What is the farthest you have traveled to get to your embarkation port?

[puppycanducruise]

From our house to Toronto airport to Venice, about 7000 km.

[K32682]

Furthest distance to embarkation for us was Toronto to Papeete.

[hallasm]

For me it’s a 10 hours non-stop flight from home to Miami.

- several cruises from Shanghai, and Singapore

[Kiwi Brenda]

Wellington, New Zealand to Vancouver for a 14 day Alaska cruise but we did three and a half weeks of land travel in Canada as well, as it’s a long way for just a cruise!

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'll answer the question you posed in a little bit, but let me first touch on your first sentence. I'm surprised that you're surprised that some cruisers have cruises that are hundreds of days away.  After all, 200 days is less than 7 months.  It used to be standard, pre-pandemic, to book cruises a year or more in advance.  That's less true these days, but I wouldn't be the least surprised to have cruisers who have booked 1000+ days (a bit under 3 years) in advance.

 

750 days in advance for us.  We booked our upcoming April 2023 Australia cruise the day bookings opened in mid-March 2021.  Within hours only guaranteed cabins in our desired category (mini-suite) were available and within a day or two the entire cruise in all cabin categories was sold out.  Since then, occasionally one cabin category will open for a day and be sold out again.  

[whogo]

I had to check a great circle mapper to find that Athens was our most distant embarkation port, 5,600 miles from out home airport in the Midwest, edged out Santiago by 300 miles. Aukland was our most distant disembarkation port at 8,000 miles.

 

If I were a masochist, I could fly to Perth, 10,800 miles away.

[davecttr]

London to Sydney via Hong Kong, about 10,500 miles

[MBP&O2/O]

Back in the day ...

London to Perth via Singapore 

London to Nelson via Los Angeles, Hawaii, Auckland 

Sasebo to London via Tokyo and Anchorage.

Both Capetown and Durban to London via Jo'burg

 

Regrettably all were cattle class seating ...😥

[Nebr.cruiser]

Our longest flights (for cruises) have been to Rome and Santiago, Chile.  We have two cruises to Australia/New Zealand next winte, so that will be our longest then.

 

.  That booking is by far the farthest away of any cruise/tour trip we have taken.  We usually book at 3 months out or later. I am having a hard time waiting almost a year from when we booked to take the cruises!

[DnD CruiserZ]

3 hours ago, capriccio said:

750 days in advance for us.  We booked our upcoming April 2023 Australia cruise the day bookings opened in mid-March 2021.  Within hours only guaranteed cabins in our desired category (mini-suite) were available and within a day or two the entire cruise in all cabin categories was sold out.  Since then, occasionally one cabin category will open for a day and be sold out again.  

 

I assume at some point we will book a cruise that is exclusive/special/unique/desirable enough to require such advanced planning!

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by DnD CruiserZ

[pris993]

Longest San Francisco to Istanbul.  Over the years we took cruises out of Athens, Rome, Barcelona, Venice, Southampton and Dover.   That was when flying was fun, no longer.  Now happy to take a taxi to the ship in my home port of San Francisco.  

[jamscckmc]

DC to Honolulu, DC to Copenhagen

[ldubs]

14 hours ago, Hlitner said:

DW and I have had Global Entry for years.   It generally means that when we enter the USA we use the GE kiosk and are through immigration within a couple of minutes.  We then go to the luggage carrousel since we must retrieve our luggage and either leave the airport or recheck for a domestic flight.  In most airports it takes at least a half hour until the luggage comes up by which time most of the others on our flight, without Global Entry, have also cleared immigration and have caught up to use at the luggage area.  There are times when I wonder if Global Entry is worth the effort :).  It is great for those that do not check luggage, but otherwise it just gets you through one line so you can wait longer at that luggage area.   I think the best benefit is that with GE you also get TSA Precheck which is a real time and hassle saver.   Also keep in mind that GE must be renewed every 5 years.

 

Hank

 

 

 

You know, this makes nothing but sense for nonstops.  We seldom do only carry-ons for long haul flights.  I guess it comes down to if I want to wait in line or wait next to the baggage carousel.   But (there is always a "but" haha), for connections it would be great.  

Edited July 7, 2022 by ldubs

[DnD CruiserZ]

44 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Longest San Francisco to Istanbul.  Over the years we took cruises out of Athens, Rome, Barcelona, Venice, Southampton and Dover.   That was when flying was fun, no longer.  Now happy to take a taxi to the ship in my home port of San Francisco.  

Are cruises that far away that much different from a cruise you can get to by cab?

Obviously the ports of call are different but the actual cruise portion itself. Is it different enough to warrant a 8-9-10k mile flight or series of flights to get to. Again, obviously the ports of call are unique and I am guessing that is main of the reason for the long travel to embarkation, not just the cruise portion or am looking at it wrong?

[lenquixote66]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:06 AM, DnD CruiserZ said:

I have been in the "How many days until your next cruise" topic and I was surprised to see some people counting down from hundreds of days. I mean HUNDREDS of days.

It got me to thinking about not only how far out in time but how far in distance have people traveled to go cruising.

Some people live in a port city where they may be able to just roll out of bed and head to the terminal while others may be in the middle of their county and have miles and miles to go...still others may go to another country.

 

So, what is the farthest you have traveled to get to your cruise?

Mine was from Phoenix, AZ, USA to Orlando (Port Canaveral) FL, USA

 

Brooklyn ,NY to San Juan,Puerto Rico

[rkacruiser]

15 hours ago, lissie said:

In September Air NZ will start flying Auckland - NYC direct - its 18/19 hours.

 

If what I read is correct, Air New Zealand will be operating a new version of the 787 on this flight and will introduce a new Business Class product and seat on that plane.  There will also be 6 bunk style beds available at the front of the Economy Cabin available for Economy passengers to upgrade to for a 4 hour nap.  

 

I very much enjoyed my Business Class flight on Air New Zealand:  LAX-AKL.  

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, lissie said:

In September Air NZ will start flying Auckland - NYC direct - its 18/19 hours.

 

If what I read is correct, Air New Zealand will be operating a new version of the 787 on this flight and will introduce a new Business Class product and seat on that plane.  There will also be 6 bunk style beds available at the front of the Economy Cabin available for Economy passengers to upgrade to for a 4 hour nap.  

 

I very much enjoyed my Business Class flight on Air New Zealand:  LAX-AKL.  

[mom says]

2 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

Again, obviously the ports of call are unique and I am guessing that is main of the reason for the long travel to embarkation, not just the cruise portion or am looking at it wrong?

Not to be snarky, but DUH. If not for the itinerary, why would anyone go to the extra expense, time and effort required to travel to a distant embarkation port? If you just want a week at sea, most people can find a ship of similar class that sails from a port a lot closer to home. Within any given ship class, a ship is a ship is a ship.

[lissie]

2 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

Are cruises that far away that much different from a cruise you can get to by cab?

Obviously the ports of call are different but the actual cruise portion itself. Is it different enough to warrant a 8-9-10k mile flight or series of flights to get to. Again, obviously the ports of call are unique and I am guessing that is main of the reason for the long travel to embarkation, not just the cruise portion or am looking at it wrong?

Hmm duh yes - my close by cruises are to the Pacific Islands or Australia -very familiar with both -don't need to go again.  And  also all the cruisers are from the same country as me - I'd much rather meet non-Australians/Kiwis - particularly after the lockdowns  

[DnD CruiserZ]

8 minutes ago, mom says said:

Not to be snarky, but DUH. If not for the itinerary, why would anyone go to the extra expense, time and effort required to travel to a distant embarkation port? If you just want a week at sea, most people can find a ship of similar class that sails from a port a lot closer to home. Within any given ship class, a ship is a ship is a ship.

Well, thanks for not being snarky! It was kinda touch and go there. 😀

 

If you have read all the posts, you will have noticed I pointed out that most of these long trips to the embarkation port are not people coming to a NA cruise/itinerary but rather us going abroad as well as UK/European travelers (also not coming to NA). As I had stated, is that because we just don't have interesting enough itinerates out of NA ports or the cruise lines available here are not up to par?

 

Just playing you know whos advocate. If it is the destination as you said, why bother with the cruise portion at all? Port time is usually limited, most of your time is spent onboard and if as you said "If you just want a week at sea, most people can find a ship of similar class that sails from a port a lot closer to home", why not just travel to the port locations directly and have a "land" trip?

 

Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not questioning peoples choices, but rather trying to understand something I don't have enough experience cruising to understand. What is the big draw over just a land trip?

 

To me, based on the consumer grade cruises I have been on, I don't know that I would fly more than 4-6-8 or I don't know how many hours to get there to get a cruise ship experience I could potentially have driven to. If it is the destination, then why steal "destination time" by spending it on a ship?

 

I am hoping it is the quality of the cruise AND the itinerary combined to make it worth while and since I have only been on NA Carnival/NCL/RCCL, I don't know what I'm missing. obviously I need to find a "better" cruise line experience.

 

Someday I will!

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

Are cruises that far away that much different from a cruise you can get to by cab?

Obviously the ports of call are different but the actual cruise portion itself. Is it different enough to warrant a 8-9-10k mile flight or series of flights to get to. Again, obviously the ports of call are unique and I am guessing that is main of the reason for the long travel to embarkation, not just the cruise portion or am looking at it wrong?

 

45 minutes ago, mom says said:

Not to be snarky, but DUH. If not for the itinerary, why would anyone go to the extra expense, time and effort required to travel to a distant embarkation port? If you just want a week at sea, most people can find a ship of similar class that sails from a port a lot closer to home. Within any given ship class, a ship is a ship is a ship.

 

What mom says is true. But I'd go a step further and say that on cruises where the itinerary is "far" or exotic, you tend to find the cruise passengers onboard are more into travel and less into partying. For me anyway, I have enjoyed meeting others and sharing experiences with other travel addicts on cruises like this.  There may also be additional differences such as lecturers onboard and local entertainment. 

[DnD CruiserZ]

2 minutes ago, lissie said:

Hmm duh yes - my close by cruises are to the Pacific Islands or Australia -very familiar with both -don't need to go again.  And  also all the cruisers are from the same country as me - I'd much rather meet non-Australians/Kiwis - particularly after the lockdowns  

Wow, I got two duh's in a row! that has got to be a record.

Would you travel or have you traveled to NA for a cruise?

[lissie]

2 minutes ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

Wow, I got two duh's in a row! that has got to be a record.

Would you travel or have you traveled to NA for a cruise?

NA? North America? Yes we leave next week to pick up a cruise out of San Francisco which will go to Europe 

[cruisemom42]

2 minutes ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

If it is the destination as you said, why bother with the cruise portion at all? Port time is usually limited, most of your time is spent onboard and if as you said "If you just want a week at sea, most people can find a ship of similar class that sails from a port a lot closer to home", why not just travel to the port locations directly and have a "land" trip?

 

It doesn't have to be a "one or the other" thing. I do both land travel and cruise travel overseas. Why cruise?  Because cruising is easy and pleasant, you only unpack once, you travel at night to the next place while you're sleeping (rather than having to burn a day traveling for each change of place on a land trip), etc.  

 

Some places -- big cities or specific regions and the like -- need more than a day. But a cruise ship is a fine way to see the smaller ports and major scenery on Scandinavian cruises, for example.  And one can see quite a bit of a Greek island in day, just as with a Caribbean island.

[DnD CruiserZ]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

What mom says is true. But I'd go a step further and say that on cruises where the itinerary is "far" or exotic, you tend to find the cruise passengers onboard are more into travel and less into partying. For me anyway, I have enjoyed meeting others and sharing experiences with other travel addicts on cruises like this.  There may also be additional differences such as lecturers onboard and local entertainment. 

Thank you, that is making some sense to me. On a land vacation, you are not surrounding yourself with a bunch of like minded individuals (unless you book a group tour kind of thing). The cruising part is a shared experience that adds to the overall Itinerary...