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9 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The OP stated looking for a cruise not involving flying.She or he lives in Toronto.

I included the Cyprus cruises as there is a ferry from Turkey to Cyprus - definitely not the most expedient way to get to Israel but possibly an option. 

Oceania has a 12 day cruise from Venice to Haifa in Oct 2020 on the Sirena. Regent also has a 10 day cruise from Istanbul to Haifa in March 2021. Salamis cruises have short cruises from Cyprus to Israel periodically. Marella also has 1 week cruises from Limassol Cyprus that stop in Israel before returning to Cyprus.  Mano cruises is an Israeli line that has RT cruises to Europe.

On 10/13/2019 at 4:47 AM, edinburgher said:

 

At Khasab we did the 4x4 mountain trip. In the afternoon we took the shuttle bus into town, but there really is nothing to see and we only spent around a half hour there, if it was even that.  Some pax took a short walk to the right of the dock in the opposite direction from town.

 

If I remember correctly there are no taxis at all in Khasab. You walk, tour or use the shuttle.

 

 

I'm considering the 4x4  excursion in lieu of the dhow cruise. Did you enjoy it?

I am trying to decide which Summit Bermuda cruise to take in June. They are both 11 day cruises that are basically identical except the June 5 cruise goes to Newport RI for one day and spends only one overnight in Bermuda (11am to 5pm the next day) while the June 16 cruise does not go to Newport but spends two nights in Bermuda(8:30am Wed to 3:00p Fri). I am travelling with my two teenage sons and we have not been to any of these ports before. The mansions in Newport are of interest to me but not sure how much they would appeal to teenage boys.I don't see us spending too much time at a beach as my sons prefer more active excursions or historical tours. Basically, additional port vs. more time in Bermuda is the dilemma. Any insight would be appreciated.

PNW - Thanks for those links. They gave me a much better idea of what the tour is like.

Has anyone been on this cruise in previous years? The cruise begins in Stockholm on July 30 and is docked overnight so it does not leave port until July 31. Trying to plan sightseeing and wondering if there will be a muster drill on the first day or second day. Sent email to RC and they didn't really give me a clear answer.

We will be stopping in Klaipeda in early August on the Serenade of the Seas. Trying to decide if it's worth doing one of the excursions or just have a short day in port. The tours I'm considering are one to a former Soviet Missile site and one to the Curonian Spit. I've seen large sand dunes on beaches before so I'm not sure if the Curonian spit will offer anything unique. The missile tour seems interesting but it seems like a long drive there and back. Any experiences with recent tours or suggestions would be appreciated.

I was just onboard the Amsterdam in Alaska and they had LGBT meetings listed in the daily bulletins.

I was also on the 14 day Amsterdam cruise to Alaska with two teenagers. We were told there were 20 teens from 13-17 onboard the June 5 sailing. My sons did go up to the Loft (the teen area) on a few occasions early on but no one was there. They did spend one evening up there with another teen toward the end of the cruise. This meeting was facilitated by the Loft staff member. I think if there's not enough critical mass of teens in the very beginning, it's hard to make things happen with this age group.

My teens are typical social media users and their enjoyment of the cruise was dampened somewhat by the extremely slow internet. Throughout most of the cruise, it would take at least 1-2 minutes to load a web page. The performance seemed to be equally poor at all times so I'm not sure it's due to heavy volume. Pages with lots of graphics often would only load the text. I wouldn't find this so bad if HAL had an unlimited plan but with the per minute plans, the slow performance can be infuriating.

In Ketchikan, I would highly recommend the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's Tour (aka Deadliest Catch tour) for children especially but adults as well. It was really entertaining and educational and just the right length of time (3.5 hrs).

In Juneau, we went out to the Mendenhall Glacier. You can purchase shuttle bus tickets from vendors at the dock. They run about every half hour. The shuttle drivers give a nice talk on the way there and back. The kids weren't that impressed with the glacier but they really liked Nugget Falls which is only a 15-20 minute walk from the Visitor Center. If you can time it right, the Park Rangers do a nice presentation at the visitor center. We had planned to do the Helicopter Glacier Dog Sledding but it was cancelled. There is also a land based dog sledding camp but we didn't make it to that one.

In Sitka, the Fortress of the Bear was a bit of a disappointment (didn't help it was cold and rainy). Still worth seeing but my sons felt the Raptor center was much better. For history lovers, the Sitka History museum is currently closed but hopefully it will reopen later this summer.

In Victoria, the Royal BC Museum is fantastic. They also have an IMAX if you have time on your hands. We enjoyed Butchart Gardens as well. We took a taxi from the Cruise terminal. The driver waited for us tp do a tour at Butchart (about an hour total) and then took us back to the Inner Harbor for $100.

I think the cruise is good for kids as it offers a nice mix of sea days and port days. I can't speak for others but after 3 days of port excursions, they are ready for a break. We also found with 3 of us, it was cheaper and more flexible to do most of the sightseeing by taxis if the places weren't walkable.

If you are looking for an Alaska cruise with few kids, the May and June sailings are good ones to consider.

Pullmantur has a list of US agencies on their website.

http://www.pullmantur.travel/en/agencias-pullmantur/usa.html

GordonJasmine re: Tortola - Here are some options that stop in that port:

• Celebrity Equinox from Miami (11 nts) - May, Sept or Oct
  
• RC Serenade of the Seas from FLL (Jan - Apr)
  
• Carnival Ecstasy - from Charleston Nov 5 only
  
• Disney Fantasy from Pt Canaveral (7 nts)
  
• Norwegian Epic from Pt Canaveral (7 nts)
  
• Norwegian Escape from Miami (7 nts)
  
• Norwegian Gem from NY (10 nts)
  
• Holland America - a few from FLL
   
  

If you look at the Pullmantur UK site, it looks like the single supplement is 50% or less of the regular price. For example, $646 inside pp and $879 for lowest single rate on Baltic cruise. Looks like it might be worth it since the rooms are small. Did you get rates direct from Pullmantur or are you using a TA? The lower rates I saw were on one of the big online cruise sites. I have not called them to verify though.

I am trying to talk my family into doing the Baltic cruise in September along with a land tour of Europe but they are not as keen as I am. The cruise looks like a great value (under $500 all inclusive for 7 days) and I like the fact they spend 2 days in Stockholm and St. Petersburg. My understanding is you do not need a visa except for St. Petersburg where there is an exemption if you do an organized tour.

I am considering a cruise to Alaska for our family: 2 parents and 3 sons (10,12,14). I've read quite a bit about the different cruise options and I feel like the 7 night cruises might not be quite enough. This would be the first cruise with the kids.

Holland America has a 14 day cruise from Seattle roundtrip called the Great Land Explorer. It covers all the usual stops as well as a number of other ones like Anchorage, Juneau, Homer. This is attractive since we live in the Seattle area and it wouldn't require any flights and the variety of stops are appealing. On the other hand, I've read good things about the land/cruise tours. I was thinking of flying to Anchorage, doing an independent tour by land then taking one of the 7 day Southbound cruises ending in Vancouver. One thing that has worried me about Denali is they seem to involve all day long bus tours. I'm not sure how that would go over with my younger very active sons.

Just wondering if anyone could give me some further directions on things to consider in deciding between the two options.