help me pick my next destination (3-choice poll)

[mandwcruise]

My family likes to do low-intensity, culturally diverse sightseeing.

 

THINGS WE'VE LIKED:

Bike rides through private islands

Bus tours, and walking around rock formations in the Canary Islands

Disney parks

High-quality aquariums

Cultural presentations

Hop-on-hop-off

 

THINGS WE DON'T CARE FOR:

Sitting on the beach

Overpriced excursions

 

Based on this (and the places I've already seen in my sig that I don't need to see again), where do you think we should go next?

 

[Essiesmom]

I like all of the choices, but voted for the eastern Med.  But a lot depends on the time of year you want to travel.  Eastern Mediterranean would be my choice for shoulder season, when it is not really hot.  Northern Europe and the Baltic in high summer.  EM

[hallasm]

I did vote for Baltic but just note that Russia (St. Petersburg) probably not will be included in Baltic itinerary in the near future.
Also consider a Norwegian fjords cruise from Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Southampton. Pay attention to the itinerary- some ports are much more interesting than others. 

[puppycanducruise]

Tough choice.  I voted for Eastern Med but almost voted for Baltic.  I've never been to Israel, but loved Greece and Turkey.

A cruise to Norway would be another option, but you didn't ask about that.

Have a great time.

[Markanddonna]

Agree about a shoulder season cruise to Israel, Turkey, Greece, etc. Too hot and too many tourists during the summer months.

[mandwcruise]

5 hours ago, hallasm said:

I did vote for Baltic but just note that Russia (St. Petersburg) probably not will be included in Baltic itinerary in the near future.
Also consider a Norwegian fjords cruise from Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Southampton. Pay attention to the itinerary- some ports are much more interesting than others. 

@hallasmWhich ports were better or worse for you?

[mandwcruise]

 

3 hours ago, puppycanducruise said:

Tough choice.  I voted for Eastern Med but almost voted for Baltic.  I've never been to Israel, but loved Greece and Turkey.

A cruise to Norway would be another option, but you didn't ask about that.

Have a great time.

@puppycanducruiseYeah, I just got back from 2 or 3 Norway ports on the iceland cruise😁   just trying to avoid redundancy

[iancal]

Eastern Med.  But we are biased...we keep going back there year after year.  Also Italy, Sicily, and Aeolian islands.

[LHT28]

Land trip?

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Agree about a shoulder season cruise to Israel, Turkey, Greece, etc. Too hot and too many tourists during the summer months.

Agreed - nothing later than mid-May or earlier than mid-October.

[Mary229]

I live in a hot climate and always sail north if I can, sometimes I am overruled by Mr. Moneybags😉.  I would skip the Baltics for a year or two awaiting a resolution of the current Russian conflict hoping for a visit to St Petersburg.  My sis and I just recently had this same discussion.  We opted for the British Isles and France instead of the Baltics.

[mandwcruise]

14 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I live in a hot climate and always sail north if I can, sometimes I am overruled by Mr. Moneybags😉.  I would skip the Baltics for a year or two awaiting a resolution of the current Russian conflict hoping for a visit to St Petersburg.  My sis and I just recently had this same discussion.  We opted for the British Isles and France instead of the Baltics.

 

@Mary229 @hallasm

I should have clarified that anything in the Baltic :

A) must include Russia
B) which means it has to happen after the conflict is over

to put things in perspective, some cruise lines have some May 2023 routes with Russia on the menu, indicating their strategists over there are expecting the conflict to pass over by then. Until further notice, I'm building my plans on the same assumptions.

[mandwcruise]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

Land trip?

@LHT28No, cruise only.

Curious to hear how that would impact your thinking though.

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, mandwcruise said:

 

@Mary229 @hallasm

I should have clarified that anything in the Baltic :

A) must include Russia
B) which means it has to happen after the conflict is over

to put things in perspective, some cruise lines have some May 2023 routes with Russia on the menu, indicating their strategists over there are expecting the conflict to pass over by then. Until further notice, I'm building my plans on the same assumptions.

I think if you book 2023 you will be disappointed.  The line will simply notify you of a change of itinerary and you will be locked in.   The earliest possible date IMHO will be 2024. That said we could enter a new Cold War and Russia could be off limits indefinitely 

[John Bull]

On 9/5/2022 at 7:21 PM, mandwcruise said:

................. to put things in perspective, some cruise lines have some May 2023 routes with Russia on the menu, indicating their strategists over there are expecting the conflict to pass over by then.

 

 I fear this is more optimism than expectation 😟. 

It helps with bookings, and if it doesn't happen some will be disappointed but stay with their booking.

It'll be pretty easy for a cruise line to substitute with some very worthwhile ports in the Baltic.

 

If you envisage being able to cruise for a few years in the future you might want to put the Baltic on the back-burner & look at the eastern Med.(shoulder-season - we broke one of our own golden rules with a cheap late-booked Adriatic cruise in July, waaaay too hot for exploration).

The Baltic is a great place to cruise mid-season, even without St Petersburg so don't chalk it off indefinitely. 

 

JB 🙂

 

[Tudorcruisers]

Baltic and Norwegian fjords are my top two cruises.