12 NIGHT ULTIMATE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN

Relax and enjoy the facilities and entertainment onboard your ship. If the weather is good take some sun and sunbathe on the pool deck. Otherwise explore below deck the wide range of activities that will be available during the day. Perhaps you prefer to find a quiet spot and catch up on your reading.

Relax and enjoy the facilities and entertainment onboard your ship. If the weather is good take some sun and sunbathe on the pool deck. Otherwise explore below deck the wide range of activities that will be available during the day. Perhaps you prefer to find a quiet spot and catch up on your reading.

Aruba is located in the Southern Caribbean, and represents the first letter of the ABC island chain (which includes Bonaire and Curacao), and is the richest and most developed of the three, with chain hotels and high-end stores. Cruise ships dock in the city of Oranjestad. The island is a surprising mix of soft, white-sand beaches and desert (the aloe plant thrives here and aloe vera is one of the island's biggest exports); Dutch heritage and influences from nearby Venezuela. The official language is Papiamento, an intriguing blend of Dutch, English, Spanish and creole, but most islanders are multilingual (including English). The currency is the Aruban florin, but most shops and restaurants will accept the U.S. dollar. Cruisers visiting Aruba will want to set out for the shoreline, visiting famous stretches of sand like Eagle Beach or Baby Beach. If time in port allows, be sure to book a sunset cruise shore excursion when the Aruban sky puts on a fiery show. Other popular excursions include an island tour, a trip beneath the Caribbean Sea in a submarine or a visit to an ostrich farm. The weather is ideal in Aruba, which means that a daily average of 82 degrees Fahrenheit is kept comfortable by the trade winds that blow through, along with little rainfall. It's rare for hurricanes to reach this part of the Caribbean, which means that while it's pleasant to visit year-round, it can also withstand the hurricane season months of May through October.

The brightly hued island of Curaçao, 42 miles east of Aruba, is part of the ABC chain of islands, which also includes Aruba and Bonaire. Legend says that an early governor suffered from migraines and mandated the pastel-coloured houses, now a trademark of the Southern Caribbean island, because white paint aggravated his condition. Whatever the reason, there's something wonderful about approaching by cruise ship and spotting buildings in shades like cotton-candy pink and deep, ocean-blue.

Curaçao was discovered by Spaniards in 1499 and was taken over in 1634 by the Dutch, who settled its capital city, Willemstad, as a naval base. The city drew Dutch and Jewish merchants (old Jewish neighbourhoods -- like Scharloo, north of Willemstad -- still exist), and there's still a distinctly Dutch feel in the centuries-old buildings that line the waterfront in all those fantastic colours.

Willemstad, where cruise ships dock, is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city with waterfront shops and cafes. It's walkable and always warm, but never stiflingly hot, thanks to constant, breezy trade winds. The city is split into two districts -- one on each side of a narrow but deep channel, traversable by a landmark floating pedestrian bridge. Beyond Willemstad, Curaçao is rife with opportunities to dive and swim, with more than 35 uncrowded beaches.

Shy pink flamingos, gentle sad-eyed donkeys and elusive sea turtles all share something quite rare in today's world. They flourish on or around Bonaire, one of the ABC isles (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) deep in the Southern Caribbean. Each lives in sanctuaries set up by island residents who boast an awareness and level of conservation that few countries can match. Though ecotourism is one of the latest buzzwords in the travel world, Bonaire, just 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela, was a world leader in the field of ecology long before the term was even coined. The island's greatest claim to fame is proudly touted on its license plates -- "Divers Paradise." This is no tourist-bureau puffery, although many believe that the license plates should read "Nature Lovers Paradise." Beyond the diving and snorkeling, there's windsurfing, kayaking, bird watching, kite boarding, fishing, mountain biking and horseback riding. Many Caribbean islands brag about their underwater worlds, but Bonaire has set the standard by which everywhere else in the world is measured -- it led the way by protecting sea turtles back in 1961, banning spear-fishing in 1971, making it illegal to remove live coral in 1975 and establishing the first marine park in 1979. It also helps that the island is outside the traditional hurricane zone and is a desert island with no river runoff into the sea. It has been called "Arizona by the Sea" for its climate and abundance of cacti. There is no rainy season and temperatures are consistently pleasant with lows in the 70s and highs in the 80s. Unlike its better-known neighbors, Aruba and Curacao, this isle of about 20,000 residents is quiet and laid-back. There are no flashy Las Vegas-type casinos as in Aruba or a showy pastel-colored capital city as in Curacao. The first recorded Bonaire scuba diving began back in 1962 when Don Stewart, a would-be California actor, dropped anchor on this small, arid boomerang of an island. Considered the father of Bonaire diving, he was the first to use fixed moorings to prevent coral damage and helped set up the Caribbean's first island-wide underwater park. He has received numerous international awards for his conservation efforts. The park is a United Nations Environmental Program Model Marine Protected Area.

Relax and enjoy the facilities and entertainment onboard your ship. If the weather is good take some sun and sunbathe on the pool deck. Otherwise explore below deck the wide range of activities that will be available during the day. Perhaps you prefer to find a quiet spot and catch up on your reading.

St. Maarten is busier than ever, as cruise lines call on Philipsburg with their biggest ships. (Sometimes there are a half-dozen in port at one time.) There's also more to do once you disembark, with shopping and beaches serving as the primary attractions.

That can be viewed as either good news (more shopping choices, better deals and more beach activities) or bad news (more people) for this port of call, which, along with neighbouring St. Martin, makes up the world's smallest island inhabited by two countries.

St. Maarten, like many other Caribbean islands, was spotted by Christopher Columbus in 1493. But the island's real history began with French and Dutch settlers who divided the island in 1648. They have lived side-by-side ever since. St. Maarten, governed by the Netherlands Antilles until 2010, is now a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (along with Aruba, Curacao and the Netherlands), while St. Martin is part of the French West Indies. What's particularly fun is that you can easily swing back and forth from the Dutch to the French sides and enjoy the best of both.

On either side of the mountainous island, lovely beaches -- including the famed clothing-optional part of Orient Beach -- rival the best in the Caribbean. Plus, duty-free prices for electronics and liquor in Philipsburg might be the best deals around.

Your first look at St. Lucia's lush coast from the deck of a cruise ship is likely to include the island's most dramatic geologic feature: the Pitons, two striking volcanic peaks that rise a half-mile off St. Lucia's southwestern coast. The island's beauty has earned it the nickname "Helen of the West Indies." Though St. Lucia has plenty of visitors (including those from cruise ships and a steady influx of honeymooners), parts of the island have largely remained unspoiled due to the locals' commitment to protecting the rainforests and other natural resources. A decent percentage of the island -- some 19,000 acres -- is protected as part of the St. Lucia National Rain Forest. What development there is on St. Lucia is mostly in the area around Castries, the island's colourful, energetic capital city. It's not picturesque but it's still worth a look, especially if you're in search of duty-free goods or local handicrafts. But to appreciate St. Lucia's natural beauty, rent a car or take a cab out of town. The prettiest part of the island is in the south, and most visitors head there to see the former French colonial capital Soufriere, the lush Diamond Botanical Gardens and the world's only "drive-in" volcano. More options include hiking through the rainforest, snorkelling the sunken wreck off of Anse Cochon and horseback riding along the coast. Settled first by the Arawaks and then the Caribs, St. Lucia became a hotly-contested territory with the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. The island passed back and forth 14 times between the British and the French until 1814, when the Brits finally took possession for good. Traces of both cultures still remain in the language; many St. Lucians speak both English and a French Creole patois, and it's visible in distinctive place names such as Soufriere, Gros Islet, Rodney Bay and Pigeon Island.

Antiguans like to boast that they have 365 beaches -- one for each day of the year. And while no one counts to ensure the accuracy of this catchy marketing claim, the squiggly shaped island indeed is full of beachy gems, each with its own unique appeal. Part of the West Indies, Antigua was first occupied by the peaceful Arawak Indians around 200 B.C. They stayed until the arrival of the Caribs, an Amazonian tribe, whose name was derived from the Spanish word "caribal," meaning "cannibal." Then, the island was known as Wadadli until 1493 when Columbus, who never made landfall, sailed by and named the island in honor of Maria de la Antigua, a saint he worshipped in Seville. The English arrived in 1632, establishing sugar plantations and bringing African slaves; slavery was fully abolished in 1838. Great Britain held the island until 1981, when Antigua (pronounced "An-tee-gah") achieved independence. The island was an important colonial base of the Royal Navy, with English Harbour serving as its headquarters. The remains of the navy's presence represent some of the most fascinating attractions -- a walk around historic Nelson's Dockyard and the grounds of Shirley Heights reveals remnants of a working Georgian-era harbor, old forts and officer's quarters, as well as a multitude of crumbling sugar mills from the days when sugar plantations ruled the island. In more recent years, English Harbour has become the capital of international yachting and sailing, and those activities are responsible for a surge in population during the winter months. The season opens in December with the Antigua Yacht Show and ends in May with Antigua Sailing Week, one of the largest annual regattas in the Caribbean. Since gaining independence, Antigua has all but abandoned its agricultural heritage in favor of a tourist economy. The island can hold its own in the duty-free shopping category, but the real highlights lie well beyond the capital and port town of St. John's. And if all those beaches aren't enough, Antigua's sister island, Barbuda, is accessible by ferry for day-trippers. The ferry drops you in the middle of 14 miles of unspoiled pink shell beaches -- including one that used to be a favorite of Princess Diana; it's now named in her honor. Antigua owns an average high temperature of a pleasant 81 degrees, but it's a slightly less hospitable climate in the summer when the trade winds die down. Antiguans celebrate these slower summer months with the annual Carnival at the end of July and beginning of August. The island is susceptible to hurricanes and tropical storms, with a direct hurricane hitting about every seven years on average. The highest risk is in early September -- so there's little need to worry during peak cruising season. Bring your umbrella, though, because more than half of the days in November through February experience rainfall.

Relax and enjoy the facilities and entertainment onboard your ship. If the weather is good take some sun and sunbathe on the pool deck. Otherwise explore below deck the wide range of activities that will be available during the day. Perhaps you prefer to find a quiet spot and catch up on your reading.

Relax and enjoy the facilities and entertainment onboard your ship. If the weather is good take some sun and sunbathe on the pool deck. Otherwise explore below deck the wide range of activities that will be available during the day. Perhaps you prefer to find a quiet spot and catch up on your reading.