Tropical Jewels – Cartagena & Willemstad

About this cruise

Somewhere around day five the ship stops being transport and starts being home. This 11-night sailing from Fort Lauderdale on March 16, 2026 visits Cartagena, Colon, Oranjestad, Willemstad and Kralendijk. The first couple of days are at sea, which gives you time to settle in and get to know the ship before the ports begin. The route threads through 5 countries along the Caribbean coast: Colombia, Panama, Aruba, Curaçao and Caribbean Netherlands. Most ports give you about 9 hours, so you can do more than just tick off the main sights. As for the ship itself, Celebrity Ascent (2023) is one of the newer ships out there, with current design and recent tech throughout. 11 nights is long enough to build a routine on board: favourite restaurant, favourite deck chair, favourite people. It starts to feel like a floating village. A spring departure helps too: decent weather and a calmer feel at each port. Good route, good ship, good timing. It all lines up.