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In December it's summer in Australia, and winter in Europe. I, personally, prefer WARM weather!

 

With a baby, I'd take a flight with the least amount of stops! Just much easier that way!

Thank you! I imagined nice, sunny (which may still be the case?) around Italy and Greece, only to realize later that ti's winter and may not be that pleasant. Like I said, the cost is the only thing that attracts me to Europe.

My question is - are you going because you want to cruise or because of the destination ports? Realistically, Thailand has many cruises available and would not require long flights. Some little ones need their schedule and others 'go with the flow' and sleep anywhere. As a first time choice, I would sail from port that does not required a long flight and the weather would be assured.

Hi. I think it's sort of both. While we want to cruise, we don't wan to get stuck here around Singapore, Malaysia, etc where we don't get so much different feelings. The only other choice is Shanghai - Japan, which is fine except that we expect to have a lot of Chinese people that we try to avoid.

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone could help give pros/cons for the two locations for cruises in December.

I've been thinking about this and it seems that there are many serious pros and cons for each one that I just can't make a decision.

1) Flights: It's one leg, direct flight from my home town to Australia (it's also a bit cheaper). This may be better for a baby who never flies before? Europe flights ending at either Venice or Barcelona always require one stop, with some long transit. Changing diapers may be challenging + feeding etc.?

2) Prices: What attracts me the most for Europe is the significantly lower prices for the cruises (at the time I was looking, a balcony room in Europe cruises is about the same as an internal room in Australia cruises!). Nevertheless, this is with Costa (Luminosa). Is it generally considered to be a more economical class than Norwegian or Princess?? Or are they in the same league?

3) I imagine I would get sort of nature scenery for Australia (Coles Bay, Port Arthur, Hobart + Melbourne), while it is more architectural scenes for Europe (Bari, Athens, Katakolon, Kotor, Split). Is this true? Which one should be more appropriate for people taking a 1-yr old baby around?

4) Also, would the different seasons affect the consideration above? Like, I'm not sure if the weather in Europe in December + the fact that it tends to be windy on the ship would ruin the view? That is, the baby and my parents who are in the tropical zone may be unable to tolerate the weather on the deck to enjoy the scenes. On the other hand, Australia is in Summer in December and that should be not so different from where we live.

Thanks for any input :)

**Correction - Actually it stops there for only 4.30 hr! 7.30-11.59PM **

Hi all,

I am a first-time cruiser who is a citizen of Thailand. I am planning my trip and have booked for a Carnival cruise that starts and ends at Seattle to avoid complication of traveling across the border (there was Vancouver->Seattle trip that was much cheaper). I have a multiple-entry B1/B2 visa to the US and am very familiar with traveling in the US.

Unfortunately, looking in the itinerary closely again, I found that the ship will stop at Victoria for a few hours. Does this mean I have to get a Canadian visa? Can I opt to stay on the ship? Or they won't let me get on board in the first place?

If visa is really needed, it would be quite frustrating to pay for a visa fee to visit for only a few hours + given the fact that I have no interest in going back there (well maybe, if I am quite wealthy in the future!). Plus, it would be certainly quite frustrating because I avoid getting (and paying for) a Canadian visa even though the chosen trip has higher cost.

Thanks very much for any suggestion.