8-night Caribbean cruise: Miami, Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico on EXPLORA III
The A Journey of Tropical Festivities & Dazzling Island Beauty is a 8-night Caribbean cruise aboard EXPLORA III, operated by Explora Journeys. Departing Miami, Florida on December 20, 2026 and arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico on December 28, 2026, the voyage visits 7 ports including Ocho Rios, Catalina Island, Dominican Republic, Jost Van Dycke (British Virgin Islands). Fares start from $5,660 per person.
Fixed editorial images from the places on this itinerary. They stay stable each time you return to this sailing.
Miami, Florida
Miami is called the gateway to the Americas, and it’s indeed a very glamourous global city to explore at the start or end of an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise. Home to many cultures, the city of Miami sizzles with flavours from the Americas, beginning with Cuba and the Little Havana neighbourhood - one of the most historically significant places, while Wynwood is famous for its wall art and Puerto Rican history.
Across Biscayne Bay lies the city of Miami Beach, home to the world-famous South Beach. An MSC-arranged guided private tour opens up a world of possibilities for you: enjoy the beach, take in the city’s Art Deco architecture and enjoy a drink on legendary Ocean Drive, where you can people watch, and perhaps spot a celebrity. If time permits, take a stroll on artsy Lincoln Road packed with street side cafes and shops.
Facing the MSC Cruises port in downtown Miami is Bayside Marketplace - a lively commercial centre that is a staging area for boat tours of Miami. Seeing the city from the water, with its impressive skyline and waterfront mansions, is an experience in itself. The downtown area also boasts the dazzling Performing Arts Centre, the Museum of Science, the Pérez Art Museum Miami (known as the PAMM), scenic Bayfront Park and the arena where the 3-time NBA champion Miami Heat basketball team plays.
Miami is renowned for its shopping. Hop on a tour to see the major city sights followed by retail therapy at one of Miami's largest and newest shopping malls: Dolphin Mall. With more than 240 retail outlets, you’re bound to need a bit of room in your luggage for your purchases. Luckily, there are several luggage stores at the mall to fill that need.
Head west past the city into untamed wilderness on an MSC excursion into the Everglades. At this national park where water is the central feature, unlike any other in North America, nature enthusiasts can hop on an airboat tour through the swampland and waterways to spot alligators and a variety of birds.
Ocho Rios
While the name Ocho Rios means eight rivers in Spanish, a truer reflection of its name (considering the city has four rivers) may stem from its earlier Spanish name of Las Chorreras, referring to its waterfalls. In either case, it’s precisely its existing rivers, beautiful waterfalls and crystalline sea that promise to awe visitors to Jamaica who have a passion for the lush outdoors.
For an unforgettable experience on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise, try one of the many outdoor MSC excursions offered on the city’s rivers, such as kayaking, bamboo rafting and tubing, or try climbing one of its famous waterfalls.
A must-see attraction is Dunn’s River Falls, where a guide will lead you up along an almost 600-foot stretch of naturally terraced river bed as part of a human chain. Once up on top, enjoy a breath-taking panorama worthy of photos, and explore a craft market and numerous shops.
Or ascend Konoko Falls to admire the tropical gardens with sinuously shaped flowers and a mini zoo of exotic birds and reptiles, before embarking on a gastronomic farm-to-table experience and traditional Jamaican buffet lunch in the hills of Claremont at the organic Murphy Hill Farm, on an exclusive Martha Stewart excursion for MSC.
Music lovers can’t help but pay tribute to reggae legend Bob Marley. Journey to Bob Marley’s Nine Mile, a nearby mountaintop village, to see the birthplace and final resting place of the star. The MSC excursion includes a visit to a small Ethiopian-style church housing the marble mausoleum in which Marley’s remains have been entombed along with his guitar.
And James Bond fans can take heart in the fact that it was here in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s that author Ian Fleming created 007 and wrote every one of the 14 books featuring the stealth secret agent from his villa at nearby Oracabessa Bay. Scenes for the 1962 movie “Dr. No” and the 1973 film “Live and Let Die” were filmed in and around Ocho Rios.
Philipsburg, Sint Maarten
Offering some of the best vistas in all the Caribbean, St. Maarten is the smallest inhabited island in the world shared by two nations - France in the north and the Netherlands in the south. Dubbed the true melting pot of the Caribbean, the 37-square-mile island is home to people of 47 different nationalities and more than 400 restaurants, featuring a hugely diverse variety of cuisine.
The island also has two capitals: Philipsburg on the Dutch side, and Marigot in the French part. Once you arrive on an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise in St. Maarten, explore how the two cultures have blended their very distinct characters on one of our MSC excursions.
Your St. Maarten cruise will dock in Philipsburg, founded in 1763 by John Philips, a Scottish captain in the Dutch Navy. Philipsburg, with its pastel-coloured West Indian houses, is known for its duty-free shopping along Front Street, the Great Salt Pond, which once made the island literally “worth its salt,” and attracted the attention of the French, and Fort Willem, built in 1801, with mag-nificent views of the bay and the surrounding islands.
From there, several MSC excursions take you on a hilly drive to the French side of the island to experience Marigot. Originally a fishing village on a swamp for which it was named, Marigot became the capital during the reign of Louis XVI. Fort Louis, which overlooks Marigot Bay and Anguilla, was built in the late 18th century to protect the town’s warehouses of salt, coffee, sugar cane and especially rum from the English. Today, Marigot showcases quaint colourful gingerbread-like houses, tasty sidewalk bistros and a waterfront market selling fruit and vegetables, spices, local meats and fresh fish from Creole huts worth exploring.
For something special, spend the day on the Dutch side of the island at the restored sugar planta-tion at Rockland Estate. Take in a history lesson at the Emilio Wilson Museum or a nature hike and 360-degree views from Sentry Hill. Participate in a hands-on cooking demonstration of authentic local cuisines with lunch at Emilio’s restaurant, in an exclusive Martha Stewart excursion curated for MSC Cruises.
Also at Rockland Estate, thrill seekers can book other MSC excursions on the Flying Dutchman, a fast and furious zip line ride that will have you whizzing down the line at speeds of up to 56 mph (90 km) per hour. Then take the Pirate Sky Ride cable car back up the top to the Crow’s Nest where several platforms encircling the mountain afford panoramic views of the neighbouring islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Barthélemy and Anguilla. Then plunge down the mountain on a Schooner Ride inner tube along a specially designed track.
To experience one of the island’s hottest spots and most popular attractions, visit the famous Maho Beach, also called Airplane Beach. Don’t get too comfortable, though. This is because you watch as planes pass only a short distance above your head as they land and take off from Princess Juli-ana Airport’s short runway next door.
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Follow the entire sailing from its first day to its last, with the route and schedule in one view.
Day 1·Dec 20, 2026
Miami, Florida
Miami is called the gateway to the Americas, and it’s indeed a very glamourous global city to explore at the start or end of an MSC Caribbean and Antilles cruise.
EXPLORA III is the first LNG-powered ship in our fleet, underscoring our commitment to decarbonising marine operations. This innovation has the potential to reduce well-to-wake greenhouse gas emission by over 80%, significantly lowering our environmental impact.
A sanctuary of unparalleled comfort and space, EXPLORA III embodies effortless elegance, evoking the feeling of being aboard a private yacht
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