ITINERARY CHALLENGE 2013: Round One

[Sailaway487]

 



Orkney Islands | © orkneysports

 

It's time again to vote for your favourite itineraries! Welcome to Round One of this run of Itinerary Challenge. As I said before, this time it is going to be a bit more structured. For the next four weeks, these rounds are going to have four itineraries, and you are going to need to choose your favourite two itineraries. Then, the winners of each round will compete against each other in two semi-finals, and then finally, the winners of these go head-to-head in the final.

 

This time, you need to choose your favourite TWO itineraries!

 

So, what does Round One have in store? First, there's a brand new itinerary for this year onboard Thomson Spirit, that takes in the best that the British isles has to offer. Then we go back to 1999 when Thomson used to do cruises from Malaga, for a Morocco and Iberia special. Next we return to 2005 for a rather port-intensive version of Peals of the Aegean - no days at sea and even a visit to two islands in one day! (8 ports of call in 7 days!). Then we head over to the Caribbean for a 9 night special on The Emerald including a sail through the Panama Canal. Finally, there's a transatlantic cruise onboard Island Breeze from 2000.

 

REMEMBER, you need to choose your TWO favourites from these five itineraries!

 

So, which TWO itineraries are your favourite:

 

BRITISH ISLES

Scandinavia, the Baltic & UK | August 2013 | 12 nights | Thomson Spirit

Harwich, UK - Ship at Sea - Edinburgh, Scotland - Invergordon, Scotland - Kirkwall, Orkney Islands - Portree, Scotland - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Dublin, Ireland - Holyhead, Wales - Cobh, Ireland - Torquay, England - Le Havre, France - Harwich, UK

 

COASTS OF GOLD

Western Mediterranean | May to October 1999 | 7 nights | Sapphire

Malaga, Spain - Ship at Sea - Lisbon, Portugal - Casablanca, Morocco - Tangier, Morocco - Cadiz, Spain - Gibraltar, UK - Malaga, Spain

 

PEARLS OF THE AEGEAN

Eastern Mediterranean | May to October 2005 | 7 nights | The Emerald

Corfu Town, Corfu - Argostoli, Kefalonia - Piraeus (for Athens), Greece - Kusadasi, Turkey - Mykonos & Santorini, Greece - Heraklion, Crete - Zakynthos Town, Zakynthos - Corfu Town, Corfu

 

PRIDE OF PANAMA

Caribbean | January 2000 | 9 nights | The Emerald

Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic - Ship at Sea - Cartagena, Columbia - San Blas, San Blas Islands - Cruising through Panama Canal - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - Ship at Sea - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Ship at Sea - Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic

 

SUNSET BREEZE

Transatlantic Crossing | April 2000 | 14 nights | Island Breeze

Santa Cruz, Tenerife - Las Palmas, Gran Canaria - Santa Cruz de la Palma, La Palma - Funchal, Madeira - Ship at Sea - Ponta Delgada, Portugal - Ship at Sea (4 days) - Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda (overnight) - Ship at Sea (2 days) - Port Canaveral, Florida

 

On the poll at the top, tick the two boxes of your favourite itineraries, and click the VOTE NOW button at the bottom.

 

Votes will close on Sunday, 13 January. :)

[Sailaway487]

Voted for Pearls of the Aegean as I do love the Greek islands, and a port-intensive version like that would be brilliant, although I think I'd feel rather tired after it all! :D

 

Second one I went for was Coasts of Gold. Not that keen on the Moroccan stops but love Gibraltar and Lisbon, and Seville from Cadiz.

[kruzseeka]

Also gone with the Pearls of the Aegean - although I must say i wouldn't fancy Santorini and Mykonos in one day as they are both fabulous and it's great to have a leisurely, relaxed time wandering around both. Not keen on Heraklion either unless you are going to visit Knossos - Heraklion itself was a disppointement for me. (You could have predicted that vote though couldn't you Sailaway! :D )

 

The other one I've gone for is the one with Panama - no idea how good it might be but a lot of new ports which would be interesting - and we'd enjoy a return to Dr Cave's Beach at Montego Bay - especially if the Bahama Mamas are still as good (strong!:eek:).

 

P.S. You've been busy with your research and come up with some interesting and varied itineraries - again. Well done!

[Sailaway487]

Also gone with the Pearls of the Aegean - although I must say i wouldn't fancy Santorini and Mykonos in one day as they are both fabulous and it's great to have a leisurely, relaxed time wandering around both. Not keen on Heraklion either unless you are going to visit Knossos - Heraklion itself was a disppointement for me. (You could have predicted that vote though couldn't you Sailaway! :D )

 

The other one I've gone for is the one with Panama - no idea how good it might be but a lot of new ports which would be interesting - and we'd enjoy a return to Dr Cave's Beach at Montego Bay - especially if the Bahama Mamas are still as good (strong!:eek:).

 

P.S. You've been busy with your research and come up with some interesting and varied itineraries - again. Well done!

 

Agree about Mykonos and Santorini. I would drop Heraklion and then have a full day in both. I thought you might have voted for Pearls of the Aegean. :rolleyes:

 

And thank you for the PS. I've tried to make them all varied so not have two Western Med, the Baltic etc. Hopefully the other weeks ones will be just as good. ;)

[pressy]

I do love the Aegean Islands, but on this occassion had to go for the Panama. Did our first ever cruise here so has special meaning:)

[kalos]

Never done a tour of the British Isles in just over a week so here would be my chance :)

 

Also the Panama tour looks good to me :)

[Jakanne1]

Pearls of the Aegean because I love the Greek Islands and I can never tire of them. Didn't notice Mykonos and Santorini in one day though.

Pride of Panama because of new destinations for me and I have always wanted to sail through the Panama Canal. :):)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I've chosen the British Isles, because we did one on the Crown Princess in 2011 which was very similar. It was great because, to our shame, we had never been to Scotland or Wales :eek:

 

Also, I picked the Aegean as it seems to be a gap in my cruising itinerary :o

[happy v]

I'm glad this is back....I do enjoy a good poll:).

 

However I always seem to be the one who can't make up my mind:o.

I've gone for Panama because that really is the most interesting for me. Then I've voted for around Britain because I would like to do one of these cruises, but perhaps not this particular itinerary.

 

Thanks Sailaway I think we all appreciate the time you put in to keep us interested.

[happy v]

Just voted but the votes don't add up correctly. Think someone has only voted once.

[Dreamgirl1957]

What a good idea, will be very interesteing as the weeks go on.

I voted for Pearls of the Agean as would always be my first choice as like just about everyone else i cant get enough of Greece ! :cool:

Second choice was difficult, really fancy the Uk one, all those places in one week you possibly would never get to see as too much hassle to drive but then again Pride of Panama sounds amazing and would be a real experience.

In the end went with my heart, British Isles it was for second choice :cool:

[hall4me]

Voted for Pearls of the agean really fancy this one and the pride of panama

[Sailaway487]

Just voted but the votes don't add up correctly. Think someone has only voted once.

 

Noticed that yesterday. Think someone voted once instead of twice. Put your hand up whoever it was. ;) :D

 

So it looks like the Aegean is doing well again (as I expected) but very interesting to see Panama doing just as well, considering its somewhere Thomson don't even sail to anymore. I'm guessing when Thomson were looking at a new destination and mentioned Pacific Mexico and Central America, I would guess Panama would be included. Something for Thomson to definitely consider it seems... ;)

[Marieswede]

I would love to do Panama Canal , second choice was pearls of the Aegean.

[Cymro1953]

I'd love to do the Panama one too. And if it hadn't been for the 2 stops in Morocco I'd have voted for Coasts of Gold instead of POA.

 

Berwyn

[Sailaway487]

Aegean and Panama still leading. Couple of days left, so if you haven't voted, do so soon. :)

 

Just planning the next one now for Sunday. Currently stuck on Thomson's website from 1999. I tell you what though, it was much easier to use back then compared to the one now. ;)

[Sailaway487]

A few more hours left. Everyone voted?

 

Round 2 will be uploaded this evening.

[kruzseeka]

Make sure Santorini is inthere somewhere!!!!:D:D:D:D

[Sailaway487]

Make sure Santorini is inthere somewhere!!!!:D:D:D:D

 

Sorry, not on the next one. You'll have to wait for Round 3... ;)

[Sailaway487]

This poll is now closed!

 

And the results are:

 

PEARLS OF THE AEGEAN = 67.86%

PRIDE OF PANAMA = 57.14%

SUNSET BREEZE = 28.57%

BRITISH ISLES = 25.00%

COASTS OF GOLD = 10.71%

 

So, Pearls of the Aegean and Pride of Panama will go through to Semi-final One.