Itinerary differences

[mfs2k]

We’re sailing on Beyond’s repositioning cruise on 10/26 for 9 nights from Bayonne to Bermuda, Aruba and Curacao and debarking in Fort Lauderdale. We have 6 days at sea. The activities calendar isn’t posted yet for our Caribbean cruise. 
 

I looked, however at the activity calendar for the current 9 night Beyond cruise in France, Italy and Spain with a port stop every single day and I realize our cruises couldn’t be more different. Most guests I imagine this week aren’t spending the day lounging at the pool and scrambling to find deck chairs. The weather is totally different and the experience during the day is like comparing apples and oranges. 
 

Which type of cruise experience do you prefer, and why ?

[cangelmd]

My first cruise was at about age 35, I had 2 small children and a busy medical practice. My only goal in cruising was relaxation. Cruising was a revelation to us, not only did someone else do the dishes and cooking and drive the transportation, you didn’t have to decide where to go to dinner - just show up at the right time and decide what to eat!

Fast forward a few years and we are on a 20th anniversary Med cruise, our first time in Europe. Only 7 days because we couldn’t be gone from kids any longer. This was a very port intensive cruise, but it was comforting for us to go back to the “US” to sleep each night. We actually stopped cruising at that point, but that trip did launch us into a decade of traveling to Europe, mostly with our kids.

Fast forward 20 years, and we have mixed those 2 aspects of cruising. Most of our trips are chosen for ports, and we are beginning to do more exotic trips (we had had a plan for South America, maybe Pacific, Asia, but Covid has obviously thrown that out the window, we are booked up through 2023 with Europe, Canada). We still are doing a Caribbean a year, but we don’t have to fly to FLL, so that decreases the cost a bit. We only get off the ship in a few ports in the Caribbean.

We preferred the different types you are asking about at different times in our lives. We still like an occasional just relax trip, but it is much less important now.

 

The type of trip heavily influences what cabin we book, with the other driver of cabin type being what class ship, of course. We tend to book suites in the Caribbean, they are a little cheaper and we know we are going to spend a lot of time on board, so the Retreat is more valuable. Port intensive trip, we just need a bed, and maybe a balcony 😉

Edited September 16, 2022 by cangelmd

[dreamer321]

On 9/16/2022 at 4:23 AM, mfs2k said:

Which type of cruise experience do you prefer, and why ?

I prefer the type of cruise experience where I'm onboard, sadly I'll have to wait for January 2023 for that to be true.😁

 

I've been tracking the daily planner entertainment schedule for Beyond for the last 2 months and certain patterns emerge.  Usually, you'll have a comedian the first night, Beyond has three different production shows, Arte, Stage Door and Elements but you won't know what nights they will be shown until you board.  The calendar seems to change from cruise to cruise. They also bring in outside singers, musicians and magicians.  

 

Eden also has three production shows at 11pm - Wonder of Eden: Paradise, Wonder of Eden: Decadence and Wonder of Eden: Dreams, don't miss those.

 

On sea days there are Beyond the Podium lectures. There is also lots of quiz type events, game shows and duos & soloist for entertainment.

 

You can be as active or relaxed as you want.

 

On the cruise I'm booked on we have three port days and three sea days so we get the best of both worlds and I'm looking forward to all of them.

[SbbquilterUT]

I love sea days and really enjoy a Transatlantic for that reason.  Your repo cruise sounds very nice.  In Europe I prefer a smaller ship with longer times in port to explore.  For me those are two very different experiences and now that have longer to travel I want new places so Europe and Australia are the newest trips we have planned.  Did sail Iceland, Ireland and Norway and it was lovely.

[mfs2k]

I feel like I’m ready to transition from relaxing beach and Caribbean cruise vacations to port intensive, sightseeing vacations. 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

I feel like I’m ready to transition from relaxing beach and Caribbean cruise vacations to port intensive, sightseeing vacations. 

Back in April I did two weeks, with my son and his wife, at an all inclusive in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and we never left the resort. This was the first time I’ve ever done such a vacation and it was beyond relaxing and stress free.  As I almost always do go go go vacations, after two years of you know what, I just needed to get away.  Loved this type of down time vacation so much, in July I booked a 14 day TA on EDGE for this coming October. 8 sea days in total which I am looking forward to the most quite frankly.  Still going to be planning some go go go vacations but I’m very happy that I discovered that I can take a vacation with as much or as little as I want to do, and have a great time not doing a damn thing.  Happy travels.

[chemmo]

I love all cruises…

 

Cruises with different start and end ports so you can easily add two city breaks or a land tour.

Cruises that day after day stun you with natural and/or man made wonders.

Cruises with lots of sea days to relax and unwind in.

Cruises that combine all elements of the above.

 

Best cruise ever was Transpacific from Hawaii to Sydney….Land based holidays at both ends, enough sights to leave you thinking ‘I can’t believe I am here…’. Loads of sea days enabling you to relax and unwind and make friendships to last a lifetime…

 

mfs2k, thanks for an interesting post!

[mfs2k]

4 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Back in April I did two weeks, with my son and his wife, at an all inclusive in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and we never left the resort. This was the first time I’ve ever done such a vacation and it was beyond relaxing and stress free.  As I almost always do go go go vacations, after two years of you know what, I just needed to get away.  Loved this type of down time vacation so much, in July I booked a 14 day TA on EDGE for this coming October. 8 sea days in total which I am looking forward to the most quite frankly.  Still going to be planning some go go go vacations but I’m very happy that I discovered that I can take a vacation with as much or as little as I want to do, and have a great time not doing a damn thing.  Happy travels.

I need this soon. 
 

[mfs2k]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

I love all cruises…

 

Cruises with different start and end ports so you can easily add two city breaks or a land tour.

Cruises that day after day stun you with natural and/or man made wonders.

Cruises with lots of sea days to relax and unwind in.

Cruises that combine all elements of the above.

 

Best cruise ever was Transpacific from Hawaii to Sydney….Land based holidays at both ends, enough sights to leave you thinking ‘I can’t believe I am here…’. Loads of sea days enabling you to relax and unwind and make friendships to last a lifetime…

 

mfs2k, thanks for an interesting post!

Thank you. 
I like the variety you described. 

[TeaBag]

We like TA's also and have one coming up with 7 days at sea in a row (10 in total) because Bermuda was cancelled.

Chemmo did you sail Hawaii to Sydney in 2007 when Celebrity Mercury sailed there for the first time.  That was a favorite of ours too.

[chemmo]

5 hours ago, TeaBag said:

We like TA's also and have one coming up with 7 days at sea in a row (10 in total) because Bermuda was cancelled.

Chemmo did you sail Hawaii to Sydney in 2007 when Celebrity Mercury sailed there for the first time.  That was a favorite of ours too.

No we did Solstice in 2014 as I retired after 34+ years in education. First time we could take a cruise outside school holidays!
 

I am sure the itinerary was probably much the same. For us, from the UK, Hawaii alone was a ‘holiday of a lifetime’. Add on visits to Bora Bora, Tahiti and New Zealand to say nothing of Sydney which we fell in love with. We have enjoyed many fantastic cruises over the years but that one remains the ‘exceptional’.

Edited September 25, 2022 by chemmo

[LB_NJ]

We like port intensive cruises where the ports are relatively safe so we don't have to book an excursion and we can just get off and wander on our own.

 

We have a cruise booked that has an overnight in Colombia that I am not thrilled about.  All the excursions say something about crime is a problem.  We booked it because it fit our schedule.

 

I would probably do a TA on the Queen Mary 2, however that is the ONLY ship I would do it on.  And I might do it in the winter.

[JuliaMS]

It all depends on the type of vacation you are looking for. Sometimes a port intensive cruise with Diving, snorkeling and lots of excursions. My next is a TA with 6 straight sea days plus a 3 more sprinkled in. I think when many people are unhappy with their cruise they booked the wrong cruise or ship for the vacation they wanted. I like both kinds but I'm usually looking for one or the other.