15 Night Panama Canal Westward Cruise

Tampa cruise port is a Gulf Coast embarkation point for Western Caribbean cruises, sitting on Florida's west side about 85 miles west of Orlando. Port Tampa Bay is the state's largest port by tonnage, but its cruise operation is modest compared to PortMiami or Port Everglades.

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean known for Seven Mile Beach, exceptional diving, and its role as a major offshore financial center. George Town serves as the cruise port, but there's no pier large enough for cruise ships.

Cartagena de Indias is a Caribbean port city of about 1 million people on Colombia's northern coast, and one of the best-preserved colonial cities in the Americas. The walled old city (Ciudad Amurallada) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by the Spanish starting in the 16th century to protect the gold and silver being shipped back to Europe.

Colon sits at the Atlantic (Caribbean) entrance to the Panama Canal, serving as the port of call for ships that transit the canal or stop before or after the crossing. The Colon 2000 cruise terminal and the nearby Cristobal pier handle the cruise traffic, both located away from the city center in secure port compounds.

Stretched along Banderas Bay with the Sierra Madre mountains rising directly behind the shoreline, Puerto Vallarta draws about 290,000 residents year-round and far more during the winter cruise season. The city has managed to grow as a tourist destination while keeping its Mexican identity intact, particularly in the Zona Romantica and the malecon (boardwalk) areas where local life and tourism coexist on the same streets.