Retirement cruise for mom in 2018 ideas?

[ClevelandCruisin]

Planning a cruise for my mom's retirement in '18.

 

Ship ideas? We've been on the Getaway and soon the pearl and escape.

 

Length?

 

Best location? Not going to Australia, Hawaii or Japan.. so cross those off.

 

Toss me some ideas which you had your best experience and best ship you liked! I need some ideas and personal experiences!

[Heather1972]

Planning a cruise for my mom's retirement in '18.

 

Ship ideas? We've been on the Getaway and soon the pearl and escape.

 

Length?

 

Best location? Not going to Australia, Hawaii or Japan.. so cross those off.

 

Toss me some ideas which you had your best experience and best ship you liked! I need some ideas and personal experiences!

 

New ship Bliss to Alaska?

[deladypilot]

If possible ask your mom what she might want to do. If this is a surprise then maybe hint around and about traveling and see if she will pop off with some ideas. You have time so you could pose questions over time.

 

I think the idea someone gave about the new ship Bliss in Alaska for 2018 but remember brand new ships can also have small issues as they get all the "new" fixed. Alaska is beautiful and a constant photo op but your mother may have no desire to do that and may like beaches instead.

 

Good luck, im sure you will find the perfect cruise

[DavyB]

i was gonna say the same as the previous posters, The Bliss going to Alaska.

 

Good luck and congratulations to your mom!!

[Cruisin'Christine]

I have been on 15 cruises (so far) and my favourite so far has been to Alaska. The scenery is stunning and you get to see a lot of wildlife (seals, sea lions, sea otters, whales, bears, mountain goats). If that is something your mom would enjoy then that is the cruise for her. I really have never seen more stunning scenery than Tracy Arm Fjord (and yet I'm told Hubbard Glacier is even more beautiful). We usually go on a warm weather cruise and I liked that this was different. I think it is an at least once in a lifetime experience.

[fredflint]

It depends on what your mom likes and where you have been before. For my wife and I, we are hooked on TA's in the Fall. You can spend a few days exploring Europe, the flights booked thru the cruiseline or on sale can be really good. The ships have no kids virtually if you prefer no children, and when you dock it is in Florida a short flight back home.

 

But you need to tell us where she has been and what she has really liked. Also what time of year is she retiring.

[js]

It depends on what your mom likes and where you have been before. For my wife and I, we are hooked on TA's in the Fall. You can spend a few days exploring Europe, the flights booked thru the cruiseline or on sale can be really good. The ships have no kids virtually if you prefer no children, and when you dock it is in Florida a short flight back home.

 

 

 

But you need to tell us where she has been and what she has really liked. Also what time of year is she retiring.

 

 

Ditto plus Ill add if she enjoys walking and sightseeing or sitting at a beach.

 

 

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[Linda the Book Lover]

You did not mention what time of year she plans to retire or when you wish to take the cruise. The time of year could help with deciding where to go on this wonderful vacation.

 

I agree with the other posters that it depends on where your mom would like to sail. The DH and I went to Alaska on the Pearl for his birthday and celebrating my retirement. The Pearl quickly became our favorite ship as it was just the right size and the staff was spectacular. I came back and started retirement two weeks after the trip. I sure enjoyed the cruise to Alaska and counted it as my countdown to enjoying not working any longer.

[ClevelandCruisin]

You did not mention what time of year she plans to retire or when you wish to take the cruise. The time of year could help with deciding where to go on this wonderful vacation.

 

I agree with the other posters that it depends on where your mom would like to sail. The DH and I went to Alaska on the Pearl for his birthday and celebrating my retirement. The Pearl quickly became our favorite ship as it was just the right size and the staff was spectacular. I came back and started retirement two weeks after the trip. I sure enjoyed the cruise to Alaska and counted it as my countdown to enjoying not working any longer.

Early to mid '18

 

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[Linda the Book Lover]

Early to mid '18

 

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Thanks for the update. If not Alaska during late May with the long days which is wonderful how about Bermuda. Bermuda is very easy to get around on public transportation with the ability to tour on your own. I hope you and your mom have a good cruise.

[newmexicoNita]

Planning a cruise for my mom's retirement in '18.

 

Ship ideas? We've been on the Getaway and soon the pearl and escape.

 

Length?

 

Best location? Not going to Australia, Hawaii or Japan.. so cross those off.

 

Toss me some ideas which you had your best experience and best ship you liked! I need some ideas and personal experiences!

 

wow there are so many and everyone has their own ideas on what would be a special experience. I think, right off the top of my head I would suggest the Sun. For some reason that is my favorite NCL ship. She is smaller than the new mega ships and large enough to offer the dining choices, etc. plus the cabins are just a tad bigger than the Jewel class anyway.

 

Itinerary it would be a toss up for me between the Panama Canal and Alaska. But we love the southern Caribbean Islands as well. I will say our favorite cruise, itinerary wise was the Panama Canal. Alaska has great scenery but I still prefer the variety of the Panama canal plus a longer cruise, to me, just seems a little more special for a special time in ones life.

 

Of course it all depends on what mom likes to do.

Edited November 5, 2016 by newmexicoNita

[ClevelandCruisin]

Thanks for the update. If not Alaska during late May with the long days which is wonderful how about Bermuda. Bermuda is very easy to get around on public transportation with the ability to tour on your own. I hope you and your mom have a good cruise.

Thank you for all the nice replies. We try to take a cruise every year. Next year going on the pearl to Panama and then on the escape in the fall. Bermuda has been tossed around before and Alaska would be nice, but wouldn't it be too cold?

 

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[Blizzard56]

I just retired from teaching and planned on a cruise so that I would leave on the first day of school that was my 'official retirement date'

 

A friend and I flew to Iceland, spent a couple of days there and then flew to Denmark (Iceland Air-has a stopover program. If you're lucky you can get a stopover buddy to give you a tour of Iceland). We then boarded a Princess Regal and did the Northern Baltics then trans-Atlantic for a 14 day cruise. Ended up in NYC (and at that point you can tour NYC), and from there I was home.

 

Loved it! I'm sure NCL has a similar type of cruise too.

 

Congratulations to your Mom!

[OzCanuck]

Early '18: Around the Horn / South America

Mid '18: The Baltics

 

Either one of those will giver her a great introduction to retirement.

[shark with a laser]

The Mediterranean on the Jade or Spirit is a fantastic cruise. Even more so if you can swing one of the forward penthouses. Having coffee on a balcony immediately below the bridge while the ship slowly glides into port is absolutely amazing! The forward suites on the Spirit are larger and nicer than the Jade, but due to their smaller size, the front balconies are also much windier on the Spirit. I say all this as someone who prefers smaller and mid-size ships. The Epic used to also sail the Mediterranean, and I believe I've seen that one of the newer BA class ships will be doing so.

 

 

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[Linda the Book Lover]

Thank you for all the nice replies. We try to take a cruise every year. Next year going on the pearl to Panama and then on the escape in the fall. Bermuda has been tossed around before and Alaska would be nice, but wouldn't it be too cold?

 

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We left the last week in May until the beginning of June. The weather was pleasant and sunny with only light rain in Juneau. The temperature was nice and I did remove my jacket. We did wear heavy jackets and I put on ski pants going through the glacier as we sat outside the entire time. We enjoyed warm adult glacier beverages which came one a hour to our cabin. ;) I do not like cold which is crazy since we moved from sunny Southern California to rainy chilly Northern California and found the temperature mild in Alaska.

[Sunshine2U]

Would you consider a different cruise line? MSC has great prices right now on Divina Yacht Club (2 for 1 sale) - included dedicated dining room, pool, lounge and beverages. We're booked in the spring to try it out. I know it will be a different from the Escape experience that we loved (!) but we're not tied to any one line.

[Turtles06]

Planning a cruise for my mom's retirement in '18.

 

Ship ideas? We've been on the Getaway and soon the pearl and escape.

 

Length?

 

Best location? Not going to Australia, Hawaii or Japan.. so cross those off.

 

Toss me some ideas which you had your best experience and best ship you liked! I need some ideas and personal experiences!

 

Very nice of you to plan this for your mom!

 

But I agree with others above that we could be the most helpful if you could give us a sense of what your mom likes to do when she travels, and also what time of year this trip will happen.

 

You've certainly been given a great list above of "special" itineraries and places, the question for you is whether your mom would enjoy any of them.

 

I do agree that it should be a cruise longer than 7 days, wherever you go. A week just doesn't seem "special" enough.

 

As for whether Alaska would be "too cold," that's what layers of clothing are for. :)

 

Are you wedded to NCL? We do enjoy NCL, and are about to do the Panama Canal on the Jewel, but we absolutely love Celebrity, particularly their S-class ships, which are stunningly beautiful. If you want something really special for your mom, you might want to consider a cruise on one of those ships.

 

Happy planning!

[xlxo]

More inspiration.... why wait for 2018..... 2017 has sailings too and the glaciers are not getting bigger.

 

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[ClevelandCruisin]

2017 is already planned!

 

April.. Panama Canal

October... USVI,BYI,Nassau

[PhillyTravelBug]

How about Norway? I am planning that for my 40th in 2020. We were looking at the Baltics, but Norway is much more appealing.