Eastern Caribbean Cruise Ports: What to Know Before You Book, From San Juan to Amber Cove
If you're booking an Eastern Caribbean cruise, check each port's tendering rules before you commit, since tendering can be a dealbreaker. St. Croix and Tortola require tendering for larger or additional ships, while San Juan never does. Where you have a choice of San Juan terminal, the article recommends San Juan Bay for Old San Juan access. At Port Zante, check the ship schedule, because two ships in port means busier lines and slower days.
My read is that the tendering question is the real filter here, and the article is right to flag it. St. Croix is the cautionary example: its Ann E. Abramson facility handles only one mid-size and one smaller ship at once, so a bigger ship or a busier day means tenders. San Juan is the opposite, with up to seven ships at San Juan Bay and no tendering at either terminal. I would pick the San Juan Bay terminal, as the author does, because Old San Juan is the highlight. The money is following capacity: a $425 million San Juan redevelopment, a four-acre Antigua terminal and a new Port Zante terminal that broke ground in July 2026. Amber Cove is the ironic outlier, because Carnival Corporation owns it rather than a government. If I were booking, I would check the day's ship schedule first, since a second ship at Port Zante means more lines.