Port intensive itineraries

Joanandjoe, wsloan.nl at gmail.com

This is a good thread, just found it looking for 'port intensive'!

What I am looking for is a 7/8 day cruise with plenty of port visits at nice beaches. The Caribbean 7 day itineraries mostly seem to actually have 3 port days and 3 sea days. It would be nice to find one that has one less sea day, and that stops at beaches or close to beaches. I want to avoid getting past hawkers at ports. Ideally the destination would be in the Pacific somewhere to reduce the travel required (from New Zealand). We already did the NCL Pride of America Hawaii cruise and that was fantastic - no sea days at all! Just did Mexican Riviera but the first port was Cabo and it spoilt us for the subsequent ports which were not as good (if you do Mexican Riviera try to get the reverse itinerary that finishes at Cabo on the way back).

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

John

John - We have done most of these. I don't think you will find what you are looking for.

Try Celebrity. We did that once and it seems that it was way more port intensive.

This is a good thread, just found it looking for 'port intensive'!

What I am looking for is a 7/8 day cruise with plenty of port visits at nice beaches. The Caribbean 7 day itineraries mostly seem to actually have 3 port days and 3 sea days. It would be nice to find one that has one less sea day, and that stops at beaches or close to beaches. I want to avoid getting past hawkers at ports. Ideally the destination would be in the Pacific somewhere to reduce the travel required (from New Zealand). We already did the NCL Pride of America Hawaii cruise and that was fantastic - no sea days at all! Just did Mexican Riviera but the first port was Cabo and it spoilt us for the subsequent ports which were not as good (if you do Mexican Riviera try to get the reverse itinerary that finishes at Cabo on the way back).

 

Any other suggestions?

 

 

Thanks

John

Firstly, it is interesting that you found such an old thread. If you have looked through

Regent itineraries (and it sounds as if you have) you'll learn that most itineraries have sea days as most Regent regulars look for that. IMO, the most port intensive itineraries are in the Baltics, the Mediterranean and Alaska.

When talking about the Caribbean, one must realize that it takes two days to get most places when departing from Miami (and most, if not all, Caribbean cruises depart from and return to Miami so that means four sea days).

In terms of where the ship docks, that is generally up to the port authority of that city/country. Sometimes you are near the city, beaches, etc. and sometimes you need to take transportation (Regent generally provides transportation when you are docked away from the city.

As you are learning, there are very few itineraries that depart from the West Coast of the U.S. Perhaps you should seek out a cruise line that has more itineraries out of San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.

It sounds as if you like NCL (a sister company of Regent). Perhaps they have what you are seeking. IMO, this will be a challenge.

Hi, I only picked up on this thread because I was searching for port intensive itineraries... not actually looking at any specific cruise line - have only been on Carnival and NCL in the past. Also the departure port could be anywhere in the Pacific - USA west coast, French Polynesia, Australia, Fiji etc. We can also get as far East as Houston on a nonstop flight. Really want to avoid multi-stop flights as they become just too brutal.

Cheers

John

My ideal for a longer cruise is to have sea days scattered through the itinerary. SA was like that for us this winter, and it worked very well. The one before that was a short one, 7-days, in the Med. For those, I would prefer either no sea days or one (we had one.) We can always make our own sea day by not touring at a particular port, or by just getting off the ship and walking around. The Med tours were very tiring, but in that part of the world, I want to see new places, not just hang around on the ship. That being said, we're older, so we need a break sometimes.

IN 2018 we're doing the Norwegian Fjords. Still debating whether to stick with the Azamara trip we have booked, which has several sea days spotted through 15 days, or do the Hurtigruten return trip which has almost no excursions, but is mainly daytime cruising through the fjords--tempting.

Gilly, others: Please excuse my intruding on the thread to ask Wendy a question.

Wendy: The Explorer Norway cruise in June 2018 is awfully expensive. Just curious to know whether there are other reasons that you're thinking of Azamara or Hurtigruten instead of the Regent itinerary. We've never been up that-a-way, and would love to see those places, but I know we wouldn't enjoy Hurtigruten (would have enjoyed it a couple of decades ago). Is the Azamara itinerary superior to the Regent one? We're just so used to the Regent way of going, that I'm uneasy about trying something new ( a big change would be especially uncomfortable for my husband I believe).

Thanks, and apologies again for the off-topic post.

poss, IMO, being off topic on this thread isn't a big deal as the TS began this thread last year and the poster that brought the thread back up indicated that he is not really interested in a particular cruise line - just looking for itineraries.

Gilly, others: Please excuse my intruding on the thread to ask Wendy a question.

 

Wendy: The Explorer Norway cruise in June 2018 is awfully expensive. Just curious to know whether there are other reasons that you're thinking of Azamara or Hurtigruten instead of the Regent itinerary. We've never been up that-a-way, and would love to see those places, but I know we wouldn't enjoy Hurtigruten (would have enjoyed it a couple of decades ago). Is the Azamara itinerary superior to the Regent one? We're just so used to the Regent way of going, that I'm uneasy about trying something new ( a big change would be especially uncomfortable for my husband I believe).

 

Thanks, and apologies again for the off-topic post.

Yes, I found it was absolutely a better itinerary on Azamara, so we've booked that. Here's the older thread discussing my decision-making:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2468756&highlight=norwegian

Meanwhile, we're still considering Hurtigruten instead. It's mostly a "cruising" cruise, not a port cruise, so there would be lots of time spent in their large panoramic lounge viewing the scenery going by. Sounds great to me, but I haven't convinced David of that. So in a way, it's "on topic" with this thread.

Hurtigruten's also cheaper than Azamara, which is cheaper than Regent. But then we chose the small balcony cabin on Az, which you might not like. We did their equivalent of a PH last fall but didn't feel it was worth the money. The Hurtigruten mini-suite, which is about the size of a standard cabin on the PG, is still cheaper than our small balcony cabin on Journey.

I like that Azamara starts in Edinburgh and ends in Copenhagen, and goes all the way up almost to Nordkapp, which Explorer does not. And just the itinerary in general seemed way better. We know we would love the Journey trip, but I haven't given up exploring the alternative.

Thanks a bunch, Wendy. Since this thread seems to be pretty much all over the place, I'm going to take the liberty of asking you another question:

I know how much you and David love the Paul Gaugin. Are you able to tell me which of all the itineraries you've done in that area you enjoy most? I haven't put that dream completely to bed.

Btw, if we do PG or Azamara, I know it'll have to be a more narrow bed. My husband is a pretty solid sleeper, so maybe he wouldn't be bothered by all my tossing and turning and things that go bump in the night.

Thanks a bunch, Wendy. Since this thread seems to be pretty much all over the place, I'm going to take the liberty of asking you another question:

 

I know how much you and David love the Paul Gaugin. Are you able to tell me which of all the itineraries you've done in that area you enjoy most? I haven't put that dream completely to bed.

 

Btw, if we do PG or Azamara, I know it'll have to be a more narrow bed. My husband is a pretty solid sleeper, so maybe he wouldn't be bothered by all my tossing and turning and things that go bump in the night.

Well poss, perhaps the answer might change, since we're doing the Cook Islands itinerary this fall for the first time. But I must say that the 14-day Marquesas trip was our favourite. But they are all great. Many favour the 11 or 12 day Tuamotus itineraries, since they feel that the 7-day is not long enough. If you do the 7-day, which is fabulous, really, add a pre-cruise stay on an island like Moorea. Tuamotus has the best (remaining) snorkeling, given the sad state of coral in the tropics.

The beds on Hurtigruten are mostly separate singles. I could cope with that fine, but realize the cabin will be rather more bare-bones than we are used to. The minisuite we are looking at is around 200 sqft, the size of a standard PG cabin, and we cope fine in that PG cabin--I call it the "tiny, perfect cabin".

The bedding we had on Azamara was great, fairly huge as I remember. I suspect the standard balcony cabins are the same--the big issue there is the size of the bathrooms--they are apparently very small. We had a CC cabin with walk-in shower on Az and it was great. But many of these cabins, starboard (I think), can be noisy, with a part of the pool deck called the Patio just above. The beds on the PG are fine too, nice queens, but then I think you really strongly prefer a king.

I think it's really easy-choose what you like-it sounds like less ports. So do what you enjoy the most.

Gilly, others: Please excuse my intruding on the thread to ask Wendy a question.

 

Wendy: The Explorer Norway cruise in June 2018 is awfully expensive. Just curious to know whether there are other reasons that you're thinking of Azamara or Hurtigruten instead of the Regent itinerary. We've never been up that-a-way, and would love to see those places, but I know we wouldn't enjoy Hurtigruten (would have enjoyed it a couple of decades ago). Is the Azamara itinerary superior to the Regent one? We're just so used to the Regent way of going, that I'm uneasy about trying something new ( a big change would be especially uncomfortable for my husband I believe).

 

Thanks, and apologies again for the off-topic post.

We have booked the Navigator August 2018- Copenhagen - Amsterdam. Traveling all the way up the coast of Norway then around the coast to Mermansk and Archangel Russia. Then back down the Norway coast, stopping both ways in many ports. On to Shetland Islands, Edinburgh and finally into Amsterdam. It's a 20 day cruise and filled with interesting ports, great scenery and its on Regent. Check it out!

Sheila

We have booked the Navigator August 2018- Copenhagen - Amsterdam. Traveling all the way up the coast of Norway then around the coast to Mermansk and Archangel Russia. Then back down the Norway coast, stopping both ways in many ports. On to Shetland Islands, Edinburgh and finally into Amsterdam. It's a 20 day cruise and filled with interesting ports, great scenery and its on Regent. Check it out!

Sheila

That's definitely a nice one too, but Navigator is a bit smaller ship. We did her in Alaska, and when the weather is poor, public spaces can get a bit crowded. Don't get me wrong, I like the ship, but chose a somewhat larger ship (The R ships are about the size of Voyager.) Navigator's also a longer cruise (20 nights). The one we chose, Azamara Journey is 15 nights (the Explorer trip in June/18 is 12.) To me, the price point of Azamara makes this trip affordable.