Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Centre

The Sheraton Santiago Hotel & Convention Centre is in walking distance of legendary sites including Pablo Neruda's house, Parque Metropolitano Zoo, San Cristóbal Hill, and the district's best shopping, restaurants, and pubs. The newly renovated hotel is just 12 minutes from Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL) and within walking distance of the subway station in Providencia. The hotel is an hour drive from Viña del Mar, world-class ski centres, lakes, and mountains.

• Distance/ Airport: 13 miles Distance/ Pier: . 75 miles
• Room and room tax Bellman gratuities Breakfast Transfers between Hotel and Pier

Important Note: Accommodations are based on double occupancy per room.

Important Note: Accommodations are based on double occupancy per room. Some accommodation will allow triple and quad guests in a room and are subject to availability and surcharge will apply. Additional hotel rooms to accommodate triple and quads may be required, and surcharge will apply.

Hilton Buenos Aires

Set in the upscale Puerto Madero district, this modern hotel with a striking atrium is 12 minutes' walk from historic Plaza de Mayo square, and 3.1 km from the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires.

Relaxed rooms have flat-screen TVs and Wi-Fi (surcharge), plus minifridges and coffeemakers; some provide city or river views. Executive rooms offer access to a lounge with free breakfast and evening cocktails. Suites add separate living rooms.

There's a contemporary Argentinian restaurant, a chic wine bar and a deli-style cafe. Other amenities include a rooftop pool, a fitness centre and a sauna. There's more than 72,000 sq ft of meeting space.

• Distance/Airport: 20 minutes Distance/Pier: 6 miles

Intercontinental Buenos Aires

Set in the neighbourhood of San Telmo, this 1930s-style hotel is a 12-minute walk from Casa Rosada presidential palace, 2 km from Teatro Colón opera house and 4 km from Centro Cultural Recoleta exhibition centre.

Refined rooms and suites have smart TVs, minifridges, and tea and coffeemaking facilities, as well as Wi-Fi (fee). Upgraded rooms include 350 thread-count sheets and goose-down covers, to which suites add CD players and butler service.

Amenities include an elegant Mediterranean restaurant, a 1920s-style cafe/bar, and a grill restaurant in a winter garden.

Amenities include an elegant Mediterranean restaurant, a 1920s-style cafe/bar, and a grill restaurant in a winter garden. A fitness centre offers an indoor pool and saunas, as well as spa treatments.

Phone: +54 11 4340 7100

Distance/Airport: 20 miles

Distance/Pier: 7 miles

Package includes: Room and room tax Bellman gratuities Breakfast Transfers between Hotel and Pier

Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

This upscale hotel is a 1-minute walk from the beach, a 13-minute walk from a metro stop and 8 km from the Museum of Modern Art.

Modern rooms with soundproof windows offer free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, along with desks and minibars. Room service is available 24/7.

The setting of your stay in a 4-star hotel in Rome like the Piram Hotel is that of a XIX century palazzo that has been recently renovated.

The setting of your stay in a 4-star hotel in Rome like the Piram Hotel is that of a XIX century palazzo that has been recently renovated. Great care was taken during the restoration of the hotel to maintain the vintage style and furnishings of the era and the recovery of many internal structures, like the ancient marble and travertine staircase, the Venetian mosaic floors, the ceilings with their original stucco and decorations and the early XX century elevator, in perfect working order and in keeping with all the safety regulations, just like the more modern second elevator.

Amenities include an upscale 4th-floor buffet restaurant, a lobby bar, and a rooftop bar with ocean views, plus access to a private beach, and indoor and outdoor pools. There's also a gym, a spa and a business centre. Pets are welcome.

Distance/Airport: 17 miles Distance/Pier: 7 miles

Read THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT South America Cruises

Chill in Chile

With breathtaking sights of the snow-capped Andes and various landmarks to visit, Santiago cruises offers a unique kind of destination.

Bring the Whole Gang

One of the greatest things about taking a cruise holiday is the fact that there's something for every person in your group, regardless of age or taste

Dining On Board

From casual buffets to exquisite speciality restaurants, learn everything there is to know about dining on board.

Must-Try Activities

From Brazil to Buenos Aires, here's a list of highlights to consider on your next adventure.

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South America & Antarctica Cruises

Experience rhythms, passions and natural splendor, best itinerary south america & antarctica.

Travel Weekly Gold Magellan Award

Indulge in a feast for the senses on an epic South America cruise with Princess®. Feel the rhythm of more than a thousand years of history and culture while savoring an incredible variety of regional cuisine. Marvel at captivating views of the legendary Amalia Glacier, make friends with the famous Falkland Island penguins and sail to the very bottom of the world with our all-new Antarctica cruise itineraries. Spectacular monuments, stunning natural beauty and one-of-a-kind experiences from ship to shore will both inspire and surprise you. Embark on an unforgettable journey with Princess to explore South America and Antarctica.

Now Booking 2026 South America and Antarctica Voyages

Princess Cruises is a proud member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), a unique association comprised of members who are committed to the practice of safe, environmentally responsible Antarctic travel.

South America Cruises

From Fuerte Amador – the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, to Ushuaia – the world’s southernmost city, South America is a continent rich in history, culture and natural beauty. Journey outside San Antonio and discover a world of history and culture. Revel in the sights of Viña del Mar, known as the “Chilean Riviera.” Sip and savor the sun-kissed wine regions of Casablanca and Maipo. Watch a thrilling Chilean rodeo followed by a traditional meal. Experience this vibrant region on a Princess cruise to South America.

Antarctica Cruises

Visit the most isolated continent on Earth on an Antarctica cruise with Princess as you enjoy the feel of an expedition ship with the comfort and stability of a large ship. Sail along glacial waters, take in the views of Falkland Islands, Elephant Island, Antarctic Sound and Gerlache Strait, and listen to the alluring songs of sea birds and the ocean, all from the comfort of your stateroom. A cruise to Antarctica will be one of the most amazing adventures to have.

South America Cruisetours

One of the great cities of the world, Buenos Aires blends European elegance, cowboy culture and the sultry sounds of the tango. See Belle Époque palaces and visit Recoleta Cemetery before departing for such storied ports as Puerto Madryn and Ushuaia.

Cruises to Brazil

Listen for the rhythmic drumming of samba echoing in the ocean breeze on your cruise to Brazil. Spend the night in Rio de Janeiro, where historical architecture, quaint fishing villages, contemporary urban scenery, and exquisite natural beauty all wonderfully weave together. Discover diverse charms of Brazil’s golden beaches, vibrant jungles and colorful neighborhoods. Visit Christ the Redeemer, a quintessential landmark representing the country’s spirit watching over the city from atop Corcovado Mountain. Experience the diverse bioclimatic landscapes, urban rainforests, and lush wildlife of Tijuca National Park.

Why Cruise to South America & Antarctica?

South America cruise highlights

Antarctica & Cape Horn

You’ll experience the distinct cultural offerings of Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Punta Arenas and Santiago — and witness the unforgettable beauty of Cape Horn and Antarctica.

Cape Horn & Strait of Magellan

Set sail on an amazing voyage around the legendary Cape Horn, embodying the determined spirit of the sailors who made the historic voyage in years past aboard small clipper ships. Along the way, your cruise highlights will include an encounter with the icy wonder that is the Amalia Glacier, and abundant wildlife. After embarking from Santiago or Buenos Aires, you’ll visit a plethora of unforgettable ports.

South America Cruisetour Vacations

5 to 6-day land tours for South America

Iguazu Falls

Stand in the presence of a waterfall taller and wider than Niagara Falls: Iguazú Falls. Experience this UNESCO World Heritage Site from both Brazil and Argentina, then gaze up at Rio de Janeiro’s revered Christ the Redeemer statue and iconic Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Machu Picchu explorer

Touch the clouds over dramatic Machu Picchu, the “Lost City of the Incas”. Tour ancient fortresses in the Incan capital of Cusco and view the extravagant architecture of the Historic Center of Lima – all three Peru highlights are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

2024-2025 South America & Antarctica New Cruise Itineraries. Learn more

South America and Antarctica Travel Articles

Explore the world-class wines, cuisine, and rhythm of the most diverse continent on the planet on a cruise to South America.

Explore Chile's Pristine Coastline on a South America Cruise

A selection of Chile's highlights that can be explored as part of a South  America cruise.

Explore the History of Chile on Your Next South America Cruise

Explore the rich history of Chile on your next South America cruise, journeying through sand dunes, islands, cities, and mountains.

Cruise to South America to Experience Buenos Aires, the Cultural Capital of Latin America

Experience Buenos Aires, a world-famous city for dancing, dining, and rich  colonial history, on your next cruise to South America.

2 Attractions to Visit on South American Vacations

There's no shortage of evocative sights to behold on South American  vacations. Two can't-miss attractions include Tijuca National Park and Tambo Colorado.

Travel, Airfare, & Hotels: Let Princess Get You There

Princess EZair® Flights

Stress-free airfare

Remove the hassle from air travel and give yourself the gift of flexibility, time, and a thicker wallet with Princess EZair flights. We negotiate lower rates with the airlines, allow you to modify your flight up to 45 days prior with no penalty, and protect you if your flight is late or canceled.

EZair flight quotes are available on our cruise search result details pages.

Airplane to Ship Transfer

We get you where you need to go

Let Princess pick you up from the airport and take you directly to your ship or hotel when you arrive, even if you didn't book your airfare through us. A uniformed Princess representative meets you at the airport after you've retrieved your luggage and transports you directly to your ship or hotel without you having to worry about the logistics of navigating a new city.

Cruise Plus Hotel Packages

Stay longer and relax

Extend your cruise vacation, and simplify your travel plans with a hotel stay at the beginning or end of your cruise. With a Cruise Plus Hotel Package, a Princess representative meets you at the airport and pier, transporting you to and from your hotel. The package includes the cost of your hotel stay, transportation, luggage handling, and the representative’s services.

Need help planning?

Princess Cruise Vacation Planners are a dedicated resource to help you every step of the way through the planning process of your cruise vacation. The best part is, their services are completely FREE!

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Find our top sales, deals, partnerships and promotions for our destinations all in one place. We run promotions throughout the year and sometimes run sweepstakes where you can win prizes!

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Cruises to South America from Miami

South america cruises from miami.

If you have been looking for cruises to South-America from Miami, then you have come to the right place. We have a wide range of cruises to South-America from Miami that you can book on Cruise Booking. Take advantage of the low prices before they are raised!

Sorry, no cruises were found that matched your search request.

15 nights | south america | azamara | azamara onward.

• Interior $3,199.20
• Oceanview $3,856.00
• Balcony $5,056.00
• Suite $7,456.00

16 Nights | South America | Azamara | Azamara Journey

• Interior $4,160.00
• Oceanview $5,141.00
• Balcony $6,421.00
• Suite $10,261.00

14 Nights | South America | Oceania Cruises | Marina

• Balcony $4,749.00
• Suite $7,149.00

27 Nights | South America | Holland America | Zaandam

• Interior $4,979.00
• Suite $14,379.00

22 Nights | South America | Oceania Cruises | Marina

• Interior $5,699.00
• Oceanview $6,699.00
• Balcony $7,699.00
• Suite $11,399.00

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Cheap South America Cruises from Florida

• Florida - All

24 Night Cruise to South America

• You are a discerning traveler seeking the ultimate luxury cruise
• You appreciate big-ship amenities with small-ship ambiance
• You want lavishly-appointed suites that spare no expense
• You prefer the intimacy of a smaller ship with fewer people
• You are watching your pennies; Mariner commands high prices

17 Night Cruise to South America

• You like to be entertained, but love a classic cruise atmosphere
• You enjoy using the spa; Oosterdam's thermal suite is soothing
• You appreciate good service and unique onboard programming
• You're traveling with small children who want waterslides
• You need a ship with the latest technological amazements
• You want vibrant nightlife that lasts into the wee hours

18 Night Cruise to South America

• You are looking for a big ship sailing exotic itineraries
• You want quality fun for the family at a reasonable price
• You like scheduled activities that aren’t too wild or wacky
• You want to party all night long; this isn’t the right ship
• You want a ship with the latest cutting-edge technology

31 Night Cruise to South America

16 night cruise to south america.

• You want to sail on a smaller ship with plenty of space
• You appreciate not being nickel-and-dimed for every little thing
• You enjoy socializing and don’t crave organized activities
• You like Broadway-sized revues and plenty of activities
• You're travelling with kids and need children's facilities
• You are uninterested in long, overnight stays in ports of call
• You want relaxing, country club atmosphere on the high seas
• You enjoy sailing longer, creative itineraries to unique places
• You want a thoroughly adult experience with great service
• You want an all-inclusive small-ship ocean cruise product
• You long for the oversized suites on Oceania's newer ships

27 Night Cruise to South America

• You want a mid-sized ship with plenty of open deck spaces
• You like having big ship choice with small ship intimacy
• You love the classic cruise experience and like dressing up
• You crave the mega choices that big mega ships can offer
• You expect nonstop scheduled activities by day and night

25 Night Cruise to South America

• You want to have a floating boutique hotel with every comfort
• You place high value on good cuisine and consummate service
• You want an adult-centric cruise to interesting ports of call
• You want the glitz and glam of Oceania's newer, larger ships
• You tend to suffer from seasickness; this ship can move around

14 Night Cruise to South America

• You want the last word in luxury, even if it's not all-inclusive
• You want multiple specialty restaurants for no extra charge
• You intend on booking one of the ship's jaw-dropping suites
• You prefer the quiet intimacy of Oceania's smaller cruise ships
• You're traveling with kids; this is an adult-oriented experience
• You want the amenities of a big ship on a smaller scale
• You appreciate fine art and elegantly appointed public areas
• You love quiet nooks and spaces to appreciate the sea outside
• You are traveling with kids and need top-notch facilities
• You prefer vibrant nightlife that lasts into the wee hours

15 Night Cruise to South America

• You appreciate upscale cruise value encompassing multiple inclusions
• You wish to maximize time in port with overnight destination visits
• You like smaller cruise ships with intimate venues and fine dining
• You prefer newer hardware and larger cabin bathrooms
• You seek the most lavish onboard entertainment and activities
• You are on a budget for a more mainstream cruise experience

22 Night Cruise to South America

12 night cruise to south america, 140 night cruise to south america, 8 night cruise to south america.

• You think Regent's other luxury ships carry too many people
• You enjoy ships with a more nautical, clubby atmosphere
• You appreciate consummate service and excellent cuisine
• You prefer the all-out-grandeur of the line's newer luxury ships
• You want a ship with the latest and greatest ultra-luxe features

Explore Florida

Cruises from United States to South America

17 Night South America

Fort Lauderdale, Georgetown, Enter Panama Canal Cristobal, Cruising Panama Canal, Exit Panama Canal Balboa, Fuerte Amador, Crossing The Equator    View map

Sailing Dates:

Nov 14, 2024 → Dec 1, 2024

Thu-Sun See other dates

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees of $988 pp not included.

$929 $55 /night

$1,029 $61 /night

$1,779 $105 /night

Priced per person, based on 2 guests

18 Night South America

Ft. Lauderdale, St. Kitts, Fortaleza, Rio De Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires    View map

Nov 13, 2024 → Dec 1, 2024

Sapphire Princess

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees of $240 pp not included.

$998 $55 /night

$1,117 $62 /night

$1,648 $92 /night

31 Night South America

Nov 14, 2024 → Dec 15, 2024

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees of $1398 pp not included.

$2,439 $79 /night

$2,579 $83 /night

$4,219 $136 /night

14 Night South America

Miami, Cruising The Straits Of Florida, Costa Maya, Harvest Caye, Roatan, Cruising The Caribbean Sea, Puerto Limon    View map

Dec 7, 2024 → Dec 21, 2024

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees not included.

$4,749 $339 /night

51 Night South America

Los Angeles, Puerto Vallarta, Fuerte Amador, Lima (Callao), Pisco (General San Martin), La Serena (Coquimbo), San Antonio (For Santiago)    View map

Dec 1, 2024 → Jan 21, 2025

Majestic Princess

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees of $1028 pp not included.

$3,462 $68 /night

$5,390 $106 /night

35 Night South America

Ft. Lauderdale, St. Kitts, Fortaleza, Rio De Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Punta Arenas    View map

Nov 13, 2024 → Dec 18, 2024

Priced per person, based on 2 guests. Est. tax/fees of $628 pp not included.

$2,454 $70 /night

$2,689 $77 /night

$4,407 $126 /night

38 Night South America

Dec 7, 2024 → Jan 14, 2025

$12,299 $324 /night

50 Night South America

Dec 7, 2024 → Jan 26, 2025

$17,149 $343 /night

22 Night South America

Miami, Cruising The Atlantic Ocean, Philipsburg, Roseau, Bridgetown, Cruising The Atlantic Ocean, Cruising The Amazon River    View map

Jan 5, 2025 → Jan 27, 2025

$6,699 $305 /night

$8,949 $407 /night

24 Night South America

Miami, Cruising The Atlantic Ocean, St. John'S, Castries, St. George'S, Port Of Spain, Cruising The Atlantic Ocean    View map

Nov 9, 2024 → Dec 3, 2024

$9,849 $410 /night

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Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever

Seven agonizing nights aboard the Icon of the Seas

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Updated at 2:44 p.m. ET on April 6, 2024.

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MY FIRST GLIMPSE of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, from the window of an approaching Miami cab, brings on a feeling of vertigo, nausea, amazement, and distress. I shut my eyes in defense, as my brain tells my optic nerve to try again.

The ship makes no sense, vertically or horizontally. It makes no sense on sea, or on land, or in outer space. It looks like a hodgepodge of domes and minarets, tubes and canopies, like Istanbul had it been designed by idiots. Vibrant, oversignifying colors are stacked upon other such colors, decks perched over still more decks; the only comfort is a row of lifeboats ringing its perimeter. There is no imposed order, no cogent thought, and, for those who do not harbor a totalitarian sense of gigantomania, no visual mercy. This is the biggest cruise ship ever built, and I have been tasked with witnessing its inaugural voyage.

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“Author embarks on their first cruise-ship voyage” has been a staple of American essay writing for almost three decades, beginning with David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” which was first published in 1996 under the title “Shipping Out.” Since then, many admirable writers have widened and diversified the genre. Usually the essayist commissioned to take to the sea is in their first or second flush of youth and is ready to sharpen their wit against the hull of the offending vessel. I am 51, old and tired, having seen much of the world as a former travel journalist, and mostly what I do in both life and prose is shrug while muttering to my imaginary dachshund, “This too shall pass.” But the Icon of the Seas will not countenance a shrug. The Icon of the Seas is the Linda Loman of cruise ships, exclaiming that attention must be paid. And here I am in late January with my one piece of luggage and useless gray winter jacket and passport, zipping through the Port of Miami en route to the gangway that will separate me from the bulk of North America for more than seven days, ready to pay it in full.

The aforementioned gangway opens up directly onto a thriving mall (I will soon learn it is imperiously called the “Royal Promenade”), presently filled with yapping passengers beneath a ceiling studded with balloons ready to drop. Crew members from every part of the global South, as well as a few Balkans, are shepherding us along while pressing flutes of champagne into our hands. By a humming Starbucks, I drink as many of these as I can and prepare to find my cabin. I show my blue Suite Sky SeaPass Card (more on this later, much more) to a smiling woman from the Philippines, and she tells me to go “aft.” Which is where, now? As someone who has rarely sailed on a vessel grander than the Staten Island Ferry, I am confused. It turns out that the aft is the stern of the ship, or, for those of us who don’t know what a stern or an aft are, its ass. The nose of the ship, responsible for separating the waves before it, is also called a bow, and is marked for passengers as the FWD , or forward. The part of the contemporary sailing vessel where the malls are clustered is called the midship. I trust that you have enjoyed this nautical lesson.

I ascend via elevator to my suite on Deck 11. This is where I encounter my first terrible surprise. My suite windows and balcony do not face the ocean. Instead, they look out onto another shopping mall. This mall is the one that’s called Central Park, perhaps in homage to the Olmsted-designed bit of greenery in the middle of my hometown. Although on land I would be delighted to own a suite with Central Park views, here I am deeply depressed. To sail on a ship and not wake up to a vast blue carpet of ocean? Unthinkable.

Allow me a brief preamble here. The story you are reading was commissioned at a moment when most staterooms on the Icon were sold out. In fact, so enthralled by the prospect of this voyage were hard-core mariners that the ship’s entire inventory of guest rooms (the Icon can accommodate up to 7,600 passengers, but its inaugural journey was reduced to 5,000 or so for a less crowded experience) was almost immediately sold out. Hence, this publication was faced with the shocking prospect of paying nearly $19,000 to procure for this solitary passenger an entire suite—not including drinking expenses—all for the privilege of bringing you this article. But the suite in question doesn’t even have a view of the ocean! I sit down hard on my soft bed. Nineteen thousand dollars for this .

The viewless suite does have its pluses. In addition to all the Malin+Goetz products in my dual bathrooms, I am granted use of a dedicated Suite Deck lounge; access to Coastal Kitchen, a superior restaurant for Suites passengers; complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream (“the fastest Internet at Sea”) “for one device per person for the whole cruise duration”; a pair of bathrobes (one of which comes prestained with what looks like a large expectoration by the greenest lizard on Earth); and use of the Grove Suite Sun, an area on Decks 18 and 19 with food and deck chairs reserved exclusively for Suite passengers. I also get reserved seating for a performance of The Wizard of Oz , an ice-skating tribute to the periodic table, and similar provocations. The very color of my Suite Sky SeaPass Card, an oceanic blue as opposed to the cloying royal purple of the standard non-Suite passenger, will soon provoke envy and admiration. But as high as my status may be, there are those on board who have much higher status still, and I will soon learn to bow before them.

In preparation for sailing, I have “priced in,” as they say on Wall Street, the possibility that I may come from a somewhat different monde than many of the other cruisers. Without falling into stereotypes or preconceptions, I prepare myself for a friendly outspokenness on the part of my fellow seafarers that may not comply with modern DEI standards. I believe in meeting people halfway, and so the day before flying down to Miami, I visited what remains of Little Italy to purchase a popular T-shirt that reads DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL across the breast in the colors of the Italian flag. My wife recommended that I bring one of my many T-shirts featuring Snoopy and the Peanuts gang, as all Americans love the beagle and his friends. But I naively thought that my meatball T-shirt would be more suitable for conversation-starting. “Oh, and who is your ‘daddy’?” some might ask upon seeing it. “And how long have you been his ‘little meatball’?” And so on.

I put on my meatball T-shirt and head for one of the dining rooms to get a late lunch. In the elevator, I stick out my chest for all to read the funny legend upon it, but soon I realize that despite its burnished tricolor letters, no one takes note. More to the point, no one takes note of me. Despite my attempts at bridge building, the very sight of me (small, ethnic, without a cap bearing the name of a football team) elicits no reaction from other passengers. Most often, they will small-talk over me as if I don’t exist. This brings to mind the travails of David Foster Wallace , who felt so ostracized by his fellow passengers that he retreated to his cabin for much of his voyage. And Wallace was raised primarily in the Midwest and was a much larger, more American-looking meatball than I am. If he couldn’t talk to these people, how will I? What if I leave this ship without making any friends at all, despite my T-shirt? I am a social creature, and the prospect of seven days alone and apart is saddening. Wallace’s stateroom, at least, had a view of the ocean, a kind of cheap eternity.

Worse awaits me in the dining room. This is a large, multichandeliered room where I attended my safety training (I was shown how to put on a flotation vest; it is a very simple procedure). But the maître d’ politely refuses me entry in an English that seems to verge on another language. “I’m sorry, this is only for pendejos ,” he seems to be saying. I push back politely and he repeats himself. Pendejos ? Piranhas? There’s some kind of P-word to which I am not attuned. Meanwhile elderly passengers stream right past, powered by their limbs, walkers, and electric wheelchairs. “It is only pendejo dining today, sir.” “But I have a suite!” I say, already starting to catch on to the ship’s class system. He examines my card again. “But you are not a pendejo ,” he confirms. I am wearing a DADDY’S LITTLE MEATBALL T-shirt, I want to say to him. I am the essence of pendejo .

Eventually, I give up and head to the plebeian buffet on Deck 15, which has an aquatic-styled name I have now forgotten. Before gaining entry to this endless cornucopia of reheated food, one passes a washing station of many sinks and soap dispensers, and perhaps the most intriguing character on the entire ship. He is Mr. Washy Washy—or, according to his name tag, Nielbert of the Philippines—and he is dressed as a taco (on other occasions, I’ll see him dressed as a burger). Mr. Washy Washy performs an eponymous song in spirited, indeed flamboyant English: “Washy, washy, wash your hands, WASHY WASHY!” The dangers of norovirus and COVID on a cruise ship this size (a giant fellow ship was stricken with the former right after my voyage) makes Mr. Washy Washy an essential member of the crew. The problem lies with the food at the end of Washy’s rainbow. The buffet is groaning with what sounds like sophisticated dishes—marinated octopus, boiled egg with anchovy, chorizo, lobster claws—but every animal tastes tragically the same, as if there was only one creature available at the market, a “cruisipus” bred specifically for Royal Caribbean dining. The “vegetables” are no better. I pick up a tomato slice and look right through it. It tastes like cellophane. I sit alone, apart from the couples and parents with gaggles of children, as “We Are Family” echoes across the buffet space.

I may have failed to mention that all this time, the Icon of the Seas has not left port. As the fiery mango of the subtropical setting sun makes Miami’s condo skyline even more apocalyptic, the ship shoves off beneath a perfunctory display of fireworks. After the sun sets, in the far, dark distance, another circus-lit cruise ship ruptures the waves before us. We glance at it with pity, because it is by definition a smaller ship than our own. I am on Deck 15, outside the buffet and overlooking a bunch of pools (the Icon has seven of them), drinking a frilly drink that I got from one of the bars (the Icon has 15 of them), still too shy to speak to anyone, despite Sister Sledge’s assertion that all on the ship are somehow related.

Kim Brooks: On failing the family vacation

The ship’s passage away from Ron DeSantis’s Florida provides no frisson, no sense of developing “sea legs,” as the ship is too large to register the presence of waves unless a mighty wind adds significant chop. It is time for me to register the presence of the 5,000 passengers around me, even if they refuse to register mine. My fellow travelers have prepared for this trip with personally decorated T-shirts celebrating the importance of this voyage. The simplest ones say ICON INAUGURAL ’24 on the back and the family name on the front. Others attest to an over-the-top love of cruise ships: WARNING! MAY START TALKING ABOUT CRUISING . Still others are artisanally designed and celebrate lifetimes spent married while cruising (on ships, of course). A couple possibly in their 90s are wearing shirts whose backs feature a drawing of a cruise liner, two flamingos with ostensibly male and female characteristics, and the legend “ HUSBAND AND WIFE Cruising Partners FOR LIFE WE MAY NOT HAVE IT All Together BUT TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL .” (The words not in all caps have been written in cursive.) A real journalist or a more intrepid conversationalist would have gone up to the couple and asked them to explain the longevity of their marriage vis-à-vis their love of cruising. But instead I head to my mall suite, take off my meatball T-shirt, and allow the first tears of the cruise to roll down my cheeks slowly enough that I briefly fall asleep amid the moisture and salt.

I WAKE UP with a hangover. Oh God. Right. I cannot believe all of that happened last night. A name floats into my cobwebbed, nauseated brain: “Ayn Rand.” Jesus Christ.

I breakfast alone at the Coastal Kitchen. The coffee tastes fine and the eggs came out of a bird. The ship rolls slightly this morning; I can feel it in my thighs and my schlong, the parts of me that are most receptive to danger.

I had a dangerous conversation last night. After the sun set and we were at least 50 miles from shore (most modern cruise ships sail at about 23 miles an hour), I lay in bed softly hiccupping, my arms stretched out exactly like Jesus on the cross, the sound of the distant waves missing from my mall-facing suite, replaced by the hum of air-conditioning and children shouting in Spanish through the vents of my two bathrooms. I decided this passivity was unacceptable. As an immigrant, I feel duty-bound to complete the tasks I am paid for, which means reaching out and trying to understand my fellow cruisers. So I put on a normal James Perse T-shirt and headed for one of the bars on the Royal Promenade—the Schooner Bar, it was called, if memory serves correctly.

I sat at the bar for a martini and two Negronis. An old man with thick, hairy forearms drank next to me, very silent and Hemingwaylike, while a dreadlocked piano player tinkled out a series of excellent Elton John covers. To my right, a young white couple—he in floral shorts, she in a light, summery miniskirt with a fearsome diamond ring, neither of them in football regalia—chatted with an elderly couple. Do it , I commanded myself. Open your mouth. Speak! Speak without being spoken to. Initiate. A sentence fragment caught my ear from the young woman, “Cherry Hill.” This is a suburb of Philadelphia in New Jersey, and I had once been there for a reading at a synagogue. “Excuse me,” I said gently to her. “Did you just mention Cherry Hill? It’s a lovely place.”

As it turned out, the couple now lived in Fort Lauderdale (the number of Floridians on the cruise surprised me, given that Southern Florida is itself a kind of cruise ship, albeit one slowly sinking), but soon they were talking with me exclusively—the man potbellied, with a chin like a hard-boiled egg; the woman as svelte as if she were one of the many Ukrainian members of the crew—the elderly couple next to them forgotten. This felt as groundbreaking as the first time I dared to address an American in his native tongue, as a child on a bus in Queens (“On my foot you are standing, Mister”).

“I don’t want to talk politics,” the man said. “But they’re going to eighty-six Biden and put Michelle in.”

I considered the contradictions of his opening conversational gambit, but decided to play along. “People like Michelle,” I said, testing the waters. The husband sneered, but the wife charitably put forward that the former first lady was “more personable” than Joe Biden. “They’re gonna eighty-six Biden,” the husband repeated. “He can’t put a sentence together.”

After I mentioned that I was a writer—though I presented myself as a writer of teleplays instead of novels and articles such as this one—the husband told me his favorite writer was Ayn Rand. “Ayn Rand, she came here with nothing,” the husband said. “I work with a lot of Cubans, so …” I wondered if I should mention what I usually do to ingratiate myself with Republicans or libertarians: the fact that my finances improved after pass-through corporations were taxed differently under Donald Trump. Instead, I ordered another drink and the couple did the same, and I told him that Rand and I were born in the same city, St. Petersburg/Leningrad, and that my family also came here with nothing. Now the bonding and drinking began in earnest, and several more rounds appeared. Until it all fell apart.

Read: Gary Shteyngart on watching Russian television for five days straight

My new friend, whom I will refer to as Ayn, called out to a buddy of his across the bar, and suddenly a young couple, both covered in tattoos, appeared next to us. “He fucking punked me,” Ayn’s frat-boy-like friend called out as he put his arm around Ayn, while his sizable partner sizzled up to Mrs. Rand. Both of them had a look I have never seen on land—their eyes projecting absence and enmity in equal measure. In the ’90s, I drank with Russian soldiers fresh from Chechnya and wandered the streets of wartime Zagreb, but I have never seen such undisguised hostility toward both me and perhaps the universe at large. I was briefly introduced to this psychopathic pair, but neither of them wanted to have anything to do with me, and the tattooed woman would not even reveal her Christian name to me (she pretended to have the same first name as Mrs. Rand). To impress his tattooed friends, Ayn made fun of the fact that as a television writer, I’d worked on the series Succession (which, it would turn out, practically nobody on the ship had watched), instead of the far more palatable, in his eyes, zombie drama of last year. And then my new friends drifted away from me into an angry private conversation—“He punked me!”—as I ordered another drink for myself, scared of the dead-eyed arrivals whose gaze never registered in the dim wattage of the Schooner Bar, whose terrifying voices and hollow laughs grated like unoiled gears against the crooning of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”

But today is a new day for me and my hangover. After breakfast, I explore the ship’s so-called neighborhoods . There’s the AquaDome, where one can find a food hall and an acrobatic sound-and-light aquatic show. Central Park has a premium steak house, a sushi joint, and a used Rolex that can be bought for $8,000 on land here proudly offered at $17,000. There’s the aforementioned Royal Promenade, where I had drunk with the Rands, and where a pair of dueling pianos duel well into the night. There’s Surfside, a kids’ neighborhood full of sugary garbage, which looks out onto the frothy trail that the behemoth leaves behind itself. Thrill Island refers to the collection of tubes that clutter the ass of the ship and offer passengers six waterslides and a surfing simulation. There’s the Hideaway, an adult zone that plays music from a vomit-slathered, Brit-filled Alicante nightclub circa 1996 and proves a big favorite with groups of young Latin American customers. And, most hurtfully, there’s the Suite Neighborhood.

I say hurtfully because as a Suite passenger I should be here, though my particular suite is far from the others. Whereas I am stuck amid the riffraff of Deck 11, this section is on the highborn Decks 16 and 17, and in passing, I peek into the spacious, tall-ceilinged staterooms from the hallway, dazzled by the glint of the waves and sun. For $75,000, one multifloor suite even comes with its own slide between floors, so that a family may enjoy this particular terror in private. There is a quiet splendor to the Suite Neighborhood. I see fewer stickers and signs and drawings than in my own neighborhood—for example, MIKE AND DIANA PROUDLY SERVED U.S. MARINE CORPS RETIRED . No one here needs to announce their branch of service or rank; they are simply Suites, and this is where they belong. Once again, despite my hard work and perseverance, I have been disallowed from the true American elite. Once again, I am “Not our class, dear.” I am reminded of watching The Love Boat on my grandmother’s Zenith, which either was given to her or we found in the trash (I get our many malfunctioning Zeniths confused) and whose tube got so hot, I would put little chunks of government cheese on a thin tissue atop it to give our welfare treat a pleasant, Reagan-era gooeyness. I could not understand English well enough then to catch the nuances of that seafaring program, but I knew that there were differences in the status of the passengers, and that sometimes those differences made them sad. Still, this ship, this plenty—every few steps, there are complimentary nachos or milkshakes or gyros on offer—was the fatty fuel of my childhood dreams. If only I had remained a child.

I walk around the outdoor decks looking for company. There is a middle-aged African American couple who always seem to be asleep in each other’s arms, probably exhausted from the late capitalism they regularly encounter on land. There is far more diversity on this ship than I expected. Many couples are a testament to Loving v. Virginia , and there is a large group of folks whose T-shirts read MELANIN AT SEA / IT’S THE MELANIN FOR ME . I smile when I see them, but then some young kids from the group makes Mr. Washy Washy do a cruel, caricatured “Burger Dance” (today he is in his burger getup), and I think, Well, so much for intersectionality .

At the infinity pool on Deck 17, I spot some elderly women who could be ethnic and from my part of the world, and so I jump in. I am proved correct! Many of them seem to be originally from Queens (“Corona was still great when it was all Italian”), though they are now spread across the tristate area. We bond over the way “Ron-kon-koma” sounds when announced in Penn Station.

“Everyone is here for a different reason,” one of them tells me. She and her ex-husband last sailed together four years ago to prove to themselves that their marriage was truly over. Her 15-year-old son lost his virginity to “an Irish young lady” while their ship was moored in Ravenna, Italy. The gaggle of old-timers competes to tell me their favorite cruising stories and tips. “A guy proposed in Central Park a couple of years ago”—many Royal Caribbean ships apparently have this ridiculous communal area—“and she ran away screaming!” “If you’re diamond-class, you get four drinks for free.” “A different kind of passenger sails out of Bayonne.” (This, perhaps, is racially coded.) “Sometimes, if you tip the bartender $5, your next drink will be free.”

“Everyone’s here for a different reason,” the woman whose marriage ended on a cruise tells me again. “Some people are here for bad reasons—the drinkers and the gamblers. Some people are here for medical reasons.” I have seen more than a few oxygen tanks and at least one woman clearly undergoing very serious chemo. Some T-shirts celebrate good news about a cancer diagnosis. This might be someone’s last cruise or week on Earth. For these women, who have spent months, if not years, at sea, cruising is a ritual as well as a life cycle: first love, last love, marriage, divorce, death.

Read: The last place on Earth any tourist should go

I have talked with these women for so long, tonight I promise myself that after a sad solitary dinner I will not try to seek out company at the bars in the mall or the adult-themed Hideaway. I have enough material to fulfill my duties to this publication. As I approach my orphaned suite, I run into the aggro young people who stole Mr. and Mrs. Rand away from me the night before. The tattooed apparitions pass me without a glance. She is singing something violent about “Stuttering Stanley” (a character in a popular horror movie, as I discover with my complimentary VOOM SM Surf & Stream Internet at Sea) and he’s loudly shouting about “all the money I’ve lost,” presumably at the casino in the bowels of the ship.

So these bent psychos out of a Cormac McCarthy novel are angrily inhabiting my deck. As I mewl myself to sleep, I envision a limited series for HBO or some other streamer, a kind of low-rent White Lotus , where several aggressive couples conspire to throw a shy intellectual interloper overboard. I type the scenario into my phone. As I fall asleep, I think of what the woman who recently divorced her husband and whose son became a man through the good offices of the Irish Republic told me while I was hoisting myself out of the infinity pool. “I’m here because I’m an explorer. I’m here because I’m trying something new.” What if I allowed myself to believe in her fantasy?

“YOU REALLY STARTED AT THE TOP,” they tell me. I’m at the Coastal Kitchen for my eggs and corned-beef hash, and the maître d’ has slotted me in between two couples. Fueled by coffee or perhaps intrigued by my relative youth, they strike up a conversation with me. As always, people are shocked that this is my first cruise. They contrast the Icon favorably with all the preceding liners in the Royal Caribbean fleet, usually commenting on the efficiency of the elevators that hurl us from deck to deck (as in many large corporate buildings, the elevators ask you to choose a floor and then direct you to one of many lifts). The couple to my right, from Palo Alto—he refers to his “porn mustache” and calls his wife “my cougar” because she is two years older—tell me they are “Pandemic Pinnacles.”

This is the day that my eyes will be opened. Pinnacles , it is explained to me over translucent cantaloupe, have sailed with Royal Caribbean for 700 ungodly nights. Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.

Because of the importance of the inaugural voyage of the world’s largest cruise liner, more than 200 Pinnacles are on this ship, a startling number, it seems. Mrs. Palo Alto takes out a golden badge that I have seen affixed over many a breast, which reads CROWN AND ANCHOR SOCIETY along with her name. This is the coveted badge of the Pinnacle. “You should hear all the whining in Guest Services,” her husband tells me. Apparently, the Pinnacles who are not also Suites like us are all trying to use their status to get into Coastal Kitchen, our elite restaurant. Even a Pinnacle needs to be a Suite to access this level of corned-beef hash.

“We’re just baby Pinnacles,” Mrs. Palo Alto tells me, describing a kind of internal class struggle among the Pinnacle elite for ever higher status.

And now I understand what the maître d’ was saying to me on the first day of my cruise. He wasn’t saying “ pendejo .” He was saying “Pinnacle.” The dining room was for Pinnacles only, all those older people rolling in like the tide on their motorized scooters.

And now I understand something else: This whole thing is a cult. And like most cults, it can’t help but mirror the endless American fight for status. Like Keith Raniere’s NXIVM, where different-colored sashes were given out to connote rank among Raniere’s branded acolytes, this is an endless competition among Pinnacles, Suites, Diamond-Plusers, and facing-the-mall, no-balcony purple SeaPass Card peasants, not to mention the many distinctions within each category. The more you cruise, the higher your status. No wonder a section of the Royal Promenade is devoted to getting passengers to book their next cruise during the one they should be enjoying now. No wonder desperate Royal Caribbean offers (“FINAL HOURS”) crowded my email account weeks before I set sail. No wonder the ship’s jewelry store, the Royal Bling, is selling a $100,000 golden chalice that will entitle its owner to drink free on Royal Caribbean cruises for life. (One passenger was already gaming out whether her 28-year-old son was young enough to “just about earn out” on the chalice or if that ship had sailed.) No wonder this ship was sold out months before departure , and we had to pay $19,000 for a horrid suite away from the Suite Neighborhood. No wonder the most mythical hero of Royal Caribbean lore is someone named Super Mario, who has cruised so often, he now has his own working desk on many ships. This whole experience is part cult, part nautical pyramid scheme.

From the June 2014 issue: Ship of wonks

“The toilets are amazing,” the Palo Altos are telling me. “One flush and you’re done.” “They don’t understand how energy-efficient these ships are,” the husband of the other couple is telling me. “They got the LNG”—liquefied natural gas, which is supposed to make the Icon a boon to the environment (a concept widely disputed and sometimes ridiculed by environmentalists).

But I’m thinking along a different line of attack as I spear my last pallid slice of melon. For my streaming limited series, a Pinnacle would have to get killed by either an outright peasant or a Suite without an ocean view. I tell my breakfast companions my idea.

“Oh, for sure a Pinnacle would have to be killed,” Mr. Palo Alto, the Pandemic Pinnacle, says, touching his porn mustache thoughtfully as his wife nods.

“THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S your time, buddy!” Hubert, my fun-loving Panamanian cabin attendant, shouts as I step out of my suite in a robe. “Take it easy, buddy!”

I have come up with a new dressing strategy. Instead of trying to impress with my choice of T-shirts, I have decided to start wearing a robe, as one does at a resort property on land, with a proper spa and hammam. The response among my fellow cruisers has been ecstatic. “Look at you in the robe!” Mr. Rand cries out as we pass each other by the Thrill Island aqua park. “You’re living the cruise life! You know, you really drank me under the table that night.” I laugh as we part ways, but my soul cries out, Please spend more time with me, Mr. and Mrs. Rand; I so need the company .

In my white robe, I am a stately presence, a refugee from a better limited series, a one-man crossover episode. (Only Suites are granted these robes to begin with.) Today, I will try many of the activities these ships have on offer to provide their clientele with a sense of never-ceasing motion. Because I am already at Thrill Island, I decide to climb the staircase to what looks like a mast on an old-fashioned ship (terrified, because I am afraid of heights) to try a ride called “Storm Chasers,” which is part of the “Category 6” water park, named in honor of one of the storms that may someday do away with the Port of Miami entirely. Storm Chasers consists of falling from the “mast” down a long, twisting neon tube filled with water, like being the camera inside your own colonoscopy, as you hold on to the handles of a mat, hoping not to die. The tube then flops you down headfirst into a trough of water, a Royal Caribbean baptism. It both knocks my breath out and makes me sad.

In keeping with the aquatic theme, I attend a show at the AquaDome. To the sound of “Live and Let Die,” a man in a harness gyrates to and fro in the sultry air. I saw something very similar in the back rooms of the famed Berghain club in early-aughts Berlin. Soon another harnessed man is gyrating next to the first. Ja , I think to myself, I know how this ends. Now will come the fisting , natürlich . But the show soon devolves into the usual Marvel-film-grade nonsense, with too much light and sound signifying nichts . If any fisting is happening, it is probably in the Suite Neighborhood, inside a cabin marked with an upside-down pineapple, which I understand means a couple are ready to swing, and I will see none of it.

I go to the ice show, which is a kind of homage—if that’s possible—to the periodic table, done with the style and pomp and masterful precision that would please the likes of Kim Jong Un, if only he could afford Royal Caribbean talent. At one point, the dancers skate to the theme song of Succession . “See that!” I want to say to my fellow Suites—at “cultural” events, we have a special section reserved for us away from the commoners—“ Succession ! It’s even better than the zombie show! Open your minds!”

Finally, I visit a comedy revue in an enormous and too brightly lit version of an “intimate,” per Royal Caribbean literature, “Manhattan comedy club.” Many of the jokes are about the cruising life. “I’ve lived on ships for 20 years,” one of the middle-aged comedians says. “I can only see so many Filipino homosexuals dressed as a taco.” He pauses while the audience laughs. “I am so fired tonight,” he says. He segues into a Trump impression and then Biden falling asleep at the microphone, which gets the most laughs. “Anyone here from Fort Leonard Wood?” another comedian asks. Half the crowd seems to cheer. As I fall asleep that night, I realize another connection I have failed to make, and one that may explain some of the diversity on this vessel—many of its passengers have served in the military.

As a coddled passenger with a suite, I feel like I am starting to understand what it means to have a rank and be constantly reminded of it. There are many espresso makers , I think as I look across the expanse of my officer-grade quarters before closing my eyes, but this one is mine .

A shocking sight greets me beyond the pools of Deck 17 as I saunter over to the Coastal Kitchen for my morning intake of slightly sour Americanos. A tiny city beneath a series of perfectly pressed green mountains. Land! We have docked for a brief respite in Basseterre, the capital of St. Kitts and Nevis. I wolf down my egg scramble to be one of the first passengers off the ship. Once past the gangway, I barely refrain from kissing the ground. I rush into the sights and sounds of this scruffy island city, sampling incredible conch curry and buckets of non-Starbucks coffee. How wonderful it is to be where God intended humans to be: on land. After all, I am neither a fish nor a mall rat. This is my natural environment. Basseterre may not be Havana, but there are signs of human ingenuity and desire everywhere you look. The Black Table Grill Has been Relocated to Soho Village, Market Street, Directly Behind of, Gary’s Fruits and Flower Shop. Signed. THE PORK MAN reads a sign stuck to a wall. Now, that is how you write a sign. A real sign, not the come-ons for overpriced Rolexes that blink across the screens of the Royal Promenade.

“Hey, tie your shoestring!” a pair of laughing ladies shout to me across the street.

“Thank you!” I shout back. Shoestring! “Thank you very much.”

A man in Independence Square Park comes by and asks if I want to play with his monkey. I haven’t heard that pickup line since the Penn Station of the 1980s. But then he pulls a real monkey out of a bag. The monkey is wearing a diaper and looks insane. Wonderful , I think, just wonderful! There is so much life here. I email my editor asking if I can remain on St. Kitts and allow the Icon to sail off into the horizon without me. I have even priced a flight home at less than $300, and I have enough material from the first four days on the cruise to write the entire story. “It would be funny …” my editor replies. “Now get on the boat.”

As I slink back to the ship after my brief jailbreak, the locals stand under umbrellas to gaze at and photograph the boat that towers over their small capital city. The limousines of the prime minister and his lackeys are parked beside the gangway. St. Kitts, I’ve been told, is one of the few islands that would allow a ship of this size to dock.

“We hear about all the waterslides,” a sweet young server in one of the cafés told me. “We wish we could go on the ship, but we have to work.”

“I want to stay on your island,” I replied. “I love it here.”

But she didn’t understand how I could possibly mean that.

“WASHY, WASHY, so you don’t get stinky, stinky!” kids are singing outside the AquaDome, while their adult minders look on in disapproval, perhaps worried that Mr. Washy Washy is grooming them into a life of gayness. I heard a southern couple skip the buffet entirely out of fear of Mr. Washy Washy.

Meanwhile, I have found a new watering hole for myself, the Swim & Tonic, the biggest swim-up bar on any cruise ship in the world. Drinking next to full-size, nearly naked Americans takes away one’s own self-consciousness. The men have curvaceous mom bodies. The women are equally un-shy about their sprawling physiques.

Today I’ve befriended a bald man with many children who tells me that all of the little trinkets that Royal Caribbean has left us in our staterooms and suites are worth a fortune on eBay. “Eighty dollars for the water bottle, 60 for the lanyard,” the man says. “This is a cult.”

“Tell me about it,” I say. There is, however, a clientele for whom this cruise makes perfect sense. For a large middle-class family (he works in “supply chains”), seven days in a lower-tier cabin—which starts at $1,800 a person—allow the parents to drop off their children in Surfside, where I imagine many young Filipina crew members will take care of them, while the parents are free to get drunk at a swim-up bar and maybe even get intimate in their cabin. Cruise ships have become, for a certain kind of hardworking family, a form of subsidized child care.

There is another man I would like to befriend at the Swim & Tonic, a tall, bald fellow who is perpetually inebriated and who wears a necklace studded with little rubber duckies in sunglasses, which, I am told, is a sort of secret handshake for cruise aficionados. Tomorrow, I will spend more time with him, but first the ship docks at St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Charlotte Amalie, the capital, is more charming in name than in presence, but I still all but jump off the ship to score a juicy oxtail and plantains at the well-known Petite Pump Room, overlooking the harbor. From one of the highest points in the small city, the Icon of the Seas appears bigger than the surrounding hills.

I usually tan very evenly, but something about the discombobulation of life at sea makes me forget the regular application of sunscreen. As I walk down the streets of Charlotte Amalie in my fluorescent Icon of the Seas cap, an old Rastafarian stares me down. “Redneck,” he hisses.

“No,” I want to tell him, as I bring a hand up to my red neck, “that’s not who I am at all. On my island, Mannahatta, as Whitman would have it, I am an interesting person living within an engaging artistic milieu. I do not wish to use the Caribbean as a dumping ground for the cruise-ship industry. I love the work of Derek Walcott. You don’t understand. I am not a redneck. And if I am, they did this to me.” They meaning Royal Caribbean? Its passengers? The Rands?

“They did this to me!”

Back on the Icon, some older matrons are muttering about a run-in with passengers from the Celebrity cruise ship docked next to us, the Celebrity Apex. Although Celebrity Cruises is also owned by Royal Caribbean, I am made to understand that there is a deep fratricidal beef between passengers of the two lines. “We met a woman from the Apex,” one matron says, “and she says it was a small ship and there was nothing to do. Her face was as tight as a 19-year-old’s, she had so much surgery.” With those words, and beneath a cloudy sky, humidity shrouding our weathered faces and red necks, we set sail once again, hopefully in the direction of home.

THERE ARE BARELY 48 HOURS LEFT to the cruise, and the Icon of the Seas’ passengers are salty. They know how to work the elevators. They know the Washy Washy song by heart. They understand that the chicken gyro at “Feta Mediterranean,” in the AquaDome Market, is the least problematic form of chicken on the ship.

The passengers have shed their INAUGURAL CRUISE T-shirts and are now starting to evince political opinions. There are caps pledging to make America great again and T-shirts that celebrate words sometimes attributed to Patrick Henry: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” With their preponderance of FAMILY FLAG FAITH FRIENDS FIREARMS T-shirts, the tables by the crepe station sometimes resemble the Capitol Rotunda on January 6. The Real Anthony Fauci , by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appears to be a popular form of literature, especially among young men with very complicated versions of the American flag on their T-shirts. Other opinions blend the personal and the political. “Someone needs to kill Washy guy, right?” a well-dressed man in the elevator tells me, his gray eyes radiating nothing. “Just beat him to death. Am I right?” I overhear the male member of a young couple whisper, “There goes that freak” as I saunter by in my white spa robe, and I decide to retire it for the rest of the cruise.

I visit the Royal Bling to see up close the $100,000 golden chalice that entitles you to free drinks on Royal Caribbean forever. The pleasant Serbian saleslady explains that the chalice is actually gold-plated and covered in white zirconia instead of diamonds, as it would otherwise cost $1 million. “If you already have everything,” she explains, “this is one more thing you can get.”

I believe that anyone who works for Royal Caribbean should be entitled to immediate American citizenship. They already speak English better than most of the passengers and, per the Serbian lady’s sales pitch above, better understand what America is as well. Crew members like my Panamanian cabin attendant seem to work 24 hours a day. A waiter from New Delhi tells me that his contract is six months and three weeks long. After a cruise ends, he says, “in a few hours, we start again for the next cruise.” At the end of the half a year at sea, he is allowed a two-to-three-month stay at home with his family. As of 2019, the median income for crew members was somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000, according to a major business publication. Royal Caribbean would not share the current median salary for its crew members, but I am certain that it amounts to a fraction of the cost of a Royal Bling gold-plated, zirconia-studded chalice.

And because most of the Icon’s hyper-sanitized spaces are just a frittata away from being a Delta lounge, one forgets that there are actual sailors on this ship, charged with the herculean task of docking it in port. “Having driven 100,000-ton aircraft carriers throughout my career,” retired Admiral James G. Stavridis, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, writes to me, “I’m not sure I would even know where to begin with trying to control a sea monster like this one nearly three times the size.” (I first met Stavridis while touring Army bases in Germany more than a decade ago.)

Today, I decide to head to the hot tub near Swim & Tonic, where some of the ship’s drunkest reprobates seem to gather (the other tubs are filled with families and couples). The talk here, like everywhere else on the ship, concerns football, a sport about which I know nothing. It is apparent that four teams have recently competed in some kind of finals for the year, and that two of them will now face off in the championship. Often when people on the Icon speak, I will try to repeat the last thing they said with a laugh or a nod of disbelief. “Yes, 20-yard line! Ha!” “Oh my God, of course, scrimmage.”

Soon we are joined in the hot tub by the late-middle-age drunk guy with the duck necklace. He is wearing a bucket hat with the legend HAWKEYES , which, I soon gather, is yet another football team. “All right, who turned me in?” Duck Necklace says as he plops into the tub beside us. “I get a call in the morning,” he says. “It’s security. Can you come down to the dining room by 10 a.m.? You need to stay away from the members of this religious family.” Apparently, the gregarious Duck Necklace had photobombed the wrong people. There are several families who present as evangelical Christians or practicing Muslims on the ship. One man, evidently, was not happy that Duck Necklace had made contact with his relatives. “It’s because of religious stuff; he was offended. I put my arm around 20 people a day.”

Everyone laughs. “They asked me three times if I needed medication,” he says of the security people who apparently interrogated him in full view of others having breakfast.

Another hot-tub denizen suggests that he should have asked for fentanyl. After a few more drinks, Duck Necklace begins to muse about what it would be like to fall off the ship. “I’m 62 and I’m ready to go,” he says. “I just don’t want a shark to eat me. I’m a huge God guy. I’m a Bible guy. There’s some Mayan theory squaring science stuff with religion. There is so much more to life on Earth.” We all nod into our Red Stripes.

“I never get off the ship when we dock,” he says. He tells us he lost $6,000 in the casino the other day. Later, I look him up, and it appears that on land, he’s a financial adviser in a crisp gray suit, probably a pillar of his North Chicago community.

THE OCEAN IS TEEMING with fascinating life, but on the surface it has little to teach us. The waves come and go. The horizon remains ever far away.

I am constantly told by my fellow passengers that “everybody here has a story.” Yes, I want to reply, but everybody everywhere has a story. You, the reader of this essay, have a story, and yet you’re not inclined to jump on a cruise ship and, like Duck Necklace, tell your story to others at great pitch and volume. Maybe what they’re saying is that everybody on this ship wants to have a bigger, more coherent, more interesting story than the one they’ve been given. Maybe that’s why there’s so much signage on the doors around me attesting to marriages spent on the sea. Maybe that’s why the Royal Caribbean newsletter slipped under my door tells me that “this isn’t a vacation day spent—it’s bragging rights earned.” Maybe that’s why I’m so lonely.

Today is a big day for Icon passengers. Today the ship docks at Royal Caribbean’s own Bahamian island, the Perfect Day at CocoCay. (This appears to be the actual name of the island.) A comedian at the nightclub opined on what his perfect day at CocoCay would look like—receiving oral sex while learning that his ex-wife had been killed in a car crash (big laughter). But the reality of the island is far less humorous than that.

One of the ethnic tristate ladies in the infinity pool told me that she loved CocoCay because it had exactly the same things that could be found on the ship itself. This proves to be correct. It is like the Icon, but with sand. The same tired burgers, the same colorful tubes conveying children and water from Point A to B. The same swim-up bar at its Hideaway ($140 for admittance, no children allowed; Royal Caribbean must be printing money off its clientele). “There was almost a fight at The Wizard of Oz ,” I overhear an elderly woman tell her companion on a chaise lounge. Apparently one of the passengers began recording Royal Caribbean’s intellectual property and “three guys came after him.”

I walk down a pathway to the center of the island, where a sign reads DO NOT ENTER: YOU HAVE REACHED THE BOUNDARY OF ADVENTURE . I hear an animal scampering in the bushes. A Royal Caribbean worker in an enormous golf cart soon chases me down and takes me back to the Hideaway, where I run into Mrs. Rand in a bikini. She becomes livid telling me about an altercation she had the other day with a woman over a towel and a deck chair. We Suites have special towel privileges; we do not have to hand over our SeaPass Card to score a towel. But the Rands are not Suites. “People are so entitled here,” Mrs. Rand says. “It’s like the airport with all its classes.” “You see,” I want to say, “this is where your husband’s love of Ayn Rand runs into the cruelties and arbitrary indignities of unbridled capitalism.” Instead we make plans to meet for a final drink in the Schooner Bar tonight (the Rands will stand me up).

Back on the ship, I try to do laps, but the pool (the largest on any cruise ship, naturally) is fully trashed with the detritus of American life: candy wrappers, a slowly dissolving tortilla chip, napkins. I take an extra-long shower in my suite, then walk around the perimeter of the ship on a kind of exercise track, past all the alluring lifeboats in their yellow-and-white livery. Maybe there is a dystopian angle to the HBO series that I will surely end up pitching, one with shades of WALL-E or Snowpiercer . In a collapsed world, a Royal Caribbean–like cruise liner sails from port to port, collecting new shipmates and supplies in exchange for the precious energy it has on board. (The actual Icon features a new technology that converts passengers’ poop into enough energy to power the waterslides . In the series, this shitty technology would be greatly expanded.) A very young woman (18? 19?), smart and lonely, who has only known life on the ship, walks along the same track as I do now, contemplating jumping off into the surf left by its wake. I picture reusing Duck Necklace’s words in the opening shot of the pilot. The girl is walking around the track, her eyes on the horizon; maybe she’s highborn—a Suite—and we hear the voice-over: “I’m 19 and I’m ready to go. I just don’t want a shark to eat me.”

Before the cruise is finished, I talk to Mr. Washy Washy, or Nielbert of the Philippines. He is a sweet, gentle man, and I thank him for the earworm of a song he has given me and for keeping us safe from the dreaded norovirus. “This is very important to me, getting people to wash their hands,” he tells me in his burger getup. He has dreams, as an artist and a performer, but they are limited in scope. One day he wants to dress up as a piece of bacon for the morning shift.

THE MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE TITANIC (the Icon of the Seas is five times as large as that doomed vessel) at least offered its passengers an exciting ending to their cruise, but when I wake up on the eighth day, all I see are the gray ghosts that populate Miami’s condo skyline. Throughout my voyage, my writer friends wrote in to commiserate with me. Sloane Crosley, who once covered a three-day spa mini-cruise for Vogue , tells me she felt “so very alone … I found it very untethering.” Gideon Lewis-Kraus writes in an Instagram comment: “When Gary is done I think it’s time this genre was taken out back and shot.” And he is right. To badly paraphrase Adorno: After this, no more cruise stories. It is unfair to put a thinking person on a cruise ship. Writers typically have difficult childhoods, and it is cruel to remind them of the inherent loneliness that drove them to writing in the first place. It is also unseemly to write about the kind of people who go on cruises. Our country does not provide the education and upbringing that allow its citizens an interior life. For the creative class to point fingers at the large, breasty gentlemen adrift in tortilla-chip-laden pools of water is to gather a sour harvest of low-hanging fruit.

A day or two before I got off the ship, I decided to make use of my balcony, which I had avoided because I thought the view would only depress me further. What I found shocked me. My suite did not look out on Central Park after all. This entire time, I had been living in the ship’s Disneyland, Surfside, the neighborhood full of screaming toddlers consuming milkshakes and candy. And as I leaned out over my balcony, I beheld a slight vista of the sea and surf that I thought I had been missing. It had been there all along. The sea was frothy and infinite and blue-green beneath the span of a seagull’s wing. And though it had been trod hard by the world’s largest cruise ship, it remained.

This article appears in the May 2024 print edition with the headline “A Meatball at Sea.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

Learn to Cook from Star Chefs on This New Culinary-Themed Cruise

The chefs making waves cruise includes cooking demonstrations, tastings, and nonstop culinary geeking out with food network stars like robert irvine of ‘ restaurant: impossible’ and scott conant of ‘ chopped.’.

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Chef Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods tends the grill during a barbecue for cruise passengers.

Courtesy of Chefs Making Waves

My guilty-pleasure escape from my hectic life is watching cooking shows. So, when Sixthman , a company known for its music festivals at sea, announced that several celebrity chefs would be headlining a new four-night food-and-wine cruise, I had to be there. And I wasn’t alone.

Like me, more than 2,000 passengers on the sold-out Chefs Making Waves cruise from Miami to the Bahamas on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Pearl ship came on board to pick up cooking tips from the pros, enjoy the open bar, and totally geek out on all things food. The cruise fare included the opportunity to eat food created by the chefs on board—a major bonus.

Stacey Cunha, a passenger from Cleveland, joined the cruise in the hope of meeting chef Robert Irvine of Food Network’s cooking challenge shows Restaurant: Impossible and Dinner: Impossible . “Day 1, my dream came true,” Cunha gushed.

Out and about on the sailing, the chefs enjoyed rock-star status. Getting a selfie with smiling Italian chef Scott Conant (of the reality cooking competition Chopped ) was a popular goal; he even offered to help snap the photos.

On her first-ever cruise, chef Maneet Chauhan (of Chopped and The Next Iron Chef )—who, like several of the chefs, brought her family along for the sailing—said her kids were shocked to see that people were treating her like such a celebrity. One woman left Chauhan teary after telling Chauhan about her experience of getting a liver transplant. “You guys got me through it,” she told the chef. Chauhan said, “I was hugging her. To me, this is why I do what I do.”

Guests could sign up for standard cruise-ship activities such as salsa classes and spa treatments, or they could opt for encounters that were unique to this sailing, such as chef Anne Burrell, co-host of Worst Cooks in America , leading Bloody Mary Bingo. At night, theater productions were replaced by such events as a karaoke contest hosted by Burrell and Andrew Zimmern (of Bizarre Foods ) and a challenge that saw Irvine making a meal from guest-chosen ingredients such as lobster, pickled pig’s feet, and Cheetos. Elsewhere on board, Cake Boss’ Buddy Valastro drew a crowd for a dessert-themed disco party.

Cooking demonstrations hosted by Food Network’s popular chefs were among the daily activities on board.

Out on the sunny pool deck, backed by a giant screen, hundreds of fans eagerly watched demos by chefs cooking while sharing aspects of their lives. Chef Marcus Samuelsson (winner of Top Chef Masters and Chopped All-Stars ) talked about his upbringing and family (born in Ethiopia, he and his sister were separated from their birth family during the Ethiopian Civil War and adopted by a couple in Sweden) while making a complicated multi-ingredient brown-butter lobster, black rice, and mushroom dashi (a Japanese soup stock). And Mexican American chef Aarón Sánchez of MasterChef and MasterChef Junior showed the audience how to make shrimp mojo de ajo (Mexican garlic shrimp), while paying tribute to his grandmother’s influence on his cooking. Creating a martini-cup tiramisu, Valastro revealed that his favorite baked good is not cake, but flaky Italian lobster-tail cookies.

Tasting opportunities included some chef creations that were integrated into the buffet lunch each day (such as Conant’s Wagyu meatballs with baby tomato sauce), but the daily showstopper was a set four-course menu representing a collaboration between two of the featured chefs, served ship-wide at dinner. Chauhan’s “Naan-zanella” citrus chaat salad (a playful take on the Italian bread-infused panzanella salad), part of a collaborative menu she created with Irvine, was a fan favorite, a bit to her chagrin. “I mean, it’s a salad,” she laughed.

No deviations in the set menu were allowed, which caused controversy when short rib was the main course two nights in a row, one version by Irvine, the other by Burrell, followed by Conant’s wine-braised beef the third night. Marc Murphy (of Chopped ) and Michael Symon (from Burgers, Brew and ‘Que ) avoided the fray by offering a choice of salmon or roasted pork. Sixthman organizers took to the active Chefs Making Waves Facebook page to say “short rib-gate” would not be repeated next year.

Chefs Maneet Chauhan and Robert Irvine collaborated on one of the four-course dinners served to guests during the cruise.

While enjoying beach time at Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas, guests were treated to BBQ, including smoked chicken served by Zimmern and French onion soup burgers created by Murphy. The ship also spent time in Nassau, where passengers could book excursions such as snorkeling experiences.

For Irvine, being on the ship was a trip down memory lane, as he had done a stint as a chef with Norwegian. He applauded the work of the galley team, saying, “It’s like a big restaurant, and the service here is exceptional.” Samuelsson also had previous shipboard experience, having worked for Seabourn.

Jett Tanner from Tampa, a veteran of Sixthman’s music-themed cruises, was impressed by the company’s first-ever chef-driven cruise experience. “They have been so down-to-earth,” she said. “It’s given me a greater appreciation for every one of them.”

The next of what is expected to be an annual Chefs Making Waves cruise will take place on the 2,344-passenger Norwegian Gem , May 5 to 9, 2025, on a Western Caribbean itinerary. (Rates are not yet available, but the 2024 cruise started at $1,300 per person for a shared inside cabin.)

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• Port of Miami is strong, but ports in its network show climate vulnerabilities

PortMiami is strong; its network shows climate vulnerabilities

By Janette Neuwahl Tannen [email protected] 05-29-2024

You’re only as strong as your network.

That was the takeaway of a team of University of Miami researchers who spent a year investigating the resilience of the Port of Miami.

After an exhaustive look at the port and its neighbors, Richard Grant and Shouraseni Sen Roy, professors of geography and sustainable development in the College of Arts and Sciences , and Landolf Rhode-Barbarigos, associate professor of civil and architectural engineering in the College of Engineering , along with three students, were glad to discover that Miami’s main cruise and cargo thoroughfare is prepared for the climate challenges of the future. However, they cautioned that its success may be hindered by its neighboring ports, many of which are less resilient to the climate challenges that lay ahead, new research indicates.

“Miami has done a lot to really plan for the future, but the curious position of Miami is it’s highly linked to the Caribbean and Latin America and many of these are extremely vulnerable ports,” said Grant, the lead author on the study and a seasoned urban geographer.

In one of the first studies to investigate the maritime network that links Miami to the Caribbean and the greater United States, the research—which was funded by the University Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge , or U-LINK —uncovered that in recent years, the port has prepared itself for a warming climate. It has added shore power for cruise ships to help curb air pollution and installed electric cranes to efficiently offload cargo. It also now requires LEED certification on all new cruise terminals and is working to elevate some older buildings.

Located just east of the city’s downtown core on Dodge Island, the port spans just 520 acres of land. But it is a critical part of the South Florida—and U.S.—economy, employing more than 330,000 people and linking goods from Central and South America to the rest of the nation. For cruisegoers, it is also the nation’s busiest home port.

During the pandemic, when many of America’s 300 ports were stymied by supply chain interruptions, the team noted that the Port of Miami kept cargo moving efficiently, demonstrating its strength to world trading conglomerates. In addition, since Miami is a major hub for fruits and vegetables imported from South and Central America, the port is helping to facilitate the building of a new U.S. Department of Agriculture facility at Miami International Airport where these products could be stored, cleaned, and shipped via air. It is also hoping to attract more imports of medications in the future.

“Miami was able to stay functioning during the pandemic and get things off boats, so the logistics at the port are very efficient,” Grant added.

Yet, several ports that trade with Miami the most, like Veracruz along Mexico’s Gulf Coast, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and St. Thomas are less prepared for climate challenges, which scientists warn are imminent.

The team analyzed the network connections between the Port of Miami, or PortMiami, and its top 10 connections for cargo and cruise using a climate risk index created by   a previously published study , combined with data on connectivity from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and container port performance information from the World Bank.

“I thought Miami would be at a high risk for climate impacts, but places like St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic, and Nassau are at a much higher risk,” Sen Roy said.

The team also analyzed Miami’s connectivity , or shipping traffic, to other ports in the region, and found that it is most active with Caribbean ports in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, as well as its closest U.S neighbors in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Savannah, Georgia, which are both in pretty good shape. They created several interactive dashboards about the local maritime network using GIS mapping, some of which are included in the study, Sen Roy added.

“This is one of the first times a study has been done focused on one port and its neighboring ports in context,” Sen Roy said. “Most studies simply look at a port by itself.”

Toward the end of the study, the team recommended that the port and airport, which are intimately connected, also be further integrated into the Miami-Dade County master plan. This could also help imports and exports to be stored in more strategic ways for more efficient transport, Grant noted.

“In Miami, low-rise warehouses are scattered all over the place, but the trend in major cities is to have multistory warehouses,” Grant added. “That would help our situation, as well as if we also had direct routes for trains or trucks. In general, trade networks within Miami should be studied more holistically.”

Next, the team hopes to study other ports in the Caribbean, such as two particularly vulnerable ones in the Dominican Republic, to help make them more sustainable to climate change.

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[Deal Alert] U.S. to South America From $1,454 in Lie-Flat Business Round-Trip

Daniel Ross

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Yes, you read that right.

We found round-trip fares to South America in lie-flat business class seats for less than what you’ll sometimes find economy fares for!

The fares are departing from Miami (MIA) and can take you to the fantastic cities of Rio de Janeiro (GIG) in Brazil and Santiago (SCL) in Chile .

These crazy good value fares are with Copa Airlines — the national airline of Panama.

That means you’ll have a stop in Panama City (PTY) . The airline has an excellent network and schedule designed around connecting North and South America, so layovers tend to be on the shorter side.

Copa is also known for offering some of the best service in business class in the Americas.

Better still, the airline is taking delivery of new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft that feature lie-flat seats even though they’re narrow-body jets!

• Class : Business class
• Routes : Miami (MIA) to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) and Santiago (SCL) via Panama City (PTY)
• Dates : August 2024 to April 2025
• Rates : From just $1,452 round-trip

The cheapest fares are to the capital of Chile, Santiago:

And it’s just under $100 more to head to Brazil:

Using Google Flights ‘ trusty explore tool is the best way to find dates that suit you.

Be sure to open each option and check to ensure that it details “lie-flat seat” in the information section .

You don’t want to mistakenly end up on one of Copa’s older jets, which have recliner seats for the same price!

Image Credit: Google Flights

It’s worth noting that given the nature of aviation, aircraft swaps could happen, so you could end up with a recliner seat instead of a lie-flat.

We recommend booking these flights directly with Copa Airlines and using a travel rewards credit card to do so.

A great example is The Platinum Card ® from American Express , which earns 5x Membership Rewards points on airfare purchases made directly with the airline (capped at $500,000 spent in purchases per calendar year, then 1x points).

Copa Airlines is a member of Star Alliance . This means that if you’re a United frequent flyer (or a frequent flyer with any other Star Alliance member airline), you can earn miles and status points by adding your membership number to your Copa Airlines booking!

It’s rare to find a business class deal this good to South America — especially in a lie-flat bed.

We recommend not taking too long to make your decision, as these fares are unlikely to last long.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here .

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About Daniel Ross

Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.

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Commentary | Cuban officials’ visit to Miami airport…

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Commentary | cuban officials’ visit to miami airport required greater transparency, but pols’ outrage is misplaced | opinion.

The first outrageous thing is, well, the outrage — because the tour itself was not outrageous.

It was, by all accounts, a benign exercise in bilateral aviation security cooperation that the U.S. ought to be conducting with Cuba, since about 30 flights move between Miami and Havana on most days.

Given that most of the passengers on those flights are Cuban Americans, you’d think Miami’s politicians — no matter how much this community understandably despises and distrusts Cuba’s communist dictatorship — would want to make sure airport safety is in sync on both sides of the Florida Straits. The U.S., after all, follows similar joint air safety protocols with other regimes Americans despise and distrust, like communist China’s.

But this is Miami, where it’s custom to shoot from the hysterical hip first and ask adult questions later — if ever. So every politico who can find a microphone or a reporter’s handheld recorder is screaming that the Biden administration just gave masked Marxist ninjas the keys to MIA’s air traffic control tower.

Nevertheless, the second outrageous thing is how outrageously optics-oblivious the TSA looks right now. It apparently did not give Miami-Dade County officials, who run MIA, a heads-up that the Cuban apparatchiks would visit secure airport areas like checkpoints.

That matters because the U.S. still has Cuba on its state sponsors of terrorism list. Granted, on May 15, the Biden administration removed Cuba from its list of countries that don’t help in the fight against terrorism — and there is no reason except Miami politics that Cuba still belongs on the more serious state sponsors list. But TSA should have reassured Miami-Dade officialdom beforehand that these Cuban tours at U.S. airports are beneficial as well as routine.

In fact, they took place even when Donald Trump, every hardline Cuban exile’s divine instrument on Earth, was president.

The bottom line: somebody, anybody at TSA should have taken into more sensitive account that this is Miami, for God’s sake! Any issue here that involves Cuba, whether it’s transportation security or ropa vieja recipes, is an anti-comunista powder keg that shameless political climbers can ignite under the slightest pretext to scare votes their way.

The TSA might have made a mental note, for example, that the Miami fuse is especially short these days when it comes to Cuban espionage. It was only a few months ago the world learned that former top U.S. diplomat and now convicted spy Manuel Rocha was a loyal spook for the Cuban regime for years, including the time he worked at the U.S. mission in Havana.

Rocha’s case has heaped a certain PTSD on the Cuban-American community — which still remembers the Cuban spy network that slithered into Miami and was responsible for four Cuban exiles getting shot down and murdered in small aircraft near Cuba by regime fighter jets in 1996.

The TSA might have recalled that historical nugget before hosting a Cuban delegation at Miami’s airport this week without notifying Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava — a Democrat whose re-election effort you’d think the Biden administration would want to assist this year.

But it undermined it instead by bringing Cuban communists to MIA without pre-advising the locals — on, of all days, May 20, the 1902 Cuban independence day that Cuban exiles celebrate.

In a larger sense, that’s a reminder that Beltway Democrats still really don’t get the reality that Florida Latinos are not the Latinos the party takes for granted in the rest of the country.

It’s reminiscent of the Biden administration’s move a few years ago to take Colombia’s defunct Marxist guerrilla army, the FARC, off the U.S.’s terrorist list. That was good policy served with bad optics: It failed to consult Florida’s large Colombian community, a bitter swath of whom suffered FARC violence.

Still, all those outraged Miami politicos who are sure TSA exposed MIA to the DGI (Cuba’s spy service) might themselves remember Cuba also has aviation security concerns. It has ever since Cuban exile terrorists carried out the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger airliner that killed all 73 people onboard.

That, too, was an outrage.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN , covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at [email protected] .

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