Things that I did not know about cruises

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teacher Terry It's funny because at home I am in bed early and there is no nightlife for me. But on a cruise we love all the nightlife. I wouldn't even go if I didn't do an excursion in each port. Also on a cruise we can sleep in or take a nap which are things I don't do at home mostly due to the dogs.

On a cruise on a Celebrity ship, there was no nightlife. That may be because we went to bed early ourselves, and did not participate. But one night, I decided to take a tour by myself to the dancing lounge at the highest spot on the ship. It was deserted and the bored DJ was entertaining two couples, one of which was dancing.

During the day, there were live musician groups playing at different spots throughout the ship. A passenger at a lunch table angrily told us that she could not find a quiet spot on the ship.

We were among the younger people there.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie I took this photo when we disembarked in Juneau. The small ship I was on is in the lower left of the photo, the 62-passenger NG Sea Lion...

That looks like a private boat.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie I took an Alaska small ship cruise early last summer, the same one braumeister took a couple of years earlier. I had an absolutely wonderful time. For me, it was worth every penny.

So glad you enjoyed it. I've met several people who have taken the same Lindblad cruise on that ship or its sister ship and they have all raved about it.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Getting back to the original posting. Viking River cruises are very expensive, and so are their new ocean cruiseships. For the one week cruise on Viking, I could make 3 trips to Europe including flights. We are into more trips instead of extra luxurious trips.

Absolutely true.
The are selling to a different market.

I am in the midst of planning excursions from a Carnival ship as I could take their excursion for example at $125 pp (Pompeii & Vesuvius) and be rushed on their timetable, or do it on my own via public transport and see more (Pompeii & Vesuvius & Herculaneum), at $50 pp.

So I have learned, one aspect is it takes a LOT of planning, reading, when figuring out routes, etc. Nearly like a full time job

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie I took an Alaska small ship cruise early last summer, the same one braumeister took a couple of years earlier. I had an absolutely wonderful time. For me, it was worth every penny. I took this photo when we disembarked in Juneau. The small ship I was on is in the lower left of the photo, the 62-passenger NG Sea Lion. Compare it to the Silversea looming over it, which was one of the "smaller" of the cruise ships berthed in Juneau that day. It's too bad we weren't berthed next to one of the 3000-plus passenger ships stopping off in Juneau, the difference would have been even more striking.

Those small ships can go into tight areas the big cruise ships can't. Very Nice!

[Scuba]

We also like small ships, or even small boats. When we go to Greece in Sept., I found an 8-person max capacity sailboat with 2 of the people being captain and first mate. Can’t wait. Talk about being able to get into ports the other boats can’t!

[MisterBill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset I am in the midst of planning excursions from a Carnival ship as I could take their excursion for example at $125 pp (Pompeii & Vesuvius) and be rushed on their timetable, or do it on my own via public transport and see more (Pompeii & Vesuvius & Herculaneum), at $50 pp. So I have learned, one aspect is it takes a LOT of planning, reading, when figuring out routes, etc. Nearly like a full time job

However, you also need to make sure you get back to the ship before it leaves. If you have not looked on Cruise Critic yet, I suggest doing so. You can find the "Roll Call" thread for your cruise to talk to people who will be on the cruise and try to organize private tours with them. I remember when we did a Mediterranean cruise several years ago, we went to Athens with someone who had been there before and knew how to take the train to the city. That person found a private guide to show us around the Acropolis, While we were there, we ran into our table-mates who had taken a ship tour and did not like it. They bailed on the tour and we all went to lunch at a great restaurant and took the train back together.

We also did a private tour to Pompei, but I'm thinking we booked an organized tour to take us there. So it was much less expensive than the cruise line, but still had a timetable, which you seem to want to avoid.

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Absolutely true. The are selling to a different market. I am in the midst of planning excursions from a Carnival ship as I could take their excursion for example at $125 pp (Pompeii & Vesuvius) and be rushed on their timetable, or do it on my own via public transport and see more (Pompeii & Vesuvius & Herculaneum), at $50 pp. So I have learned, one aspect is it takes a LOT of planning, reading, when figuring out routes, etc. Nearly like a full time job

It doesn't take much planning to walk off the ship in Naples and catch a cab (sitting there) to the train station. Get on the train going to Sorrento and get off at the Pompeii stop. You can read about a self guided excursion online.

[gretah]

Your advice, please.....

My friend and I are considering a cruise this winter and neither of us has ever been on one.

We'd like to spend a week in Rio de Janeiro then take a cruise to Buenos Aires and spend several days or a week there. Neither of us are much for night life / sports activities on board or nature / National Geographic style. But scholarly lectures on culture, art, history, etc would be lovely.

How would I find a cruise like this? Quiet ship preferred. Upper end pricing OK.

All suggestions welcome! Thanks!

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Any consideration on using a travel agent to do the grunt work?

However, I just ran a quick query on one of the website of a travel company we use for cruises, entering in South America cruise with departure port Rio de Janeiro and pulled up the following cruises that kind of fit your parameters (ie this winter and ending in Buenos Aires:

Oceana 12night departing Feb 11, 2019 starting at
Regent Seven Seas 12 night departing Jan 20, 2019
Crystal 10night departing Jan 24, 2018

Note: It's a Canadian website with Canadian dollar pricing.

[cathy63]

VacationsToGo.com is the site I use for finding cruises in U.S. dollars. It pulls up the same three that YVRRocketSurgery gave. There are other options if you are not set on Buenos Aires and would be willing to disembark near Lima or Santiago.

For quieter cruises, just look for things that are not appealing to families with younger children. Anything that takes place during the traditional school year, is longer than 7 days, or starts and ends in different ports is likely to be pretty peaceful. The South American route you're looking for pretty much assures a quiet trip. I've never cruised on Oceana, Regent or Crystal, but all three of those lines market themselves as luxury lines, which is another clue that they're not party ships.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YVRRocketSurgery Any consideration on using a travel agent to do the grunt work? However, I just ran a quick query on one of the website of a travel company we use for cruises, entering in South America cruise with departure port Rio de Janeiro and pulled up the following cruises that kind of fit your parameters (ie this winter and ending in Buenos Aires: Oceana 12night departing Feb 11, 2019 starting at Regent Seven Seas 12 night departing Jan 20, 2019 Crystal 10night departing Jan 24, 2018 Note: It's a Canadian website with Canadian dollar pricing.

My vote is either of the top 2. I have been on both ships and enjoyed them both.
Stay a couple of days in Buenos Aires and go to a Tango show. We went to La Ventana and were not disappointed.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YVRRocketSurgery Any consideration on using a travel agent to do the grunt work? However, I just ran a quick query on one of the website of a travel company we use for cruises, entering in South America cruise with departure port Rio de Janeiro and pulled up the following cruises that kind of fit your parameters (ie this winter and ending in Buenos Aires: Oceana 12night departing Feb 11, 2019 starting at Regent Seven Seas 12 night departing Jan 20, 2019 Crystal 10night departing Jan 24, 2018 Note: It's a Canadian website with Canadian dollar pricing.

My vote is either of the top 2. I have been on both ships and enjoyed them both.
Stay a couple of days in Buenos Aires and go to a Tango show. We went to La Ventana and were not disappointed.

[YVRRocketSurgery]

[whoops, I messed up the links! ]

[ShokWaveRider]

Anyone taken the Cunard Round the world Cruise?

Cunard - Cruise results

New York to New York M002C

[braumeister]

Reminds me that for at least a couple of decades until its demise, Pan Am offered two around-the-world flights. In the 70s, they were 747s, and one went eastbound, the other west. If you bought a ticket, you could get off at any of its stops (something like six or ten of them), visit that city, then get on another to continue. They were Pan Am flights 1 and 2. Truly an amazing experience for anyone who could afford it.

[ShokWaveRider]

If you think about all the places these ROTW Cruise trips visit (+ the 2 Canals). It is pretty good value for a one in a lifetime trip.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Reminds me that for at least a couple of decades until its demise, Pan Am offered two around-the-world flights. In the 70s, they were 747s, and one went eastbound, the other west. If you bought a ticket, you could get off at any of its stops (something like six or ten of them), visit that city, then get on another to continue. They were Pan Am flights 1 and 2. Truly an amazing experience for anyone who could afford it.

I think these are still offered - not by PanAm, but I looked into this shortly before ER and found that they were at least at that time. We didn’t do it mainly because of our dog - didn’t want to leave him for that long.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef My vote is either of the top 2. I have been on both ships and enjoyed them both. Stay a couple of days in Buenos Aires and go to a Tango show. We went to La Ventana and were not disappointed.

We haven’t cruised South America but we’ve been on Regent and it is a very nice line - quiet ship, well-traveled and interesting other passengers, but you can also have your privacy if that’s what you prefer. DH and I never dined with anyone else the entire time.

[jonat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider Anyone taken the Cunard Round the world Cruise?

Back in 2010, DW and I booked a cruise on Cruise West, which we had sailed with (on the same ship) twice before. They were sending this ship on a round-the-world cruise, broken up into segments. You could book as many segments as you wanted. We did just one (in the Baltic Sea), but two women had independently booked the whole thing; one was planning on writing a book about it.

A bit more than halfway through (one segment past the one we took), Cruise West went out of business, stranding the passengers in St. John's, New Brunswick, with no assistance to get home and no refunds. Passengers who paid by credit card could get refunds from the card company, but like many cruise lines, Cruise West encouraged people to pay by check for a small discount, and those folk had to wait months for a travel industry policy to kick in. Oh, and if you bought trip insurance from Cruise West, it didn't cover this! From then on, DW and I always pay for travel by credit card, something I would recommend to all.