What is the farthest you have traveled to get to your embarkation port?

[cruisemom42]

My longest has been from Atlanta to Bangkok, which is about 9150 miles as the crow flies....  Or about the same as SFO to Perth. 

 

I've also flown from ATL to Cairo to board a ship and to many places in Europe including Copenhagen, Rome, Istanbul, Athens and Venice (some of these numerous times).  

 

My longest continuous nonstop flight has been from ATL to Tokyo, with a flying time of just over 14 hours. That was not for a cruise, but the next time I do it (in 2023, fingers crossed), it will be...

 

[Hlitner]

We have embarked from many ports on 5 continents (never embarked from Africa or Antarctica).  Some of the Asian ports as well as Auckland and Sydney were nearly half way around the world.  Some of our flights to embarkation ports (such as NYC to Singapore) were among the longest flights in the world.

 

We cannot agree that flying domestically (within the USA) is anything like most International Flights.  Most countries have various Immigration, Customs and Passport Controls in place at their airports.  The procedures do vary from place to place, but there are generally some procedures and queues that are not experienced with domestic flight arrivals.  In Europe, there are some countries (such as Germany) that often have Passport Control checkpoints even for flights within the EU.  Some countries involve long slow lines while others do a terrific job keeping folks moving along.  

 

Hank

[mom says]

3 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

With the exception of John Bull, everybody who has responded so far is from North America going elsewhere.

I assume it's partly due to time zone differences and we may get more responses as the day/night progresses from other parts of this wonderful world.

 

I know it is too small of a sample to draw any conclusions but are North American ports/itinerary's not attractive to the rest of the world?

In my small 4 cruise history, it seemed like the vast majority of the people on my cruises were North American. Is this due t o economics? Shorter travel is obviously cheaper.

Were your cruises out of NA ports on lines that cater to NA  pax? Then it should come as no surprise that the majority of pax live in NA. Also, if you look at previously published stats on cruise lines, you'll see that the bulk of pax overall are American. They tend to cruise more than those from other countries. However if you were to look at cruises from the UK on UK lines, the demographics would be quite different. The same follows for European sailings on European lines.

Some North Americans can afford to go farther and apparently do. Will the same happen with the rest of the world? Is what we have to offer enticing enough for people from the rest of the world to break open their piggy bank and travel to North America to catch a Mexican Riviera, Alaskan or Caribbean cruise?

John Bull has answered that well,  when it comes to the Caribbean sailings, I think. Embarking from a Caribbean port makes much more logistical sense, unless one has a screaming need for a pre or post cruise visit to Florida. And many Europeans, although certainly not limited to them, might argue the merits of a Scandinavian or Norwegian Cruise over travelling all the way to Seattle or Vancouver for an Alaska cruise. And while the US may be a popular place for land tourism, it really is limited in its cruise offerings. And let's also be blunt - in recent years some people are simply averse to travelling to the US.

 

For those who traveled half way around the world to go on a cruise, if you lived over there, would you have traveled here for a cruise

No.

 

Hmmm...

You'll want to expand the quote to see my responses there.

 

The furthest we have travelled for embarkation was Toronto to Abu Dhabi via Frankfurt. Then at disembarkation from Shanghai direct to Toronto. On that trip we ended up going completely around the world.

Edited July 6, 2022 by mom says

[rkacruiser]

DAY to Auckland and DAY to Santiago are my two longest flights in order to embark a cruise.  

 

The longest flight to return home was from Singapore to DAY.  

[SmoothFlying]

Atl to SEA  but the end of this summer, we (me,my wife and my sister) will (hopefully) fly ATL to SFO for a 10 day Alaska cruise. My wife and I have been there in June of 2010,but my sister has neven there.

 

Mac

[Heidi13]

Longest is Vancouver to Sydney, via Edinburgh, Cape Town, Koh Samui and Saigon.

 

Next are

• Vancouver to Laem Chabang (Thailand) via Hong.Kong.
• London to Tokyo
• London to Sydney

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

With the exception of John Bull, everybody who has responded so far is from North America going elsewhere.

I assume it's partly due to time zone differences and we may get more responses as the day/night progresses from other parts of this wonderful world.

 

I know it is too small of a sample to draw any conclusions but are North American ports/itinerary's not attractive to the rest of the world?

In my small 4 cruise history, it seemed like the vast majority of the people on my cruises were North American. Is this due to economics? Shorter travel is obviously cheaper.

 

Some North Americans can afford to go farther and apparently do. Will the same happen with the rest of the world? Is what we have to offer enticing enough for people from the rest of the world to break open their piggy bank and travel to North America to catch a Mexican Riviera, Alaskan or Caribbean cruise?

 

For those who traveled half way around the world to go on a cruise, if you lived over there, would you have traveled here for a cruise?

 

Hmmm...

Good points and there is no doubt that a majority of posters on CC live in North America.  Among our many cruises (over more than 40 years) have been plenty in North America including Canada/NE, numerous cruises out of Florida, Alaska, etc.  We have met many folks from around the world on our Canada/NE cruises including many from Japan (who come for the fall foliage).   If you cruise on MSC out of Miami you will also find many (if not the majority) come from Europe where they are more familiar and comfortable with this cruise line.  

 

I think a big issue with some is that North American cruise lines mostly play to the American/Canadian audience with their entertainment, cuisine, etc.  Just consider that on lines like HAL and Princess folks are lining up for dinner by 5:30 which is not something you will normally experience in Europe,  My goodness, many of the best restaurants in Spain do not even open until 9pm (after HAL's MDR is already closed).  

 

Hard to know what we would do if Europeans living in Europe, but I think that most North American cruise itineraries would be relatively low on my list.   One reason is that if we travel 1000 miles in Europe we might experience 4 or 5 countries, completely different cuisine, different culture, etc.  But traveling 1000 miles in North America may not see much change.  We recently did a simple two week driving trip (after a cruise from the USA to Europe) and spent our time in ONLY 3 countries.  We have done other driving trips (usually before or after a transatlantic cruise) that took us through 5 or 6 countries.  One day while we were staying in Northeastern France we had breakfast in France, visited a nice French vineyard in the morning, drove over to Germany (Baden Baden) for lunch, did some wine tasting in Germany, than back to our hotel in Strasbourg, France to get ready for dinner in France.   On other easy driving trips we have had breakfast in France and dinner in Italy!  These kind of things do not happen here in North America.  Just driving over the border to Canada (assuming that your PM continues to allow us to visit) is more of a hassle than crossing borders in Europe.   But we are not knocking your country and, in fact, are planning to be back in Canada this October for some wine tasting and fun.

 

Hank

[navybankerteacher]

About 5,000 miles - New York to Istanbul (unless you count U S Navy “cruises” —- then about 9,000 miles Norfolk to Manila)

[Shmoo here]

7 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

So, what is the farthest you have traveled to get to your cruise?

Los Angeles, CA to Barcelona, Spain for an ocean cruise

Los Angeles, CA to Bucharest, Romania for a river cruise.

[skrufy]

9 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

I have been in the "How many days until your next cruise" topic and I was surprised to see some people counting down from hundreds of days. I mean HUNDREDS of days.

It got me to thinking about not only how far out in time but how far in distance have people traveled to go cruising.

Some people live in a port city where they may be able to just roll out of bed and head to the terminal while others may be in the middle of their county and have miles and miles to go...still others may go to another country.

 

So, what is the farthest you have traveled to get to your cruise?

Mine was from Phoenix, AZ, USA to Orlando (Port Canaveral) FL, USA

 

Rockford IL to Honolulu Hawaii.

[Flatbush Flyer]

5 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

With the exception of John Bull, everybody who has responded so far is from North America going elsewhere.

I assume it's partly due to time zone differences and we may get more responses as the day/night progresses from other parts of this wonderful world.

 

I know it is too small of a sample to draw any conclusions but are North American ports/itinerary's not attractive to the rest of the world?

In my small 4 cruise history, it seemed like the vast majority of the people on my cruises were North American. Is this due to economics? Shorter travel is obviously cheaper.

 

Some North Americans can afford to go farther and apparently do. Will the same happen with the rest of the world? Is what we have to offer enticing enough for people from the rest of the world to break open their piggy bank and travel to North America to catch a Mexican Riviera, Alaskan or Caribbean cruise?

 

For those who traveled half way around the world to go on a cruise, if you lived over there, would you have traveled here for a cruise?

 

Hmmm...

Other than US ports that are loci or gateways to desirable touristic US destinations (concentrated regions combining historical, cultural and geographical uniqueness/beauty - e.g.,  (Northeastern seaboard states, California, Hawaii and perhaps Alaska), foreigners from other continents may be better off staying closer to home for beaches (particularly super humid southern mainland locations).

 

[Aquahound]

28 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Other than US ports that are loci or gateways to desirable touristic US destinations (concentrated regions combining historical, cultural and geographical uniqueness/beauty - e.g.,  (Northeastern seaboard states, California, Hawaii and perhaps Alaska), foreigners from other continents may be better off staying closer to home for beaches (particularly super humid southern mainland locations).

 

 

I hope you're not trying to say that the southeast doesn't have history, culture, uniqueness or beauty....or that the southeast isn't a gateway to such things.    

Edited July 6, 2022 by Aquahound

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 minute ago, Aquahound said:

 

I really hope you're not trying to say that the southeast doesn't have history, culture, uniqueness or beauty....or that the southeast isn't a gateway to such things.    

Ever been to Miami (in its modern guise)? 
Of course, old Florida had a rich colonial history. Kind of buried now in the mish/mosh of high rise condos and certain contemporary behaviors not discussable here on CC.

[Aquahound]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Ever been to Miami (in its modern guise)? 
Of course, old Florida had a rich colonial history. Kind of buried now in the mish/mosh of high rise condos and certain contemporary behaviors not discussable here on CC.

 

You forgot to add "IMO" at the end of your post.  

[Flatbush Flyer]

46 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

You forgot to add "IMO" at the end of your post.  

Unnecessary keystrokes for the obvious.

[wcook]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

My longest has been from Atlanta to Bangkok, which is about 9150 miles as the crow flies....  Or about the same as SFO to Perth. 

But did you spend One Night in Bangkok before your cruise? 

[wcook]

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Savannah to Kathmandu, also not a cruise.

Good thing you clarified that 🙂

[jsn55]

10 hours ago, wcook said:

This brings up a philosophical question. I just booked a cruise leaving from Cairo, Egypt. Now I’m obviously also going to explore Cairo while I’m there. So am I traveling all the way to Cairo from New England for my cruise? Or am I traveling to Cairo for its own sake, then traveling the 100 miles to the actual port for my cruise? 

I wouldn't travel to Cairo for its own sake, but I'd travel far for another Nile cruise, or a cruise around the Med.  So you are spending a few days in Cairo before travelling down to Luxor or up to Alexandria for your cruise.  You could literally spend a week in Alexandria, a terrific city.  We only had a day there.  We spent 3 or 4 nites in Cairo before our cruise departed ... Cairo is so intense that it was a real treat to wake up the next morning floating serenely down the Nile.

[cruisemom42]

39 minutes ago, wcook said:

But did you spend One Night in Bangkok before your cruise? 

 

I like where you're going with this. And yes, I spent some time in Bangkok, oriental setting -- but the city didn't know what the city was getting.

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We have embarked from many ports on 5 continents (never embarked from Africa or Antarctica).  Some of the Asian ports as well as Auckland and Sydney were nearly half way around the world.  Some of our flights to embarkation ports (such as NYC to Singapore) were among the longest flights in the world.

 

We cannot agree that flying domestically (within the USA) is anything like most International Flights.  Most countries have various Immigration, Customs and Passport Controls in place at their airports.  The procedures do vary from place to place, but there are generally some procedures and queues that are not experienced with domestic flight arrivals.  In Europe, there are some countries (such as Germany) that often have Passport Control checkpoints even for flights within the EU.  Some countries involve long slow lines while others do a terrific job keeping folks moving along.  

 

Hank

 

Of course flying domestically is going to be different simply because the customs/immigration steps are not involved.  Flying home from an international location can be a zoo in some US airports.   I really need to get that global entry certificate or whatever it is called.   Every time I fly from overseas I swear I will get it, then I forget all about it.   😀

[ldubs]

7 hours ago, mom says said:

You'll want to expand the quote to see my responses there.

 

The furthest we have travelled for embarkation was Toronto to Abu Dhabi via Frankfurt. Then at disembarkation from Shanghai direct to Toronto. On that trip we ended up going completely around the world.

 

Toronto to Abu Dhabi.  Literally half way around the world!   Shanghai to Toronto.  Literally the other half!   That is very cool!  👍👍👍

Edited July 7, 2022 by ldubs

[capriccio]

Our furthest will be next spring:  Washington, DC to Sydney, Australia with a change of planes in San Francisco.

[lissie]

Next cruise we start on our trip to SF from Wellington, NZ - we could fly direct - its a miserable 14 hours out of Auckland plus another hour to Auckland and stuffing around in transit. Instead we are taking 10 days  via Hawaii and SF. 

 

That cruise will end in Barcelona - where we spend 6 weeks in Europe. Then we get back on the ship in Barcelona and sale to Singapore. The flight back from Singapore is only about 8 hours to Australia and then another 3.5 hours across the ditch (Tasman Sea) to Wellington. 

 

This is a trip of over 2 years of lockdowns in the making - I just kept adding stuff to it LOL. 

 

In September Air NZ will start flying Auckland - NYC direct - its 18/19 hours. Now we have the time (my partner's retired - I run my own business)- we would always rather take the scenic route and break up long flights. 

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

 

Of course flying domestically is going to be different simply because the customs/immigration steps are not involved.  Flying home from an international location can be a zoo in some US airports.   I really need to get that global entry certificate or whatever it is called.   Every time I fly from overseas I swear I will get it, then I forget all about it.   😀

DW and I have had Global Entry for years.   It generally means that when we enter the USA we use the GE kiosk and are through immigration within a couple of minutes.  We then go to the luggage carrousel since we must retrieve our luggage and either leave the airport or recheck for a domestic flight.  In most airports it takes at least a half hour until the luggage comes up by which time most of the others on our flight, without Global Entry, have also cleared immigration and have caught up to use at the luggage area.  There are times when I wonder if Global Entry is worth the effort :).  It is great for those that do not check luggage, but otherwise it just gets you through one line so you can wait longer at that luggage area.   I think the best benefit is that with GE you also get TSA Precheck which is a real time and hassle saver.   Also keep in mind that GE must be renewed every 5 years.

 

Hank

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

21 hours ago, DnD CruiserZ said:

I have been in the "How many days until your next cruise" topic and I was surprised to see some people counting down from hundreds of days. I mean HUNDREDS of days.

It got me to thinking about not only how far out in time but how far in distance have people traveled to go cruising.

Some people live in a port city where they may be able to just roll out of bed and head to the terminal while others may be in the middle of their county and have miles and miles to go...still others may go to another country.

 

So, what is the farthest you have traveled to get to your cruise?

Mine was from Phoenix, AZ, USA to Orlando (Port Canaveral) FL, USA

I'll answer the question you posed in a little bit, but let me first touch on your first sentence. I'm surprised that you're surprised that some cruisers have cruises that are hundreds of days away.  After all, 200 days is less than 7 months.  It used to be standard, pre-pandemic, to book cruises a year or more in advance.  That's less true these days, but I wouldn't be the least surprised to have cruisers who have booked 1000+ days (a bit under 3 years) in advance.

 

But anyway, your question.  I found a nice air miles calculator online, which I needed because three of my embarkations involved trips of between 1800 and 2000 miles - to Vancouver, Los Angeles, and San Juan.  San Juan turned out to be the farthest of the bunch (though not by a lot), so that's my answer for now.  This may change in the future.

 

The disembarkation port that's farthest away from me... well, that cruise from Vancouver ended up in Honolulu - 4400 miles away.  Those flights weren't much fun. ☹️