Where to next? Help me choose!

[jslindzy]

I've been home from my second cruise EVERRRR for about ten days and am already looking forward to my next! However, I'd appreciate some advice from my more "seasoned" cruisers on where to go next. I just returned from a 7 day Hawaiian cruise on NCL Pride of America. One of the things that made this trip spectacular was the fact that we stayed overnight at two ports! Gave us time to hit the clubs, rent convertibles, and putter about at our leisure!

 

I feel totally spoiled at this point and would like for my next cruise to have one or two overnight stays. However, the most time my boyfriend and I could spend away from work is 7-10 days (including travel/flight time)! Any suggestions as to what cruises may fit the bill? I've seen some in Europe, but most are at least 14 day cruises :( Aby advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Jennifer

[Keith1010]

I would wait on Europe until you can take a few additional days off because a seven day cruise can be short and then you have the two days of traveling and need to arrive a couple days early and so forth.

 

You may want to consider a New England/Canada cruise where you can find overnights. Another option is a cruise to Bermuda where you spend three days/two nights in Bermuda.

 

Keith

[Sinppu]

Excellent advice above.

I would have also suggested Bermuda and some Bahama cruises also offer overnight stays.

[paul929207]

Other than the Bermuda and some of the Bahama cruises, I can't think of any to the Caribbean or Mexician areas that have overnights. A number of the European cruises do, but as mentioned above, they are often 12 days.

[kitty9]

Cruise lines don't tend to stay overnight in ports in the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada or New England. The only area where they do an overnight is Bermuda, where most ships dock for two nights. But, the only thing you can rent in Bermuda is a scooter, as they don't allow car rentals to cruise ship passengers. If you want an overnight, it's more exotic places like the Med, Australia or Asia. And a 7 day cruise in the Med really isn't worth it especially when you add in the huge airfare costs.

[Jimnbigd]

We've been sailing the RCI voyager class ships for a few years now, and for us the ship is the vacation. The ports are "icing on the cake". But, my wife has MS, so doing excursions at ports are not usually practical.

 

Driving instead of flying to the ship might save you money and headaches. Can you drive to any departure port?

 

On my January, 2004, RCI Rhapsody of the Seas cruise, the ship had to skip Grand Cayman due to rough seas, since Cayman requires tenders. We went directly to Cozumel and stayed overnight there. So I know what you mean about overnighting at a port -- It was fun to see the nightlife there, even from the ship itself. By the way, it seems Carnival and maybe others are reducing the port-of-call time, presumably as a cost cutting measure. Less port charges, and more time for the casino to be open.

[Zubsin]

It's not going to be easy on a 7 night cruise...Bermuda is probably your best bet.

[jslindzy]

It's not going to be easy on a 7 night cruise...Bermuda is probably your best bet.

 

 

Oh it would be nice to have more flexibility with respect to travel, but it feels like I have to move mountains to miss more than a week of work (not including the weekends). Bermuda seems to be the one most mentioned thus far, but if you have any other suggestions, keep em coming !

 

I appreciate it! I was becoming frustrated by all of the neat cruises in the Med and Europe that were not feasible (too long).

 

Jennifer

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

You could do a B2B cruise...

[5326jan]

I think Alaska is a great cruise for new cruisers. There aren't overnights that I know of, but the cruises are generally 7 days, so you could stay an extra night at embarkation port and an extra night at disembarkation port. We stayed a few extra days in Vancouver following our Alaskan cruise and had a blast. You can rent bikes and ride all over. They even have water taxis that allow bikes, so you can go to Granville Island and explore. We enjoyed a couple of nights in Anchorage before our cruise too!

 

Good luck!

[meggie711]

I've been home from my second cruise EVERRRR for about ten days and am already looking forward to my next! However, I'd appreciate some advice from my more "seasoned" cruisers on where to go next. I just returned from a 7 day Hawaiian cruise on NCL Pride of America. One of the things that made this trip spectacular was the fact that we stayed overnight at two ports! Gave us time to hit the clubs, rent convertibles, and putter about at our leisure!

 

I feel totally spoiled at this point and would like for my next cruise to have one or two overnight stays. However, the most time my boyfriend and I could spend away from work is 7-10 days (including travel/flight time)! Any suggestions as to what cruises may fit the bill? I've seen some in Europe, but most are at least 14 day cruises :( Aby advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Jennifer

 

Although it's not overnight in port, I think you would have a great time on a 7-day to E. Caribbean! We enjoyed discovering the islands at our pace, so we hopped taxis instead of doing tours. Then it was back to the ship at night for the nightlife. So many of the newer ships have become more of the actual destination, so you can get the enjoyment of exploring new places, and then going back on the ship as a floating resort.

 

We are booked on the Epic for next year because we knew we enjoyed the E. Caribbean (St. Maarten in particular) and are very excited to see how much is available on the ship. We hear over and over again about how 7 days isn't even enough to experience everything there. So, consider looking at itineraries that offer places you would like to go, but that also offer cruiselines/ships with lots of nightlife.