Would you ever take a CCL cruise that didn't end/start in the US?

[hbrote]

We took the inaugural cruise on the Sunshine in 2013. Let Venice and ended in Barcelona. Our air for this trip was $2600 for two people. The cruise was a lot less even in a suite. It was fantastic and are going to look into the Vista, soon I hope.

We are going again this year but on Celebrity since Carnival is not servicing Europe. Our air for this trip is $2900 for two people. The cruise is a lot more than Carnival was.

 

Cruising in Europe allows you to see a lot more countries in a short period of time. We learned a lot on the last cruise and spending an additional week in Italy (beautiful country).

 

Hope this helps.

[Lori Dobson]

I would do it in a heartbeat!

 

My husband and I were on the Legend for the last transatlantic that Carnival did - Left from London, went to Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland - we called it the "Land" cruise. It was fantastic! Carnival is not Oceania - I just did a Med cruise with them in October - but Carnival still did a great job.

 

I wasn't aware that the new ship "Vista" is going back to Europe, thanks for the info - I will definitely be waiting to check out those itineraries! :D

[Velvetwater]

If you check out the Vista forum it seems Carnival have already booked Vista to dock in Dubrovnik and Rome according to port schedules May til October. Thats pretty much confirmation of a Summer Europe 2016 season.

 

Shes also booked in at Gibraltar in October for her Transatlantic back so yay if you wanna come to these parts.

 

Europe is stunning whichever boat you are on to be honest...hell even if you are not on a boat. :D

Edited January 17, 2015 by Velvetwater

[dabear99211]

When we were on our Panama Canal cruise this summer we got talking to other passengers who were Carnival regulars and it got onto cruises in other Continents (Europe,Aus, Asia etc). Half of those said they would do it/have done it and the other half said it was US ones only for various reasons.

 

It got me thinking to asking this board...even though there are quite a few have already sailed in Europe etc.

 

Would you ever take a Carnival cruise that did not end/start in the US?

 

If not, why not? :)

 

I have taken 6 cruises in the med and would do it again in a heart beat, also have taken one that started in Aruba and ended in Acapulco.

[dabear99211]

I would do it in a heartbeat!

 

My husband and I were on the Legend for the last transatlantic that Carnival did - Left from London, went to Ireland, Scotland, Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland - we called it the "Land" cruise. It was fantastic! Carnival is not Oceania - I just did a Med cruise with them in October - but Carnival still did a great job.

 

I wasn't aware that the new ship "Vista" is going back to Europe, thanks for the info - I will definitely be waiting to check out those itineraries! :D

 

LOL the Vista is not going back to Europe, it is being built in Europe, will sail the Med and then after the season is over it will come to the USA.

[Rankbronc]

We did the recent Legend trans pacific to Australia and found it a wonderful way to get to Australia one way. A flight would have missed all the South Pacific ports we visited and ended up giving us 2 different vacations rolled into one 5 week period. We would do something like this again in a heartbeat

[rlkubi]

Absolutely!!!11 Love cruising Europe.

[Warm Breezes]

There are a lot of Non-closed-loop cruises on my bucket list. But to do them the way I want to, I need more time than we are currently have able to take at one time....so they are on my retirement bucket list. I will continue with USA land and closed-loop cruises until we can dedicate the amount of time I want for the money that will spent on those trips.

[Pixelate]

Been there. Done that.

 

Next cruise that crosses an ocean will be on a cruise line that will provide a more refined experience.

[Uncle Deane]

We did the Med on the Magic in 2011, can't wait to return!

As the 'vacation planner' for my DW and myself, I spent close to a year studying and planning our excursions in each port along with a 'plan B' and 'plan C' for each (which we did use, more than once). No Carnival excursions, but we did spend two days on small group tours we put together with other folks on our roll call. It was an amazing trip.

 

I know going by cruise ship doesn't allow time for the immersion that staying for a week or more in one spot would, but for us, it offered a chance to 'get our feet wet' in Europe but still have to comfort and familiarity of the Carnival ship to return to each night.....and have our laundry done..:D...

 

Or maybe why a cruise - anywhere- works for us; we NEED to be near the ocean on a regular basis. My DW says she was a viking in a past life. Her people (great grandparents) were fishermen in Newfoundland and mine were from Cape Cod.

 

I'll weigh in on the passport issue; I just don't understand the reluctance of people to get one. Are they reluctant to get a passport, or reluctant to travel outside the US, which is more understandable.

[Lerin]

We have several times because we live in Idaho and our closest options are Seattle to Alaska and LA to Mexico. Sometimes we want to see other things ;)

[sparks1093]

The passport question is not changing the topic as that is a reason that many wouldn't do a cruise starting from another country.

 

 

If we were planning a trip to Europe (which we actually are planning right now) not having a passport is no bar since all one must do is apply for one (which we will be doing in the next week or so). We haven't planned a trip to Europe yet because we didn't have the money to go so it seemed pointless to obtain passports.

[sparks1093]

I'll weigh in on the passport issue; I just don't understand the reluctance of people to get one. Are they reluctant to get a passport, or reluctant to travel outside the US, which is more understandable.

 

Can't speak for everyone, only myself, but for us it didn't make sense to obtain a document that we didn't need for the types of travel we were able to undertake when there were less expensive means out there to achieve the same end. Yes, there is a slight risk involved with not having a passport and "if" something happened we wouldn't be able to return to the US right away but we were comfortable with the risk. Now we are planning a trip to Germany and we are of course obtaining passports.

[Aplmac]

I would! But honestly airfare is what's stopping me!

I would love to go on a Mediterranean cruise but airfare alone is insane!!

The fact that it is out of the country doesn't stop me at all. I have a passport already too!

Yes, same old story! Cheap Med. cruises abound

but getting there to catch the cruise will cost you 3 x what the cruise costs!

 

.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Aplmac

[Pixelate]

Yes, same old story! Cheap Med. cruises abound

but getting there to catch the cruise will cost you 3 x what the cruise costs!

 

.

 

There are low cost carriers that offer nonstop service from the United States to Europe, such as Norwegian Air, Wow Air, IcelandAir and airBerlin.

[Velvetwater]

Air fare is just as crazy the other way round (UK air taxes are a killer anyway) which does put a spanner in the works.

 

We are lucky if a return Transatlantic flight is below £900 ($1300) in summer time.

 

It looks ever more likely we are going to cruise in Asia (obviously not with CCL) as the flights are around £660 ($950) even as an open loop.

 

I remember a CCL survey asking if anyone wanted to go to Asian ports.

[bassmaster150]

We have cruised twice with Carnival in the Mediterranean and once with Princess with another one coming up in June. It is a totally different experience with Carnival in Europe as you do not get the party crowd that you see here in the Caribbean...it is quite more subdued, and we really like that. The cities are complex, but we enjoy the multiple one-day stops because we get to experience a lot in a short window of time. To give us a more intimate experience, we will always front end and rear end a cruise with a couple of days in certain cities. During our Baltics cruise on the Royal Princess in 2014, we spent two days in Copenhagen before we left and two days in London when the cruise was done. I also believe that if you are spending the money to fly over there, either do a land + cruise tour, or do at least an 11-15 day cruise....in other words...spend some quality time over there.