Rainbow Readers Cruise Ports of Call
Key West, Florida
Key West is internationally known as a gay mecca, attracting more than 250,000 visitors to this top LGBTQ vacation spot that celebrates openness and pride — the entire destination is renowned for its welcoming and accepting attitude.
“One Human Family” became Key West’s official philosophy in 2000 — and was soon adopted by Monroe County, which encompasses the entire Florida Keys island chain.
Just the right amount of kitsch, Key West bursts with sunlight, boasts year-round tropical weather, and some of the clearest snorkeling and most preserved coral reef structures in the world. Cruises to Key West, Florida are one of the most popular ways to see this walkable, immersive city. It’s easy to feel at home in Key West among swaying palms and small fishing boats glittering off the harbor. Key West is also famously rough around the edges. Once mostly cut off from the rest of the world, it has persevered through countless hurricanes.
When your cruise ship docks, seek out a cafe con leche and a slice of key lime pie immediately. Then set out for attractions along Duval Street or Mallory Square, both hubs for shopping and nightlife. Don’t miss the six-toed cats living at Ernest Hemingway’s famed Spanish Colonial house-turned-museum. And, of course, a photo op awaits at the Southernmost Point of the United States, a concrete buoy memorializing Key West’s geography.
Nassau, Bahamas
On a cruise to Nassau, you’ll arrive in a town filled with energy, whether you’re chatting to locals in the Straw Market, joining a rum-tasting masterclass, or admiring the jaunty colors of the Caribbean that sit alongside colonial-era forts and grand Georgian mansions. The city is a highlight of any Bahamas cruise for its exciting cuisine, stylish shopping, and abundance of cultural attractions.
What Nassau and neighboring Paradise Island are best known for, of course, are their powder-soft white-sand beaches and fringing coral reefs. There’s a shoreline here for every mood, whether you want to elevate your island escape at the new Royal Beach Club℠ Paradise Island by Royal Caribbean, have fun at Junkanoo Beach, or snorkel amid tropical fish in every shade of the rainbow.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale has a little bit of everything: smooth, white sandy beaches, endless shopping on Las Olas Boulevard, and the Atlantic Ocean welcoming you to swim almost year-round. Once a spring break town, Fort Lauderdale is now known as the “Venice of America” for its intricate system of canals and lush tropical landscape. Head to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for trails and biking blanketed by mangroves. Travel down the Florida Everglades on an airboat tour, complete with alligator and flamingo sightings. Or beat the heat with a trip to the Museum of Science and Discovery in downtown Fort Lauderdale, where kids and adults alike will learn something new.
Aside from being a city full of fun experiences, Fort Lauderdale is also home to one of the biggest cruise ports in the world: Port Everglades. On cruises from Fort Lauderdale, you can sail to the idyllic beaches of the Bahamas and more stunning tropical locations scattered throughout the Caribbean.