Princess Cruises' Sun Princess is mid-Atlantic right now, working its way from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale on a 15-night repositioning sailing that doubles as a proper Mediterranean-to-Caribbean itinerary in its own right. Departing in late October 2026, the crossing calls at Málaga, Cádiz, Gibraltar and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with a stop in the UK too, before docking at Port Everglades on November 21.
Once in Florida, the 4,300-passenger ship settles into a winter season running through March 2027. The debut sailing is a six-night Eastern Caribbean trip hitting three ports: Carnival Corporation's much-hyped private resort destination Celebration Key, plus Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos and Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. More Eastern Caribbean cruises in that format follow through the winter, alongside weeklong Western Caribbean itineraries stopping at Cozumel in Mexico, Roatán in Honduras and San Juan in Puerto Rico.
The move ends a busy Med summer. From April through late October, Sun Princess ran its third Mediterranean season, sailing out of Piraeus, Civitavecchia and Barcelona and calling at ports like Messina, Corfu, Bar in Montenegro and Kusadasi in Turkey. That schedule resumes soon after the Caribbean wraps: the ship is booked back to Europe from early April 2027 through early November 2027.
For context, Sun Princess is one of the line's newest builds, constructed at Fincantieri and in service since early 2024. Princess follows a familiar industry rhythm with it: Mediterranean summers, American winters, and a long repositioning crossing in between that savvy cruisers often snap up for the price and the slow-travel appeal.
Why does this matter for travellers? Two reasons. First, if you've been eyeing the Eastern Caribbean, a newer Princess flagship will be sailing short, port-rich itineraries from Fort Lauderdale all winter, with Celebration Key on most of them. Second, if a multi-day ocean crossing appeals, repositioning cruises like this one pack in Spain, Gibraltar and the Canaries for what is often a much lower per-night cost than a standard sailing. And if the Med is more your speed, the same ship will be back from Barcelona, Rome and Athens from April 2027. The trick with repositionings is timing: they only run twice a year, so book the spring or autumn crossings early or settle for the regional seasons on either side.
