Happy New Year 2023! Where are you going?

[franski]

On month today we will be in the air...  on our way to Vietnam.

 

We are doing Vietnam/Cambodia - including Hanoi & Ha Long Bay - with Emerald. We are stopping in Bangkok for 3 night on the way home.

 

Getting excited!

 

Fran

[CPT Trips]

What a difference 50 some years make. I remember friends moving to Canadian order NOT to go to VietNam. 🤦🏻‍♂️😉
Enjoy your travels in the new year!

[Canal archive]

My Canadian cousins first husband did and left her as soon as he could go back to the state’s legally. 

[Got2Cruise]

On 1/1/2023 at 8:00 PM, franski said:

On month today we will be in the air...  on our way to Vietnam.

 

We are doing Vietnam/Cambodia - including Hanoi & Ha Long Bay - with Emerald. We are stopping in Bangkok for 3 night on the way home.

 

Getting excited!

 

Fran

Yay Fran! Yes so exciting. I can’t wait to read your trip report. That’s going to be an amazing trip. 

[Roz]

Don't think I can work in a river cruise this year as I have two big ocean cruises booked - 31 day retirement cruise to South America and a 14-day Alaskan cruise.  Looking ahead to 2024 for river cruises.

[LTC]

We have 3 river cruises and an ocean cruise booked for 2023. After 3 years of not river cruising we wanted to make up for it. Two cruises on Emerald....March to the Mekong going from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and May doing Munich to Budapest. In November taking a Nile cruise with AMA starting with their pre cruise in Amman and Petra and in August doing a Norwegian Fjords cruise with Celebrity. Have fingers crossed that we get to do them all!

[franski]

3 hours ago, LTC said:

We have 3 river cruises and an ocean cruise booked for 2023. After 3 years of not river cruising we wanted to make up for it. Two cruises on Emerald....March to the Mekong going from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and May doing Munich to Budapest. In November taking a Nile cruise with AMA starting with their pre cruise in Amman and Petra and in August doing a Norwegian Fjords cruise with Celebrity. Have fingers crossed that we get to do them all!

Seems like you have a busy year ahead!!  We are doing the Mekong with Emerald next month...  really looking forward to it.
 

We did Egypt and the Nile just before the world shut down with Covid.  We also spent time in Israel & Jordan after we left Egypt.  It was an awesome trip!!  If you get a chance to do Abu Simbel - it is pretty amazing.  And - if you can somehow wrangle a visit to Garbage City while in Cairo - it is something to see.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Fran

[LTC]

22 minutes ago, franski said:

Seems like you have a busy year ahead!!  We are doing the Mekong with Emerald next month...  really looking forward to it.
 

We did Egypt and the Nile just before the world shut down with Covid.  We also spent time in Israel & Jordan after we left Egypt.  It was an awesome trip!!  If you get a chance to do Abu Simbel - it is pretty amazing.  And - if you can somehow wrangle a visit to Garbage City while in Cairo - it is something to see.

 

Enjoy!!

 

Fran

I'd love to see some comments if you have time when you get back from your Mekong cruise. I'm getting quite excited about it. Glad you thought Egypt and the Nile was awesome...it's been on my bucket list for awhile. We are doing a half day excursion to Abu Simbel, never heard of the Garbage City, will  google that. Thanks for mentioning it. Have a super cruise!

[Got2Cruise]

5 hours ago, Roz said:

Don't think I can work in a river cruise this year as I have two big ocean cruises booked - 31 day retirement cruise to South America and a 14-day Alaskan cruise.  Looking ahead to 2024 for river cruises.

Congratulations on your retirement! That’s a fantastic way to celebrate. I would love to go to South America, especially to see the penguins. Plus the food is delish. 
 

And 14 days in Alaska is something I need to look into. We took a 7 day cruise and had a fantastic time and saw amazing nature. 
 

Let us know if you post trip reports. Enjoy!

[Got2Cruise]

4 hours ago, LTC said:

We have 3 river cruises and an ocean cruise booked for 2023. After 3 years of not river cruising we wanted to make up for it. Two cruises on Emerald....March to the Mekong going from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh and May doing Munich to Budapest. In November taking a Nile cruise with AMA starting with their pre cruise in Amman and Petra and in August doing a Norwegian Fjords cruise with Celebrity. Have fingers crossed that we get to do them all!

Woah! You are making up for lost time. I know you will love the Danube and Munich, it was one of our favorite trips. And the Nile is on my bucket list for sure. And I’ve been looking at the Norwegian Fjords cruise forever. Have a fantastic time. 

[Roz]

@Got2Cruise, Holland America has 2 14-day Alaskan cruises in both 2023 and 2024.  

[LTC]

1 hour ago, Got2Cruise said:

Woah! You are making up for lost time. I know you will love the Danube and Munich, it was one of our favorite trips. And the Nile is on my bucket list for sure. And I’ve been looking at the Norwegian Fjords cruise forever. Have a fantastic time. 

Thanks, I sure plan on it lol!

[ljandgb]

So many great trips in the works! 

 

We're doing the Galapagos and Machu Picchu in April with Road Scholar. The Galapagos will be on a small catamaran.  Iceland land tour in May with my daughter - she just arrived there for a semester study abroad and I'll pick her up at the end for a week of hiking.  Ireland and Scotland by land in August.  The Mekong, with extensions before and after, with Avalon, in November.

[Wings55]

On 12/30/2022 at 2:19 PM, Got2Cruise said:

Happy New Year 2023!! Who’s booked for 2023 and where are you going?  

Sadly no RC for us this year....(yet ) but we do have two ocean cruises booked. This spring we're trying Seabourn for the first time. Hawaii to Vancouver. Then in July my siblings & spouses will be taking a two-week round-trip HAL cruise from Copenhagen up the Norwegian coast and back. 

[Got2Cruise]

2 hours ago, Wings55 said:

Sadly no RC for us this year....(yet ) but we do have two ocean cruises booked. This spring we're trying Seabourn for the first time. Hawaii to Vancouver. Then in July my siblings & spouses will be taking a two-week round-trip HAL cruise from Copenhagen up the Norwegian coast and back. 

I’ve been wanting to try Seabourn also. Hawaii to Vancouver sounds great. Enjoy being pampered! And family cruises are always a blast. 

[ljandgb]

On 12/31/2022 at 5:57 AM, jpalbny said:

Two expedition cruises booked - Bali to Singapore in March, with Ponant. Stops in Borneo (orangutans) and Komodo. We were supposed to do a similar itinerary in November 2020, so we will be excited to have a second chance at it.

 

Then Helsinki to Hamburg in June on Silver Wind. No other large cities besides the embarkation and disembarkation ports. Small islands in the Gulf of Bothnia, and some small towns off the beaten path. Will be interesting to see Finland in the summer, as we were just there last month for the Aurora!

 

 

These two itineraries look great.  Both a bit off the beaten path, which is my preferred style.  Would love to hear trip reports when you get back!

[Got2Cruise]

On 1/4/2023 at 7:24 AM, ljandgb said:

So many great trips in the works! 

 

We're doing the Galapagos and Machu Picchu in April with Road Scholar. The Galapagos will be on a small catamaran.  Iceland land tour in May with my daughter - she just arrived there for a semester study abroad and I'll pick her up at the end for a week of hiking.  Ireland and Scotland by land in August.  The Mekong, with extensions before and after, with Avalon, in November.

All these sound incredible. You certainly will have an awesome year. All so different from one another too. Enjoy! 

[franski]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:16 PM, Got2Cruise said:

 And I’ve been looking at the Norwegian Fjords cruise forever. Have a fantastic time. 

We actually did the coast of Norway with Hurtigruten...  Very different experience - travelling on a "working" boat.   We don't care about the "luxury" on a boat, as much as the experience.  So - Hurtigruten was good for us!!  May be worth a look??

 

Fran

Edited January 14, 2023 by franski

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:16 PM, Got2Cruise said:

Woah! You are making up for lost time. I know you will love the Danube and Munich, it was one of our favorite trips. And the Nile is on my bucket list for sure. And I’ve been looking at the Norwegian Fjords cruise forever. Have a fantastic time. 

 

5 hours ago, franski said:

We actually did the coast of Norway with Hurtigruten...  Very different experience - travelling on a "working" boat.   We don't care about the "luxury" on a boat, as much as the experience.  So - Hurtigruten was good for us!!  May be worth a look??

 

Fran

Hurtigruten's port stops are based on the 'working boat' needs rather than tourist opportunities, so some are too short to allow you to see the area at all.  If you consider working ports the true flavor of a country, ok; but we find that the best experiences are away from the port.  My recommendation for Norway is a small-ship but tourism-oriented line like Azamara.  [One of their Captains is a Norwegian, and they use his connections with local farmers to restock with fresh berries and they send the crew out in the lifeboats to fish for the dinner special.]

[franski]

21 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Hurtigruten's port stops are based on the 'working boat' needs rather than tourist opportunities, so some are too short to allow you to see the area at all.  If you consider working ports the true flavor of a country, ok; but we find that the best experiences are away from the port.  My recommendation for Norway is a small-ship but tourism-oriented line like Azamara.  [One of their Captains is a Norwegian, and they use his connections with local farmers to restock with fresh berries and they send the crew out in the lifeboats to fish for the dinner special.]

That would be good...  And an interesting trip for sure.  For me, I was happy with the sailing experience - the scenery was the primary draw, so the shorter times on land weren't a disappointment. We did spend some extra time in Bergen, and were happy with that. To each his own.  Lots of ways to sail!!

 

Fran

[ural guy]

Just purchased airfare for a late February Camino.  I'm going solo, 9 days on E bicycle, Porto to Santiago da Compestela, following central route.  Super slow pace so I can relax and take a rain day if needed.  Following that, I'll have a car for 4 days to drive around Northern Galicia.

 

 

[Roz]

I previously posted that I didn't think I could work in a river cruise in 2023.  Well, that's all changed. 😄  After my wonderful Tauck cruise in December, I booked the same cruise for this coming December as well as the cruise following it.  B2Bs.  I'll be spending both Christmas and the New Year in Europe, going from Amsterdam to Brussels and then Brussels back to Amsterdam.  

[Got2Cruise]

On 1/16/2023 at 9:38 AM, Roz said:

I previously posted that I didn't think I could work in a river cruise in 2023.  Well, that's all changed. 😄  After my wonderful Tauck cruise in December, I booked the same cruise for this coming December as well as the cruise following it.  B2Bs.  I'll be spending both Christmas and the New Year in Europe, going from Amsterdam to Brussels and then Brussels back to Amsterdam.  

Wow Fran! Sounds wonderful. I’m glad you “managed”. lol 

[Rebel54]

Not 2023 but I booked Germany to the Black Sea on Avalon with two days in Prague and two days in Translyvania for 2024.  Taking my daughter to celebrate graduating nursing school.  I haven't cruised since 2019 so I'm excited.

[Got2Cruise]

1 hour ago, Rebel54 said:

Not 2023 but I booked Germany to the Black Sea on Avalon with two days in Prague and two days in Translyvania for 2024.  Taking my daughter to celebrate graduating nursing school.  I haven't cruised since 2019 so I'm excited.

What a wonderful way of celebrating your daughter’s accomplishment. We don’t hear much about that portion of the Danube here. The Transylvania part is intriguing to me.