Travel Cruise Tips and Suggestions?

#61
TEN MORE DAYS TO GO!

Until drinks and the sea and my nook, on a lounger, on one of the quiet decks.
Thanks for the advice to check out cruise critic...what a wealth of information. I am already considering a second cruise to Alaska in the spring.
 
#62
Vegas Long Legs said:
Just got back from Alaska. What an experience!

I love Istanbul! I really love any cruises in Europe.

We are going to Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand & ending in Hong Kong in 2013. I'm doing a land tour of Africa next summer.

We seriously looked at Suez Canal, Egypt, Dubai, Oman & Jordan but our TA said we wouldn't be happy with the ship Oceania was using for this cruise.
If one of their 2 new ships do this cruise, we'll go eventually.

The nice part about cruising is you can hit several countries without dealing with airports. We are getting older & even I hate airport hassels. My land tour in Africa has me going all over to different areas & small airports. ugh.
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Your Asian cruise sounds divine. What company are you using?

I like cruising because you can get a nice glimpse of a country/island and decide whether or not to go back for a longer vacation.

For example, I'd LOVE to go back to Turkey, but wasn't overly thrilled with Greece.
 
#65
dr. twiggers said:
For example, I'd LOVE to go back to Turkey, but wasn't overly thrilled with Greece.
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Where have you been in Greece?

Greece consist of so many Island that if you don't like one them you just might like another. ;) 20 years ago when I was in High School the most popular thing you could do during the summer was to take some weeks and go Island hopping in Greece, well that or Backpacking through Europe. :smile:. Literally half of the class went.

I've always wanted to go to the Island Hydra. It's one of the few with no motor driven vehicles. Looks wonderful.
 
#66
We've only ever done Princess cruises (about 8) (aside from the Disney Cruise in 2001) and they are the best. There is a lot to do all day, the food is amazing, the people are so friendly, the staff is way above excellent. I would like to try RC but I would do another Princess cruise in a heartbeat! Love them, and have had the best experiences on their ships.
 
#67
Mediana: We only visited Athens and Crete (Chania). I think I would like to try Santorini or some of the more classic Greek islands. You know, the ones with the white washed houses, etc.

Apparently Crete has a Venetian history, so no white washed houses.
 
#68
^^ My parents and I loved Santorini! We also enjoyed Mykonos and Rhodes as well. Here are some photos of the "white washed houses" that I took while visiting the Greek Islands:


GreekIslands-Santorini02.jpg


GreekIslands-Santorini01.jpg


GreekIslands-Mykonos01.jpg
 
#70
dr. twiggers said:
GS: When you get back....make sure to check in and tell us how you liked it! I'm jonesing for my New Years cruise! We're getting closer :smile:
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I have to say, I LOVED IT!
Cruising provides for what I would consider a true vacation from everyday routine, with beautiful scenery to boot.
I napped every afternoon, slept late, swam, had good food, gambled, was pampered, read my very dusty nook.............no obligations to family, work, appointments or traffic. My girls were with me, but we had designated check in times and shared meals. I am already booking my next one!
 
#71
gsmom said:
I have to say, I LOVED IT!
Cruising provides for what I would consider a true vacation from everyday routine, with beautiful scenery to boot.
I napped every afternoon, slept late, swam, had good food, gambled, was pampered, read my very dusty nook.............no obligations to family, work, appointments or traffic. My girls were with me, but we had designated check in times and shared meals. I am already booking my next one!
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Oh, how great! So, where are you going next time? ;)
 
#72
That is great to hear gs!!!!

We just booked our airfare for our Spring Break cruise. It's far off (March 2012) but the fares really dropped. I'm excited for that one since it is some more exotic ports (Panama City, Colombia, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) and it's also a Spanish immersion cruise. So I'll feel like I'm experiencing some of the Latin culture onboard.

I'm itching for the summer 2013 schedules to come out. We're thinking of trying Celebrity in Europe that year. I can't book the cruise until next summer because I have to wait for award travel to open up on the airlines....but it's still exciting.
 
#73
Mediana said:
Oh, how great! So, where are you going next time? ;)
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I am really itching to do Alaska, but the window of time in which it is good to go is so tiny and is my busiest time of year at work....so Alaska might have to wait till I am a full-fledged retiree. :smile:

So, it looks like I am going to try the Virgin Islands for a week. I'm just having trouble nailing down the schedule.

Have you been on Oasis or Allue of the Seas, Twiggers? Those ships look positively ridiculous, but I am wondering if they are just too big?!

I am really, really glad I did this cruise...I feel like I discovered some little treasure that I have been missing out on.
 
#74
gsmom said:
I am really itching to do Alaska, but the window of time in which it is good to go is so tiny and is my busiest time of year at work....so Alaska might have to wait till I am a full-fledged retiree. :smile:

So, it looks like I am going to try the Virgin Islands for a week. I'm just having trouble nailing down the schedule.

Have you been on Oasis or Allue of the Seas, Twiggers? Those ships look positively ridiculous, but I am wondering if they are just too big?!

I am really, really glad I did this cruise...I feel like I discovered some little treasure that I have been missing out on.
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I've been really itching for Alaska also - I've heard only good things. But I haven't done it because it's a) costly and b) agree with you on the timing. Why is it during my busy time of year at work? July is not busy for me, but that's a teeny window.

Sorry if I missed it, gsmom, but what cruise line were you on? I've done Royal Caribbean (although haven't been on Oasis or Allure... I was on Liberty and absolutely loved it) and Norwegian (did not love).
 
#75
I think Alaska could be great if you know what to expect. I've done a couple of cruises and so many people I've met said that Alaska was their favorite cruise. It sounded fun so I took BF on his first cruise last August. I thought it was OK, we had a nice time but BF does not want to go on another cruise. What I didn't take into account was that Alaska would be just like Sweden.

We took a tour in the woods with a guide and she was so enthusiastic about finding moss! We saw a bear and the little group got crazy with excitement. That's when we realized that most people have probably never seen a bear in the flesh, while they are common in our parts. The Alaska nature is so very similar to our own that it never felt like we left Sweden. BF said "You know, you didn't have to drag me around the world, we could just have gone to our summer house".

We did have a nice vacation though since we did both Seattle and Vancouver too.
 
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