Caribbean Princess has been working the Caribbean since 2004 and has no plans to apologise for it. Today is October 31, so this is “autumn” on paper. In practice her upcoming run stretches from November 11 into the first days of March. That’s ten departures from Fort Lauderdale: nine 12-night sailings and one 6-night sailing leaving February 27, 2027. The dates are on our Caribbean Princess itineraries page. This piece is about whether any of it suits you.
One honest note first. Our own database has no port lists for these sailings, so I cross-checked published sailing timetables. Princess reshuffles ports more often than I reshuffle my packing list, so confirm yours at booking.
Quick Reference: Caribbean Princess This Season
| Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Ship | Caribbean Princess (Princess Grand class), built 2004, refurbished 2022, 112,894 GT |
| Capacity | 3,138 passengers, about 1,200 crew, 18 decks |
| Season | Autumn into winter: departures November 11, 2026 to February 27, 2027 |
| Region | Caribbean / Bahamas (southern Caribbean, Panama Canal, Celebration Key) |
| Home port | Fort Lauderdale |
| Typical lengths | 12 nights (nine departures), 6 nights (one departure) |
| CDC score | 93 out of 100, inspected February 9, 2026 (86 is the pass mark) |
The Ship’s Character and Who It Suits
Caribbean Princess is a classic Grand-class ship. She had the largest carrying capacity in the Princess fleet until June 2013, when Royal Princess took the record. Today she reads as mid-sized: a central Piazza, pools, a casino, a spa, the up-charge Crown Grill, World Fresh Marketplace, Slice pizza and Movies Under the Stars on deck. She is big enough to keep you busy and small enough that you won’t need a map to find lunch. She’s 22 years old, but the 2022 refurbishment means she isn’t showing it badly. Don’t expect the shiny-new-toy factor.
She suits travellers who want places more than a floating theme park. That means Panama Canal fans, repeat Princess cruisers, couples, and multigenerational groups on the holiday sailings. She does not suit anyone who gets twitchy on sea days. The 12-night itineraries have five or six of them. She also isn’t for anyone who wants the newest ship afloat. If that’s you, our new ships guide is a better stop.
On cleanliness, here is the full picture. Her latest CDC Vessel Sanitation Program score in our records is 93, from February 9, 2026. That’s 7 points above the 86 pass mark. Since then, a norovirus outbreak aboard was reported to the CDC on May 7, 2026. The CDC’s count on that April 28 to May 11 voyage reached 145 of 3,116 passengers and 15 of 1,131 crew reporting illness. A score is a snapshot, and norovirus is a risk on every ship, so wash your hands like you mean it. You can check the paperwork yourself in the CDC inspection lookup.
The Itineraries on Offer and Which to Pick
The nine 12-nighters are sold as “Panama Canal with Costa Rica & Caribbean”. Two (December 17 and 29) carry the Holiday label. They share a spine: Fort Lauderdale, a southern Caribbean island, Cartagena, the Panama Canal and Colón, then Puerto Limón. They differ at the edges, so your pick comes down to which island and which finale you want.
- Aruba plus Grand Cayman: November 11, December 17, December 29, February 3 and February 15.
- Aruba plus Celebration Key: November 23 and January 22.
- Curaçao (Willemstad) plus Celebration Key: January 10.
- December 5, the odd one out: Grand Cayman and Jamaica (Falmouth) at the start, Celebration Key at the end, and no Aruba. It has six port days against five on the others, and five sea days against six.
The calendar adds some theatre. The November 23 sailing puts you in Aruba on Thanksgiving, November 26. The December 17 sailing has Christmas Eve in Puerto Limón, though that sailing is shown as sold out (more on that in the timing section). The December 29 sailing has New Year’s Day in Aruba. If you want a holiday story to bore your relatives with, that’s your menu.
The 6-night sailing leaves February 27 and returns March 5. Timetables list it as an Eastern Caribbean itinerary with Grand Turk (March 1), Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic (March 2) and Celebration Key (March 4), with two sea days, and show the ship back in Fort Lauderdale at 6:00 AM on March 5. Pick this one if 12 nights feels like a commitment, or if you want a first taste of Princess.
The Ports and What’s Genuinely Worth Doing
Port hours on the 12-nighters are uneven, so plan around them:
- Aruba (10 a.m. to 10 p.m., 12 hours): The best port day on the schedule. Do the beach in the afternoon and stay out for dinner. At Curaçao on January 10 you get 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Cartagena (7 a.m. to 2 p.m., 7 hours): Short. Pick one thing, ideally the walled Old City, and go early before the heat arrives.
- Panama Canal and Colón (canal 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Colón 5:30 to 8 p.m.): The schedule pattern suggests a partial transit. The ship goes in on the Atlantic side during the day and is back in Colón that evening. Confirm with Princess whether you’ll sail the full canal. Princess’s partial-transit excursions run from $94.95 to $269.95, with lots in the $100 to $165 range. Examples are the Monkey & Wildlife Nature Cruise on Gatun Lake at $109.95 and the Embera village tour at $114.95. The Panama Canal Railway dome-car tour is $269.95. Colón itself is a transit stop, so book something.
- Puerto Limón, Costa Rica (7 a.m. to 6 p.m., 11 hours): The proper day out. Rainforest and wildlife tours are the draw, so pre-book.
- Grand Cayman (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 8 hours): Seven Mile Beach is the classic. George Town is usually a tender port, so don’t dawdle.
- Celebration Key (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 9 hours): It’s new to Princess. Star Princess is scheduled to make the line’s first call tomorrow, November 1, 2026, and Princess says Caribbean Princess is scheduled to visit during the 2026-27 season. It has a family lagoon, an adult-leaning lagoon with a swim-up bar, and more than a mile of shoreline. Princess says lagoon and beach access, loungers, chairs and umbrellas are free, and each guest gets one complimentary meal at walk-up venues (sit-down restaurants offer 40% off one entrée instead). Drinks are bought individually, because Princess’s drink packages don’t extend ashore. Pearl Cove Beach Club costs extra, as do cabanas, daybeds and waterslides.
Conditions and Packing for This Season
The Atlantic hurricane season runs through November 30. The November 11 and November 23 departures fall inside it, and everything from December 5 on falls outside. The southern routes tend to sit below the usual storm track, but “tend” is not “guarantee”, so buy travel insurance.
Weather gets friendlier as winter arrives. Rough Guides puts Cartagena’s December rainfall at about 40 mm, against 100 to 200 mm in November. Aruba and Curaçao are dry-season islands from December. Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast can rain at any time, so a light rain jacket is cheap insurance.
- Passport: Bring one. Princess says passports are required on itineraries that include Central or South America and the Panama Canal, and that Fort Lauderdale Caribbean roundtrips calling at Central or South America accept passports only. That covers the 12-night sailings (Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica). Princess also says “We highly recommend a passport” even where a birth certificate with photo ID is allowed. If you’re travelling with minors and only one adult aged 21 or over, Princess requires a passport for every guest in the party.
- Shoes: Cobbles in Cartagena, mud in Costa Rica and wet decks everywhere.
- Layers: A light sweater for early-morning arrivals back in Fort Lauderdale (6:00 or 7:00 a.m. on the timetables) and air-conditioned dining rooms.
- Sun and bugs: Reef-friendly sunscreen, a hat and repellent for rainforest days.
- Dress code: Twelve nights means a few dressier evenings. Pack one proper outfit.
- Drinks: Read our bring-alcohol guide before you pack a suspiciously clinky bag.
Money and Where the Value Is
Fares move daily and the figures I found came from agents, not from Princess. Treat these as snapshots. For the December 5 sailing, one agent listed an interior from $879. Another showed per-person, double-occupancy prices including taxes and fees: inside $979, oceanview $1,009, balcony $1,176, suite $1,549. That balcony works out to $98 a night per person ($1,176 ÷ 12) and $2,352 for two. An agent also advertised up to $500 in onboard credit. That’s credit, not a price cut.
Then come the extras. Princess’s crew gratuity rose by $1 in March 2026 to $18 per person per day in standard cabins, $19 in mini-suites and $20 in suites. Over 12 nights that’s $216 per person in a standard cabin, or $432 for two. The 6-night sailing is $108 per person. A 20% service charge now applies to drinks and specialty dining. So that couple’s balcony is $2,352 plus $432, or $2,784, before flights, drinks and excursions. Our tipping guide explains what extra tipping is worth doing.
Value-wise, that December 5 snapshot works out to roughly $82 to $98 a night per person from inside to balcony ($979 ÷ 12 and $1,176 ÷ 12). That’s a respectable price for a port-heavy 12-night itinerary, but it’s one sailing on one day, so price your own date before you get excited. The weak spot is the Cartagena and Colón days, where a self-guided plan beats a pricey ship tour only if you have the nerve.
Timing: When to Book and What Sells Out
The first 12-night departure, November 11, is 11 days away, so it’s a “pack now, think later” decision. The December 17 Christmas Eve sailing is shown as sold out in every cabin category on a Cruise Timetables listing that samples Princess’s website, so check Princess directly for live availability and cancellations. If that date is your heart’s desire, the December 29 Holiday sailing is the other festive option, so look at it sooner rather than later. A sampled December 5 listing showed suites sold out, with other categories still available. If you want a specific island or a specific day, book that exact date. Shoppers who are flexible on dates should look at the January and February departures, which are usually calmer. Always compare agents on the day, because the same cabin priced differently across the listings I checked.
FAQ: Caribbean Princess Autumn and Winter Cruises
Where does Caribbean Princess sail from this autumn?
Fort Lauderdale. Between November 11, 2026 and February 15, 2027 she runs nine 12-night round trips, leaving every 12 days. A 6-night sailing then leaves February 27, 2027. Full dates are on our itineraries page.
Does Caribbean Princess go through the Panama Canal?
The 12-night sailings include a canal day, 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., then an evening in Colón. That pattern points to a partial transit, not a full crossing to the Pacific. Princess’s own excursion listings use the “partial transit” label for this kind of call. Confirm your exact sailing with Princess before booking.
What is the Caribbean Princess CDC inspection score?
Our records show 93 out of 100 from February 9, 2026. The CDC counts 86 or higher as satisfactory, so that’s 7 points clear. A norovirus outbreak was reported on the ship in May 2026, which postdates that inspection. Check the latest in our outbreak tracker.
Do I need a passport for a Panama Canal cruise from Fort Lauderdale?
Yes. Princess says passports are required on itineraries that include Central or South America and the Panama Canal, and Fort Lauderdale Caribbean roundtrips that call there accept passports only. Princess also says it highly recommends a passport on every sailing. When minors travel with only one adult aged 21 or over, every guest in the party needs a passport.
How much are gratuities on Princess Cruises in 2026?
Since March 2026, $18 per person per day in standard cabins, $19 in mini-suites and $20 in suites. A 12-night sailing in a standard cabin is $216 per person. A 20% service charge applies on top of drinks and specialty dining, and it can’t be removed.
Is Celebration Key worth it on a Princess cruise?
If you like a lagoon day, probably. It has a family lagoon, an adult-leaning lagoon with a swim-up bar, and a paid adults-only beach club. It’s brand new to Princess, with the first call scheduled for November 1, 2026, so there are no Princess-guest reviews yet. Princess says lagoon access, loungers and one walk-up meal per guest are included, while drinks, Pearl Cove Beach Club, cabanas and waterslides cost extra.
The Bottom Line
Caribbean Princess is a good fit if you want a proper port-heavy itinerary on a comfortable, slightly vintage ship, and you can handle five or six sea days. The Aruba sailings are the safest bet, December 5 gives you the most port days, and the 6-night February 27 sailing is the gentle option. If you want the newest ship and a waterpark, look elsewhere. Pack a passport, budget about $216 per person in gratuities for 12 nights, and confirm your port list with Princess before you pay.
Ships in This Story
- Caribbean Princess Princess · Latest CDC score 93
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