Post-Crystal luxury line for a travel-loving mom & her homebody husband who loves nature

[willoL]

I wrote a very long post the other day that disappeared into the ether(net) when I tried to create this topic on the Crystal forum. Sigh!

 

I love to travel, whereas my husband (DH) would rather stay at home. I did convince DH to try a cruise on Crystal for a "major, round-number milestone" birthday of mine, and he enjoyed that trip enough to go again on an Alaska voyage with our kids and me. (He'd always wanted to visit Alaska, but also feared seasickness, to which he remains prone.) We will attempt HAL in August of 2022, because the itinerary was perfect, but DH may never leave our Neptune Suite except to go to our reserved Family Cabana or ashore in Greenland/Iceland.

 

I don't know how DH will handle lines on a mass market cruise line, but I hope the inconvenience isn't sufficient to make him regret 24 days away from home.

I'm much more adventurous, and yet… traditional. I adore cruises because they hearken back to the golden age of travel. I love a good promenade deck, a library full of actual books, and at least a few formal nights. Excellent lectures and cultural activities are my happy place. Someday, I hope to circumnavigate the globe, perhaps via container ship.

It is for my husband that I seek luxury lines over my own preference for more days at sea at a lower fare.

DH, on the other hand, will stay in with room service if even a necktie is required! (He will tolerate wearing a jacket over a turtleneck or sweater.) Fortunately for me, my younger child enjoys dressing up--he asked for a tux for his 8th birthday--and accompanies me to formal nights.

For DH, itinerary is everything. I can only coax him away from work (for more than a week) every two or three years at best, so visiting less accessible ports with gorgeous natural scenery close-at-hand is key to his enjoyment. Photography is his hobby, and he's a scientist by (a)vocation. (I expect he'll earn the Nobel Prize one day, though he's too modest to accept this as a given like I do.)

DH has been able to work from home throughout the pandemic, so excellent internet connections *could* enable much longer voyages in future. He is required to use his institution's VPN, however, to access sensitive information, which I know is blocked on some ships. WiFi experiences would be helpful to me.

DH is very prone to motion sickness, so we have some concerns about smaller ships. Sailing on Crystal Serenity, he was uncomfortable as we crossed the Gulf of Alaska towards Seward. (So was my youngest, also prone to seasickness.) Serenity's tonnage was 68,870 whereas HAL's Nieuw Statendam, upon which we sail in August, will be 99,500 tons, so I'll have another data point then.

Historically, I often traveled with my two kids while DH stayed at home, but one is off to university this year, so only one teen is a current factor. Unlike MANY posts in luxury forums, I must emphatically state that my kids *hated* mass market kids’ clubs and are perfectly able to amuse themselves on a high-end ship without water slides. My youngest is history buff, sharing some of my interests. Our children have met nice, well-traveled kids (with international home ports) on our previous voyages and kept in touch, which is great, but no special child-friendly perks are required, though I do see a teen center as a plus. Information about a third bed in a stateroom, however, would be grand.

I'm not interested in lines that only cater to people aged 18+ because DH and I prefer the option to bring our teen. He'll be home-schooling this year, so available to travel at any time.

From my research, I think Hapag-Lloyd might be our best bet for our best cruise line to try. (My German is imperfect, but practicing it on a voyage would *add* to my enjoyment. I self-study several languages daily for fun.) Regent and Oceania seem next most appealing, though I wonder if Cunard's entertainments would be particularly up my alley, especially when DH stays at home. (The Royal Shakespeare Company is a definite draw.)

Azamara and Seabourn are also on the list.

I’d be delighted to hear what devotees of these lines have to say about their relative strengths given my wish list and this brief description of our interests.

--willoL

[Gourmet Gal]

I would say Azamara and Oceania are not quite in the lux category.  You should definitely be sure to book a suite if you require a third bed or an adjoining cabin, otherwise you will not have the lux experience you desire.

 

As for HapLloyd, are you the only German speaker in the family?  If so then the experience may not be as “enjoyable” for the rest of the family.

 

And lastly, have you considered Silversea?  You seem like you would enjoy having a butler and if DH would rather remain in the suite on formal nights, their room service is exemplary.  However, there are also other less dressy dining choices available on formal nights.  SS has several new ships that are spectacular.

 

Good luck with that Nobel.

[LHT28]

Have you looked at Regent ?

 

 Oceania is not luxury  but their larger O class ships ( 66084 GRT)  about 1200 pax

new Vista  is 1200 pax

Nice itineraries & PH & above have butlers 

No formal nights so DH would be happy  no jacket or tie required

not all inclusive  so if you are drinkers that could add up

 

I guess deciding between itinerary  & size of ship  is your priority

 

HL  also have cruises for English speakers  so if the rest of your family do not speak German it may work better

 

Enjoy  what ever cruise you choose

[vistaman]

Oceania is extremely expensive once you are on board.

drinks excursions transfers spa hairdresser ...

[Gourmet Gal]

One other note, willoL, has your husband considered asking his doctor about the patches for seasickness? They work really well for most people.  

[cathaana]

I think HL would be the way to go but I don't know about their Wifi nowadays.

Their expedition ships have really interesting itineraries but are obviously pretty small ships so maybe not ideal for somebody prone to seasickness.

[Azulann]

Check out Viking Ocean cruises Your husband might feel right at home . Plenty of activities and excursions for you to do too,

 

[orchestrapal]

16 hours ago, Azulann said:

Check out Viking Ocean cruises Your husband might feel right at home . Plenty of activities and excursions for you to do too,

 

18 and over only on Viking.
Cunard is stuffy and overly formal and  over priced.

It is in no way a luxury experience.

 

 

 

 

[seaknots]

separate vacations or a new partner is the way to go

[Gourmet Gal]

Would be interesting to know what the OP is thinking.  No comment since the initial post.

[flossie009]

Regent might work for you both.

Dress code is not onerous.

 

[Jacqueline]

I would say to travel with your kid. I really enjoy the cruises I have taken with mine. For interesting nature based itineraries consider the Amazon and Galapagos. 
HL does the Amazon and Silversea and Celebrity do a great job with Galapagos. The seas can be choppy there,

Go to Antartica with your kid too. There is not great internet and high seas, but very manageable with the patch. 
I like Polynesia too.

[Jacqueline]

Also, HL has international ships, so no need to have German,

On our trip all the speakers who didn’t have German as a mother tongue were put in one group. Many did have a command of German, also but chose to be in the English speaking group.

I learned a little German by doing exercise classes and it was fun.

As an aside, I am doing the QM2 as it’s  out. Of NY round trip for a cruise and so happy to not fly. The Grills suites are very nice. And the DR is very good, also have a dedicated swimming pool and deck. A transatlantic is also fun. Again risk high seas and scanty internet.

[willoL]

Thanks to all who chimed in! I didn't manage to subscribe to my own thread, so missed these replies in the moment. 🙄 I appreciate all the thoughtful comments.

 

DH tried the scopolamine patch but suffered intensely from the blurry vision side effect, so he's loathe to try it again. (Some people's vision never clears, he was told!) He'll discuss this with his doctor again next week before our TATL, and we'll see how the issue works out on a ship the size of Nieuw Statendam. He works much too hard, so I suggested he ask from some sedatives to sleep away any really rough days. 😄

 

I've gone ahead and booked an Oceania voyage for myself with my teen for 2024. The itinerary is perfect and we won't require many of the expensive up-sells. (I like a couple of glasses of wine per day, and prefer to DIY excursions.) DS and I booked an OV on the lowest deck because the youngest inherited his father's mal de mer but feels cruising is worth the risk of queasiness. We also go tent camping, so I expect to be able to cope with the minuscule Nautica bathrooms.

 

Oceania really seems to offer appealing itineraries for me and at a fair rate, so I'm keen to find out how the experience matches my expectations.

 

"Luxury" is much more important where DH comes along. As someone mentioned, traveling without him is *one* way I indulge my own interests, but he is an otherwise exemplary spouse, so I do enjoy bringing him along on occasion. Fortunately we are both easily able to amuse ourselves both together and on our own.

 

The responses here help me clarify: the luxury DH really requires mostly boils down to PERSONAL SPACE (perhaps achievable in suites on any line) and ACCOMMODATING SERVICE. VV seems a poor fit due to loud music on the crowded pool deck and what seems to be an emphasis on elaborate food over simpler preparations.

 

DH wasn't born in the USA and often finds European notions of health or luxury more intuitive which was another reason I thought H-L might be a fit, though he doesn't know German. Being bilingual and an immigrant, he's pretty comfortable with non-English environments, however. (My eldest speaks German much better than I do, but is unlikely to find time to sail with me again at this life stage. My youngest chose Spanish in school, but mine still beats his as my mother was fluent.)

 

If DH likes Greenland as much as he thinks he will, either H-L or Scenic Eclipse out of Iceland may be his next voyage. We've got plenty of quick nonstop flights to Reykjavik from our home airport making it a more appealing embarkation than most of Europe. It'll come down to how his tummy handles the seas and whether he enjoys the landscape as much as he expects.

 

Someone on the CC boards suggested the Scenic Eclipse handled particularly well for a ship of its size; no idea if that one reviewer knew what he was talking about, but that plus their full color brochure has DH hoping he can believe it!

 

Regent and Silversea are lines I'd happily consider if they happen to be sailing an itinerary that matches DH's wishlist.

 

Again, sorry I dropped this thread and thank you to all who generously shared knowledge. My apologies for being so ungracious in my lack of quick response.

 

--willo