Want Christmas morning at 28 degrees rather than minus five? Princess Cruises has a pair of Fort Lauderdale departures that put the festive season squarely at sea, with warm-weather itineraries ranging from a quick Bahamas-and-Eastern-Caribbean loop to a 12-day Panama Canal epic.
The shorter option is aboard Regal Princess, which sails on December 20 and returns on Boxing Day. The six-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary includes a call at Celebration Key, the Carnival Corporation private resort on Grand Bahama that has just doubled its pier capacity from two berths to four — enough to handle more than 13,000 passengers a day. Princess only started calling there this autumn, and Regal Princess is one of several ships booked in for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons.
If a week off isn't enough, Caribbean Princess departs Fort Lauderdale on December 17 for a 12-day voyage through the Caribbean, Costa Rica and the Panama Canal, back on December 29. Canal transits have long been a Princess speciality, and the line is leaning into it: its 2027-28 programme will be its biggest Caribbean and Panama Canal season ever, with nine ships, 187 departures and 31 destinations. There's more Florida capacity elsewhere too — Sky Princess has just started a full season from Port Canaveral on six- and eight-day routes taking in Turks and Caicos, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas.
On board, the ships swap frost for fairy lights. Expect Christmas trees and garlands throughout, tree-lighting ceremonies in the Piazza, carol singalongs, sweater parties, gingerbread-house sessions and festive films on the Movies Under the Stars screen. There are seasonal menus, holiday cocktails, cookie demos and hot chocolate stations — and on selected ships, actual snow falling indoors. All the familiar traditions, minus the winter coat.
Why it matters: holiday cruise cabins are among the first to sell out, and these sailings work well for two very different travellers. The six-day Regal Princess trip suits families who want Christmas Day itself on holiday without burning the whole school break, while the 12-day Caribbean Princess sailing is one for empty-nesters or anyone treating the festive period as a proper long-haul escape. It's also a rare chance to combine a Caribbean beach week with a Panama Canal crossing — one of cruising's bucket-list passages — in a single trip.
