Less port intensive cruise?

[cassandra44]

We love cruising in the Mediterranean but find some of the itineraries just too exhausting. It gets a bit tiresome having to rush down a breakfast to get off the ship by around 7:00 a.m., often missing lunch and then rushing back late afternoon to get ready for drinks and dinner - and then it all starts again the next day.

Quite honestly we would prefer fewer ports (since we've been to many anyway) and perhaps more days at sea or more back -to -back days in some ports so that the area could be explored in a more leisurely way.

Does anyone know of any Med. cruises that are less port intensive?

[LHT28]

Just get off in the ports you want ..you can always just stay onboard & enjoy the peace & quiet.;)

 

Most the ports are close together so you do not have many sea days on the Med cruises

[kitty9]

Med cruises are inherently port intensive, so you're not going to find one with less ports. That's why people go on Med cruises, to see as much as they can. Some lines don't even have one sea day on their Med cruises, so the ports are the most important feature of Med cruises. If you want less ports, try a crossing, where most of the time you're at sea.

[NAS-KARR]

I agree with kitty9.....I'm 71 and we've just begun cruising in 04 and have a hell of alot more to see before we restrict ourselves to only "a few port cruises".

Also, like was said, simply stay onboard during port visits.

But I know how you're feeling, many mornings I wake up feeling very tired and I have to push myself for awhile before I get go'n.

 

CIAO,

[WelovetaCruise]

Hi - I've found the perfect product. Oceania! We've done 2 Med cruises - fighting the crowds to get out by 8am and praying to get back by 6pm! It was crazy. I had to take a vacation after our cruise! We're going on Oceania next. Venice to Athens - smaller ships - smaller, interesting ports. Most of the ports look like 1/2 day adventures giving us the rest of the day to enjoy the ship and the fabulous amenities it has to offer. Hey, its our vacation too - we work hard and want to see, do and relax! I think you should consider it!! Bon voyage! like it'll make a difference from 2005 lol

[LHT28]

Hi - I've found the perfect product. Oceania!

Oceania is port intensive but you do not have to fight the crowds to get off the ships.

Some ports you overnight in so give you more time to explore.

 

We hope to do a Med cruise in 2009 with them.

[Ask4Jay]

For us in our 70s it’s trans-Atlantic crossings. Lots of sea days with a few ports thrown in for the adventurous. We do our own thing, have no idea who the cruise director is on a particular cruise. Just veg out on our stern balcony with iPod, books, cross word puzzles, a glass or two of Sherry or Madeira. As long as it is on a ‘free-style’ line like Oceania, Azamara or NCL, we are happy. OK, once in a while we will get off the ship in some exotic port.

[boards]

We will be on a Med. cruise next May 2008 on the Rotterdam (HAL) and it is a concern of ours that it will a shame to have come this far and not see all you can. However we know we won't be able to do it all. Our plan is to see what we consider the most important and least likely that we will ever return to see. Our future plans include a river cruise, not sure yet to which area.

[readboat]

We will be on the Freedom in May. Our last two cruises to the Med were exhausting. We have decided to take this at a slower pace. Walk a little slower, see less on the cruise and stay a few days extra in Italy.

We will tour on our own in most ports and give our selves plenty of time to get back to the ship so we don't have to rush.

[NorthernLite]

You could try what we do. My husband is a healthy able bodied 60 year old and I am his 48 year old healthy, fulltime wheelchair user wife. I like ports; he likes the ships. We pick what each really wants to do and don't stress the rest. Since many places in the Med are inaccessible it can make for short pleasant excursions we do on our own.

 

Last Oct/Nov we were on X's Galaxy for a 14 day through the eastern Med and Black Sea with friends. We occasionally ran into one or the other on shore but our big time is dinner and telling about our days to each other. So, we saw the Acropolis. I "had" to get up there before some uninformed government type has the lift and elevator removed. After that our taxi/tour guide drove us by a few sites and then we had lunch on the waterfront. We took another taxi back to Piraeus. We left about 9am and were back around 3. We both truly love Greek/Turkish food. Rhodes was both fantastic and frustrating. Another great lunch just as old town begins (there's a plaque with a rat in bas relief near the door on the upper right, yea a rat). We got a late start that day. Then we bounced (LOL oh how I bounced) around the cobblestones and saw a few ruins of a certain Goddess I particularly like. The DH got to wander down the street where the Crusaders and Knights hung out. Unfortunantly the Fort/main Museum is a UNESCO site and even a wooden ramp to the inside of the first floor is a no no. We had wanted to see that. I got my Minoan necklace I was searching allover for after some serious hand signals and a few Latin words and Greek names meshed with the owner. Great deal and the owner was amazed an American knew about the double ax/butterfly connection. Istanbul was a 2 day stay and we used a taxi to take us to the Grand Bazaar as soon as we arrived as it would be closed the next day. Then back to the ship with a bit of sightseeing on the way. Bagged a pair of earrings I had been trying to match to a bracelet my MIL gave me. Next day taxi to the Haj Sophia and then hired a guide there who was terrific and was fine with the slow pace we wanted to take. My DH had been to Istanbul several times in his early Army days before I met him. I had heard so many stories of this place and the Blue Mosque that they were musts and he agreed that he would never tire of seeing them. The guide went across to the Mosque with us also and was surprised I knew something he didn't. If you go to the back right side entrance there is a place where a wheelchair user can swap their "unclean" chair for the Mosque's "clean" chair and go on in. He was so great about all our questions especially since patience and the end of Ramadan a few hours in the future aren't always compatible. :-) Again, our pace and just the two major things. Then back in time for the 2nd catered from shore buffet. Both the Greek and the Turkish buffets were abslutely delicious and amazing! There were other stops including Mykonos we skipped due to a freezing rainstorm. We had also lived in Rome before the wheelchair showed up and we only went into the city once. We had points for the new Courtyard in Civittavecchia and stayed there 2 days pre-cruise and 3 days post to rest up after the long, for me, flight. We were trying to find some kitchen tiles for a retirement home to be built sometime in the future by a specific ceramics artist. No luck there unfortunantly. But we did have a wonderful trip down memory lane at a restaurant we both liked that is very accessible and in the Spanish Steps pedestrian area. Worst day we had for being tired as the shop for the tiles was now under a new ceramics "artist" and the factory shop had moved. The move had us moving through drizzle for quite a ways before we found it and as I said "no luck". Many wonderful bowls, vases, jugs all by de Simone or his school in Sicily just no tiles. We should have bought them way back when.

 

We've done 3 TAs including an 8 day on the Constellation from Cape Liberty to Dover with only one stop in Le Harve. We got off to just take a taxi tour (my wheelchair breaks down easily and we have car transfers for large cars down fairly well) and wound up, again, having a wonderful seafood lunch with the young driver back right at the time we requested. Talk about non-port intensive! LOL

 

Basically we now like the longer 12 to 14 day cruises and often travel with friends. Our friends know us and we know them. We don't slow anyone down or in one case speed anyone up. We also have found places to see that are so much nicer than the shore excursions that meet at 07:30am. My body refuses to work on anything but "quad-time" (quadriplegia). LOL

 

Oh, for a treat rarely heard of for a stop in Naples do some searches for the Cumae Cybel. It was a very famous Cybel back around 1,000 BCE to 200 CE or so. It's not going to be overrun by tourists. A few ancient history and art history students maybe. My old Canon broke just before we went on that last trip to Naples to ship our car home. If you have a camera that still does black and white it will leave you some wonderful shots if there is any sun at all. The sun shining through the slit windows carved in the slanted tunnel like entrance to the Sacred Inner Cave is just too other worldly for words. It is probably the best preserved ancient piece of work I know of or have seen. Sulfa Terra is nearby if you want to see bubbling lava in places. A taxi driver will also know where to take you if you ask to see where Sofia Lauren grew up in nearby Potzouli. Just don't eat seafood anywhere near the Bay of Naples. The sewer system is probably as old as the Cumae Cybel. That place beats the Blue Grotto in Capri all to, well, ..... :-)

 

Oh, and unless you both agree on a revisit of a former place seen is required, skip that day and do something onboard you've never done. Or take a nap. Have wonderful cruises in your future. We will!

[Jim_Iain]

Try a TransAtlantic Cruise. Many start out with 2-5 ports followed by 5 days at sea before 1 to 2 ports prior to arrival.

[vivian02]

I have to admit the first Meditterean 7 day cruise the wife and I did was really exhausting. Now that we have done three Meditteraan Cruises we have found the 12 day cruises offer more sea days with time to relax. No only that you can choose some of those 1/2 day tours that start in the early afternoon. Even the tours on your own allow you can better manage your time. Tim

[DiveCruiser]

It is a ploy buy the cruiseline that you will need a relaxing cruise after your intense one. :confused:

Bob

[burny]

 

Oh, for a treat rarely heard of for a stop in Naples do some searches for the Cumae Cybel. It was a very famous Cybel back around 1,000 BCE to 200 CE or so. It's not going to be overrun by tourists. A few ancient history and art history students maybe. My old Canon broke just before we went on that last trip to Naples to ship our car home. If you have a camera that still does black and white it will leave you some wonderful shots if there is any sun at all. The sun shining through the slit windows carved in the slanted tunnel like entrance to the Sacred Inner Cave is just too other worldly for words. It is probably the best preserved ancient piece of work I know of or have seen. Sulfa Terra is nearby if you want to see bubbling lava in places. A taxi driver will also know where to take you if you ask to see where Sofia Lauren grew up in nearby Potzouli. Just don't eat seafood anywhere near the Bay of Naples. The sewer system is probably as old as the Cumae Cybel. That place beats the Blue Grotto in Capri all to, well, ..... :-)

 

Hallo,Northern Lite,thank you for the information.:)

In march/april we will visit Naples with my mother.She can walk but not much.Do you think that Cumae Cybel is an option?Is it difficult to enter the cave?or is it possible for her to stay at the entrance to wait for me and my husband when we will look around the cave.Same question for sulfa Terra. Hope you don't mind when i ask you if the taxi was expensive?:o

thanks, burny

[MMDown Under]

Repositioning cruises are perfect for those who enjoy a more relaxing mixture of sea and port days.

 

We have enjoyed two - Sydney to Darwin, and Honolulu to Sydney - and look forward to a third in November from Genoa, Italy to Fort Lauderdale. We always add independent land content at each end of the cruise.

[cruisnpat]

We will be on the Carnival Legend in 2 weeks and will be doing 4 ports in 4 days and I am thinking that is going to be a lot. I'm glad we have a sea day on our way back to the US. I will need it.

[want2cruiseagain]

We are doing Mexican Riviera because we wanted more days at sea. We did the Med and it was exhausting and we didn't get to enjoy everything the ship had to offer. By the time we got back, we were hungry, went to the snacks at the back of the ship, then the buffet, then too tired on some days to eat at the restaurant or the dining room. This will be nice and relaxing and we are not doing any excursions.

[abridalmaven]

We did the Med last fall and six months prior I had foot surgery. They had "senior type excursions" slow paced and all. We did one the last port simply because by then my foot was sore. But to be honest if I had to do it over again I would go on a regular tour. We spent most of the time on the bus with only 2 stops. So for someone who wants less, it would work. We were bored out of our minds.:eek:

[MMDown Under]

Yes, we enjoy less port intensive.

 

We chose our 18 night TA because it had 9 sea days, and 8 ports of call, 2 of which will be until 10 pm and midnight.

 

This allows you to have a night out on the town, which the earlier departures don't allow. Many places only become alive at night, so it is nice to be able to share in that experience.

 

Port intensive cruises remind me of bus tours - "If it is Tuesday, it must be Belgium" (except you don't have to pack/unpack)!

[wizard-of-roz]

This is why we love the Mexican Riviera.......We stay on board while everyone is exiting.....We have the ship to ourselves......We eat/rest/read/walk in peace.....No crowds, no lines, no thinking......

We schedule at least 1 trip, to the MR a year, on different lines, just for the change of "shipboard scenery!"

[Phoenix cruiser]

We just did Celebrity's Norwegian Fjords cruise. It included beautiful scenery and most of the ports are small towns (50K people or less0 so you can get off at 10 am, see the town and be back in time for a long nap before dinner. We came back more relaxed than we have ever been.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

We're going to Bermuda for the fourth time next June with a CC Group. One beautiful port!;) :cool:

[lambs2]

We will be on an NCL Med cruise on the Jade in January for 12 days with only 6 ports. We are looking forward to having a sea day between almost every stop. It has an overnight in Alexandria, Egypt, too.

[kryos]

If you really want a relaxing cruise ... and are not tied to the Med ... let me clue you in on Holland America's Hawaii/South Pacific voyage. I'm leaving for this one on the 20th of this month.

 

The voyage leaves from Vancouver (though you can get on in either San Francisco or San Diego as well). From San Diego, it's four glorious sea days to the first Hawaii port, which I believe is Hilo. Spend six days in Hawaii, including an overnight in Oahu, and then have five days at sea heading toward the South Pacific. One of those days features the "crossing the equator" ceremony.

 

Then once in the South Pacific, it's another five days in port, including an overnight in Bora Bora and an early morning departure in Papette (effectively giving you an overnight there). Then two more sea days, followed by a day in Nuku Hiva (an isolated South Pacific island where Holland America doesn't even offer shore excursions).

 

From there, it's back to San Diego ... six glorious days at sea.

 

The cruise is 35 days in length (assuming you get on in Vancouver) and is almost an even split between sea and port days, and for me that's perfect. I have some mobility problems due to a bad skydiving accident back in 1999 where I broke both femurs ... and running around all day, every day in port is way too tiring for me. The way this cruise is set up, you know that while you might get tired by your fifth or sixth day straight in port, you will have plenty of time to recuperate during the batch of sea days in between.

 

I work a demanding job, and the one thing I won't do is come home from a vacation needing another vacation just to recuperate. The fact that this sailing has six full days at sea before disembarkation guarantees that won't happen. I get off the boat relaxed, refreshed and ready to tackle the real world again ... which is exactly as it should be.

 

This will be the second time I'm doing this itinerary ... that's how much I enjoyed it the first time.

 

While this sailing later on this month is fully booked (at least I think it is), Holland America is offering another of this same sailing in January of '09 ... only difference being that the January cruise only embarks in San Diego and is 30 days in length.

 

You might want to consider it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Parsman]

I love days at sea although I am inveterate traveller around the world. Next month I am going on a 28 night cruise from Dover to the Caribbean and back with around 17 days at sea - what bliss!

 

SS "Canton" (P&O) - Southampton - Bombay 1958

BI ship - Bombay - Karachi 1958

SS "Circassia" (Anchor Line) - Karachi - Liverpool 1959

MV "Cunard Countess" (Cunard) - Caribbean 1995

MV "Oriana" (P&O) - Mediterranean 1996

MV "Black Prince" (Fred. Olsen) *

MV "Black Watch" (Fred. Olsen) *

MV "Boudicca" (Fred. Olsen *

MV "Braemar" (Fred. Olsen) *

* 1991 - 2008