If you had only one....

More cruise to book what would it be?

A bit of backtracking: in May 2015 I became very sick with what turned out to be vistibular neuritis, a condition like Menieres, or a bad case of sea sickness that just never ends.

I am currently on disability from work but the reassessments with the insurance companies are frequent and stressful. After 4 MRIs, ER visits, a specialist in a city hospital, a neurologist, weekly physio therapy and regular appointments with our family doctor and two cancelled cruises I wonder if life will ever be normal again. I just received a disability sticker from the Ministry of transportation.

We are thinking our next cruise will have to be a river cruise, preferably a Christmas market Danube voyage in early December 2017. But if I can only do one more ocean cruise what do we chose? I won't know it is my last cruise until after I disembark and see how, or if, it affects my balance and ability to function.

Cruises on my bucket list are:

• 21 day Antarctica
  
• Complete voyage of the Vikings
  
• Circumnavigation of Australia
  
• Japan and SE Asia
  
• A segment of a grand voyage
  
• 21+ Mediterranean
  

Any all opinions/suggestions welcome! :)

More cruise to book what would it be?

 

A bit of backtracking: in May 2015 I became very sick with what turned out to be vistibular neuritis, a condition like Menieres, or a bad case of sea sickness that just never ends.

 

I am currently on disability from work but the reassessments with the insurance companies are frequent and stressful. After 4 MRIs, ER visits, a specialist in a city hospital, a neurologist, weekly physio therapy and regular appointments with our family doctor and two cancelled cruises I wonder if life will ever be normal again. I just received a disability sticker from the Ministry of transportation.

 

We are thinking our next cruise will have to be a river cruise, preferably a Christmas market Danube voyage in early December 2017. But if I can only do one more ocean cruise what do we chose? I won't know it is my last cruise until after I disembark and see how, or if, it affects my balance and ability to function.

 

Cruises on my bucket list are:

• 21 day Antarctica
  
• Complete voyage of the Vikings
  
• Circumnavigation of Australia
  
• Japan and SE Asia
  
• A segment of a grand voyage
  
• 21+ Mediterranean
  

 

Any all opinions/suggestions welcome! :)

If I had only one cruise to do, it would be Antarctica, hands down.

We've done all of the ones on your list except voyage of the Vikings and Japan and SE Asia and the circumnavigation of Australia; but we're booked for the latter 2 and strongly considering the first. We depart on Monday for the Australia cruise; Japan is in the spring.

More cruise to book what would it be?

 

A bit of backtracking: in May 2015 I became very sick with what turned out to be vistibular neuritis, a condition like Menieres, or a bad case of sea sickness that just never ends.

 

I am currently on disability from work but the reassessments with the insurance companies are frequent and stressful. After 4 MRIs, ER visits, a specialist in a city hospital, a neurologist, weekly physio therapy and regular appointments with our family doctor and two cancelled cruises I wonder if life will ever be normal again. I just received a disability sticker from the Ministry of transportation.

 

We are thinking our next cruise will have to be a river cruise, preferably a Christmas market Danube voyage in early December 2017. But if I can only do one more ocean cruise what do we chose? I won't know it is my last cruise until after I disembark and see how, or if, it affects my balance and ability to function.

 

Cruises on my bucket list are:

1. 
   

• 21 day Antarctica
  
• Complete voyage of the Vikings
  
• Circumnavigation of Australia
  
• Japan and SE Asia
  
• A segment of a grand voyage
  
• 21+ Mediterranean
  

 

Any all opinions/suggestions welcome! :)

Aww Gail, I hope you are feeling well again SOON! A river cruise is a nice option too ;)

I'm quite happy with our next cruise as it is taking us to some places that were on our serious bucket list.

A Grand Voyage on the Prinsendam would be a lovely thing to do for me.

The more mature one becomes, the more one becomes aware of one's own ability to endure the challenges of travel. I am in a quandry much as yours. Where to next? And, when?

Others will disagree with this comment because VOV is so popular. I have sailed the Viking Passage on the Eurodam (Amsterdam to New York) and this year's VOV on the Rotterdam. I am glad I sailed both itineraries, but I won't be back. There are other parts of the World that I find more interesting and attractive. There are many other areas that I have yet to visit.

I find Asia, New Zealand, and Australia to be a region and countries that I have enjoyed in the past and want to visit again.

The 21 day Antarctia cruise appeals. The Auckland-Fort Lauderdale segments of the 2018 World Cruise appeals. (Both of these cruises visit ports that are new to me, as well with the World Cruise segments, ports that I would enjoy a return visit.)

Decisions, decisions! I'll be interested in learning what other experienced CC cruisers have to say about your question.

More cruise to book what would it be?

 

A bit of backtracking: in May 2015 I became very sick with what turned out to be vistibular neuritis, a condition like Menieres, or a bad case of sea sickness that just never ends.

 

I am currently on disability from work but the reassessments with the insurance companies are frequent and stressful. After 4 MRIs, ER visits, a specialist in a city hospital, a neurologist, weekly physio therapy and regular appointments with our family doctor and two cancelled cruises I wonder if life will ever be normal again. I just received a disability sticker from the Ministry of transportation.

 

We are thinking our next cruise will have to be a river cruise, preferably a Christmas market Danube voyage in early December 2017. But if I can only do one more ocean cruise what do we chose? I won't know it is my last cruise until after I disembark and see how, or if, it affects my balance and ability to function.

 

Cruises on my bucket list are:

1. 
   

• 21 day Antarctica
  
• Complete voyage of the Vikings
  
• Circumnavigation of Australia
  
• Japan and SE Asia
  
• A segment of a grand voyage
  
• 21+ Mediterranean
  

 

Any all opinions/suggestions welcome! :)

So sorry to hear of your illness. I haven't done a lot of the ones you listed. For me I hate the air travel. I have a bum knee and hopefully get a partial soon. I have been in pain for almost a year trying all the different shots and pain killers along with braces and wraps. I have felt now what it is like to be hampered with a set back that limits me. I want to do the Grand Asia on HAL for next fall. It's 80 days and my husband says it's too long and expensive but we live on the west coast and it makes the full circle with almost no flights for us. I can see where you need to first try cruising again to see how you do. The river cruise might be best since you don't typically have rough water and it isn't too long. If I only had one cruise left I would go for the longest one I could afford. Let us know what you choose and good luck to you[emoji106]

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For me, it would be Australia. Europe could more easily done via land trips if needs be. The other destinations seem nice too, Australia is just à personal choice of mine.

I'm sorry to hear you're unwell - I can't imagine being in a state of never ending seasickness. I suffer from motion sickness, so understand the feeling, albeit on a smaller scale.

I would either choose the Japan and SE Asia, or a segment (or partial) Grand Voyage. We loved the land portion of our trips to Japan, and I'd love to see more of SE Asia as well. And a Grand Voyage, well, that would be heavenly for me.

Good luck to you - I hope you enjoy whatever itinerary (be it ocean or river) you choose.

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

I would love to see Antarctica. Hoping you will take whatever cruise you wish in the near future as well.

Mine would be a South America/Antarctica one. Probably won't get to do it as it's expensive flying from Australia and it would be a long cruise, but I can dream.

I hope you will be well enough to do at least one more cruise.

All the best.

It makes me very sad to read your post. I am praying that something (medicine, treatment, miracle, whatever) will come along and allow you to continue cruising with your wonderful family.

If you have not been to Japan and Asia, that would be my first choice. Such different cultures need to be experienced.

Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

Kathi

I would do Antarctica because a ship is the best way to get there. However, you could have very rough seas which could aggravate your condition. My next choice would be VoV.

I hope you find relief soon.

Debbie

How brave and forward looking you are to be thinking about this. Best wishes on your recovery because this sounds like it can put a damper on the at sea experience.

Will love to hear back from you about the river cruising - Christmas markets and this time on the year in Europe is one of my favorite times of the year. Dark, cold but just sparkly with an edge of crispness about everything, plus the Europeans don't hold back during these long dark day. They work extra hard to make them special. Lucky you for choosing this.

Your bucket list unfortunately includes some notorious "rough passages" though there is no guarantee this will always happen. But one needs to think Antarctica or the Australia-Tasmanian Seas might do just that. Don't know about the voyage of the Vikings but will learn next year if this hits rough northern waters or not.

Long lazy sea days with low-key ports was certainly the 50 day Tales of the South Pacific, cruise or some portion of it. Ours was longer because we left and came back to San Diego - no airplane trips for us. Yea!

We had a very peaceful cruise in Japan-SEA and it felt more intimate somehow as many of port stops were low-key and pretty accessible (if you ignore the arduous trip into Beijing or Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City - oops).

However, when cruising the SEA seas off Vietnam on this cruise, they had to run the fog horns every few minutes all night long because of the poor visibility and multitudes of small fishing boats. So that segment is not so peaceful. No sleep that night.

You did not mention other areas but one to consider because it is pretty smooth sailing from sublime to exotic is a Mediterranean to Dubai through the Suez Canal - think those cruses are still fairly safe and doable with some long lazy cruising down the Canal. (Double check current travel security warnings). Indian Ocean and her islands is one of our most favorite spots on the planet but it is so hard to get to.

A 21+ day Adriatic/Mediterranean has lots of nice, smaller ports too and you keep pretty close to the shore for smoother sailing. For our money, we think Malta is one of the best port stops out there. And certainly the most fabulous port to enter during the early morning light.

One other thing to keep in mind is being close to a good jumping off spot in case you find your new condition just does not work out for you being at sea. Where would you want to fly home from? (I just feel like the bad fairy who is messing up a picnic here.)

I recently got "double-vision" myself and while transitory it sure makes it harder to get around, so I am trying out hopefully a very low key cruise for ourselves too in a few weeks. - with jump-ship spots close to the US for us just in case.

I'll report back if this type of visual disability makes cruising harder or not. Right now I am joking I see in paisley, while the rest of you see in only gingham. I'll now get twice the value in what I see on this cruise. :cool: (Notice the prism glass in one of those sunshades! Yes, just like you know who in the USA.)

Good question and the other responses will be very helpful.

I've been blest to be able to do most of what is on your list. The only one I haven't done is the circumnavigation of Australia (although I have sailed New Zealand and Australia), but I could easily be talked into taking it.

Everything on your list is great. Which one matters the most to you?

One of my concerns about the Antarctica choice, for you, is the potential for rough seas, especially crossing the "Drake Shake". Every time I've done that route (three times) it's been rough in one direction or the other. I mean ROUGH. With the nature of your medical condition, that could be a strong deterrent to that itinerary.

But otherwise, it would be my top choice.

You have already done a portion of Australia. Do you want to return there, on a much larger ship obviously, or would you rather go somewhere new?

The Tasman Sea can be rough between Australia and New Zealand, but I've never heard that it's bad in the area of the circumnavigation.

I agree that you can do Mediterranean countries via other methods than an ocean liner, but I have never had terribly rough seas in the Med, either.

One thing the Voyage of the Vikings has going for it is that it's a nice balance of sea and port days. If absolutely, positively necessary, it doesn't seem as far from home, either.

I wish you well on your recovery, and in choosing what you are best able to cruise while enjoying it.

Here is an interesting (to me) 33 day Grand World segment on the Amsterdam departing from Hong Kong March 2017:

(Sorry for the jumbled format here)

Day Date Port Arrive Depart

0 02 Mar 2017 Hong Kong, China ON

1 03 Mar 2017 Hong Kong, China

06:00 PM

2 04 Mar 2017 At Sea

3 05 Mar 2017 At Sea

4 06 Mar 2017 Nha Trang, Vietnam VX

07:00 AM 02:00 PM

5 07 Mar 2017 Phu My, Vietnam VX

06:00 AM 06:00 PM

6 08 Mar 2017 At Sea

7 09 Mar 2017 Singapore ON

08:00 AM

8 10 Mar 2017 Singapore

Port Guide 07:00 PM

9 11 Mar 2017 Port Kelang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia

08:00 AM 06:00 PM

10 12 Mar 2017 At Sea

11 13 Mar 2017 At Sea

12 14 Mar 2017 At Sea

13 15 Mar 2017 Colombo, Sri Lanka

08:00 AM 07:00 PM

14 16 Mar 2017 At Sea

15 17 Mar 2017 At Sea

16 18 Mar 2017 Mumbai (Bombay), India ON VX

08:00 AM

17 19 Mar 2017 Mumbai (Bombay), India VX

06:00 PM

18 20 Mar 2017 At Sea

19 21 Mar 2017 At Sea

20 22 Mar 2017 Muscat, Oman

07:00 AM 05:00 PM

21 23 Mar 2017 At Sea

22 24 Mar 2017 At Sea

23 25 Mar 2017 At Sea

24 26 Mar 2017 At Sea

25 27 Mar 2017 At Sea

26 28 Mar 2017 Aqaba (for Petra), Jordan ON VX

08:00 AM

27 29 Mar 2017 Aqaba (for Petra), Jordan VX

11:00 PM

28 30 Mar 2017 At Sea

29 31 Mar 2017 Enter Suez Canal at Suez CO P1

06:00 AM 06:00 AM

29 31 Mar 2017 Transit the Suez Canal CO

29 31 Mar 2017 Exit Suez Canal at Port Said CO P1

06:00 PM 06:00 PM

30 01 Apr 2017 At Sea

31 02 Apr 2017 Rhodes, Greece

08:00 AM 06:00 PM

32 03 Apr 2017 Cruising The Dardanelles CO

Port Guide

33 04 Apr 2017 Istanbul, Turkey VX

08:00 AM

I too admire your spirit and forward thinking! Thankfully cruising is one of the more mobility-limited accessible travel options overall.

I have to say my ultimate bucket list cruise would be a full circumnavigation World Cruise of about 100-110 nights. I always dreamed of doing it on the QE2 in Grill class, and honestly as pretty as the new Cunard Vessels are they just don't have that same "magic" to them. The QE2 was the last of a breed that will never exist again - the true Transatlantic "greyhound" Ocean Liner - long, lean, sleek and built for rough seas and fast speeds.

All that said both the 2017 and 2018 World Voyages on the Amsterdam would be amazing trips, on a comfortable and well appointed vessel. Now to find the time and the $$$ for such an undertaking :D

Would you consider using a scooter?

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There are so many places that I haven't seen, so this is a difficult question to answer. I think it may be a cruise that takes in India and the Indian Ocean. Australia doesn't appeal due to the length of the flight. I understand that a flight to Sydney is 24 hours, and most break the journey with a stop off

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First how sorry I am for you limitations. My knees have gone bad recently, not as serious as your situation, but who gave them permission to be weather predictors? I have acupuncture that helps somewhat, it's something to look into. I had my first session on Volendam 4 years ago and got hooked, ermmm needled?

Anyway. I would recommend Viking Passage for the variety of ports. The east-bound leg of VOV doesn't appeal to me at all. We went in July and the only real motion we had was between Iceland and Greenland, rather minor really, but the only time it was noticeable.

RuthC and anyone else who wants to join, the circumnavigation of Australia sounds wonderful....

Another consideration would be how many of the ports are tender ports. That can be a rough ride sometimes. The HAL folk are superb in the way they help those of us with wobbles, but they can't calm the sea.

Sorry you are having health problems.

We both have our handicap cards, etc.

But if I had only one cruise left to do -- Asia and Japan.

To 1 of 4, I've never met you but always read and respected what you wrote. I am so very sorry to hear of your illness. My mother had recurrent Meniere's so I have some idea what you are dealing with. I sincerely hope you improve and can get back on the road to someplace great with 4 of 4.

I would strongly discourage several of your choices as they are too remote for anyone with health concerns. I vote for the 21 day Med trip, May or September. Med seas are almost always calm and you are close to modern medical care should the need arise for any of the 4.

Thinking of you right now as we float around the Med for couple weeks with with the calmest seas.

If you want to try a river cruise why not the 14 day grand European, Budapest to Amsterdam? The itinerary is terrific and all the river cruise companies offer this option. While we were on a river cruise we saw many of the squares where Christmas markets are held. Honestly I don't think the markets in cool weather would be all that great.

My sincere good wishes to you.,

While we were on a river cruise we saw many of the squares where Christmas markets are held. Honestly I don't think the markets in cool weather would be all that great.

 

My sincere good wishes to you.,

There is always gluhwein. The winter markets are wonderful.

We have sailed to all your bucket list places with the exception of the circumnavigation of Australia. Our absolute favorite was Antarctica. However, considering the Drake Passage and the rough seas near the Falklands, I would we wary with your condition. The Voyage of the Vikings was also wonderful, but can be quite rough. Can remember our captain coming on when it was rough saying, "you could have sailed the Caribbean."

Think you might consider a Baltic cruise. The water is very calm with a great itinerary.

Know you will enjoy whatever you choose.

Sorry about your illness! Another vote for the Antarctica cruise. It is amazing - however you may have rough seas crossing from Ushaisa to Ant. peninsula or around Cape Horn so think about that.

We have sailed to all your bucket list places with the exception of the circumnavigation of Australia. Our absolute favorite was Antarctica. However, considering the Drake Passage and the rough seas near the Falklands, I would we wary with your condition. The Voyage of the Vikings was also wonderful, but can be quite rough. Can remember our captain coming on when it was rough saying, "you could have sailed the Caribbean."

 

Think you might consider a Baltic cruise. The water is very calm with a great itinerary.

Know you will enjoy whatever you choose.

I was on the Baltic itinerary in May 2015, and the itinerary was very good. We sailed out of Harwich, but RCI has pulled out of that port now. We had variable weather, luckily it was warm and sunny during our overnight trip to St Petersburg. The sea conditions meant that we couldn't get into Skagen, which was due to be our final port of call.

It was a fairly tiring itinerary due to the fantastic cities that we visited.

So sorry about your health issues!

Where to go next on the bucket list is hard to decide. I would definitely recommend a Grand Cruise or at least a segment of one if you can fly. These cruises are uniquely special ,and above and beyond the regular cruises for activities, food and service. If you can cruise longer, the Grand So America into Antarctica is nice and Antarctica is truly amazing. We were very lucky to have calm seas sailing the Drake Passage but still popped my Dramamine. For calmer seas, the Grand Mediterranean, which is 56 days and RT Ft Lauderdale, is a wonderful cruise. Have to admit that the World Cruise is the best! Maybe consider the world cruise as it touches several of the places on your list.

Japan is wonderful and I would go back in a heart beat, but there is nothing that touches me more than sailing into Venice and Malta. Circumnavigating Australia has more sea days so that may help you to decide.

Whatever you decide will be wonderful - so enjoy!