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If you think you might be a little exhausted after all the prep and partying involved in your wedding, maybe you should consider hopping on a honeymoon cruise. It’s an all-inclusive, hands-off, worry-free option that is sure to be a good time. And, operators all over the world offer special packages specifically for honeymooners. Here we break down the six best honeymoon cruises including romantic perks and best itineraries. Enjoy!
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises, as the name suggests, is one of the best options for pampering yourselves on your honeymoon. It provides all the essentials for a romantic experience: balcony dining with a view over the ocean, couples massages, and tons of nightly entertainment like comedy, concerts, and outdoor movies.
Romantic Extras: Princess Cruises offers two honeymoon packages that start at $299. Imagine Dom Perignon, chocolate-dipped strawberries delivered to your room, deluxe balcony breakfasts and more. The romance packages with Princess are hard to beat.
Best Itinerary: Princess Cruises explores regions all over the world from the Caribbean to Europe, but we highly recommend the Alaska Cruises. Drift by massive glaciers, hop off for mountainous day hikes and discover the last frontier of the great North.
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises are known for their stunning design, large lawns and inventive architecture on the top floor, unforgettable destinations from Hawaii to South America, excellent food and amazing service.
Romantic Extras: Celebrity offers three romantic packages that you can add to any of their amazing routes. For $99, $149, or $249, you can make any voyage a honeymoon-worthy experience with rose petals, champagne, spa treatments, and more.
Best Itinerary: With Celebrity Cruises, it’s hard to beat the options they have for the land Down Under. With over 30 ports in Australia and New Zealand, you can get to know the entire continent on a trip length of your choosing.
Disney Cruise Line
Most people don’t know that Disney cruises cater as much to adults as they do to kids. There’s no shame in queuing up your fairytale fantasies and getting romantic with Mickey. There are adult-only areas with pools, intimate Italian restaurants, spas, and nightclubs — all off limits to kids. That said, we do recommend booking your cruise so it doesn’t align with school holidays during summer or winter breaks.
Romantic Extras: For anywhere from $77 to $125 you can soak in all the romantic cliches — Disney style. There’s also non-alcoholic options and special honeymoon-themed bathrobes so you can flaunt the news to everyone on your deck if you want to.
Best Itinerary: The 4-night Disney Dream is a great option for honeymooners. It leaves from Port Carnival near Orlando and sets sail to Disney’s secluded private retreat, Castaway Cay. Shoot over to the Bahamas and enjoy the luxury of Nassau, and end your trip with a few nights at the Disney World resort in Orlando back on shore.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is known for its relaxed atmosphere and loose rules when compared to other companies. Instead of dress codes, strict schedules, and a list of things beginning with “do not…”, Norwegian Cruise Line urges those onboard to go at their own pace, and design the experience how they would like.
Romantic Extras: The romance packages with Norwegian Cruise are decently pricey, but they are for good reason. With the Ultimate Romance Package you and your partner will get two breakfasts in bed, nightly tea service and canapes, two formal portraits to take home, a fancy dinner at their French bistro, and with their partnership with Honeymoon Wishes, you will be allowed to set up an onboard honeymoon registry.
Best Itinerary: For the upcoming year, the company’s Norwegian Spirit will be docked in Southampton, and will offer a 10-day cruise exploring the British Isles, Iceland, the Norwegian Fjords, the Arctic Circle, and the Baltics. Staring up at the majesty of these natural sceneries and exploring their shore excursions could be extremely romantic.
Windstar Cruises
Similar to Norwegian Cruise, Windstar is for honeymooners who want romance without any fuss. The ships are small and not too overwhelming, so it’s a more intimate and laid-back environment. They even bring aboard equipment for snorkeling, kayaking, wind sailing, and paddleboarding, which you can do right off the docked boat. Windstar is perfect for the active couples looking for adventure.
Romantic Extras: Some independent critics call Windstar Cruises the most romantic of the bunch. The intimacy and attention received while onboard feel more attentive and less of a cut-and-dry procedure, and the ship is able to go to destinations that many others are unable to reach. Each port has different romance packages. In Bora Bora, for example, you can book to stay on an over-water bungalow with glass floors.
Best Itinerary: Perhaps the most romantic itinerary available with Windstar is the Treasures of the Greek Isles. Spend a full week treating yourself in Mykonos, Santorini, Patmos, Kusadasi, and more. Greek sunsets over blue waters and classic white cycladic architecture? We’ll take it.
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean brings new meaning to the word ‘big.’ Royal’s fleet of 25 ships is the biggest at sea, and the Harmony of the Seas carries a whopping 6,780 guests. Get lost running down the halls, plunge down the 10-story water slide, grab a cocktail from robot bartenders, catch a broadway-worthy performance of Grease, and try your hand at the casino.
Romantic Extras: Royal offers a few romance packages ranging from $65 to $255, and they offer varying combinations of chocolates, roses upon arrival, meals, and champagne.
Best Itinerary: Might as well do what Royal do best in the Caribbean, and might as well go big with the Harmony of the Seas. Hop on the 7-night Eastern Caribbean that sets off from Ft. Lauderdale and explores Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and Haiti’s Labadee.