In 200 words or less, what was your best cruise itinerary?

2013, Grand Princess circumnavigation of South America

We are hoping to take a cruise 'round SA in the next year or two!!

19 days on the QE, Dubia to Southampton. Went to Petra, Cairo, Athens and Rome then Lisbon. Lots of history. Spent March of this year going to Sydney and then 28 days on the QV sailing to San Francisco. Went to New Zealand and Tonga and American Somao and Hawaii. Lots of sea days, very relaxing.

A 15 day trans-Pacific crossing from San Diego to Auckland that included just a single port stop in Honolulu for approximately 24 hours. Maximum days at sea and minimum port stops is my perfect itinerary for cruising - lots of relaxation with good food and a comfy environment, starting and ending in interesting places.

A World Voyage. There were many sea days (which I love). Transatlantic and transpacific sailings. Variety of ports showing everything from amazing wealth to abject poverty. Cold weather to stiflingly hot. And maybe the best was a great group of fellow passengers from around the world.

My favorite cruise was our third one to Alaska. We started on the land portion in Fairbanks, went to Denali and then Anchorage before getting on the cruise ship in Whittier.

Most interesting cruise: Started in Egypt with 2-day stay in Cairo hotel, then transfer to Luxor for sightseeing and an overnight there. Boarded the ship at Safaga, sailed up the Red Sea (with a stop at St. Catherine's monastery in the Sinai), and through the Suez Canal. Then the REAL highlights: Beirut Lebanon (to see Baalbek), an overnight at the Tartus port in Syria to visit Palmyra (beautiful desert ruins) and Krak des Chevaliers (the most outstanding Crusader castle), then a day in Aleppo to visit sites now destroyed in the ongoing civil war. :( Finished up with visits to Cyprus, Antalya Turkey, and then Athens.

 

This cruise was amazing and would not be possible today.... One reason it was such a highlight were the pre-cruise days in Egypt (included) and several overnight stays in the ports.

 

 

To answer your question about time in port -- yes, in some cases it is not ideal on a cruise ship. But with smart planning, the impact is minimal. Pick two interesting cities for embarking and disembarking and plan to spend several days there before and after your cruise. Also, there are certainly some port stops in Europe where a full day is enough to give you a pretty good idea of the place -- some of the Greek islands, for example.

CruiseMom42: I copied and pasted your referred link.

Choosing cruise itineraries based on spending additional time in interesting starting and ending points is an inspired idea! :D

Western RCI

Labadee

Jamaica

Cozumel

Our favorite.

Sea Ya

2011, 12 days on Celebrity Silhouette.

4 days on land in Rome, then:

Civitavecchia (embarkation)

Piraeus (Athens)

Santorini

Haifa

Haifa

Haifa

Haifa

Naples

Civitavecchia

with a couple of sea days thrown in somewhere.

Cant deciede between these two. Both are number one but for different reasons. First one is Hawaii, its paridise,. Second is the transit of the Panama Canal. Its an amazing journey through the locks.

A cruise that started in Hong Kong and went to Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar, The Maldives, Sri Lanka, Cochin India, Mumbai (with a land trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal), and Dubai.