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dutchiegirl
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We just came back from our first ever cruise...Alaska. We were on the Noordam and it was such a wonderful experience (loved the scenery, ports, and we had great weather), that I am already looking at other cruises. Since I still work full-time, I am looking at cruises of less than 15 days. But I don't know what region to look at. My husband is not a big beach lover or swimmer, so I am not sure a Carribean cruise would be that interesting to him. What have been some of your favorite cruises and why?

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Try a transatlantic around April or May. All of the major cruise lines need to re-position their ships from Florida to Europe.

 

Most of the voyages are between 10 to 22 days with as many 4 to 8 port stops. These cruises are priced very reasonably.

 

We did a fabulous transatlantic on the Noordam in 2008 which included stops in Bermuda - Madeira, Portugal - Lisbon, Portugal - Cadiz, Spain - Casablanca, Morocco - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Barcelona, Spain and Florence, Italy.

 

Go to any good cruise search engine and you will find dozens of great Transatlantics.

 

Jonathan

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We just came back from our first ever cruise...Alaska. We were on the Noordam and it was such a wonderful experience (loved the scenery, ports, and we had great weather), that I am already looking at other cruises. Since I still work full-time, I am looking at cruises of less than 15 days. But I don't know what region to look at. My husband is not a big beach lover or swimmer, so I am not sure a Carribean cruise would be that interesting to him. What have been some of your favorite cruises and why?

My wife and I have done 9 cruises thus far with two more in the next 12 months. Our favorite cruise to date was a 12 night cruise through the Mediterranean with stops in Barcelona, Cannes, La spezia, Rome, Naples, Venice, Ravenna and Dubrovnik. It was totally the trip of a lifetime. We got to see and do so much in the amount of time we were in Europe. This was also ideal if you're not real big on beaches and more into sites and scenery.

 

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I think my favourite cruises have been round the Greek Isles; Norway, and the Iberian peninsula. Iceland and northern Scotland will be next; we loved the Round British Isles, even though we live there.The Caribbean holds little interest for me, but we go for my husband who's a water baby... I mainly stay on the ship.

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OP, for your time frame of 15 days, consider Hawaii. Have not sailed on NCL's ship there, but I have sailed on other cruise ships to these beautiful islands. I would suggest adding a few days to the start or end of the cruise on one island. And, a visit to Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri just simply cannot be missed when one is in Honolulu.

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Our favorite cruise was of the Norwegian fjords; happened to be on the Celebrity Millennium. Second favorite was Hawaii to Vancouver, with several days in Honolulu to visit Pearl Harbor and other WWII sites followed by wonderful sea days to Vancouver.

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My favourite cruise was on the Eurodam, sailing out of Venice - gorgeous. Spend a few days in Venice, then a wonderful Med cruise.

My husband's favourite, was a cruise around Norway on the Rotterdam. Spend a few days in Amsterdam, then the cruise.

I suggest spending a few days before (and/or after) the cruise to sightsee in the embarkation or disembarkation port.

Lots of choices - have fun!

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We just came back from our first ever cruise...Alaska. We were on the Noordam and it was such a wonderful experience (loved the scenery, ports, and we had great weather), that I am already looking at other cruises. Since I still work full-time, I am looking at cruises of less than 15 days. But I don't know what region to look at. My husband is not a big beach lover or swimmer, so I am not sure a Carribean cruise would be that interesting to him. What have been some of your favorite cruises and why?

 

My favorite cruise was on the Volendam to Alaska in 2008.

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We've done several trans-Atlantics -.Fall - October or November westbound are best- hitting several ports in Italy, France, Spain and/or Portugal - for a number of reasons: the Atlantic is much warmer than in April or May, you've gotten the nasty flight out of the way first, and have a bunch of 25 hour days due to time zone change rather than the 23 hours on eastbound. Spend a few days, in Rome perhaps, with great October weather and few crowds - plus per died prices are much lower than on Caribbean or full European itineraries.

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My favourite cruise was on the Eurodam, sailing out of Venice - gorgeous. Spend a few days in Venice, then a wonderful Med cruise.

 

That sounds a lot like my favorite. Mine was a 13 day cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam from Venice to Barcelona, which included Croatia, Greek Islands, Sicily and several mainland Italy ports. The Venice sail away was the best I've ever seen.

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Like you, our first cruise was to Alaska and we loved it. It is still probably our favourite cruise just because it was our first and so very special.

 

We also loved the Pride of America cruise around Hawaii. We couldn't afford a bunch of sea days and we wanted to see as much of Hawaii as possible. We went straight to Honolulu and spent a couple of days before the cruise in Waikiki. Hawaii is so amazing that it can't help but be a favourite cruise.

 

After that, our favourite cruises have been to the Panama Canal and a 14 day Pacific Coastal from Vancouver to San Diego. But those two were on the Celebrity Infinity which is our favourite ship and a lot of the fabulousness was due to the crew and the overall ship experience, as well as the ports.

 

I almost forgot about Antarctica! We did that one this past February on the Celebrity Infinity. That was so much fun, both on the ship and off.

 

Your favourite cruise is probably going to be one where you go see and do things you've always wanted to see and do.

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All cruises are good. As I look back It is difficult to pick just one as the best. Two kind of stick out, First would be our first cruise on the Big Red Boat to celebrate our 25th anniversary with our best friends. That got us hooked on cruising.

 

 

Secondly would be a CC with a Group know as " The Miracle Waiters " which we became friends with some of the nicest people in the world.

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My favorite cruise was a 12 day on Celebrity through Norway. Really stunning and incredible views going through the fjords. If you enjoyed Alaska you would love Norway. My second favorite was a 12 day Baltic cruise with a three day stop in St. Petersburg.

 

 

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Transoceanic! If you're limited on time, a transatlantic is probably better. I love the sea days, but there are some with a few interesting ports along the way. My favourite cruise was a longer one, San Diego to New Zealand (17 days, I think). Part of why it was my favourite was that it got me to New Zealand, where I spent 10 days before flying home.

 

If days at sea aren't your thing and you like interesting ports, I agree with considering a river cruise too.

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We did Valparaiso (Chile, you fly into Santiago) to Buenos Aires (Argentina) around Cape Horn, without Antarctica... it would be tight for 15-days, as the cruise was 14 and those are LONG flights! The area covered (esp. southern Chile with its Glacier Alley) is called "the Alaska of the South"!

 

We flew in to Santiago on day of embarcation; our flight was delayed by HOURS at LAX, and we caught the last ship's bus to Valparaiso! I did have contact info for a company that would get us to the first port (which would have been an adventure in itself), but it did work out for us. However, we stopped cutting it that close!

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My husband is not a big beach lover or swimmer' date=' so I am not sure a Carribean cruise would be that interesting to him. What have been some of your favorite cruises and why?[/quote']

 

We've been on 7 cruises in the past 18 months - caught the cruise bug. Mostly Caribbean, put bathing suit on one time - Dunn's Falls. We love the fresh air and sunshine, and of course the ship. We walk around in port or take a tour to learn about the area. We don't go find the beaches, other than to look at them. So don't skip Caribbean just because you don't beach and swim.

 

And we've loved all our cruises so far, Alaska, Panama Canal, TA, Bermuda, the rest Caribbean.

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Mine was my trip to Europe. It was a one week cruise, but we added a few days on to the beginning and end of the trip to make it just about 2 weeks. We flew from Boston to London Heathrow International Airport and got a connection from there to Rome. We spent three days in Rome before going on the cruise. We boarded the ship and went to Ephesus (Turkey), Santorini (Greece), and Athens (Greece), before heading back to Rome. Then we flew back to London and spent three days in London before heading back to Boston. We loved it because of the sights we saw: Big Ben, London Eye, Shakespeare's Globe Theater, the original Olympic track, the new Olympic stadium, the Vatican, the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, and the Parthenon!

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We loved the transatlantic cruises we've done, except for the flights back. A bit closer to home, how about a Canada/New England cruise? There are sailings out of Baltimore, New York, and Boston. Some go as far as Halifax, some to Montreal. IMO, much more appealing than the Caribbean.

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