POLL (US Cruisers): Would you prefer to sail an international cruise that departs from the US vs. taking an int'l flight?

[RollingMeadows]

I'd fly home from Japan every year for my 30 days of accrued leave. I'd drag the toddlers with me on an 11 hour flight across the international date line. In coach. Sometimes in uniform. I despise international travel. I made that trip way too many times.

[donaldsc]

Your poll is impossible to answer s you don't give all possible alternatives.  

 

DON

[RollingMeadows]

11 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Your poll is impossible to answer s you don't give all possible alternatives.  

 

DON

I'm assuming the poll was created to learn the options from the discussion part.

[JRG]

As the voice of reason,  here is what I think....

 

If the talking heads could get together,  they would put a temporary 3-year test ban on the PVSA (after a feasibility study) to see what kind of itineraries the Cruiselines would put forth.  Then the Market would speak and we know what that means....markets always get what they want.

 

We know now they (cruiselines) can change with the wind,  when it comes to changing itineraries and they would foam at the mouth to generate more deposits or use up cruise credits.

 

The PVSA is the 800 pound gorilla in the thread.

 

 

[Cruzaholic41]

11 hours ago, JRG said:

As the voice of reason,  here is what I think....

 

If the talking heads could get together,  they would put a temporary 3-year test ban on the PVSA (after a feasibility study) to see what kind of itineraries the Cruiselines would put forth.  Then the Market would speak and we know what that means....markets always get what they want.

 

We know now they (cruiselines) can change with the wind,  when it comes to changing itineraries and they would foam at the mouth to generate more deposits or use up cruise credits.

 

The PVSA is the 800 pound gorilla in the thread.

 

 

As the “voice of reason”, your suggestion doesn’t seem to have much reason. Please explain what the PVSA has to do with the poll question, which is about one’s preference on taking international cruises. 

[JRG]

10 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

which is about one’s preference on taking international cruises. 

 

I thought it had something to do with departures and flights....not sure let me re-check and I will get back to you....

 

 

[CCAubs]

On 4/12/2022 at 5:03 PM, kochleffel said:

But a cruise from a foreign departure port, and there are plenty of them, wouldn't be departing from the US!

 

The practical issue involved is that a cruise from a US port to distant places is going to be a long cruise. I'm puzzled by the posts that don't seem to consider Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Mexico, or the nearer Caribbean island to be foreign. For legal purposes, the ABC islands and all of South America are "distant foreign ports," but far enough from the Florida ports as to make a cruise to them too long for many travelers. NCL has its cruises to the ABC islands embark from San Juan instead of the mainland. Holland America offers long itineraries that originate from US ports, but that's a specialized market.

 

I'm beginning to think that the original post might have had a trolling intent.

I promise there was no trolling intent 🙂

[CCAubs]

On 4/12/2022 at 8:34 PM, cruisemom42 said:

After reading all of the comments, I would tend to agree that the survey question was not as clear as the OP probably intended. 

 

I took it to be a question regarding whether we would be interested in doing a far-flung itinerary but one that both began and ended in a US port to avoid the long-haul international flights. Something similar to the Voyage of the Vikings offered by Holland America that (I think) sails R/T from Boston up along Canada and Newfoundland to Greenland, Iceland and ending in Scandinavia. Then it returns. You can opt to do only half of the cruise (e.g., one-way) or the whole enchilada.

 

Fred. Olsen cruises, based in the UK does something similar. Almost all of their itineraries are R/T from various points in the UK. Apparently they have a loyal passenger base, many of whom apparently prefer not to fly. You might think they only cruise in a reasonable vicinity to the UK but in fact they offer some interesting options such as a Black Sea itinerary with many sea days (and a few judicious stops) along the way there and back again.

 

 

As the OP, I tend to agree with that as well LOL 🙂

 

That said, you interpreted it exactly as I'd meant for it to read! Wondering whether people would like to avoid international flights at present, and sail those itineraries from the US instead. Thanks for clarifying!

[CCAubs]

Thank you all for the voting and discussion! I clearly caused confusion -- apologies for that! While I do recognize most cruises are international (Canada, Caribbean, etc.), I intended to refer to those cruises that require intercontinental flights, and whether cruisers would prefer to sail those itineraries from the US vs. take a longer international flight to sail from a departure port elsewhere. Everyone's feedback is appreciated & noted!

[JRG]

2 hours ago, CCAubs said:

Thank you all for the voting and discussion! I clearly caused confusion -- apologies for that! While I do recognize most cruises are international (Canada, Caribbean, etc.), I intended to refer to those cruises that require intercontinental flights, and whether cruisers would prefer to sail those itineraries from the US vs. take a longer international flight to sail from a departure port elsewhere. Everyone's feedback is appreciated & noted!

 

In other words,  the answer to your poll is that it depends on whether you are US, Canadian,  or another foreign citizen, because if you look at it from these different origination perspectives then everybody has a different answer.

 

The poll is a good one though because it gets the braintrust of these threads commenting on an issue and nobody is right (except the OP).

 

If you can lift the PVSA the types of itineraries that might be offered are the proof in the pudding.

Edited April 19, 2022 by JRG

[JRG]

On 4/14/2022 at 8:32 AM, Cruzaholic41 said:

I did read the question and we have different opinions about it. Difference is, I understand the difference between opinion and fact. Carry on sailor. 🙄

 

I fully agree with #41 here,  and I'm curious what #1 thru #40 have to say on the matter.

 

Not sure about the second part of the quote but it not relevant here, to me.