Anniversary Cruise: Where Should We Go?

[Pudgesmom]

11 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

As do Oceania's.

We haven’t tried Oceania yet. I’ve had two friends go, one raves about it, the other had mixed feelings. We will certainly go if time and itinerary look inviting. 

[ontheweb]

I previously posted  (#14) in this thread, but I just decided to tell the story of how we picked our first cruise which was also for a significant anniversary.

 

In late 2001, I said to DW we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary next summer, why don't we try a cruise. She liked the idea. I suggested Bermuda as who at that point in time wanted to fly. (We could drive or take the bus to New York City.) She said no to Bermuda. (We have since cruised there.) She suggested Alaska, and now it was my turn to say no. (We have since cruised there.)

 

I saw an ad for a travel agency in the newspaper and sent away for their brochure. I saw a Barcelona to Barcelona cruise that included the ports for Rome and Florence. Since DW was and still is an elementary art teacher, I knew she would love this. And that is how we ended up on our first cruise.

 

It was on the whole wonderful. For instance our very first port let us choose between Nice, Cannes, and Monaco. We went to Nice and on our own went to the Monet and Chagall Museums. That still years later is probably the best on our own day we ever did.

 

There was one royal screwup out of inexperience (totally my mistake except she should have realized after 25 years that I have the world's worst sense of direction) as I got us on a train going the wrong way, not towards Florence. (The signs were in Italian.) She did figure it out, and we at least after getting back had time for Pisa, but not Florence.  We did schedule an almost identical cruise (though a different line) 10 years later for our 35th anniversary. And though more experienced and probably could have done it on our own, we used the cruise lines Florence on Your Own tour as we were not going to miss it again.

[ldubs]

15 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

( I prefer Celebrity's Solstice class ships to their newer ones, e.g., Apex, Edge.)

 

Agree.  I like Millennium class too.  

[cruisemom42]

36 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

Agree.  I like Millennium class too.  

 

I confess I do as well. We had a wonderful time on Millennium in Alaska this summer. The refurb was great. I hope Celebrity keep some (if not all) of the M-class around for a while. Especially given the trend in some ports to want/require smaller rather than larger ships.

[Tom47]

Our anniversary cruises:

25 in 1995  Alaska Cruise West 100 pax.  This line defunct.

45   2015 Galapagos--Celebrity Xpedition 95 pax--  may be beyond your budget, but it was worth every penny!

  50 cancelled by Covid, now 52 next year with grand kids-- Royal Caribbean 8 days Ft. Lauderdale rt

All of the above suggestions good ideas.  I would add Mediterranean out of Barcelona

Best Wishes

Tom

 

[navybankerteacher]

7 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I confess I do as well. We had a wonderful time on Millennium in Alaska this summer. The refurb was great. I hope Celebrity keep some (if not all) of the M-class around for a while. Especially given the trend in some ports to want/require smaller rather than larger ships.

Agreed - Millenium is a good size - had a great winter escape on her several years ago - with a couple of days in San Juan before and after.

[Luckiestmanonearth]

Not sure which “milestone” anniversary you’re referring to but congrats .

 

For us,

a) 25 years was Southern Carribean

b) 30 years was Hawaii

c) 35 years will be Panama Canal

d) 40 year plan might be Alaska (by that time we’ll be old enough to fit in on an Alaskan cruise according to my wife 😂)

[ontheweb]

29 minutes ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Not sure which “milestone” anniversary you’re referring to but congrats .

 

For us,

a) 25 years was Southern Carribean

b) 30 years was Hawaii

c) 35 years will be Panama Canal

d) 40 year plan might be Alaska (by that time we’ll be old enough to fit in on an Alaskan cruise according to my wife 😂)

For us,

a) 25 was our first cruise--Western Caribbean

b) 30 was Baltic

c) 35 was Western Caribbean again

d) 40 was a land trip in central Europe, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.

 

Nothing picked for 45 next year. I thought we found something perfect, but it is not until 2023. We might count it as a belated 45th. London to Reykjavik including Amsterdam, Brugge for Brusssels, 3 stops in Norway, and 3 in Iceland ending in an overnight in Reykjavic.

[KellyCz]

3 hours ago, Luckiestmanonearth said:

Not sure which “milestone” anniversary you’re referring to but congrats .

Thanks! It will be our 30th. Your trips sound amazing!

[KellyCz]

On 11/21/2021 at 6:38 AM, DirtyDawg said:

OP, as your husband has never cruised before you might wait to book any anniversary cruise until he has actually tried cruising and see if he enjoys it. You did not say how long his introductory cruise will be (or I missed it) so I'm assuming it will be  a 7 day cruise. Even if he enjoys his first cruise be careful scaling the anniversary cruise up to multiples of that length. He might be able to enjoy 7 days but 2 weeks or longer might be very different. 

 

Good advice. Our cruise next summer is 7 days, as you guessed. It's more than a year before our anniversary trip, so we'll have plenty of time to decide afterward if a cruise is the best option for that. Plenty of land-based vacations we'd like to do as well. So many options.

[George C]

Engagement on rccl ship

honeymoon on ncl

10th anniversary Hawaii cruise rccl 

25th anniversary Mediterranean cruise rccl grand suite 

30 anniversary celebrity penthouse suite on edge

( we cruise twice a year)

Edited November 23, 2021 by George C

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

For us,

a) 25 was our first cruise--Western Caribbean

b) 30 was Baltic

c) 35 was Western Caribbean again

d) 40 was a land trip in central Europe, Budapest, Vienna, and Prague.

 

Nothing picked for 45 next year. I thought we found something perfect, but it is not until 2023. We might count it as a belated 45th. London to Reykjavik including Amsterdam, Brugge for Brusssels, 3 stops in Norway, and 3 in Iceland ending in an overnight in Reykjavic.

Correction on 25 and 35, I wrote Western Caribbean; I should have wrote Western MEDITERRANEAN. 🤦‍♂️

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Correction on 25 and 35, I wrote Western Caribbean; I should have wrote Western MEDITERRANEAN. 🤦‍♂️

Thank Heaven!!!!!  Your original post was rather disturbing.

[lenquixote66]

For us:

40th.anniversary cruise to Alaska

45th. Cruise to New England and Canada

50th.cruise to Caribbean

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Thank Heaven!!!!!  Your original post was rather disturbing.

When I saw later what I had wrote, I could not believe it. Now it is corrected.

[ontheweb]

On 11/23/2021 at 2:44 PM, navybankerteacher said:

Thank Heaven!!!!!  Your original post was rather disturbing.

Though they were not anniversary cruises, we have actually sailed 2 Western Caribbean cruises. On the first we did it primarily for Mayan ruins going on excursions in Cozumel and Belize. On the second it was primarily for the Bob Marley bus in Jamaica.

[ldubs]

On 11/23/2021 at 12:59 PM, lenquixote66 said:

For us:

40th.anniversary cruise to Alaska

45th. Cruise to New England and Canada

50th.cruise to Caribbean

 

I would have to ask Mrs Ldubs where we spent our keystone anniversaries.  I'd rather not do that.  😃

[skrufy]

On 11/18/2021 at 1:57 PM, KellyCz said:

In August 2023, we'll be celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary. We are experienced U.S. and (to a lesser extent) European travelers, but not experienced cruisers (only one cruise for me, zero for my husband, although we're booked for a summer 2022 Bahamas/Mexico cruise).

Ideal trip would include several of these: walking, exploring, meeting new people, trivia or other group/team games, live music/theater, relaxing by the pool, massage, yoga, sunsets, excellent food, craft beer, cocktails, specialty coffees

Ideal trip would avoid: loud party music (unless part of a show), crowded pools, kids, high-pressure sales (onboard or off)

We're early 50s, reasonably fit.

We live in the U.S. midwest, so every cruise port will require a flight. No particular destination or cruise line in mind. All-in budget is $10K.

What are your recommendations?

Staying on the Alaska topic.14  day Alaska cruise, also you can do a land/ sea to Alaska. or a B2B Alaska, Hawaii cruise. We do the 14 day Alaska cruises because 7 days go by too fast and all you see is the tourist stops, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. 

[skrufy]

On 11/18/2021 at 1:57 PM, KellyCz said:

In August 2023, we'll be celebrating a milestone wedding anniversary. We are experienced U.S. and (to a lesser extent) European travelers, but not experienced cruisers (only one cruise for me, zero for my husband, although we're booked for a summer 2022 Bahamas/Mexico cruise).

Ideal trip would include several of these: walking, exploring, meeting new people, trivia or other group/team games, live music/theater, relaxing by the pool, massage, yoga, sunsets, excellent food, craft beer, cocktails, specialty coffees

Ideal trip would avoid: loud party music (unless part of a show), crowded pools, kids, high-pressure sales (onboard or off)

We're early 50s, reasonably fit.

We live in the U.S. midwest, so every cruise port will require a flight. No particular destination or cruise line in mind. All-in budget is $10K.

What are your recommendations?

Just noticed where you are. We are in northern IL. Hi neighbor.

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I would have to ask Mrs Ldubs where we spent our keystone anniversaries.  I'd rather not do that.  😃

We spent our honeymoon at the Homowhack Hotel in NY.How many people on CC can say that.😀

[KellyCz]

1 hour ago, skrufy said:

Staying on the Alaska topic.14  day Alaska cruise, also you can do a land/ sea to Alaska. or a B2B Alaska, Hawaii cruise. We do the 14 day Alaska cruises because 7 days go by too fast and all you see is the tourist stops, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway. 

Do you have a preferred cruise line for Alaska? Also, B2B Alaska/Hawaii is an incredible idea! We've not been to either. Not sure our budget would cover it, but I'm going to start searching right now.

[Aquahound]

1 hour ago, KellyCz said:

Do you have a preferred cruise line for Alaska? Also, B2B Alaska/Hawaii is an incredible idea! We've not been to either. Not sure our budget would cover it, but I'm going to start searching right now.

 

I've done several and my favorite was a one-way cruise from Seward to Vancouver on Celebrity.  Being one-way, we flew into Anchorage a few days early, rented a car, and explored on our own.  It was fantastic.  Plus, it was on Celebrity which is a great cruise line and if you haven't noticed, Celebrity has been a bit of a trend on this thread. 😉

 

Holland America and Princess are typically thought to be great for Alaska but having sailed them, frankly, I don't get it.  Based on the preferences you listed at the beginning, stay far away from Holland America.  Worst entertainment in the biz.  Princess is ok.  Rooms feel really small though.  I'm sticking with my Celebrity recommendation.  

Edited November 25, 2021 by Aquahound

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We spent our honeymoon at the Homowhack Hotel in NY.How many people on CC can say that.😀

No one, not even you can say that; it is, or rather was Homowack, no second h in the spelling.

[skrufy]

15 hours ago, KellyCz said:

Do you have a preferred cruise line for Alaska? Also, B2B Alaska/Hawaii is an incredible idea! We've not been to either. Not sure our budget would cover it, but I'm going to start searching right now.

Look into Princess and Holland America. They both do land/sea cruises. For AK/HI check fall repo cruises.

[lenquixote66]

13 hours ago, ontheweb said:

No one, not even you can say that; it is, or rather was Homowack, no second h in the spelling.

Do you want me to correct all your spelling mistakes ,Mr.G ?