Ports where once is enough

[carlmm]

14 hours ago, watsonbeau said:

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 !

 

Just another port some people told me not to get off.  What an interesting day I would have missed.!

 

The excursion to Gjirokastra was most interesting, including time to wander around on one's own. It's a world heritage site and worth a second visit.

Yet, if I should have the chance to stop in Sarande again, there is so much more to see, including Butrient, another world heritage site. 

[godfreyb]

Dominica

[exlondoner]

9 minutes ago, carlmm said:

 

Just another port some people told me not to get off.  What an interesting day I would have missed.!

 

The excursion to Gjirokastra was most interesting, including time to wander around on one's own. It's a world heritage site and worth a second visit.

Yet, if I should have the chance to stop in Sarande again, there is so much more to see, including Butrient, another world heritage site. 

 

I was going to have Sarande tomorrow, and may have been on the same cruise as Watsonbeau, where we missed Kusadasi, where I really wanted to go to see Ephesus, and ended up at Sarande. I'm sure Albania is a very interesting country, particularly the sites you mention, but those I spoke to who went on the trips commented mainly on the length of the journeys and the poor quality of roads. Sarande itself had what might have been a nice beach, if it weren't occupied by general mess and an occasional stray dog, intimidating taxi drivers, and dangerously uneven pavements. Someone in a wheelchair I shared the tender with said it was the worst place for access she had ever been, despite having done a couple of world cruises.

 

i suspect in ten years time it will have transformed.

[Ray66]

50 minutes ago, Kynance said:

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! 😉

 

I was on that trip too.  Another point to note was that the ship got back to Southampton a day early and docked there overnight. So you had the choice of getting off then or stay on the ship overnight and disembark on the scheduled day which is what we did.

[BlueRiband]

Reykjavik, Iceland.  Glad I went to see this part of the world but the landscape is pretty barren.  Boiling underground springs make it impossible for any vegetation with deep roots to survive.  The only trees there were Christmas tree farms and those put in by landscapers.

[Lanky Lad]

I will offer Naples as an example of having to fight your way though the people offering tours (even when I had just go off a Cunard tour and was heading back to the ship. Plus tales of pick pockets afterward. 

[Winchester Ranger]

Not with Cunard but:

 

1. Jamaica - a truly nightmarish place.

2. Mexico - any port

3. Southampton - just dismal

 

 

[sogne]

On ‎10‎/‎30‎/‎2020 at 3:30 PM, exlondoner said:

As we've had such fun recognising ports in another thread, I thought we might enjoy considering this. We have all been to ports on Cunard which we've enjoyed, but have no desire to revisit, or which we loathed the first time. Perhaps we could have fun with those. In the Marmorean fashion, perhaps we should stick to one per person per day to give a chance for discussion and mitigation. And this is meant to be frivolous, so don't use it as a reason to moan about Cunard too much. A picture of the ship in port is always nice if you have one.

 

i shall start with Isafjordur, where it was cold, wet, Sunday, and they weren't expecting us. So it may have not been at its best.

been  there 3x sunny each time first visit went to the deserted village of Heyestri also to Vagar Island and 3rd time walked round village  it is possible that my nautical heritage slews my view

not home at moment but will post some pics on return 

[sogne]

21 hours ago, watsonbeau said:

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 !

went to the Burtrint National Park excellent  

[sogne]

Constanza Rumania had very little to recommend it but the excursion to the  Danube Delta was excellent

[exlondoner]

48 minutes ago, sogne said:

Constanza Rumania had very little to recommend it but the excursion to the  Danube Delta was excellent

 

Ovid thought the same, I recall.

[Camgirl]

It is really interesting how everyone has a different opinion on each port. We really like Isafjordur and even enjoyed Sarande. Dubrovnik is a particular favourite too.

 

However, Gibraltar and Naples definately don't do it for us. And I totally agree about St Petersburg. Beautiful place but so restrictive when on a cruise. I would also love to see Baltic cruises without it included as a port. Two days wasted in my opinion, and so many other interesting ports to go to instead.

 

To be honest though, at the moment I would happily go to any port, anywhere, if it meant we could be on a Cunard ship.

[carlmm]

38 minutes ago, Camgirl said:

To be honest though, at the moment I would happily go to any port, anywhere, if it meant we could be on a Cunard ship.

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oskidunker]

9 hours ago, BlueRiband said:

Reykjavik, Iceland.  Glad I went to see this part of the world but the landscape is pretty barren.  Boiling underground springs make it impossible for any vegetation with deep roots to survive.  The only trees there were Christmas tree farms and those put in by landscapers.

Did not like this port at all.

[sfred]

4 hours ago, Camgirl said:

To be honest though, at the moment I would happily go to any port, anywhere, if it meant we could be on a Cunard ship.

 

4 hours ago, carlmm said:

!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!  x2 

 

I have a horrible case of landsickness.  That nauseus queasy feeling you get when you haven't been to sea recently.  The only cure is salt water and beer (being careful to drink the beer, not the water).

[alc13]

On 10/30/2020 at 1:13 PM, exlondoner said:

 

 I don't think you see the best of Dubrovnik on a cruise. People say the same about Venice, but I find that as soon as you are away from St. Mark's Square, you can wander peacefully without bumping into crowds and have a nice time. In Dubrovnik that was much harder, and I encountered two individuals, one in a shop, another in a bank, who had clearly been trained under the Soviet Union's 'Despise the Customers' Scheme.

Very true about Venice.  Even better is to start or end a cruise there and add on several days in a hotel.  It is a magical city, and unique.  Amazing art, too, if that's your thing.

[alc13]

Bintulu, Borneo.  Even typing it I remember the stifling heat and utter lack of anything worth seeing or doing, other than a very nice fish market.

[exlondoner]

Barcelona for today. Once was enough, but, in fact, I've been there lots of times, because so many Med. cruises call there. I just don't like the place, noise, traffic, etc. The port's not that nice either. I know, I'm a bit weird.

[Lanky Lad]

Today, I will offer Dakar in Senegal.  

[Windsurfboy]

Madrid 

[exlondoner]

18 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

Madrid 

 

On a cruise?

[Windsurfboy]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

Madrid 

 

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

 

On a cruise?

Yep it takes hours to load the tender on a low loader, thats why it's not worth going

[exlondoner]

It is on a river which is ultimately a tributary of the Tagus, so next time you could try tendering from Lisbon. 😀

[sogne]

22 hours ago, sogne said:

been  there 3x sunny each time first visit went to the deserted village of Heyestri also to Vagar Island and 3rd time walked round village  it is possible that my nautical heritage slews my view

not home at moment but will post some pics on return 

Isafjodur pics of deserted village and a memory of younger days

[sogne]

22 hours ago, sogne said:

went to the Burtrint National Park excellent  

National Park