Decisions about trip itinerary

[ActiveTraveler]

It is obvious I will need to take multiple cruises to go everywhere I want because not all interesting ports are available on the same cruise line. Making matters worse, a certain destination is required to embark or disembark in a specific port like Cape Canaveral. It makes me worry I need to go on a cruise without getting off the ship when it is in port if I am going to visit all port cities I am interested in. Obvoiusly I don't want to do that. So I was wondering how I can choose my first cruise itinerary, now that I have picked out a ship (Crystal Serenity), cruise length (two weeks) and season (spring) to sail:

These are the cities I want to embark and disembark from, not in order of importance:

1. Rome (Civitavecchia)

2. Venice

3. Paris (Le Havre?)

4. London (Dover)

5. Honolulu

6. San Diego

7. Boston

8. Seattle

The problems are:

1. No cruise includes both England or France and Italy

2. Only NCL ever does an all-Hawaiian itinerary cruise

3. Coastal U.S. ports are for cruises I don't want to sail

So what would be the best destination for my first cruise? Does it matter if my first is in a specific part of the world in terms of having an easier, less-stressful vacatoin? I know, somebody is going to say it is about personal preference, but I have no preference right now except to go where it is least stressful for a first-time cruiser. Any suggestoins?

[Essiesmom]

Well, if you have picked out the ship and the season, then you sort of have to go with where the ship is sailing from. Other than that, if you want the least stress, I would choose to sail from the port that is the easiest to get to, which seems to be Boston, since you are in Ohio. EM

[soccerref]

We always get off in every port even if we have no desire to see that particular place. We go with an open mind and have often found that the most seemingly innocuous places have been really interesting e.g. Livorno, Puntarenas. We have learned over the years that people will show you the 'best' they have. It may not be amazing to us but I appreciate that people are proud of their environment and I respect that. They say, and I agree, that travel broadens the mind so my advice is be open to new experiences.

Have a wonderful cruise whichever one you choose. IMHO Venice is the most spectacular port to cruise in and out of.

[chipmaster]

Interesting list, I'd say some of the cities are best done on land tour, others are possible stops and others are ideal embarkation/disembarkation.

 

Most of the cruiseline web sites offer you the ability to pick geographical areas, ships and dates and filter the ships / ports for you. Some independent travel sites that advertise here also have some nice planning features.

 

I think you do need to look at the map and see why the some cities you want aren't on the same sailing. Unfortunantly the cruiselines schedules are a business and they to schedule efficiently that means meeting demand while still being practical with their schedule.

 

Happy planning

 

It is obvious I will need to take multiple cruises to go everywhere I want because not all interesting ports are available on the same cruise line. Making matters worse, a certain destination is required to embark or disembark in a specific port like Cape Canaveral. It makes me worry I need to go on a cruise without getting off the ship when it is in port if I am going to visit all port cities I am interested in. Obvoiusly I don't want to do that. So I was wondering how I can choose my first cruise itinerary, now that I have picked out a ship (Crystal Serenity), cruise length (two weeks) and season (spring) to sail:

 

These are the cities I want to embark and disembark from, not in order of importance:

 

1. Rome (Civitavecchia)

2. Venice

3. Paris (Le Havre?)

4. London (Dover)

5. Honolulu

6. San Diego

7. Boston

8. Seattle

 

The problems are:

 

1. No cruise includes both England or France and Italy

2. Only NCL ever does an all-Hawaiian itinerary cruise

3. Coastal U.S. ports are for cruises I don't want to sail

 

So what would be the best destination for my first cruise? Does it matter if my first is in a specific part of the world in terms of having an easier, less-stressful vacatoin? I know, somebody is going to say it is about personal preference, but I have no preference right now except to go where it is least stressful for a first-time cruiser. Any suggestoins?

[SuiteTraveler]

It is obvious I will need to take multiple cruises to go everywhere I want because not all interesting ports are available on the same cruise line. Making matters worse, a certain destination is required to embark or disembark in a specific port like Cape Canaveral. It makes me worry I need to go on a cruise without getting off the ship when it is in port if I am going to visit all port cities I am interested in. Obvoiusly I don't want to do that. So I was wondering how I can choose my first cruise itinerary, now that I have picked out a ship (Crystal Serenity), cruise length (two weeks) and season (spring) to sail:

 

These are the cities I want to embark and disembark from, not in order of importance:

 

1. Rome (Civitavecchia)

2. Venice

3. Paris (Le Havre?)

4. London (Dover)

5. Honolulu

6. San Diego

7. Boston

8. Seattle

 

The problems are:

 

1. No cruise includes both England or France and Italy

2. Only NCL ever does an all-Hawaiian itinerary cruise

3. Coastal U.S. ports are for cruises I don't want to sail

 

So what would be the best destination for my first cruise? Does it matter if my first is in a specific part of the world in terms of having an easier, less-stressful vacatoin? I know, somebody is going to say it is about personal preference, but I have no preference right now except to go where it is least stressful for a first-time cruiser. Any suggestoins?

 

IMO, you would be best off starting with a Caribbean cruise or Panama Canal cruise which is more about relaxation than a Mediterranean cruise which is extremely port intensive - you will be off the ship 6 our of 7 days by 8am or so and not get back until 5 pm or so. On Caribbean cruises and Panama Canal cruises, people sleep in, relax around the pool, enjoy the ship, go on a 4 hour excursion on some of the 3 - 4 port days per week. It's a very relaxing and fun vacation. In the Med, you will be so tired from touring all day, you may be too tired to even enjoy the shows.

 

As info, Paris is a 3 hour bus ride away from Le Havre. Basically, when you do Paris from a ship, you ride 3 hours on the bus, have time for something like a 2 hour river cruise with lunch, then a 3 hour bus ride back to the ship. Paris is better done from a river cruise or as a land tour if you want to see much at all. It is really better to go to Giverny and Rouen from Le Havre as these cities are comparatively close by and easier to see sights in one day.

 

Rome is easy to do from the ship, it's an hour to hour and a half train ride from the port to Roma Termini, then you can spend all day in Rome and take the train back.

 

A lot of cruises start in Venice - they usually go to Greece.

 

It is possible to find cruises that go from Spain to Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sardinia, Portugal, Le Havre, Brussels and terminate in Rotterdam - I was on a 2 week one last year on the NCL Jade.

 

Having spent a lot of time in Hawaii, I would not recommend doing a cruise there. Simply fly to Honolulu and take inter-island flights to change islands as desired - these flights are very inexpensive and short. This type of trip would be preferable because you would have time to get to know each island and stay on each island, vs. only having 8 - 10 hours on each island.

 

Now about the Serenity, next spring, it will be in Asia, followed by India and Africa in March. In April, it does Africa to Europe (only port on you list is London), then the Baltic Sea or North Cape and Artic Circle throughout May and June. So I don't see how you are going anywhere near any of the ports you are interested in on the Serenity unless you wait until July 22, 2011 when this ship will do Round Trip London/Emerald Isles cruise or you could take the August 2 London to Rome cruise.

 

http://www.crystalcruises.com/Calendar.aspx?y=2011

 

Having been on just about all of the cruise lines, I can tell you for a fact that most of them are quite nice and you can have a good time on any of them. So, I would advise you to be a bit more open minded about what ship/company to sail with and instead look for an itinerary that most closely fits what you are interested in seeing. For example, if you told me you liked to go to Spa's, I'd tell you to consider either the Carnival Splendor - in a Spa Cabin OR go on Celebrity - especially the Solstice. If you are a foodie, I would have different suggestions.

[Fredr]

It is obvious I will need to take multiple cruises to go everywhere I want because not all interesting ports are available on the same cruise line. Making matters worse, a certain destination is required to embark or disembark in a specific port like Cape Canaveral. It makes me worry I need to go on a cruise without getting off the ship when it is in port if I am going to visit all port cities I am interested in. Obvoiusly I don't want to do that. So I was wondering how I can choose my first cruise itinerary, now that I have picked out a ship (Crystal Serenity), cruise length (two weeks) and season (spring) to sail:

 

These are the cities I want to embark and disembark from, not in order of importance:

 

1. Rome (Civitavecchia)

2. Venice

3. Paris (Le Havre?)

4. London (Dover)

5. Honolulu

6. San Diego

7. Boston

8. Seattle

 

The problems are:

 

1. No cruise includes both England or France and Italy

2. Only NCL ever does an all-Hawaiian itinerary cruise

3. Coastal U.S. ports are for cruises I don't want to sail

 

So what would be the best destination for my first cruise? Does it matter if my first is in a specific part of the world in terms of having an easier, less-stressful vacatoin? I know, somebody is going to say it is about personal preference, but I have no preference right now except to go where it is least stressful for a first-time cruiser. Any suggestoins?

 

Hello,

 

Consider Crystal's round trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii in April of 2011.

 

A cruise of Hawaii and some nice sea days are a wonderful way to cruise. And seeing the hawaiian island by sea is a special treat. This is a very low stress cruise as well.

[ActiveTraveler]

Hello,

 

Consider Crystal's round trip from Los Angeles to Hawaii in April of 2011.

 

A cruise of Hawaii and some nice sea days are a wonderful way to cruise. And seeing the Hawaiian island by sea is a special treat. This is a very low stress cruise as well.

 

In March 2011 I am going to Las Vegas for a family reunion. But I do want to cruise to Hawaii someday - just not next year.