Locations you'd love to visit on a cruise

[Presto2]

Many years ago we toyed with the idea of doing a Nile Cruise - we both love ancient history so it would have been a dream come true. Sadly, as we had to travel in August we left it thinking that the heat would be a nightmare (had done a one day mini cruise from Cyprus and I ended up with a terrible headache despite drinking gallons of water).

 

Now we would still love to do a stay in a hotel in Luxor followed by a Nile cruise on a decent river boat but feel that it is not safe enough at the moment. Think we missed our chance by dithering 😞

[Adawn47]

37 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

Many years ago we toyed with the idea of doing a Nile Cruise - we both love ancient history so it would have been a dream come true. Sadly, as we had to travel in August we left it thinking that the heat would be a nightmare (had done a one day mini cruise from Cyprus and I ended up with a terrible headache despite drinking gallons of water).

 

Now we would still love to do a stay in a hotel in Luxor followed by a Nile cruise on a decent river boat but feel that it is not safe enough at the moment. Think we missed our chance by dithering 😞

That was on our bucket list along with the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors. China nowadays? no way, but I do regret missing out on a Nile cruise. The one we saw included 3 days in Cairo, for the museum and Giza as well. This was 1989 so much safer  then. 1990 was our silver wedding anniversary so we decided on Penang instead and the far east hooked us😉. The closest we ever got was to Alexandria while on Oceana in 2011. Too late now😕

Avril 

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

That was on our bucket list along with the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors. China nowadays? no way, but I do regret missing out on a Nile cruise. The one we saw included 3 days in Cairo, for the museum and Giza as well. This was 1989 so much safer  then. 1990 was our silver wedding anniversary so we decided on Penang instead and the far east hooked us😉. The closest we ever got was to Alexandria while on Oceana in 2011. Too late now😕

Avril 

We managed to see Cairo from our mini cruise on the Louis Cruise ship Princess Marissa, so we saw the pyramids, the sphinx and the museum - plus Tutankhamun's treasures etc. I suppose the one thing that happened as a result of that expedition is that we got the cruise bug and started to look at cruise holidays. It has proven to have been an expensive mini cruise 🙂

 

We would also have liked to spend more time in Israel. We did 3 days there on the Silhouette in August 2011 and loved the place. Ironically we should have gone to Egypt but that was cancelled due to some sort of a dispute at the time and we ended up with an extra day in Southern Israel and a stop over in Kusadasi instead. It was the cruise of a life time and would love to return one day.

 

We had thought about a Cosmos Tourama Holiday with a river cruise in it to China, but not too keen at the moment.

 

Would also love to go to cowboy country - I grew up watching the High Chapperal and always wanted to have the chance to get out there and be a cow girl for the day !

 

We would also like to go to the Caribbean some time.

 

There are plenty of places we  would love to see and hopefully, once things have settled and we can sail out of school terms (when retired) it will give us more choice in terms of destination.

[terrierjohn]

I suppose a couple of the places we had hoped to visit but hadn't are the Taj Mahal, and Petra in Jordan, so sailing past them would be wonderful.

[Adawn47]

35 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

We would also have liked to spend more time in Israel. We did 3 days there on the Silhouette in August 2011 and loved the place. Ironically we should have gone to Egypt but that was cancelled due to some sort of a dispute at the time and we ended up with an extra day in Southern Israel and a stop over in Kusadasi instead. It was the cruise of a life time and would love to return one day.

It sounds like you did a very similar itinerary to ours on Oceana in October 2011. The Arab  Spring  was the dispute you're referring to. We went to Malta instead of Lybia and Alexandria instead of Cairo. Spent two days in Israel which I'm afraid neither of us liked. We loved Turkey, Ephesus was amazing. One place we still want to see is Herculaneum, but ship tours  no longer seem to go there,  only Pompei. 

Avril 

[Presto2]

1 hour ago, Adawn47 said:

It sounds like you did a very similar itinerary to ours on Oceana in October 2011. The Arab  Spring  was the dispute you're referring to. We went to Malta instead of Lybia and Alexandria instead of Cairo. Spent two days in Israel which I'm afraid neither of us liked. We loved Turkey, Ephesus was amazing. One place we still want to see is Herculaneum, but ship tours  no longer seem to go there,  only Pompei. 

Avril 

 

Our favourite day in Israel was the day we went to the Dead Sea and visited Masada - it was awesome. 

Enjoyed Capernaum too. Would love to return to get past the tourist things and see the real archaeology like the Ancient City of David being uncovered in Jerusalem. I wasn't over keen on the many churches that had been built on the 'possible' sites of various places - no disrespect intended (am a Christian) but we wanted to see the ancient ruins.  Sime people love it, but that side didn't inspire us. The people we meet were wonderful though and it was a dream come true just to be there and to walk the streets. Would like to go and spend a week there going off the beaten track ... IF it was safe !!!!

 

Loved Ephesus but hate Kusadasi 

 

Loved Herculaneum - am sure we visited there when we were on Oceana in 2016. It is amazing - very easy to get to from Sorrento apparently but not sure otherwise ! It is brilliant and so intact.

 

Cairo isn't anything to shout about - the pyramids and sphinx are just on the edge of town and we spent hours trying to avoid people trying to dupe us into buying something and pestering us. Was happy to get back on the ship so that is why we would have preferred a Nile Cruise.

[Dermotsgirl]

3 hours ago, Presto2 said:

 

Our favourite day in Israel was the day we went to the Dead Sea and visited Masada - it was awesome. 

Enjoyed Capernaum too. Would love to return to get past the tourist things and see the real archaeology like the Ancient City of David being uncovered in Jerusalem. I wasn't over keen on the many churches that had been built on the 'possible' sites of various places - no disrespect intended (am a Christian) but we wanted to see the ancient ruins.  Sime people love it, but that side didn't inspire us. The people we meet were wonderful though and it was a dream come true just to be there and to walk the streets. Would like to go and spend a week there going off the beaten track ... IF it was safe !!!!

 

Loved Ephesus but hate Kusadasi 

 

Loved Herculaneum - am sure we visited there when we were on Oceana in 2016. It is amazing - very easy to get to from Sorrento apparently but not sure otherwise ! It is brilliant and so intact.

 

Cairo isn't anything to shout about - the pyramids and sphinx are just on the edge of town and we spent hours trying to avoid people trying to dupe us into buying something and pestering us. Was happy to get back on the ship so that is why we would have preferred a Nile Cruise.

In 2007 we did an 18 day cruise on Oriana. As it was in November, I was able to have a longer than normal holiday - I’d have never got that amount of time off From work in summer. 
 

Port Said was one of the ports, and we went to see the pyramids and the Sphinx. I’m glad we did it, but there was a lot of tourist hassle, which does spoil it a little.  When we got back to the ship, we had to run a gauntlet of vendors leaning over the railings. I’ve never been so glad to get back to the cool, calm atmosphere of the ship. 
 

We also had Kusadasi on the same cruise. Ephesus was brilliant, but the last stop on the tour was a carpet shop. I seriously thought we were never going to get out of there! 

 

I’ve never been to Herculaneum, but went to Pompeii on our first cruise, which I found to be very moving  

[Monorail Orange]

Another one I've thought of - Madrid. I've been to Seville and Barcelona, and I've wondered how it compares to those.

[Son of Anarchy]

Would like to go to Hue again.

[pete14]

23 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Many years ago we toyed with the idea of doing a Nile Cruise - we both love ancient history so it would have been a dream come true. Sadly, as we had to travel in August we left it thinking that the heat would be a nightmare (had done a one day mini cruise from Cyprus and I ended up with a terrible headache despite drinking gallons of water).

 

Now we would still love to do a stay in a hotel in Luxor followed by a Nile cruise on a decent river boat but feel that it is not safe enough at the moment. Think we missed our chance by dithering 😞

We have holidayed in Egypt a few times and around 20 years ago, we did the Luxor Hotel (stayed in the Sheraton a mile or so outside Luxor centre) followed by a Nile cruise down to Aswan and back. Absolutely fantastic and would love to do it again sometime but you have to worry about security. We were actually in Luxor a few weeks before the German tour bus was attacked at Hatshepsut’s Temple (an amazing building to see). The Valley of the Kings and the numerous temples are like nowhere else I have seen. 

As we were tied to school holidays, we went there in August each time and it was hot but not too humid. Mind you, Aswan did top 40C with no cooling breeze. Everywhere you go in Egypt you are presented with the opportunity to buy all sorts of stuff although I think around Cairo and the Pyramids it may be the most irritating. You can actually barter with them and get some good stuff very cheaply but I don’t suppose that even then they lose money.

 

A fantastic but troubled country that I would love to return to. 

[Presto2]

7 hours ago, pete14 said:

We have holidayed in Egypt a few times and around 20 years ago, we did the Luxor Hotel (stayed in the Sheraton a mile or so outside Luxor centre) followed by a Nile cruise down to Aswan and back. Absolutely fantastic and would love to do it again sometime but you have to worry about security. We were actually in Luxor a few weeks before the German tour bus was attacked at Hatshepsut’s Temple (an amazing building to see). The Valley of the Kings and the numerous temples are like nowhere else I have seen. 

As we were tied to school holidays, we went there in August each time and it was hot but not too humid. Mind you, Aswan did top 40C with no cooling breeze. Everywhere you go in Egypt you are presented with the opportunity to buy all sorts of stuff although I think around Cairo and the Pyramids it may be the most irritating. You can actually barter with them and get some good stuff very cheaply but I don’t suppose that even then they lose money.

 

A fantastic but troubled country that I would love to return to. 

 

We had looked at a hotel on an island in Luxor - it looked amazing - and then a Nile Cruise. Really regret it now.

It was baking hot on the day we were in Egypt (August and a heatwave) and despite us drinking loads of water I still ended up dehydrated. I remember thinking that I wasn't sweating but think it just evaporated !!!

When we went to Israel it was 45 degrees in Masada (we were told) and on the Dead Sea but it was the experience of a lifetime and one we plan to revisit God willing when all of this is over and if it is safe to do so.

 

PS Haven't seen Harry for a while, but have now been adopted by a stray pigeon ........... we have certainly been 'at one with nature' this year 😉

Edited August 16, 2020 by Presto2

[pete14]

59 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

We had looked at a hotel on an island in Luxor - it looked amazing - and then a Nile Cruise. Really regret it now.

It was baking hot on the day we were in Egypt (August and a heatwave) and despite us drinking loads of water I still ended up dehydrated. I remember thinking that I wasn't sweating but think it just evaporated !!!

When we went to Israel it was 45 degrees in Masada (we were told) and on the Dead Sea but it was the experience of a lifetime and one we plan to revisit God willing when all of this is over and if it is safe to do so.

 

PS Haven't seen Harry for a while, but have now been adopted by a stray pigeon ........... we have certainly been 'at one with nature' this year 😉

I think Harry has gone to live elsewhere unless he is shielding or quarantined. 
 

Masada is on my wish list but I suspect it is unlikely I will ever get there. 
 

Luxor has a lot of reasonably priced ‘luxury chain’ hotels that would cost a fortune in UK. I can’t think which hotel you were looking at, possibly the Movenpick?

[Presto2]

45 minutes ago, pete14 said:

I think Harry has gone to live elsewhere unless he is shielding or quarantined. 
 

Masada is on my wish list but I suspect it is unlikely I will ever get there. 
 

Luxor has a lot of reasonably priced ‘luxury chain’ hotels that would cost a fortune in UK. I can’t think which hotel you were looking at, possibly the Movenpick?

I think it was the Movenpick - it was years ago when I was checking it all out. 

 

Masada was amazing - if you have the chance go for it !

 

Re Harry --- saw a Heron in Abergele the other week ------ wouldn't blame him for the move 😉

[Adawn47]

23 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Would like to go to Hue again.

Are you referring to Vietnam? It's one country, as well as Cambodia, we regretted not getting the chance to visit before we stopped flying.

Avril

[Son of Anarchy]

Yes.  We went there about 7-8 years ago.  They had just started restoring the imperial city grounds.  It would amazing to see again when completed.  Unfortunately I doubt that will happen within my lifespan.

[Adawn47]

22 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Yes.  We went there about 7-8 years ago.  They had just started restoring the imperial city grounds.  It would amazing to see again when completed.  Unfortunately I doubt that will happen within my lifespan.

The fascination in the far east never leaves you does it?  Someone once told us that you either love it or hate it, there's no inbetween. It had us hooked the moment we set foot in Penang 30 years ago and never let go.

Avril

[Britboys]

On 8/15/2020 at 11:32 AM, Presto2 said:

Many years ago we toyed with the idea of doing a Nile Cruise - we both love ancient history so it would have been a dream come true. Sadly, as we had to travel in August we left it thinking that the heat would be a nightmare (had done a one day mini cruise from Cyprus and I ended up with a terrible headache despite drinking gallons of water).

 

Now we would still love to do a stay in a hotel in Luxor followed by a Nile cruise on a decent river boat but feel that it is not safe enough at the moment. Think we missed our chance by dithering 😞

Don't give up on the idea. I went just over 3 years ago, late March 2017 and it was fabulous. We had three days in Cairo at the start, staying at Giza, overlooking the Pyramids. We had guided tours to the Pyramids & Sphinx, the Egyptian Museum and also out to Memphis & Saqquara.

For the Pyramids, there were about 8 of us with the guide and the other two days, although we had booked a normal group tour, there was only me and my cruise buddy - it was fantastic.

We then flew to Luxor for the 7 night Nile Cruise, which was also fabulous. The boat was not full and at Aswan, a group of Americans departed and for the rest of the trip there was only about a dozen of us.

We did all the usual sights and also the trip to Abu Simbel, which was so worth doing.

We all felt totally safe. There was a man wandering around the boat and with the party at all times and I will just say that he was built like a brick outhouse and leave it at that. The guides do their best to keep you away from too many pestering vendors and advised that you just say La Shokran very firmly - no, thank you. The weather was ideal for exploring.

We went with a specialist company called Discover Egypt and I would highly recommend.

[Son of Anarchy]

1 minute ago, Adawn47 said:

The fascination in the far east never leaves you does it?  Someone once told us that you either love it or hate it, there's no inbetween. It had us hooked the moment we set foot in Penang 30 years ago and never let go.

Avril

Very true.  I always say that the Far East is hot, noisy, smelly and in your face.  A fantastic place to visit.  Last time was about two years ago.  We were in Thailand for Songkran - Thai New Year.  An amazing experience.

[Adawn47]

31 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Very true.  I always say that the Far East is hot, noisy, smelly and in your face.  A fantastic place to visit.  Last time was about two years ago.  We were in Thailand for Songkran - Thai New Year.  An amazing experience.

Thailand is an interesting country. Northen Thailand is our most favourite place of all, and been many times. Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son were the places most visited, the real Thailand. We only managed  to experience one Songkran sadly, but saw many Full Moon Lantern celebrations and Rocket Festivals. Now I'm feeling homesick.

Avril

[Presto2]

3 hours ago, Britboys said:

We went with a specialist company called Discover Egypt and I would highly recommend.

 

Thanks, will check it out - it will give me something to do while the cruise lines are not operating !

Have to say, when we went we were glad to get back on the ship.

Not pleasant at the time if you were young, female with blondish hair --- my husband was offered so many camels for me, he could have made a fortune !  Luckily we hadn't been married too long so he refused the offers !!! Seriously, the constant pestering to sell something, or tricks to get you to give them money did my head in. 

 

Re security - have to say Israel was the place we felt really safe --- just watching them check the coaches (all over and underneath) and seeing the guards we had with us felt safer than walking around London (and that was years ago!) . When we did the day trip to Egypt each coach had a 'minder' who wore a long coat and we were told that he was fully armed ..

[Monorail Orange]

After seeing it on the recent Joanna Lumley show - Tblisi looks like one for this list.

[happy v]

Machu Picchu.

[Polly1922]

On 8/11/2020 at 5:14 PM, Monorail Orange said:

Another one of those "just for fun" topics.

 

Are there any places in the world that you'd think would be great places to stop on a cruise - that you just can't. I'm thinking mainly landlocked cities and areas of the world.

 

One caveat, there are places you can go on river cruises, but we'll ignore those for this.

 

My first suggestions:

 

Vienna

It looks a beautiful city, with plenty of history and architechture. Plus it's home to the Sachertorte.

 

Interlaken, Switzerland

I have been there a couple of times, its a lovely idyllic part of the country. I can imagine the shore excursions would include trips to the Schilthorn's Piz Gloria (famed for being Blofeld's hideout in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service') and the highest train station in Europe up at the Jungfraujoch.

 

Moscow.

I have been to St Petersburg on RCCL and thought it was excellent.

 

Edited August 18, 2020 by Polly1922

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Polly1922 said:

Moscow.

I have been to St Petersburg on RCCL and thought it was excellent.

 

Just to show off, I went to SP in 1969 on a school trip. Obviously the Cold War was still going on. 

The culture shock of seeing how Russians lived in those days, plus the constant chaperoning,  was a real eye opener.

We went by train to Moscow  - seeing Red Square before the days of tourism was another memory that I won't forget. 

[zap99]

On 8/16/2020 at 7:35 PM, pete14 said:

I think Harry has gone to live elsewhere unless he is shielding or quarantined. 
 

Masada is on my wish list but I suspect it is unlikely I will ever get there. 
 

Luxor has a lot of reasonably priced ‘luxury chain’ hotels that would cost a fortune in UK. I can’t think which hotel you were looking at, possibly the Movenpick?

We did a Nile cruise for my 60th. Drifting along on the boat reading my Agatha Chrstie is a fond memory. No Harry but I said to DW at one of the temples " I think that's a Nile Kingfisher". Yes sir, said a smartly dressed young man,that is the female, the male has gone off fishing as their nest is nearby.I hope my machine pistol doesn't alarm you, I am here for your protection, but try and remain in the background. That was fine. Not too sure about right now, but would love to go again