Your Best Cruise Ever

[burchan]

This is not about the ships but where the ships took you.

After 27 cruises in 8 years we have never had bad cruise but there are some that stand out and are priceless as far as itinerary is concerned.

First place has to be Baltic cruise with St. Petersburg as highlight - Celebrity

2nd. Suez Canal from Dubai to Barcelona just before new troubles started. -RCI

3rd. Eastern Mediterranean from Istanbul- Celebrity

4th. Panama Canal from LA to Miami - Celebrity

5th. QM2 Transatlantic crossing. The ship was the destination and the experience.

6th All others, Alaska, Asia, Australia, NZ, South Pacific.

Did I miss something even better?

[bronte2]

I'm not saying this is better than the listed cruises as of course it's all based on personal opinion, but our favourite cruise was from Southampton to Sydney around South America. Absolutely sensational and well worth it. The trip through the Chilean Fjords and sailing around Cape Horn was amazing. Would love to do it again but there are so many other cruises and so little time!

 

#2 would be sailing around the Indian Ocean to Cape Town.

#3 the rest - but all enjoyable :D

[burchan]

I'm not saying this is better than the listed cruises as of course it's all based on personal opinion, but our favourite cruise was from Southampton to Sydney around South America. Absolutely sensational and well worth it. The trip through the Chilean Fjords and sailing around Cape Horn was amazing. Would love to do it again but there are so many other cruises and so little time!

 

#2 would be sailing around the Indian Ocean to Cape Town.

#3 the rest - but all enjoyable :D

 

Yes I agree that Chilean Fjords is on must to do list.

[sheridan318]

For husband it was St Petersburg and for me it was from New York to Nova scotia :D

Jacquie

[dancinman66]

I loved Norway up to norcap

That was one that really stood out and then the sounds in newzealand were super

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sagittarius]

Enjoyed all our cruises as do love being at sea.

 

However the best destination was our last trip when we went to Antarctica, and getting to stand on the continent. Penguins don't seem to know about the "keep xx metres away" rule. And whale watching will never be the same now that we've been on the water in a small boat surrounded by them.

 

Only snag is I now want to return and include South Georgia and Falkland Islands. Just need to win the lottery so I can afford it.

[Janet&Carl]

Sailing out of Venice is one of my highlights - so much so that before we can fit in any of our to do list like Northern Europe and South America we will shortly be doing this again. I love the Eastern Med and there is so much more I want to see.

 

Second favourite would be sailing into Malta - wow that was stunning.

[MicCanberra]

Very hard to pick as they all have differing appeals but right now - our Antarctica cruise. Blew my mind, I had high expectations and it still exceeded them.:D

[pacificlover]

My personal favourite sail away was out of Venice, so the Greek Island cruise on Crown Princess tops my list. Only problem we were ashore every day bar one, so I did not get to appreciate much time on board.

 

Second favourite was Ocean Princess out of Tahiti returning to Sydney - swimming with the sharks in Bora Bora another of those wonderful memories.

 

Looking forward to adding to memories in 30 days time.......San Diego to Lima in Peru and return. Those wonderful ports along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America and South America.........getting excited.

[MicCanberra]

My personal favourite sail away was out of Venice, so the Greek Island cruise on Crown Princess tops my list. Only problem we were ashore every day bar one, so I did not get to appreciate much time on board.

 

Second favourite was Ocean Princess out of Tahiti returning to Sydney - swimming with the sharks in Bora Bora another of those wonderful memories.

 

Looking forward to adding to memories in 30 days time.......San Diego to Lima in Peru and return. Those wonderful ports along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central America and South America.........getting excited.

 

Nice, I loved Costa Rica.:D

[Wyuna1]

Savu Savu aboard SS Canberra 1986 landing by tender at a little rock jetty which with today's WHS requirements would be considered unsafe to be greeted by a hand drawn sign on cardboard declaring this was the duty free store. Every small commercial vehicle (ute) was decorated with flowers and Palm fronds and used as tour vehicles accompanied by one chil of school age (in uniform) to practicie their English skills. The South Pacific as it was.

[pacificlover]

Your post reminded me of my first cruise in 1959 and our visit to Tonga. Untouched by white settlement, only non Tongans allowed were missionary family. Queen Solita (?sp) allowed only passengers ashore - crew, officers forbidden. We toured in utes decorated with tropical flowers, children had school holiday and lined the dirt roads. The South Pacific I love (note my tag). I made a return visit last year - so different now!!

[dennisamor]

Never have understood people who can remember and spout on about how many cruises they have taken ... seems quite irrelevant to me :confused: I certainly couldn't say how many I have been on, but it's a few.

 

I like taking other kinds of hols too.

 

I suppose the most memorable cruise for me would have to be my first ... on some Greek line (can't remember it's name, but it was in the 60s or 70s and on the 'Delphi').

 

Rod Stewart's Maggie May was all the rage and I can remember it blasting away in the disco located in the bowels of the ship.

[Hazydavo]

Mine would be my first cruise, NZ 2011. We were on Radiance and we were on the itinerary that went around the bottom of the south island first.

As we weren't stopping I hadn't done much research if at all about the "sounds" so it was quite a pleasant surprise when I went out on deck that first morning and saw that wonderful magical place...it was amazing.

Was also cool when we were on the helipad and the Captain was joking that he'd get us wet under one of the waterfalls...and after some very clever and slow maneuvering, he did! :D

I also remember standing right on the front leaning on the rail as we cruised through the other sounds with the cool (cold!) arctic wind on my face and the snow capped mountains in the distance ahead. Good times :)

Can't wait to get back there next Dec!

Edited October 4, 2014 by Hazydavo

[bazshirl2]

Hard to pick our best cruise but the best ship experience was sailaway from Rio at sunset closely followed by sail in to Venice :)

[MicCanberra]

Never have understood people who can remember and spout on about how many cruises they have taken ... seems quite irrelevant to me :confused: I certainly couldn't say how many I have been on, but it's a few.

 

I like taking other kinds of hols too.

 

I suppose the most memorable cruise for me would have to be my first ... on some Greek line (can't remember it's name, but it was in the 60s or 70s and on the 'Delphi').

 

Rod Stewart's Maggie May was all the rage and I can remember it blasting away in the disco located in the bowels of the ship.

 

Chandris perhaps.:)

[TLCOhio]

This is not about the ships but where the ships took you. After 27 cruises in 8 years we have never had bad cruise but there are some that stand out and are priceless as far as itinerary is concerned.

First place has to be Baltic cruise with St. Petersburg as highlight - Celebrity

3rd. Eastern Mediterranean from Istanbul- Celebrity

6th All others, Alaska, Asia, Australia, NZ, South Pacific.

Did I miss something even better?

 

dancinman66: I loved Norway up to norcap

 

Janet&Carl: Sailing out of Venice

 

pacificlover: My personal favourite sail away was out of Venice' date=' so the Greek Island cruise on Crown Princess tops my list. [/quote']

 

bazshirl2: Hard to pick our best cruise but the best ship experience was sailaway from Rio at sunset closely followed by sail in to Venice

 

Appreciate this great and interesting question. We've only done five cruises' date=' but each one has had their own special, super highlights. It was great to see so many mentions made for the sail-in and/or sail-out with historic Venice. Yes, did that in June 2011. Wonderful!! Did Norway up to the North Cape in July 2010. Also awesome. Loved the Baltics and St. Petersburg in July 2008. Our first cruise was June 2006, doing Athens to Istanbul, seeing the Greek Isles and Turkish Coast. That was an amazing seven-day cruise. Got us hooked!!

 

Latest? [b']What's better than Australia and New Zealand?[/b] Really loved, as detailed below, those experiences, both with the ports visited on the cruise, plus what we did pre- and post-cruise in both of these wonderful countries.

 

We are getting ready for a Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back sailing over 26 days on the Silversea Silver Cloud. Fun now doing that future research and planning as we expect some great, special moments and locations!! Plus more great memories.

 

BUT, there is no way that I can say which specific locations and ports were number one, two or three. All so wonderful. Cannot narrow down or pick among these many "loves". Below are a few of my photo pieces of "evidence" and "proof" for why each of these places was so special to us and others. Many other great ones where we have been fortunately to have travel, plus so many to see and do in the future.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 159,298 views. Nice to be hitting this high of a level for viewership. Appreciate the interest and follow-up questions/comments!!

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 79,986 views for this fun posting.

 

 

Here was our first view of Istanbul in June 2006 from our just-docking cruise ship as we smelled the sweet blend of this historic Turkish city. YES, you could really smell how “special” is this unique city with so much culture, charm and interest! Istanbul has such a wide variety of history, culture, architecture, people, food, charm, etc. It’s the total experience here that is so amazing.:

 

 

 

Copenhagen’s Nyhavn or “new” Harbor is actually old and charming. This waterfront entertainment district is lined by brightly colored 17th and early 18th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. Serving as a "heritage harbor", the canal also has many historical wooden ships. Lots of people and fun activity!!:

 

 

 

From the portside control area, here is the view as our ship sailed up this narrow 300’ wide passage in the Trollfjord as a part of the Lofoten Islands along the scenic Norway coast. :

 

 

 

While at Cape Kidnappers near Napier, NZ, we arranged a private, three-course, gourmet lunch at the exclusive resort here that overlooked both the Pacific Ocean and the famed golf course ranked as the 22nd best in the world. Here are members of our 14-person, Central Ohio group enjoying this scenic and dramatic setting and the beautiful weather this day. I used my 10-20mm wide-angle lens to capture this shot.:

 

 

 

On our sail-out in Venice, this was the view as passengers were on the top deck seeing the various churches and historic buildings.:

 

 

 

Private, personal tours can be worth it, especially in St. Petersburg. Here our group of four, with our guide, Jane or Zhenya from Anastasia, we are viewing and learning more about one of the two da Vinci masterpieces (Madonna Litta or Madonna and Child) at the Hermitage after an early admission. There are only 14 such paintings by this artist existing in the whole world. We did an early admission at the Hermitage, lessening the crowd battles and adding to the enjoyment in this spectacular place/set of five palaces AND museum. It is both! This Madonna and Child was probably painted in Milan, where the artist moved in 1482. The Madonna's tender gaze as she looks at her son, and the tranquillity of the distant mountainous landscape, reflect humanist dreams of Ideal Man and a Harmonious Life. Experts says the painting reveals great beauty in its coloring and composition. The painting came to the Czar's collection and museum in 1865 from the collection of Count Antonio Litta in Milan.:

 

[celebrity]

TLC Ohio, cannot believe you haven't taken far more cruises. Your photos and reviews have been nothing short of spectacular. Thanks to you and a few others, I finally got to Europe last year after 19 cruises. Hands down, the most magical cruise ever. We are hoping to return in

2016 but overwhelmed with so many wonderful choices. On the top of our lists are Florence, Croatia, Kotor, London, Istanbul , Le Havre and Venice. Wouldn't mind sailing back to Barcelona, Rome or Ephesus.

In all likelihood, we will repeat Italy and hope to add some new ports of call.

Enjoy your cruise and cannot wait to see your fabulous photos.

[Kinkacruiser]

South America on the Star Princess (Santiago - FLL) 1st prize

Tahitian Islands on the Tahitian (now Ocean) Princess 2nd prize

Sydney - China with Land tour follow-up 3rd prize

[keagle]

Wow. Lots of food for thought there. I have not been far enough YET to say for sure, but I absolutely loved the 3 Asian places that I have seen. The hustle and bustle with the old and new shops and buildings, to me was fantastic.

[bazshirl2]

Thanks Terry for those stunning pics. Barry :)

[bazzaw]

So hard to pick from . What with a World Cruise with P&O, 28 days to Tahiti, the Baltic and Med on the 3 Cunard Queens, the BIG RCI Voyager of the Seas

 

Nah!! the very BEST cruise I ever went on was our first - a cheap 7 days on Pacific Star to the Islands. :) It's been all downhill since then !! :)

 

Barry

[MicCanberra]

Thanks Terry for those stunning pics. Barry :)

 

Agreed, brings back some fond memories.:D

[MicCanberra]

So hard to pick from . What with a World Cruise with P&O, 28 days to Tahiti, the Baltic and Med on the 3 Cunard Queens, the BIG RCI Voyager of the Seas

 

Nah!! the very BEST cruise I ever went on was our first - a cheap 7 days on Pacific Star to the Islands. :) It's been all downhill since then !! :)

 

Barry

 

You will just have to keep cruising until you can match that cruise again.:D

[lizzy77]

Now this is a hard one as each cruise has special memories.

 

I think I have to say the one we have just completed on the new Regal Princess would rate no 1. The Itinerary was amazing. The Baltic's to Iceland to Britain, transatlantic crossing to Canada finishing in New York.

 

Second would be Barcelona to Singapore through the Suez Canal which fulfilled my dreams to visit the pyramids and Petra.

 

Third, South America to Miami, where my highlights were The Falkland Islands and Rio.

 

Looking back it's definitely not about the ship in my choices, it's about the destinations.