Everyone knows that a Caribbean Cruise is the ultimate in holiday choices, but who really knows anything about the area, and about what one should expect when looking out from your cruise.
The Caribbean Island groups, numbering approximately 7,000, create a crescent that contains the Caribbean Sea, separating it from the Atlantic.
Geologically speaking, where you will travel on a cruise is separate from the continents of both the Americas.
The tectonic plate on which the area sits is active and moving; the islands act as a fairly good indicator of the edge of the plate and are, for the most part, the result of volcanic and seismic activity in the area.
For this reason, you will find in the area a great deal of rough terrain, very harsh landscapes of hard impermeable rocks, creating breathtaking views as well as unparalleled hiking and climbing opportunities.
Visitors will notice a sharp difference between the calm waters of the Caribbean and the wilder waters of the Atlantic.
The sizes of the seas respectively affect the temperature and the movements of the water with the bigger body playing host to currents and movements that the smaller Caribbean Sea does not experience.
However, geologically speaking, they also differ greatly.
Areas sit at shallow depths due to the raised sea floor which in the last ice age compiled part of dry land itself, creating in general a warmer, gentler, body of water.
It is the ice age movements that explain the diversity in flora and fauna across the area too, as certain areas, for example S.
Trinidad, were attached to the mainland continent during this period.
A Caribbean Cruise is an ultimate holiday choice, but not just because of the cruise; also because of the Caribbean.