I think I may well be well and truly done with cruising out of the US

[UK_Cruiser]

Have done 5 cruises around the Caribbean now but the thing that is making me question whether to do this again is the Jet Lag.

 

Have been home 4 days now and still exhausted and waking at silly times of the morning.

 

Thinking of an NCL Med Cruise of some sort next year.

 

What would be ideal is if NCL had a cruise that sailed from a UK Port. Have they ever had an iteniary that started from Southampton (other than EPIC TA in June/July) ?

[newmexicoNita]

Have done 5 cruises around the Caribbean now but the thing that is making me question whether to do this again is the Jet Lag.

 

Have been home 4 days now and still exhausted and waking at silly times of the morning.

 

Thinking of an NCL Med Cruise of some sort next year.

 

What would be ideal is if NCL had a cruise that sailed from a UK Port. Have they ever had an iteniary that started from Southampton (other than EPIC TA in June/July) ?

 

I know jet lag can be a bummer. This is one reason I don't know if we will do Europe agian. We have vacationed in Europe many times and sailed the TA once. Though the med is so tempting, I am a bit leary. I do not sleep well on a plane, arrive in Uk or wherever exausted and the same coming home. The best part of the TA was picking up all those hours as we crossed. We would go to bed about 9 or 9:30, but if we set the clock back sometimes it was closer to 8pm. No jet lag for us that time.

 

Nita

[English Rose]

We have just done a Med cruise after many years of crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean. I can't tell you how easy the whole thing was. No Estas to worry about, no flight personal information to input, no queues at customs, having to stay overnight in a hotel and the jet lag etc etc. We just flew in, got on the ship, flew home and after disembarking we were in our house at 12 noon. We are lucky enough to live near Bournemouth Airport.

 

However, I REALLY missed the lovely pretty ports, the laid back lifestyle of the Caribbean, the warm Caribbean seas etc. I also very much missed cruising with American's and their way of life, being in a smoky European environment wasn't the same. I'm off to the Caribbean again in 3 weeks and can't wait.

[Globaliser]

What would be ideal is if NCL had a cruise that sailed from a UK Port. Have they ever had an iteniary that started from Southampton (other than EPIC TA in June/July) ?

The jet lag from flying eastbound trans-Atlantic is truly dreadful. It takes me longer to recover from a trip to the US east coast than from one to Sydney; they are the only flights that I absolutely dread.

 

IIRC, NCL did have some seasons sailing from Dover, but they seem to have moved the base to Copenhagen. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that NCL will come back to the UK, but a quick flight over to a European port isn't exactly difficult.

[newmexicoNita]

The jet lag from flying eastbound trans-Atlantic is truly dreadful. It takes me longer to recover from a trip to the US east coast than from one to Sydney; they are the only flights that I absolutely dread.

 

IIRC, NCL did have some seasons sailing from Dover, but they seem to have moved the base to Copenhagen. It's not beyond the bounds of possibility that NCL will come back to the UK, but a quick flight over to a European port isn't exactly difficult.

 

That transatlantic crossing on the Jewel was great wasn't it? We too have more trouble with jet lag going east. I think it is the overnight flight.

 

Nita

[jjb415]

Jet lag is annoying, but, for me, it is worth putting up with the negative physical aspects.. I am so lucky to be able to get out and see the world and that experience far outweighs any symptoms of jetlag.

[KaththeTaff]

We took a 14 night cruise out of Southampton on the Jade in 2008. We really enjoyed it and went to Malaga, Barcelona, Monaco, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Gibraltar, Lisbon and Vigo.

 

It looks like it's only the Epic now, which we don't like the look of. It's far too modern and trendy for us!

[uppitycats]

Neither my husband nor I had much trouble with jet lag on our flight from central Wisconsin to London last April..nor the return flight back from Oslo. What we DID have trouble with is being cramped up in a metal tube for all those hours, with only limited ability to move around the cabin.. :o

 

We just always plan to arrive a day early (and time our flights to get in as early in the day as possible), and when returning, time the flights to get back here in daylight..and weren't really bothered much.

[samnewbie]

Hey Mike,

 

We considered loads of cruises before we booked on the Epic, some sailing out of S'hampton, I even looked at flights from Manchester to S'hampton when deciding as well as considering driving...hate that drive down south ...sooooooo boring.

 

What finally put us off sailing out of S'hampton was a combination of things, the journey down (flights were going to be much the same as a flight to the med on easyjet) and we wouldnt gain on the luggage aspect if we flew. The long drive, husband want's a non driving holiday next year ideally and finally the Bay of Biscay! - Decided daughter may not enjoy those extra sea days (she already isnt convinced about cruising so don't want anything to put her off) especially if it ends up choppy!

 

You, however are far closer to S'hampton so it wouldnt be so bad for you i expect.

 

I would consider flying out to Europe though Mike. Have you been to Barcelona? It is such an easy port to get to, 15-20mins by taxi, a breeze, as are Malaga, Rome and even Venice. I think Genoa is trickier for us because of the flights but probably easier for you as you can probably fly from down south to Genoa. - We did also look at Northern Europe sailing out of Copenhagen but daughter has always wanted to go to Italy. I have already covered Italy extensively but not with my family so it will be lovely to see things with them and bonus for me is i have never been to Palma, one of the few places i havent seen so looking forward to that immensely!

 

You also have lots of cruise companies to chose from if you sail from the med plus all the NCL choices :D

 

My only worry is how busy it is going to be in the ports in August! and the heat eek!! ...roll on when we can holiday in term time! :D

 

Sam :)

[crew mom]

What would be ideal is if NCL had a cruise that sailed from a UK Port. Have they ever had an iteniary that started from Southampton (other than EPIC TA in June/July) ?

You just missed the Sun which sailed out of Dover all summer to the Baltics.

 

The Jade and the Epic sail from Barcelona or Venice and does the Med. so just a short flight will get you to an NCL ship.

 

When they start out of Southampton or Dover it is usually for a trip north to the Baltics. It takes too many sea days to get to the Med from the UK. It's not too practical for a 7 day cruise and harder to sell longer cruises.

[UK_Cruiser]

You just missed the Sun which sailed out of Dover all summer to the Baltics.

 

The Jade and the Epic sail from Barcelona or Venice and does the Med. so just a short flight will get you to an NCL ship.

 

When they start out of Southampton or Dover it is usually for a trip north to the Baltics. It takes too many sea days to get to the Med from the UK. It's not too practical for a 7 day cruise and harder to sell longer cruises.

 

 

I think we will probably fly to Venice as have never been and we can fly from Stansted which is just 15 minutes from home. I notice that Jewell or is it Jade sails two different 7 day iteniaries from Venice.

[crew mom]

I notice that Jewell or is it Jade sails two different 7 day iteniaries from Venice.

It's the Jade. One is Croatia/Turkey / Greece, the other is all Greece. Would be great to do a back to back! I would love to do an Eastern / Western Med back to back. Talk about port intensive!

[Tropicalgurl]

UK_Cruiser - Mike

I think I may well be well and truly done with cruising out of the US

 

 

The antidote for that is to move to the US!! :p

[UK_Cruiser]

UK_Cruiser - Mike

I think I may well be well and truly done with cruising out of the US

 

 

The antidote for that is to move to the US!! :p

 

 

If the US Border Controllers weren't so paranoid about letting foreigners in I would.

[UK_Cruiser]

It's the Jade. One is Croatia/Turkey / Greece, the other is all Greece. Would be great to do a back to back! I would love to do an Eastern / Western Med back to back. Talk about port intensive!

 

 

No more B2B's for me.

 

7 days at a time is perfect. 14 was a little too much.

[sdmike]

Mike -

You just need to fly more and get used to it. :) I travel back and forth across the US all the time now and don't have an issue with jet lag. I'm testing my new theory by traveling to Amsterdam in a couple of weeks from California (16 hour trip), so I'll let you know if I'm still bragging afterwards. lol

[Clay Clayton]

It's the Jade. One is Croatia/Turkey / Greece, the other is all Greece. Would be great to do a back to back! I would love to do an Eastern / Western Med back to back. Talk about port intensive!

 

Having done Jade's Eastern Med trips during her first season, 12 days, Athens to Istanbul with an overnight in Alexandria and lots of Greek ports inbetween, I can tell you it was a great trip but VERY port intensive...too much so for me. I really needed a vacation after my vacation. DDP and I really enjoyed that trip but both of us liked our recent South American 14 day trip better - having a sea day every other day makes it so much more relaxing.

[polySeraph]

It's the Jade. One is Croatia/Turkey / Greece, the other is all Greece. Would be great to do a back to back! I would love to do an Eastern / Western Med back to back. Talk about port intensive!

 

That's exactly what several in my Roll Call are doing next Spring! They are starting out in Barcelona on NCL's 15-day Best of the Med cruise (which ends in Venice) and combining it with a 7-day Greek Isles cruise. Too cool! I would be right there with them if it weren't for a little thing like work. . . .

[LoisGriffin1]

This year is the first time in many years that I haven't visited America. We love the west coast states but going to America takes 2 days travelling each way for us.

 

This year we went to Venice and sailed on the Gem. It was great to be able to get both flights done on the same day plus no jet lag.

 

As much as we have loved our short travels this year we are really missing America. Its just worth the jet lag. I miss the amazing national parks, the wide open spaces, the main courses that have more food in that I eat in 2 days,, the wonderful people and Mountain Dew (the only soft drink I will ever drink).