New to Ocean Cruising

[Invicta1948]

We are a mature couple looking to take a 10 -14 day cruise in June or September 2012. We have been on smaller 10 - 20 cabin cruise boats on the Adriatic, French Canals and Great Barrier Reef for up to a week but not the larger ocean going ships. We are mainly interested in cruises which visit lots of ports/countries with maximum amount of time on shore. We have little interest in several days spent at sea.

Also entertainment/activities on board are not particularly important to us but we do want a comfortable cabin with a view, good catering and internet facilities.

Our preferred locations to cruise are Northern Europe, Mediterranean or North America. We know the Adriatic very well so we would not make that a high priority.

Our preference would also be smaller ships - say up to 1000 passengers.

We would appreciate any suggestions as to which cruise lines and specific cruises we should be look at.

[firefly333]

I dont know of many cruises from the US that are 2 weeks long. there are some southern caribbean that are 10 days long. You can do a B2B northern and then southern Alaska cruise which can see more since it spends the whole week going one direction. Or do a cruise tour which includes more on land.

 

You will find more longer cruises in the med and overseas, some cruises will vist two ports in one day!!! I dont see how you can see enough of a port to visit two in one day, but some ships do this.

 

Do be aware that internet off a satalitte is REALLY EXPENSIVE, like rates starting from 75 cents a minute .. but yes, many ships have wifi all over the ship.

 

If you only want smaller ships .. you are going to have to pay a lot more for those cruises, Id say at least 3 X more .. so smaller ships are out there, but at a price. Limiting yourself to only smaller ships will limit your choices a lot.

 

Maybe look at Amazara or one of the premium lines?

 

One other thing to consider with smaller ships such as Thomson .. far fewer balconies on these older more expensive smaller ships. But I hear the shows are better. Thomson does some longer cruises and may be in your price range .. though the ships are far from fancy.

[LHT28]

If you are looking at Budget cruises Princess & HAL have a few small ships

 

Premium lines a bit more $$ look at Oceania or Azamara they both have more included than the mass market lines

 

luxury look at Regent , seabourn, Silversea they have smaller ships that you are looking for

I would read the reviews then compare

 

Enjoy whatever cruise you choose

 

Lyn

[Wayfairers]

Many of the lines mentioned by LHT28 offer longer cruises so you shouldn't have trouble finding one that matches your needs.

[Essiesmom]

Unless you want to do Alaska, there won't be anything to interest you in the Caribbean in June and Sept. All of the cruise lines except Carnival and Royal Caribbean have taken their ships to Europe and Alaska, and only a few will be drifting back by late Sept.

I would concentrate on Northern Europe and the Med. Silversea, Crystal, Regent, Oceania, Azamara, Seabourn will all give you the extended port times you want. For less traditional itineraries, you might try Fred Olsen Hapag-Lloyd and Saga Holidays (if you are a senior). And you might consider Windstar, also. For the really small ship experience, Compagnie du Ponant.

You might go to this website and research ports to see who is calling where...EM

http://www.cruisetimetables.com

[navybankerteacher]

You might want to think about Holland America Line -- their smaller ships (Prinsendam, Zaandam, Maasdam, Ryndam - maybe a couple of others) carry about 1200 passengers - have excellent food, very comfortable cabins, and first class service all at affordable fares.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Holland America offers the 14 day Amsterdam cruise in Alaska -- very port intensive.

We have done it and loved and hope to do it again next year even though we have been to Alaska many times.

[eh2zed]

Also take a look at Azamara; smaller ships and on some itineraries lots of port time. Some itineraries will even overnight in a port for a two day visit. This is great for major ports.

[marco]

As an above poster mentioned, those HAL ships are just a little over 1000 pax and the Alaska itinerary might appeal to you. Another might be Canada/New England out of New York or Boston. Another option, though not truly on an "ocean liner" is American Cruise Line. Smaller vessels carrying 50-100 passengers that do various itineraries on the Mississippi, New England, East coast intercostal waterway (Baltimore to Fla). Some itineraries are 7 days, but you could combine 2 different itineraries for a 14 day cruise and some others are 10-14 days. Check them out on line as itineraries are extremely varied. These ships are going to be more akin to European river boats than oceanliners and I don't know if the ship experience is more important to you or the itinerary/ports, but it's worth checking them out.

[cjm66]

You might also take a look at Pacific Princess - 680 passengers and based for part of 2012 in Europe - mainly the Med. It was the first ship we sailed on when we rediscovered cruising and still remains a favourite for small scale at a reasonable price. Unfortunately the smaller ships rarely sail from or to Australian Ports these days. I also second a recommendation for HAL a little more formal than Princess but some ships have a retractable roof over the pool which can be a plus in cooler climates as we found cruising to New Zealand.

 

Colleen

[maryann ns]

I agree to look at Azamara. They have great itineraries with longer times in ports and usually at least one overnight. Their two ships are small, and elegant. The food and service are superb.

 

Also choose a cruise which starts in one port and ends in another so you can spend a few days in each of these. It is easy to book open jaw (multi city) flights.

[bbwex]

You didn't mention any cost restrictions, so I have to agree with Oceania or one of the luxury lines. We love Oceania, the food is great, and in the specialized restaurants (no extra charge) it is superb. Their itineraries tend to be very port-intensive (14 days in the Baltic and only 2 sea days, and I think they have eliminated one now). You want to look at their "R" ships -- Regatta, Insignia and Nautica -- they hold only 674 passengers each.

 

Azamara does operate some of those size ships, we have never been on the line. Princess, I think, has one of the R ships in its fleet.

 

While we are scheduled for one of Oceania's new larger ships (1200 passengers), the smaller R ships are very nice, and you get to know or at least recognize almost everyone. We were on the roll call, there was a meet and greet for the Cruise Critic people, and we were amazed at how often we were seeing the members of the group.

 

As mentioned, the luxury lines do have some ships that are even smaller in passenger load, and are excellent choices.

[Invicta1948]

Thanks for all your replies guys - the information is very helpful.