Are Ports and Itinerary More or Less Important to You the More You Cruise?

[K&V]

I went to Pompei last year and found it to be awesome.

Then I went to Epehsus last month, and that place blew Pompei out of the water, at least for me!

Who'd-a-thought that could happen!! Certainly not me. LOL

I could not agree more. We did the 12 day NCL spirit this summer and did both and you are correct. We saw every old rock there was. We cruise for the experience of the ships and there crews. I think we have done about all ports now. Love our time at sea!

[marco]

Yes...it depends. When we take our annual winter Caribbean cruise, no, to us the itinerary doesn't matter. Other parts of the world, definately!

[jocap]

It's mainly for the ports- some I can visit again and again, such as Venice or Dubrovnik, but we avoid cruises now which have both Livorno and Civitavecchia, or Piraeus and Ephesus, preferring something a little different.....I don't mind one of those again, but most lines seem to include these same ports together.

As for the Caribbean, we saw 12 ports on our one cruise there, and whilst OH would like to return for the swimming and snorkelling, they're not really my scene. I'll go again for him, but I think South Africa is calling us now.;)

[cruiseapril]

We enjoy the ports and are always looking for new itineraries.

 

We try to do a nature/wildlife excursion from the ports.

[navybankerteacher]

The Caribbean is a good place to escape to in the winter - but after you've been to a port a couple of times in that area, it's tempting to stay on the ship. The one island worth re-visiting is St. Maarten - and we go there for a land vacation. I don't think I'll ever bother leaving the ship at Nassau, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Belize or anywhere in Jamaica again. So the ship clearly becomes more important.

[KirkNC]

They matter more to us as we want to go to new places.

[cruisemom42]

I've been cruising for about 40 years now (started young, lol), and more than ever the ports matter to me if I am sailing somewhere other than the Caribbean.

 

In the Caribbean it doesn't much matter to me as I'm there to relax, not sightsee.

[OCruisers]

Have been cruising for 51 years and, fortunately don't need Depends ... but depends-depends-depends was our reply. :D

 

LuLu

[Lerin]

Due to schedules and flights we now cruise based on the calendar and nothing else. Usually we have only about 2 specific weeks a year we can go, so picking a cruise becomes quite simple.

The next cruise we are planning must leave our closest port on 1 specific day. Ironically, there is only 1 ship sailing then, so that is what we will take!

[richstowe]

I posed this question unsure if ports/itinerary's matter more as you cruise more and more.

40% said yes but that still leaves 60% with another opinion.

 

DW and I have fallen hard for the cruising bug .We are still figuring out the priority list for our cruises.

At this point the date ,prices and the ship are the first three on the list.( I say ship not brand as there seems to be a difference).

 

I'm already unexcited about Cape Canaveral, Nassau and Freeport and decided against a cruise that had these 3 as it's only stops.

 

It's been very interesting reading all the comments.

 

I make the mistake of starting this thread on the Carnival CC board but the moderators kindly moved it for me.;)

This makes sense as it is not a Carnival issue.

[Aplmac]

I still consider the ship itself to be one of the major points of the itinerary

after all, we spend the better part of 16+ hrs. a day on board

so it had better be to our liking!

 

.

[Slugsta]

Depends!

 

For our first cruise, we wanted to leave from our nearest port and visit Norway/Iceland. We had never cruised before so didn't know what we did and didn't like. We took what we were offered by a TA (which happened to be QE2, so no problems there :)).

 

When we did the Baltics, the itinerary was the important thing.

 

This year we just wanted a short last-minute getaway. Norway fitted the bill, even though we had done most of the ports before (and knew there was not much to see even when we were ashore). What we needed was a relaxing break and that was what we got. We did a similar thing a couple of years ago with a last-minute 'round Britain' cruise.

 

Next year we want to do the med and have spent a lot of time deciding exactly what we want - in terms of length of trip, ship amenities, itinerary etc. - and have, almost, made our decision based on those criteria.

[ducklite]

The ports are the first factor, but it doesn't matter how much we like an itinerary, if we aren't going to like the ship, we aren't booking the cruise.

[Keith1010]

Ports and itinerary still matter to us.

 

Keith

[ldubs]

Like others, ports and itinerary are primary considerations, as are minimizing sea days. However, everything really must balance. If it were a ship we disliked, we would avoid it regardless. Typically we look for two week cruises. We have occasionally done one week get-aways if they are convenient, such as Northeast, Mexico, or California Coastal. These work well for family group cruises. While they would be convenient, we avoid Caribbean itineraries as they do not appeal to us. We also have avoided the Hawaii trips out of San Francisco. While we love Princess and sailing out of San Francisco would be super convenient, there are just too many sea days.

 

Who knows, preferences change and I suppose ours could in the future.

[AlanFromFL]

I personally love sea days, I've often told my DW that I couldn't care less if the ship sailed in a wide circle for a week, as long as the sun was warm, the food hot, and the drinks cold! Just find me a deck chair and wake me up when it's time to get off the ship. :D

 

Most of the Caribbean ports have become "been there done that", so the itinerary is less of a factor now than the on-board accomodations, and the price. Once we get the time and funds to cruise from home ports beyond our own back yard, itinerary will become more of a factor, but for now the ship's the destination.

[pris993]

We decide where we want to go, check out itineraries.

 

If we decided to do a local cruise to Mexico or a Carribean cruise, then ports are less important because we see it all.

 

When we do TA, Mediterranean or other European curise, ports very important.

[jewopaho]

We decide where we want to go, check out itineraries.

If we decided to do a local cruise to Mexico or a Carribean cruise, then ports are less important because we see it all. When we do TA, Mediterranean or other European cruise, ports very important.

Exactly our thoughts ... great minds do indeed think alike!

 

We have four upcoming cruises ... two to the Caribbean, one to the eastern Mediterranean, the other to Southeast Asia.

 

Frankly, we're Cozumel'd out. We cruise out of Galveston and Houston, and the Western Caribbean itineraries hold no interest for us anymore ... but to hop in the car, drive for less than an hour, and experience the cruising life for a very nominal cost is worth every penny, even if we never leave the ship (we sometimes do, but only to poke around the ports). We've also done at least a dozen Eastern Caribbean trips out of Florida, and have no desire to board a plane for $400 or so, only to stay aboard once again.

 

The opposite is true of our overseas jaunts ... we've done a westbound transatlantic, cruised from Dubai through the UAE and Oman, and sailed the Norwegian Fjords from Copenhagen. We studied the itineraries, and planned activities in each port. The ships were secondary. Right now, I'm in the midst of researching Venice, Croatia, the Greek Isles and Turkey in anticipation of our next European adventure.

 

We've also been to Alaska several times ... once again, the ports are less important, but the beauty of such cruises lies in the surroundings. It's a separate entity unto itself, and defies being categorized.

 

So it does depend on where (and why) we're going. We can live without another upfront and personal experience with a stingray, don't particularly care to fend off a descending horde of Jamaican street merchants, and have long gotten over weaving our way through 20,000 coupon-wielding shoppers, in a feeding frenzy over those worthless trinkets.

 

By contrast, our experiences overseas have been nothing short of magnificent, and we look forward to more new and exciting voyages.

[danielsumner]

I personally love sea days, I've often told my DW that I couldn't care less if the ship sailed in a wide circle for a week, as long as the sun was warm, the food hot, and the drinks cold! Just find me a deck chair and wake me up when it's time to get off the ship. :D

 

Most of the Caribbean ports have become "been there done that", so the itinerary is less of a factor now than the on-board accomodations, and the price. Once we get the time and funds to cruise from home ports beyond our own back yard, itinerary will become more of a factor, but for now the ship's the destination.

 

Well said. I do however like the Eastern Caribbean route a little better for the simple fact that you can bring back more booze duty free. I would love to just sail around the ocean.

[iwannagocruisin]

I am all about the ports. I travel so that I can see as many places as possible. Personally, I would never book a cruise that goes to a port I've been to before. I also typically look for as few sea days as possible. I'm OK with a couple of them, but more than that I get bored. Fortunately for me, DH feels the same way!