Ports of call - best and worst

We had a great experience in Gadansk but we did it privately. We are not a fan of ship tours.

 

We were taken to a village outside and had a fabulous lunch and were taken to the music college which was fantastic. On the way back we went to a few antique stores which only certain items can be bought for import to the US. Certain items could not leave the country only locals could purchase.

We’ve done some really good ship’s tours; “The Ancient Water Smithy” wasn’t one of them. I’ve heard it’s a bit better now, but when we went it was a boring, disorganized mess. Once we left the tour and went to the old town on our own, it got 1000% better. We had a nice lunch, a few beers, and just enjoyed the afternoon.

We had a similar experience in Valletta - the tour guide was abysmal and we couldn’t wait to get back to the ship. Fortunately I’d fallen on some cathedral steps earlier and I fractured my hand, so we went back ashore on our own to find a splint and lo and behold, we had another great afternoon!!

So I guess my takeaway from this is that there are more bad tours/tour guides than there are bad ports?

Bill certainly agree with you about that! Most ports (outside of the Caribbean) are great. Tour guides, on the other hand, can be anywhere from horrible to wonderful.

Have to agree with witt's end about Vancouver. I don't think of it because we live 50 miles away from Vancouver have not sailed into Vancouver but have sailed out of it.

P.S. Bill you may have given me an idea as to what my blog should be about on our upcoming Asia cruise. Since we will be doing more Regent excursions than normal, I can give what I hope is a new and positive experience. We have done some of the ports on our own so I have that to compare the excursions to.

BEST PORT: Port of embarkation on first day of cruise.

WORST PORT: Port of debarkation on last day of cruise.

Greetings from South Beach, papaflamingo. I agree with both of your Best/Worst choices. Although South Beach does not have a commercial port, very few people think Port of Miami as a prime destination. However, living as we do 25 minutes from it, as First Day Of Cruise, it has pride of place in that capacity. When we sail out of the port on our next TA on Explorer, we will wave goodby to our condo.

BEST PORTS::

Venice

Dublin when moored on Liffey River

St Petersburg when moored on Neva River

Visby

New York City

San Francisco

Gibraltar

WORST PORTS:

Rio

Buenos Aires

Alexandria

Any port with H. Stern and Little Switzerland

WishIweretravelling,

Murmansk port is a commercial shipping port with extensive railway yards. It is dirty (coal yards) and has a funky smell that I think was coming from the active smoke stacks nearby.

There is nowhere to go unless you take an excursion. We chose the Oceanarium on a filthy school-type bus with significant condensation between the window panes so viewing was impossible. The PA system malfunctioned so badly that the bus requested it be turned off because the high pitched squeal was deafening. Our poor guide did what she could and spent her time walking the aisle repeating herself in order to be heard. I debated putting my fitbit on her!

I did hear that the tour of the nuclear icebreaker museum was enjoyable.

This port was the only even slightly negative blip in an amazing itinerary - enjoy!

WishIweretravelling' date='

Murmansk port is a commercial shipping port with extensive railway yards. It is dirty (coal yards) and has a funky smell that I think was coming from the active smoke stacks nearby.

There is nowhere to go unless you take an excursion. We chose the Oceanarium on a filthy school-type bus with significant condensation between the window panes so viewing was impossible. The PA system malfunctioned so badly that the bus requested it be turned off because the high pitched squeal was deafening. Our poor guide did what she could and spent her time walking the aisle repeating herself in order to be heard. I debated putting my fitbit on her!

I did hear that the tour of the nuclear icebreaker museum was enjoyable.

This port was the only even slightly negative blip in an amazing itinerary - enjoy![/quote']

 

DW, I and 17 year-old GD went there 2 summers ago on Voyager. Yes, its prime Stalin-era Russia BUT we enjoyed it. Good sail-in; it goes past many Russian warships (home of Northern fleet). We went on ice-breaker excursion - first nuclear ice-breaker (Russia is still building them). Very enjoyable as ship is in good condition and you see a lot. Excursion also went to high hilltop monument with beautiful little Orthodox church and nearby shrine to those lost in the Kurst sinking. An enjoyable day and reminded of how nice it is to live in the U.S.

Favourites:

Kotor, Montenegro

Taormina (actually the climb up to Castelmola)

Rome (we usually do it a few days pre-cruise but I think it qualifies as a port!)

Flåm, Norway

Tokyo

Antigua (that is where we honeymooned so it has a special place in our heart)

Ports we would rather stay on the ship for:

Nassau

Ancona

Busan

St. Lucia (I know it is beautiful but I think we have been there too many times!)

Bill certainly agree with you about that! Most ports (outside of the Caribbean) are great. Tour guides, on the other hand, can be anywhere from horrible to wonderful.

 

Have to agree with witt's end about Vancouver. I don't think of it because we live 50 miles away from Vancouver have not sailed into Vancouver but have sailed out of it.

 

P.S. Bill you may have given me an idea as to what my blog should be about on our upcoming Asia cruise. Since we will be doing more Regent excursions than normal, I can give what I hope is a new and positive experience. We have done some of the ports on our own so I have that to compare the excursions to.

If we lived 50 miles from Vancouver we would be visiting often. We love the diversity and the food and people are so nice. It has a little feel of Seattle which is also one of our favorite cities.

We are done with the Caribbean, been there done that too many times. St. Bart’s is the only Island we like but we can fly there and rent a villa and car.

Thanks, witt's end and DeepFreeze. I'm signed up for the Oceanarium, but perhaps I should switch to the icebreaker.

If we lived 50 miles from Vancouver we would be visiting often. We love the diversity and the food and people are so nice. It has a little feel of Seattle which is also one of our favorite cities.

 

We are done with the Caribbean, been there done that too many times. St. Bart’s is the only Island we like but we can fly there and rent a villa and car.

We had an interest in Vancouver when we first move to Northern Washington 16 years ago. Now the prices are just over the top. While they have great food choices, the prices for alcohol are outrageous and they measure the alcohol (tiny pours) and charge you twice the amount you would pay for a good drink in the states. We do fly out of Vancouver as it is 50% closer than Seatac and the airport is beautiful. As with anywhere - after a while you get the feeling of "been there - done that".

Agree about the Caribbean but for us the only island we like is St. Kitts (not the port as much as the interior).

St Martin and Monaco are my two favorite ports.

my favorite (limited experience) is VilaFrance. Though it is a tender port I found the scenery amazing and would happily live there.

Greetings from South Beach, papaflamingo. I agree with both of your Best/Worst choices. Although South Beach does not have a commercial port, very few people think Port of Miami as a prime destination. However, living as we do 25 minutes from it, as First Day Of Cruise, it has pride of place in that capacity. When we sail out of the port on our next TA on Explorer, we will wave goodby to our condo.

 

 

BEST PORTS::

Venice

Dublin when moored on Liffey River

St Petersburg when moored on Neva River

Visby

New York City

San Francisco

Gibraltar

 

WORST PORTS:

Rio

Buenos Aires

Alexandria

Any port with H. Stern and Little Switzerland

Warburg,

Just found this thread again and I was wondering if you could say what you did t like about Alexandria as we just booked a cruise that stops there in 2020. Any no pro or con would be helpful, thanks! (Actually, I’d welcome any info from anyone who’s been there before, especially with Regent.)

Warburg,

 

Just found this thread again and I was wondering if you could say what you did t like about Alexandria as we just booked a cruise that stops there in 2020. Any no pro or con would be helpful, thanks! (Actually, I’d welcome any info from anyone who’s been there before, especially with Regent.)

Hello, UUNetBill. Perhaps Alexandria has cleaned up its act, literally, and you will have a better experience than we did. The city is on a double horseshoe bay and was gorgeous from a distance. However, I was a guest of a group of women at a hotel on the beach. The sand resembled a toilet. The women were charming, and I enjoyed the visit, but not the aftermath. I had a Coke out of a crystal ice cooler, and was ill with digestive problems for three days. The bottle was sealed but the water and ice were local. I slipped up there. We had no problems in Cairo. Enjoy your visit.

Bon Voyage,

Mary

If you go to St. Martin, make sure you bring back some guava rum. Can’t find that anywhere else. Great as an alcoholic snow cone which they have you sample. We pretty much liked all the Caribbean ports we’ve been to. I’ve sailed into other ports for work- Mexico, San Diego, Alaska... I’d take the Eastern Caribbean any day.

So, I’m wondering, IYO is the port experience hindered by whether or not it’s an anchorage vs mooring? I think almost all of my past cruises have pulled up to a dock, which IMHO is a lot easier for going back and forth on the ship. But my Regent Cruise has 3 anchorages out of 7 days, and we’re pretty bummed about that. Do you feel it’s a factor?

Hello, UUNetBill. Perhaps Alexandria has cleaned up its act, literally, and you will have a better experience than we did. The city is on a double horseshoe bay and was gorgeous from a distance. However, I was a guest of a group of women at a hotel on the beach. The sand resembled a toilet. The women were charming, and I enjoyed the visit, but not the aftermath. I had a Coke out of a crystal ice cooler, and was ill with digestive problems for three days. The bottle was sealed but the water and ice were local. I slipped up there. We had no problems in Cairo. Enjoy your visit.

Bon Voyage,

Mary

Thanks, Mary. We’re still over 18 months out and a lot can change in that time. I wouldn’t be surprised if the itinerary gets changed given the volatility in the world. I appreciate the feedback!

Warburg,

 

Just found this thread again and I was wondering if you could say what you did t like about Alexandria as we just booked a cruise that stops there in 2020. Any no pro or con would be helpful, thanks! (Actually, I’d welcome any info from anyone who’s been there before, especially with Regent.)

DW and I were there 3 years ago. Had a great Regent excursion to the public library (VERY hi-tech, filled with congenial students, and includes 3 small but terrific museums) and an enjoyable lunch at the Yacht Club which has a beautiful view of the bay.

The city itself was filled with trash!

We also enjoyed Alexandria. When we were there, there had not been a cruise ship in port for months. My DH was taking a photo and suddenly was surrounded by women and children. They wanted to welcome him to Alexandria and asked him a lot of questions - everything from how old are you, how many children do you have, etc. I finally sauntered over and joined in. What lovely people!

Only been on 2 cruises,

Absolutely loved Kotor- great sail in, but the sail out was sublime seen from the back of the ship on comfy loungers after the fantastic walk up to the top of the mountain behind the town.

Venice

Sorrento

Dubrovnik

Iles des Saintes

St Martin- mostly for the 2 days spent in Grand Case, but we did enjoy watching the silly people get blown around at the beach by the airport in St Maarten.

Actually all the ports visited on those 2 cruises were great, Rovinj, Split, Taormina, St Kitts, St Lucia, if I had to pick the least faves I guess it would be Dominica- too wet, though we totally enjoyed the river tube excursion, and St Bart's, beautiful little town, but just didn't feel comfortable there, though we did enjoy checking out the amazing mega yachts from the deck of our ship.

I think those are some pretty good ports for a total of 2 cruises- I think we are going to be good at this:D:cool:

Best

Monaco

Venice- the sail in and out

Santorini

St Petersburg

Istanbul

Worst

Few really hated but found hard to warm to

Riga

Warnemunde - nothing there except long drive to Berlin

Livorno as a port, lots of places to go to but Livorno itself !!

Quebec City, QC

Saguenay, QC

OK, I’ll play.

Favorites: way more than five, but if forced to choose:

Devil’s Island

Havana

Tangier

Petropavlovsk

Walvis Bay

Least favorite: not many. Most places can be interesting for some reason. But I am in no rush to return to these ports:

Recife

Rio de Janeiro

Dakar

Parintins

Havest Caye