Cruising

[Cobra9777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef What we have done on some cruises, is go to the cruise critic website, look for our exact cruise, and see if anyone is putting together private excursions. These can run from 2 to 10 people, and you can see a lot more. I put together an all day culinary tour in Lima that was fantastic, We also took a charter flight over the Nazca lines in Peru. On the other end of the spectrum, we hired a taxi to take us from Le Havre to Giverney to visit Monet's house and gardens.and the cathedral at Rouen. It was 400 Euros, but it was worth every cent to do things at our own pace and not have to fight the crowds.

Great suggestion. I'll definitely check that out next time. Thanks.

[Bamaman]

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Originally Posted by Nemo2 Booked on RC, Ft. Lauderdale to Copenhagen next April....(listed price up 285% since we booked)....plan is to then do the Baltics by train...or whatever we can find.

Do yourself a favor and book a cruise of the Baltics. It is a trip of a lifetime. That region is deadly expensive on the ground, and you will see so much more off a ship. St. Petersburg is really something to see, too. Coming off a ship saves you from having to buy a $149 each Visa.

We ate a.burger, fries.& Coke at Oslo TGI Fridays--$60. Cup of coffee or Coke is.$4.50. Heaven knows what a gallon of.gasoline in Scandinavia is.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Do yourself a favor and book a cruise of the Baltics. It is a trip of a lifetime. That region is deadly expensive on the ground, and you will see so much more off a ship. St. Petersburg is really something to see, too. Coming off a ship saves you from having to buy a $149 each Visa. We ate a.burger, fries.& Coke at Oslo TGI Fridays--$60. Cup of coffee or Coke is.$4.50. Heaven knows what a gallon of.gasoline in Scandinavia is.

Yabbut...neither Norway, (which we've visited), nor Russia are part of the Baltics.....https://www.tripsavvy.com/before-you...altics-1502461

We want to visit the interior, and perhaps even go into Belarus.

From 2017: https://www.theworldwasherefirst.com...travel-budget/

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.....spent the best part of a month exploring this undiscovered area of Europe and found it incredibly easy to maintain a tight travel budget while still living quite comfortably. The main areas in our Baltics travel budget — including accommodation costs, transport, food, activities, and entertainment — all come fairly inexpensively when compared to the prices of Western Europe. This, coupled with lively, cosmopolitan cities and a beautiful, unspoilt coastline, is reason enough to explore these three wonderful countries!

[Rustic23]

We live a couple of hours out of Galveston. We have been taking a 'Winter' cruise every winter for the past 10 years. RC is our choice of cruise line, and the cruise cost of less than $100 a day per person. Going to fly to Puerto Rico this winter and do an out and back 14 day to the 'southern islands'.

[FUEGO]

Love cruising! We do about 2 week long cruises per year out of Florida (driving down from NC if the kids are with us, otherwise flying down!).

MSC has received all our business lately since "kids sail free". We shop the sales and jump on things when the price is right. We're going on a Christmas cruise this winter and over spring break we're going on a cruise to Cuba (somewhere I'd probably never bother to visit if flying were the only way to get there).

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Do yourself a favor and book a cruise of the Baltics. It is a trip of a lifetime. That region is deadly expensive on the ground, and you will see so much more off a ship. St. Petersburg is really something to see, too. Coming off a ship saves you from having to buy a $149 each Visa. We ate a.burger, fries.& Coke at Oslo TGI Fridays--$60. Cup of coffee or Coke is.$4.50. Heaven knows what a gallon of.gasoline in Scandinavia is.

If you do a cruise make sure it stops at Oslo!
Frogner Park is not to be missed.
I have attached a portion of a trip story about our Baltic Cruise.

[gayl]

I did Japan / Korea last November (Diamond Princess), Australia / Tasmania in March (Diamond Princess), British Isles / Kirkwall 2 weeks ago (Royal Princess), Malaysia / Indonesia this November. Each under 4k (single traveler, Sapphire this time) which is about what I would spend on air / hotelsI did Japan / Korea last November (Diamond Princess - excursions under ¥100 bc I used locals), Australia / Tasmania in March (Diamond Princess - all excursions free hikes), British Isles / Kirkwall 2 weeks ago (Royal Princess - Kirkwall for £12, Honfleur for €25), Malaysia / Indonesia this November. Each under 4k (single traveler, Sapphire this time) including cityscape on my own pre-cruise which is about what I would spend on air / hotels for 2 weeks city based. I'll do that a city later this summer .... maybe somewhere in USA or Canada

I think I just made the 1st secret Elite level In that I already got extra $35 on board credit last time, wonder what's in store now for 2 weeks city based. I'll do that again later this summer .... maybe somewhere in USA or Canada

[97guns]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 We live a couple of hours out of Galveston. We have been taking a 'Winter' cruise every winter for the past 10 years. RC is our choice of cruise line, and the cruise cost of less than $100 a day per person. Going to fly to Puerto Rico this winter and do an out and back 14 day to the 'southern islands'.

Yes, if you live close to a port you can take advantage of some really cheap last minute deals, our last cruise was a short 4 night from SF to Vancouver BC for $189

[gayl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns Yes, if you live close to a port you can take advantage of some really cheap last minute deals, our last cruise was a short 4 night from SF to Vancouver BC for $189

I live near SF! !!! Please explain how you did this~~~otherwise last minute air fare can negate this

[97guns]

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Originally Posted by gayl I live near SF! !!! Please explain how you did this~~~

I check vacations to go often and watched it drop from $459 to $187, 3 days before departure, that’s when I jumped on it, I’ve seen 14 day trips to Hawaii as low as $699

[Teacher Terry]

We love cruises and take 2 a year through Royal Caribbean. We like ships with about 2k people. Plenty to do but usually no lines. We go when kids will be in school.

[97guns]

I want to go on a Panama Canal cruise

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns I want to go on a Panama Canal cruise

Went through the canal in Jan or Feb 1963, heading eastwards from Australia. A group of us had spent the previous night in Panama City, (which was, at that time and has never been outdone, the scuzziest place I'd ever been to*), getting overserved.

Hung over, I dragged myself on deck around noon, looked over the side, went "Huh"......back to the cabin and woke up in the Caribbean.

(*Was in Colon last year....54 years of little improvement.)

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef If you do a cruise make sure it stops at Oslo! Frogner Park is not to be missed. I have attached a portion of a trip story about our Baltic Cruise.

We flew over to Oslo and took the Norway in a Nutshell train/ferry trip to Bergen. In have never seen any taller, more beautiful and sweeter people than in Bergen. We also love Copenhagen.

[Bamaman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rustic23 We live a couple of hours out of Galveston. We have been taking a 'Winter' cruise every winter for the past 10 years. RC is our choice of cruise line, and the cruise cost of less than $100 a day per person. Going to fly to Puerto Rico this winter and do an out and back 14 day to the 'southern islands'.

We spend at least a month a year at sea. We have been to Mexico and so many banana republics that they no longer interest us.

We do enjoy the trips out of San Juan as you can see 6 islands in 7 days in the southern Caribbean. St. Lucia is out favorite Caribbean island.right now.

We prefer Celebrity, but also like R.C. We are through with a deteriorating Carnival. We went Holland America to Europe last year, but the average age was about 85 years.

[brett]

Since retiring 5/6 years ago we have found ourselves doing less cruising and more independent land cruises. We tend to add a late booking cruise if the price is right and we happen to be close to the embarkation port.

We get tired of the cabin, the food, and the ship after a week or so. Much prefer local hotels, local food, etc. We still do cruises from time to time and we do enjoy them however they not at the top of our travel list.

[gayl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 97guns I want to go on a Panama Canal cruise

Went Ft Lauderdale to SF in 2004 .... will probably repeat when 2 /4 /5 yr old grandkids are old enough to enjoy / appreciate the lock mechanisms (watched them from 5th deck closest water). It was amazing to go under Golden Gate pre-dawn

[Koogie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gayl I did Japan / Korea last November (Diamond Princess), Australia / Tasmania in March (Diamond Princess), British Isles / Kirkwall 2 weeks ago (Royal Princess), Malaysia / Indonesia this November. Each under 4k (single traveler, Sapphire this time) which is about what I would spend on air / hotelsI did Japan / Korea last November (Diamond Princess - excursions under ¥100 bc I used locals), Australia / Tasmania in March (Diamond Princess - all excursions free hikes), British Isles / Kirkwall 2 weeks ago (Royal Princess - Kirkwall for £12, Honfleur for €25), Malaysia / Indonesia this November. Each under 4k (single traveler, Sapphire this time) including cityscape on my own pre-cruise which is about what I would spend on air / hotels for 2 weeks city based. I'll do that a city later this summer .... maybe somewhere in USA or Canada I think I just made the 1st secret Elite level In that I already got extra $35 on board credit last time, wonder what's in store now for 2 weeks city based. I'll do that again later this summer .... maybe somewhere in USA or Canada

Nothing to say/add except that is an impressive and cool list.

[Souschef]

Living on the West Coast, we are at a disadvantage compared to Florida. We can either cruise south to Mexico, or North to Canada and Alaska.
People in Florida have the whole Caribbean and Northern South America to cruise.

[Plantman]

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Originally Posted by Souschef Living on the West Coast, we are at a disadvantage compared to Florida. We can either cruise south to Mexico, or North to Canada and Alaska. People in Florida have the whole Caribbean and Northern South America to cruise.

I think you have an advantage compared to Florida. You can enjoy cruising to snow capped mountains or tropical climates!