Ports where once is enough

[Cruise NH]

Any Caribbean port!  They are all the same.

 

 

[newjoisey]

16 minutes ago, Cruise NH said:

Any Caribbean port!  They are all the same.

 

 

I  disagree with any.....some are tougher than others getting past the street vendors but a small few . 

[watsonbeau]

Sarande in Albania.

 

Tender ashore so we did go ashore first time we went there.

 

The next cruise we went on we should have been going to Kusadasi but Cunard rearranged the itinerary so it was back on the list of ports - that time we stayed onboard QV and didn't bother getting off !

[Lakesregion]

Anything Vietnam - They may be trying to woo the tourist but the peasants are still offering bang bang and boom boom at all the port stops plus the pick pockets are rampant.

[Lakesregion]

43 minutes ago, Cruise NH said:

Any Caribbean port!  They are all the same.

 

 

My impression was that the ship sailed out of port spent the night at sea to give the locals time to change the signs and the ship sailed back into the same port where everyone pretended it was a different island.

[Colin_Cameron]

21 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

My impression was that the ship sailed out of port spent the night at sea to give the locals time to change the signs and the ship sailed back into the same port where everyone pretended it was a different island.

I used to say the same.

 

Then I went there.😄

[Windsurfboy]

3 hours ago, BigMac1953 said:

Managed 2 hours in Casablanca. What a dump!

 

My daughter, (25 at the time), was groped several times in the souk. Luckily neither she nor my wife told me at the time or there would have been a serious diplomatic incident involving these stinking low-lifes.

 

Apart from those on official trips, everyone else couldn't get back on board quick enough.

 

We'd been warned about Casablanca so stayed on ship, so they decided to load grain up wind, couldn't go outside without choking. 

[Lanky Lad]

I would say Alexandria for the Pyramids.  I am glad I went, but once was enough.

[newjoisey]

4 minutes ago, Lanky Lad said:

I would say Alexandria for the Pyramids.  I am glad I went, but once was enough.

We were going to do that once until i saw the soldiers armed with AK's on the tour bus

[foodsvcmgr]

Funny how to some assault rifles are unpleasant, when I see heavily armed soldiers or police I feel safer.

That being said I also vote for Nassau, didn’t find much of interest in St. Andrews (Canada), or Argostoli other than olive trees.

[Mudhen]

I had to think about this one for awhile. For the most part, most of the ports we've visited were just fine, some, of course, better than others. 

A place I could stay on the ship and miss was Ocho Rios.....while I like Jamaica, the massive onslaught of peddlers who followed us, got in front of us, tried to sell us everything from baskets, fake jewelry to down right hard drugs (pot was the least of it...EVERYBODY SOLD THAT!!!) was totally annoying and a little intimidating. I'd pass on that place if we pulled in there again.

[Essiesmom]

Puerto Limon.  Industrial dock, nothing there but straw market unless you take a tour.  The tour was good - east coast version of the tour we took in Puntarenas (both in costa Rica) but no reason to go back.  Belize.  Been to Cozumel so many times, no reason to go back.  Three times in Costa Maya is enough.  I know it's heresy, but after walking all over Rome, I don't have a need to go back.  Koper...very rainy day so a damper on the visit.  Ravenna.  Seen the mosaics, don't need to go back.  Ephesus.  Hiked the ruins, sat through the carpet presentation.  No need to go back.  There are others...  But there are so many places I haven't been yet...  EM

[Csardas]

Gibraltar

[Windsurfboy]

15 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

That first sight of the ship in Southampton still gets me excited.

 

The ship yes , but I  don't think of that as Southampton. 

 

I was actually joking.

 

I don't think any of the Canary islands are worth a second visit , on a cruise ship.

 

Not that they are not nice for a lazy  sunny holiday, we're off to Tenerife on Friday. A hotel that won new European hotel of the year in 2019, big suite , very big 50 sqm  balcony (covid safe sun)  for less than an cruise.

 

However the Canaries  as a cruise destination for a one day visit that's different. 

[exlondoner]

9 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Funny how to some assault rifles are unpleasant, when I see heavily armed soldiers or police I feel safer.

That being said I also vote for Nassau, didn’t find much of interest in St. Andrews (Canada), or Argostoli other than olive trees.

 

I suppose that depends on your level or trust of soldiers/police. Mine is very low.

[exlondoner]

My offering for today will be St. Petersburg. I have actually been several times for overnight stops and hugely enjoyed it. It is a splendiferous city. But I don't particuRly want to go back on a cruise, because of the Russian's insistence on going on official tours or having a visa, which is expensive and a hassle to obtain. I should love to be able just to go into the city and wander about alone. If not, I don't much want to go again.

[Ray66]

50 minutes ago, Csardas said:

Gibraltar

 

May I ask why? We like it there and think half a day is not enough as there is plenty to do. Cable car to Top of the Rock, Alameda Gardens, Europa Point. It has plenty of history too.

 

28 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

I don't think any of the Canary islands are worth a second visit , on a cruise ship.

 

You're probably right. There didn't seem much to do at La Palma, and Las Palmas in Gran Canaria was very built up. We did enjoy the Mountain of Fire in Lanzarote though. We've been to the Canaries twice and wouldn't want to go again. So twice was enough for us.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, Csardas said:

Gibraltar

 

I find Gibraltar useful at the start of a cruise, for one can go to M and S to acquire the things one has forgotten to pack. Much less useful on the way home. And I know this is an odd thing for an exlondoner to say, but I find the traffic there rather irksome, as is the case with Barcelona.

[Ray66]

3 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

My offering for today will be St. Petersburg. I have actually been several times for overnight stops and hugely enjoyed it. It is a splendiferous city. But I don't particuRly want to go back on a cruise, because of the Russian's insistence on going on official tours or having a visa, which is expensive and a hassle to obtain. I should love to be able just to go into the city and wander about alone. If not, I don't much want to go again.

 

Not our cup of tea either. Plenty of history of course. We did the ship's tours both days. On one river tour, we had to step over other boats to get to our boat! The seating on the boat was poor and it was very hot so we went downstairs. All very basic. A shame they don't do Baltic cruises without Russia.

 

You're not allowed to take photos in the port.  This one is taken near the port.

 

 

 

[Windsurfboy]

We did private  tours and loved St Petersburg,  but if we went again would go out of  season, get a Visa and wander around not on a cruise. A cruise is a good first taster.

 

Really only like places we can wander around , and feel that we won't be harassed 

[newjoisey]

I misunderstood the gist of this post but now i can add to it more. Ports/excursions not to be re-visited by me are Cartagena [?] ,panama,and a volcano hike in Guatemala because of the aggressive vendors . When this post first opened up i thought it was about the pier /docking area.............but venice still is smelly lol

[newjoisey]

10 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Funny how to some assault rifles are unpleasant, when I see heavily armed soldiers or police I feel safer.

That being said I also vote for Nassau, didn’t find much of interest in St. Andrews (Canada), or Argostoli other than olive trees.

The opposite of unpleasant ...i have been a gun owner all my life and i got the impression that these guards were not going to save anyones life except their own if the balloon went up .   

[majortom10]

10 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Funny how to some assault rifles are unpleasant, when I see heavily armed soldiers or police I feel safer.

That being said I also vote for Nassau, didn’t find much of interest in St. Andrews (Canada), or Argostoli other than olive trees.

I think it all depends on your country of origin  and your attitude toward guns/rifles. Being from the UK and not seeing armed forces or police armed with guns/rifles except for airports then they frighten me. If I saw armed forces on the tour bus I certainly wouldnt feel safe I would feel as if they are there because we are high risk of an attack.

[exlondoner]

And I would worry about crossfire, even if the police were the good guys.

[Kynance]

The port I could definitely give a miss to on any further such trips, was the “no port stop at all” on QE’s infamous 4 night trip to nowhere in December 2014. We were meant to overnight in Amsterdam but the winds were too high for the ship to negotiate the Ijmuiden. I think Captain Clark tried to get us into Rotterdam & Zeebrugge but all the nearby ports we could reach were full so we sailed round & round the North Sea. A lot of passengers were very unhappy and there was a mass protest in front of the purser’s desk. In the end, Cunard offered each guest $75 as a goodwill gesture but by the time the offer was made, there was little time to spend it. 

 

The trip was made worse by the fact I had a nasty respiratory virus the whole time and the very unpleasant diesel smell in evidence every time you walked past by the pub on deck 2. 
 

I would be happy never to repeat the whole experience! 😉