What destination should we pick next?

[janine543]

My husband and I love cruising. As you can see from my signature footer we've sailed alot in the past 4 years. Now its time to start planning our 2005 trips and I honestly don't know what cruise destination we should book. Can anyone share some ideas of places they loved and recommend?

To help here is a bit about us. I'm 42 and my husband is 44. We have a 11 year old son who loves to join us.....but we leave him back home sometimes too. So suggestions for family cruises or romantic ones without our little "bamdedo" is fine too.

All suggestions are welcome.

Janine
Zenith 1999 (Bermuda)
Dawn Princess 2000
Carnival Triumph 2001
Grand Princess 2002
Star Princess 2002 (Alaska)
Millennium Jan., 2003
Tahitian Princess May 23, 2003 (South Pacific)
Next: Caribbean Princess July 17, 2004
Then: Star Princess Sept. 1, 2004 (Grand Mediterranean)
And Then: Celebrity Summit Dec. 27th, 2004

[Cruise Junky]

I can't tell from your list, have you done the Panama Canal or the Mexican Riviera?

Some Ship, Some Itinerary, Somewhere in the Med.
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=008000&cdt=2006;5;12;17;0;00&timezone=GMT+0100

Mexican Riviera - Rhapsody of the Seas
11 Day Circle the Caribbean - Splendour of the Seas
Alaska - Dawn Princess
Coastal - Island Princess

[AndiandMike]

Janine-

I absolutely loved the southern caribbean. every inch of it, the sun, the heat, the water was gorgeous, the shopping to die for. Aruba, St. Thomas, Martinique Barbados, Antigua. Those were just magnificent beaches. I did the western caribbean 2x on Carnival, once I hit the southern, there was no looking back!!

Enjoy picking your destinations!

[Jeepers385]

Janine, we've done the Caribbean's quite a bit over the past 4 yrs., we also decided to try something different so in October we're going to go out of San Fran down to the Mexican Riviera. We're going to stay a couple of extra days before and after in San Fran since we're making the trip across country. Good luck in your decision.

Debbie

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=800080&cdt=2004;10;2;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800
Sapphire Princess 10/2/04
Carnival Destiny 2/8/04
Grand Princess 7/6/03
RCL - Nordic Empress 2/03 & 4/02
Crown Dynasty 7/00
Queen of Bermuda 7/87
Carnival - Mardi Gras 11/75

[FredS]

Do a trip around the tip of South America; Rio or Buenos Aires to Valpriso (port city for Santiago). Or do a repostioning cruise in April from So. America to Florida, or in Oct, do a trip from Floida to So. America.

Our next trip is in April on the Royal Princess for 21 days, Manaus, Brazil to Rome.

[GottoCruise]

Depends a lot on WHEN you can travel---for the Summer with children- try British Isles or Norwegian Fjiords -
Med. too hot - Scandinavia-too port intensive &
Re-positioning too boring for kids
JMHO

Until PACIFIC PRINCESS
7/25/04
ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC THEATER
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SRC="http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;07;25;12;00;00&timezone=GMT

Until GOLDEN PRINCESS B2B
7/31/05 & 8/10/05
EUROPEAN CAPITALS & BRITISH ISLES
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SRC="http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb0000ff&cdt=2005;07;31;12;00;00&timezone=GMT

[janine543]

Thanks so far for everyone's suggestions. I should of provided more details in our destinations of past.

We've sailed the Western Carib. 2 times.
Eastern (1); and Southern (1).

On our Summit cruise this Dec. we sail to very far south west to Costa Rica, Panama and Aruba.

Since we have a stop in Panama and Celebrity has an excursion to see the Canal locks, should we skip the Panama Canal and try something else? Mexican Riveria sounds fun. But so does South American. Thoughts?

Janine

[BJS]

Agree with South America or British Isles or Norwegian Fjiords and would add China/South Korea, & Japan.

Future cruises:
5/04 HAL-Amsterdam-Alaska
9/04 Star Princess-Med.x2 Venice to Barcelona/ Barcelona to Rome
11/04 Dawn Princess-Southern Caribbean
Jan. 05 Diamond Princess-Mexican Riviera
July 05 Star Princess-Baltics
Aug. 05 Star Princess-Baltics
Past cruises:
04 Dawn Princess- Southern Caribbean x2
03 Grand Princess-W.Caribbean
03 Sun Princess -Mexico
03-Tahitian Princess-Tahiti/ Cook Islands
03 Royal Princess-x2 British Isles & Norwegian Fjords/ Iceland
03 Island Princess-Panama Canal
01 HAL Ryndam x 2-S. America San Diego to Valpariso/ & around Cape Horn to Rio
00 Sky Princess-China/Orient
79 Sitmar's Fairwind- Caribbean/Panama Canal

[mii]

You should consider Canada/New England. It was one of the best cruises I have ever taken. The time we went was 2001 out of Boston on Princess round trip. Princess know longer does that route but they have a one-way Montreal to Fort Lauderdale in the fall that sounds really good.


Marilyn

[nhcruiser]

It seems that you have been on a lot fewer itineraries than you may think.

I would suggest that you begin to think globally! The South Pacific is wonderful. Asia is very interesting and one could spend at least a year exploring all that Asia has to offer alone. This is not to mention the old standbys of Europe or the Med. If you are an explorer Antarctica cruises seem to offer something for those that like the road less traveled.

If none of these interest you then as suggested, Mexico is always fun and the canal is fascinating. New England is my back yard and beautiful in September. Canada is historic and cosmopolitan at the same time.

Give a half dozen so of these and the other ideas suggested and may guess is that you won’t need to ask for ideas for at least another decade.

[Joyce B.]

Of our six cruises with Princess, Tahiti was the VERY BEST!!! Loved the remoteness of the islands (Marquesas) and the smaller ship.

[Jane110]

Janine,

You may have been on many cruises, but you've been to so few places and seen so little of the world. You choices are limitless!

We're headed for our second South American cruise this Feburary. First one was our honeymoon cruise 13 years ago.

Last summer we cruised from Barcelona to England with stops in Portugal and France.

Next month we're headed to Copenhagen for a Baltic Cruise with stops in St. Petersburg Russia, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Finland and Estonia.

I've been to Australia 4 times, though never by ship, and would highly recommend that as a cruise for the family. Your son would love Australia.

Jane

[janine543]

Wow, so many great ideas.....Now my head is really spinning.....My travel book library will triple in volume from all these suggestions. I love to read for pleasure, travel books. Problem as my husband sees it is that when I'm done reading about a destination....then I want to go see it.....

Keep the ideas flowing. I guess I should ask my 11 year son too where he may want to go. Last time I asked him he picked Alaska. Now that was fantastic.

My dream vacation has been to go to Bali. Has anyone every cruised there?

If I had to pick my favorite cruise so far I would have to pick the Tahitian Princess with the French Polynesian islands and Cook islands.


Janine

[KENCHURCH]

We loved the Baltic cruise we took a few years ago. Sweden, Norway, Estonia (a real surprise and a highlight), and Russia - with a side day trip to Moscow. you need a vacation from the vacation, there is so much to do each day but what a different vacation. Loved it - we went on Holland America but my mother-in-law went last summer on RCL and had a great time as well.

Grandeur of the Seas - 3
Nordic Empress - 3
Galaxy - 3
Century - 2
Sea Princess
Westerdam
Maasda
and the Old Song of Norway

[NitaBcruising]

Janine,
We went on the TP twice, and is my favorite, too.
Next Feb. a group of us CCers who met on the TP are tentatively planning a trip to Fiji! There is a small Yacht type cruiseline, Blue Lagoon Cruises, that we are considering. It goes on a 4 day, or 7 day. We are also looking to stay a week on an island afterwards. Look them up! It is more expensive, but includes excursions, like snorkeling, bushwalks, a village visit, beach barbecues, etc. When you add the cost of shore excursions in Tahiti, it balances out per day.

Nita

[Commodore Suzy]

Hi Janine! Wow, you really took off like rocket after our cruise on the Star! Awesome!

I have two ideas....
First, awesome itineraries in and out of London next summer.. two ships to choose from. Your son might enjoy the castles, etc. over there.

Second, have you ever considered cruising close to home just for the convenience of it? Do you do a lot of road trips in the fall? How about a Canada / New England trip in the fall to see the great colors?

The Mexican Riviera is nothing to write home about.. we do it over here in the West cause its close, but I just don't think it would hold a candle to a Caribbean cruise. I think the CA cities are more interesting... SF, SD, etc.

Tahiti was dreamy.... http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Suzy

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