Ports of call - best and worst

Here are my best and worst ports sailing with Regent;

Best;

1 Santorini - really has the "wow" factor as you sail in.

2 Kusadasi - because of the trip to Ephesus.

3 Haifa - fantastic excursions to Jerusalem and Galilee.

Worst

1 Rio Grande (in Brazil) - no redeeming features. Scummy fountains (they were working yesterday!) rabid dogs, dereliction, I could go on.

2 Sarande, Albania, where do I start? Pleased to escape with my life.

3 Cozumel - dangerous snorkelling excursion. Only redeeming feature was watching the drunks roll back from Senor Frog to the Disney Ship next to ours.

Honourable mentions to Tianjin (for the Great Wall), Kotor in Montenegro and Bordeaux.

Even the worst Ports better than staying at home!

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I like this thread!

Among the best....

NYC.....we're New Yorkers, but sailing into NY Harbor and past the Statue of Liberty never, ever gets old!

Hamilton, Bermuda.....unfortunately not many ships get to sail into "down town" Hamilton, but it used to be a great sail in.

Sorrento, Italy.....I got to pretend I was in "Lives of the Rich and Famous"....

Monte Carlo....see above.

Bergen, Norway...lovely all over and a great sail in....

Some of my least favorites....

Not a fan of any of the Jamacian ports....Mo Bay or Ocho

Rio, pretty rough

Must agree that any port is better than staying home. When in doubt, stay aboard and then you can REALLY play lives of the rich and famous on your own, "private" yacht!!!

Best

Cape Town

Sydney

Venice

Valletta, Malta

Hakodate, Japan

Cartagena, Columbia (sail in only - it is amazing)

Most Middle East ports

Worst

Rio

Manaus, Brazil

Most Caribbean ports (too crowded)

Agree that Santorini is stunning -- especially if you are approaching or leaving the island at night. It didn't make my list because of the hoards of people that tend to be there (6-10 ships sometimes).

Honorable mention: San Francisco

Rome almost made my worst list simply because it is so far from Rome (the same can be said about Southampton which is far from London).

Not a fan of the 'man-made' ports at Costa Maya, Harvest Caye and Santo Tomas.

Best:

Sydney

Aukland

Mumbai (reminded me of historical novels)

Taorema, Sicily

Barcelona

Venice

Singapore

Worst:

Salalah, Oman (not much to see but some cliffs and Job’s tomb...and camels)

Dubai (Las Vegas on steroids)

The port for Kuala Lumpur (in the middle of nowhere)

Semarang, Indonesia (we had really bad weather and the port was flooded)

I would add Stockholm, sailing through the archipelago.

Here are my best and worst ports sailing with Regent;

 

 

Best;

 

 

1 Santorini - really has the "wow" factor as you sail in.

 

 

2 Kusadasi - because of the trip to Ephesus.

 

 

3 Haifa - fantastic excursions to Jerusalem and Galilee.

 

 

Worst

 

 

1 Rio Grande (in Brazil) - no redeeming features. Scummy fountains (they were working yesterday!) rabid dogs, dereliction, I could go on.

 

 

2 Sarande, Albania, where do I start? Pleased to escape with my life.

 

 

3 Cozumel - dangerous snorkelling excursion. Only redeeming feature was watching the drunks roll back from Senor Frog to the Disney Ship next to ours.

 

 

Honourable mentions to Tianjin (for the Great Wall), Kotor in Montenegro and Bordeaux.

 

 

Even the worst Ports better than staying at home!

 

Favorites:

Akureyri

Moorea

Rotorua

Honningsvad

Flam

Lautoka

Ports we would not visit again:

Bridgetown

Most Brazilian ports (except Rio--we enjoyed Carnival)

San Juan

Just thought of a couple more—Halong Bay for Hanoi, Hong Kong harbor especially if ship is docking at Ocean Terminal. Enjoying recalling a lot of the ports mentioned. Great Regent memories!

OMG.....how could I have forgotten Venice?!! Wonderful! The Stockholm archipeligo was fabulous as well.

So many ports, so little time.

I also have to qualify some of this as some ports (where the ship is actually docked) are awful, but the country/city/destination may be wonderful......

Thanks for this thread. Just reading the names of the ports evokes wonderful memories, good or bad.

Agree with most posts.

Keep this one going.

Sheila

Another one, Shanghai, on the Huangpu River overnight, great light show, walking distance to The Bund.

I agree with DeepFreeze that one might have to separate sail-ins (or sail-outs) from spending time on land in the port; but some of our all-time favorites are:

Rio - amazingly beautiful city, both in terms of views from the ship and the experience on land.

Sydney - same as above.

Cape Town - same as above.

Stockholm - the voyage through the archipelago is enchanting.

Panama Canal transit - not exactly a port but quite memorable.

Venice - marvelous views of the city for sail-in or sail-out, as long as it remains on the route between Giudecca Island and the main city.

Hmm, not so appealing:

Most of the ports in the Caribbean - too many other ships and too many jewelry shops.

Great thread idea. I haven't done as many cruises as some of you and I never will, but my criteria is can I get off the ship and walk into something of interest is high on my list. Hence:

I like most of the Alaska and Norway ports, because you are right in the thick of things. I have to say my husband and I liked Cozumel - we did a great mini speed boat excursion and had dinner in town at Mission House, which was very good. (5 minute taxi ride from the port).

Not so grand: The ports in Ecuador and Peru. I like the interior of both countries very much, but the ports leave lots to be desired. As for the Caribbean, the ports aren't so nice, but at least a taxi will take you to a great beach in 20 minutes!

The last posts reminded me of Norway. In my opinion, they are some of the best ports in the world!

How could I forget Bora Bora? The sail away was so romantic.....Bali Hai playing on the loudspeakers while outrigger canoes escorted us out of the lagoon!

BEST PORT: Port of embarkation on first day of cruise.

WORST PORT: Port of debarkation on last day of cruise.

Most of the ports in the Caribbean - too many other ships and too many jewelry shops.

Agreed!

BEST PORT: Port of embarkation on first day of cruise.

WORST PORT: Port of debarkation on last day of cruise.

Love this answer!

Favourites:

- any port in French Polynesia, with proviso below, and especially Moorea and Bora Bora

- Istanbul (sailing in or out of the Bosporus, as well as the city itself.)

- Rio de Janiero (loved this place, too bad it's deteriorated, safety-wise)

- San Juan, Puerto Rico

- Lisbon

- Barcelona (even though the city is overrun with tourists)

Charming:

- Bordeaux

- Honfleur

Least favourites:

- Nassau

- Grenada (struggling island, although beautiful)

- Papeete (despite it being in FP and an embarkation port--the airport is a nightmare)

Overrated ports:

- Bermuda (King's Wharf)

- Taormina (just the town itself, not Sicily)

- St. Bart's

Favourites:

New York

Venice

Cape Town

Bordeaux

Lisbon

Worst.

Petropavlosk Russia. - avoid if possible. Horrible place. Drunks and prostitutes hanging around the port.

Most ports in Brazil. - Over rated.

I'm surprised that Vancouver isn't on the list of favourites. Yes, I live here but sailing under the bridge with Stanley Park on one side and the mountains on the other before snuggling up to beautiful Canada Place with all of its sails...

The worst port we have experienced - by far - was Murmansk!

 

The worst port we have experienced - by far - was Murmansk!

What made it the worst?

My cruise later this year stops there, so I'm curious.

Favorites:

Ha Long Bay - that place is magical

Shanghai - we were lucky enough to be on the correct side of the ship to watch the light show from our suite

Cape Town - beautiful view of Table Mountain

Mostly though i am happy to sail into any port as that means i am on a cruise and am in some different part of the world. How bad can it be.

So i guess that means i really don't have a port i don't like. Some of the ports are not great as we docked in an industrial area where the view was of rusting tankers, cranes and dilapadated buildings. Once out of there every place has something fascinating about it when i have never been there before.

BEST PORT: Port of embarkation on first day of cruise.

WORST PORT: Port of debarkation on last day of cruise.

Hahahaha! True, dat.

I’m not sure what the criteria is for this, whether it’s the sail-in/-out or the port in general, but here are some of mine:

Good:

Venice - that sail in never gets old, and the city is charming

Kotor - love the sail in on this one, too. Easy city to enjoy in a day

Istanbul - port is crappy but the city is amazing

Monte Carlo - just love seeing the money in the air

Santorini - one year we raised anchor and sailed around in slow circles as the sun set; Captain McNeil gave us a dinner to remember - magic!

Bad:

Not too many. I’d say probably our least favorite port has been Gdańsk. I was really looking forward to visiting Poland but the port and tour we took just underwhelmed us. Klaipeda wasn’t all that great, either. But keep in mind, sometimes its the chosen tour or the guide that leave a bad taste - your mileage may vary!

We had a great experience in Gadansk but we did it privately. We are not a fan of ship tours.

We were taken to a village outside and had a fabulous lunch and were taken to the music college which was fantastic. On the way back we went to a few antique stores which only certain items can be bought for import to the US. Certain items could not leave the country only locals could purchase.