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Port intensive or sea day intensive?

abqmommyof4

By abqmommyof4,
in Princess Cruises

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abqmommyof4

abqmommyof4

Posted
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personally I would be just as happy if the ship just left the port and cruised around for the 7 days... I just dont get that much into the ports, I dont need to go somewhere for me just getting away is enough for me. ( and yes I understand about the Jones act, so I know we would have to stop somewhere, but that would be fine)

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fishywood

fishywood

Posted
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personally I would be just as happy if the ship just left the port and cruised around for the 7 days... I just dont get that much into the ports, I dont need to go somewhere for me just getting away is enough for me. ( and yes I understand about the Jones act, so I know we would have to stop somewhere, but that would be fine)

 

(1) The Jones Act applies to cargo, not passengers; it is the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) you need concern yourself with;

 

(2) You actually needn't concern yourself with the PVSA on a cruise to nowhere; they can go for seven days or as long as the cruise line cares to without any port calls at all (so long as the ship returns to the same port it departed from).

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bigeagle12

bigeagle12

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personally I would be just as happy if the ship just left the port and cruised around for the 7 days... I just dont get that much into the ports, I dont need to go somewhere for me just getting away is enough for me. ( and yes I understand about the Jones act, so I know we would have to stop somewhere, but that would be fine)

 

I am with you :)

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NewPennCruiser

NewPennCruiser

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I agree with Mom33 as well. It was one of the reasons that we chose to do the Eastern Med on NCL's Jade instead of Princess. They had a great 12 day cruise with at least 5 sea days mixed in. We were able to run ourselves crazy in port and then relax the next day on ship without fearing we were missing anything in another port. I'm not sure if I would like a cruise with just one port after another day after day. Guess that's why there are options. I know a lot of folks as well who think it's a waste to have a lot of sea days so it's nice to have various options for everyone. Dave

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itravelalot

itravelalot

Posted
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I agree with more sea days. I do like to see diffferent places but after doing a few port intensive cruises, I find it annoying to have to get up early and rush off on an excursion. (my dh loves to do excursions)... Sea days for me are a morning of reading on the balcony with my coffee and not a care in the world...aaaahhhhh... :)

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Maddle

Maddle

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Loved the LA to Hawaii itinerary we took last winter...it was like three vacations.

 

You start out with four sea days...you really get into the ship and activities...then four port days (that's part two) ...followed by four more sea days (that's part three.) The fifth day is technically a port day in Ensenada, but we had a short stay, so for me it was the fifth sea day in a row.

 

We loved it because there was plenty of downtime - reading on the balcony, checking out different venues onboard, listening to lectures and watching a movie or two in the theatre.

 

If you can take the time, and if you're into sea days, I would highly recommend this cruise.

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PunkiC

PunkiC

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We just love being on the ship and being spoiled. ;)

 

Sea days are wonderful! Port days are also wonderful, but can be a bit exhausting if you have too many of them that include miles and miles of walking, just one right after another. Our Greek Island cruise left us both with blisters on our feet.

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5326jan

5326jan

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It depends on the cruise! For places we've never been, I love the port days, with a private group guide that can show and tell us as much as possible within the time we're there. A couple of cruises ago we went to the Black Sea. Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, etc are all places that I had never been before, so I couldn't get enough port days to satisfy me. If it's a Caribbean cruise, I don't care about the ports and would be just as happy staying on the ship. :)

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Tak8 Holiday Sharing Rare

Tak8

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I like the port days. It also opens up the ship to be less crowded. If I come back early, the ship isn't as packed. The chair hogs tend to be on the island hogging the island chairs, so I can get their chair on the ship.

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FritzG

FritzG

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We book for sea days. A few days for some diversion are great, but we look for an itinerary we like with the most sea days possible. We want to enjoy all that the ship has to offer which I don't think you can do with a port intensive cruise. TA's are the perfect cruise for us.

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as19111

as19111

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It depends on the cruise! For places we've never been, I love the port days, with a private group guide that can show and tell us as much as possible within the time we're there. A couple of cruises ago we went to the Black Sea. Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, etc are all places that I had never been before, so I couldn't get enough port days to satisfy me. If it's a Caribbean cruise, I don't care about the ports and would be just as happy staying on the ship. :)

 

Our sentiments are the same as yours. If not for cruising, we would not have seen the Baltics, the Mediterranean, Iceland, Norway, Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal and the ports of Southampton and Dover...we just wouldn't have covered all the ports on land trips.

 

We also loved the Hawaii cruise for the reasons mentioned above. It's three cruises wrapped up into one! The Panama Canal was a great sea day cruise, too.

 

As for the Caribbean cruises, we once met a couple on a cruise that asked us what our favorite island was, as they were looking to purchase property on one. We honestly could not give them an answer because we still haven't found one that we would "have" to visit again.

 

I think the Queen Mary does transatlantic cruises with no ports, but I'd have to tie that into an intensive tour of the UK and then sail home from there, gaining back the hours as we sailed back to the US...or do a round trip!

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madjohn

madjohn

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Loved the LA to Hawaii itinerary we took last winter...it was like three vacations.

 

You start out with four sea days...you really get into the ship and activities...then four port days (that's part two) ...followed by four more sea days (that's part three.) The fifth day is technically a port day in Ensenada, but we had a short stay, so for me it was the fifth sea day in a row.

 

We loved it because there was plenty of downtime - reading on the balcony, checking out different venues onboard, listening to lectures and watching a movie or two in the theatre.

 

If you can take the time, and if you're into sea days, I would highly recommend this cruise.

 

We have done this cruise twice and doing it again later this year. We feel exactly the same.

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