Long cruise

[oceandream]

Would be interested to hear your experience on a long cruise, between 30-90 days. Any tips, advice. Thank you fir sharing.

[lucas34]

I made 30 days cruise from Los Angeles to Dubai between 2 cruise lines, I only changed my ship in Singapore. Some new ports and some old ones for me. I really enjoyed that long trip. You should try one day!

[fshepinc]

4 hours ago, lucas34 said:

I made 30 days cruise from Los Angeles to Dubai between 2 cruise lines, I only changed my ship in Singapore. Some new ports and some old ones for me. I really enjoyed that long trip. You should try one day!

I wish I could! Sadly, those long cruises are out of my price range (barring winning the lottery). My dream cruise is the 30+ day trip from the east coast to the west coast around South America. Maybe someday!

[lucas34]

3 hours ago, fshepinc said:

I wish I could! Sadly, those long cruises are out of my price range (barring winning the lottery). My dream cruise is the 30+ day trip from the east coast to the west coast around South America. Maybe someday!

These cruise was very cheap, even that both was with balcony. South America is very special place for me and as I speak spanish too, it was so easy travel there. Also there I had two cruise from Europe to Rio de Janeiro and then some days there before my other cruise from Rio de Janeiro to Antarctica and fjords of Chile up to Valparaiso. Hopefully you can visit one day South America too,

[JoePDX]

We are slowly ramping up to a 30+ night cruise.   We leave in two weeks for a 21 night crossing from Aruba to Barcelona.   Husband's retirement trip.  I will retire in 2024, then we have a 24 night crossing planned.  My dream is Oceania's 180+ day Around the World cruise.  Someday.  🙂

 

Joe

[oceandream]

Thank you for sharing. Happy sailing. We did a 30 days across South Pacific and now thinking doing a longer cruise, maybe a 90 days or more. 

[foggycat]

I did a 45 day South Pacific cruise on the HAL Zuiderdam in fall 2022. It was a horrible cruise and one of the worst ever.  HAL skipped several ports without explanation and scheduled the trip during the rainy season in French Polynesia.  The heavy rains destroyed a  lot of fun in the islands and we skipped more stops.  The Zuiderdam is an antique ship that should be put out of service.  HAL has the WORST treatment of its long-time cruisers and offered us ZERO compensation for a really awful trip.  Beware of HAL in general but especially on a long cruise, such as this one.  Never again.  

[Surfguyxxx]

Back in 2019, we had done b2b Ovation OTS, for a 19 night from Hawaii to Sydney, AU and then another 9 nights around New Zealand for our 30th anniversary.  I could have stayed on for more but hubby was itching to get off; the ship that is  😂.

[billylen]

 

On 2/26/2023 at 8:01 AM, oceandream said:

Would be interested to hear your experience on a long cruise, between 30-90 days. Any tips, advice. Thank you fir sharing.

I tend to travel solo. I love the longer cruises. Sure you meet people but just to get away. Only thing, careful of food intake!

[atexsix]

 

Longer cruises aren't as easy as they sound and aren't for everybody.  You can't just climb aboard for 2-3 months and forget about the world as much as we'd like to.  But I'll get to that.  For starters, longer trips tend to reflect 50+ aged passengers, not many working age people could be gone much more than a couple of weeks.  The last lengthy cruise we took on Holland America had nobody under 18 at all, and the Club HAL facility wasn't even open.  The activities will cater to the older crowd, so if belly flop contests and all night danceathons are your thing, you won't find it on "voyages" which are anything 30 to 45+ days, depending on the line. We find longer cruises to be much more relaxed, you certainly have a lot more time to get to know your fellow passengers and crew, and that part we really liked.  And it's nice to only have to unpack once.  

 

With a few exceptions like world cruises, longer sailings can be quite a bargain at the base fare level, however once you add up all the extras like port fees, gratuities, spa/salon appointments, and drinks multiplied by number of days away from home then it's often way more than advertised.  For example, most people will not be able to go more than a month without a haircut, somebody has to wash your clothes, and you'll need a lot of aspirin, gum, mouthwash, and anything else not provided.  Oh and convincing the insurance company why you need two months worth of medication is a joyous affair! 

 

And life won't just stop while your away, somebody needs to watch your cat, pay the electric bill, and make the mortgage payment.  3 months away might sound amazing to a lot of people, but you have an equal number of bills to pay at home, it's not like the 1 or 2 week break of shorter cruises. There's also a lot of paperwork, as the passenger is responsible for entry requirements, visas, etc.  A good travel agent that specializes in overseas trips is a must if you'll be visiting multiple 2nd and 3rd world countries with complicated rules. 

 

Illness spreading throughout a ship can be harder to control, but even without this, an occasional death on board is almost certainly going to occur based on statistics, sometimes you'll hear about it, sometimes not.  I mention it not to be callous, but because it can cause delays while repatriation of the body is handled, not all countries have agreements in place for this.  

 

Reading a couple of the live from threads during world cruise season is a good way to get a lot of the behind the scenes details about things you won't think about.  Some are more thorough than others, but I've found them to be quite informative, especially if you are going to be sailing on that exact ship.  

[oceandream]

Thank you Atexsix, very informative.

[9tee2Sea]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:01 AM, oceandream said:

Would be interested to hear your experience on a long cruise, between 30-90 days. Any tips, advice. Thank you fir sharing.

My longest cruise so far has been 21 days.  Biggest piece of advice......Take advantage of Laundry.  Pack enough clothes for 1 week of being on ship, and 1 week of shore excursion clothes.  Laundry about twice during the cruise.  Really cuts down on luggage weight.

[RICHARD@SEA]

Times have changed a great deal - in some ways good...its easier to get away for longer trips thanks to internet, more casual dressing & good planning.

 After many cruises & land trips over the years & packing several suitcases for 7-16 day cruises with changes of clothes for morning, noon & nite  - I now have cut down to one checked bag, one carry on & one personal carry bag(I use Brics bags).

 

For warm weather I wear a lot of linen & golf shirts & shorts.  One dark suit & one sports jacket, one pair of dress shoes, a few dress shirts & pants - all that can be sent to be cleaned onboard.  I live in NYC so I have formal, business clothes.(I hope ROSCOE doesn't read this as I'd embarrass him w a lack of steamer trunks & panash on my part).

For colder climates I bring a rain jacket w a liner, a  couple of cashmere sweaters.

 

Anything I need can be bought along the way or onboard.

 

As far as medication - I fill a 90 day order & just before sailing order another.

 

I just booked my first world cruise  for 2025.  I approach cruising in different ways now - w time & planning all details will be taken in account(visas, packing & shipping luggage & setting up all online payments as necessary for homes).

 

 

[Dobby36]

Haven’t been anything longer than 2 weeks yet, but have my eye on a few longer voyages in years to come. Thanks all for the tips and inspiration. Cheers! 

[gerryuk]

From bitter experience if you are planning on going on a long cruise, only do it on a ship that you have been on before, and liked.

I did Costa Toscana for 23 days from Barcelona to Dubai last November and did the return from Dubai to Europe in March. The Toscana was one of the best cruise ships i have ever been on, everything about it was just perfect.

In April i boarded the Costa Firenze in Rio for 5 weeks to Kiel in Germany, it was a back to back.  The Firenze was the worse cruise ship i have ever boarded, by a country mile. 

I will never do a long cruise again on a ship i have never been on and experienced before.

 

 

[RICHARD@SEA]

On 5/24/2023 at 6:17 AM, gerryuk said:

From bitter experience if you are planning on going on a long cruise, only do it on a ship that you have been on before, and liked.

I did Costa Toscana for 23 days from Barcelona to Dubai last November and did the return from Dubai to Europe in March. The Toscana was one of the best cruise ships i have ever been on, everything about it was just perfect.

In April i boarded the Costa Firenze in Rio for 5 weeks to Kiel in Germany, it was a back to back.  The Firenze was the worse cruise ship i have ever boarded, by a country mile. 

I will never do a long cruise again on a ship i have never been on and experienced before.

 

 

Thats good advice.....

 

After starting on short 7 -10 day cruises I've gone onto longer cruises - but only w lines that I like and have proven their worth to me.

As far as the  ship - its a personal preference - I like smaller ships, w a promenade and aft pool & now I book midship balcony cabins.  I like SilverSea(despite the RCCL ownership).  Food is subjective and I tend to eat ashore as much as possible.  But good service & decent food is basic( I don't expect the same quality on a 3000+ passenger ship as opposed to a ship carrying 1000 passengers.

 

Saying that I booked a World Cruise in 2025 on MSC.  I booked for the itinerary. All else will fall into place.

[At7Seas]

I did longer cruises of four weeks or more three times yet. Most of my cruises have been two or three weeks, the last ten years I just did single week cruises only in combinations. Short sailings as an addition to shore holidays or twice for getting a feeling for a cruise line I’ve never sailed before.
 
My first long cruise was from Italy to India on Costa neoClassica, which has been sold and as far as I am aware is used as hotel ship now. A quite small ship, but since I don‘t need an adventure park at sea it still worked very well for me, but I think it shouldn’t be a much smaller ship for me. Last year a 49 day cruise was cancelled and instead I went with Costa Faschinosa from Savona to Germany, from there to the North Cape and thereafter through the Baltic Sea, which was technically a 34-day B2B2B. Faschinosa and her sisters I regard at least for me as very suitable ships to spend longer times on, the possibilities are very various and it is still not too big. Things on long sailings getting of more importance are food and service, on both of these long Costa cruises I wasn‘t disappointed. As single traveller I generally appreciate the price policy of Costa. I prefer travelling twice with good quality above first class travel once at twice the price. None of Costa’s ships I have been on has made on me a bad impression as gerryuk wrote about the Firenze - I can‘t give an opinion about this ship yet, but I will sail on her for two weeks in September. The last long cruise was very recently on MSC Sinfonia, 30 nights from Cape Town to Venice, after spending six weeks in South Africa. My first sailing with MSC was no success, so I booked this reluctantly, but there were in 2023 no alternatives for returning to Europe by ship including a visit of the islands in the Indian Ocean. Aida and Phoenix went through the Atlantic, the first in express speed with visiting mainly European ports, the latter with visiting many ports, but only with a top class cabin available, about six times more expensive than MSC and still not visiting La Réunion, Mauritius or the Seychelles. Costa called Cape Town on the fully booked world cruise and here is already the end of the list of cruise lines leaving the country. My expectations for the MSC cruise were already low, I was prepared for ferry standard only, and even in this situation MSC succeeded to disappoint me in all details. Food was just terrible (and I am not talking about what was served, there long discussions are possible, but about how it has been prepared and this made it just inedible) and service was with a very few exceptions either not available or just rude. The company outright lied against me, both in their booking information and on an information request. The ship itself was in a state of decay. A fellow guest told the hotel director that she did not like to be treated like a container! I couldn’t find better words. Booking because of the itinerary only is not always a success! Next January I will go around the world for 126 days with Costa Deliziosa. I have both positive experiences with the line and already sailed the ship, which I don’t consider as their best, but as really good.
 
atexsix is very right with some of his comments, but these are no real obstacles, but thoughts to pay attention to. The longer cruises have definitely an older demographic. On my first long cruise I was 50 years old and definitely below average. Once I was put into the early dinner shift and was able to change to the late from the second evening. I spoke with a lady, who became my tablemate the second evening, about changing and she said “Early dinner? That is for babies and old folks!” - she was 81, but had a young mind indeed.
 
Health is always an important question when travelling. I know a statement of a ship doctor who does parts of world cruises every year that at least one passenger dies aboard. This shouldn’t really surprise anybody through simple statistically reasons regarding demographics and time spent aboard, but of course cruise lines do not advertise this. Health questions can result in re-routings and interruptions of course. However, the only time I experienced returning to the coast and an evacuation of a sick passenger by helicopter was on a two week cruise to Norway. An ambulance at the pier during regular port calls I saw several times. Just be sure that your own travel insurance is covering you, there are time limits for long trips! Alternatively look at the insurance offered by the cruise line - including their fine print!
 
What to pack should every traveller have learned before going on a long cruise, because I assume that this is for everybody part of a development and not for a first time traveller. Long cruises tend to visit different climate zones, so another suitcase could be needed to fulfil the needs of packing suitable clothes. Last year I surprised fellow cruisers that I had a winter coat with me in Southern Spain’s heat, because I sailed through to Northern Norway - and I really needed that coat! And book the laundry service aboard, for my upcoming world cruise I reserved it for a total of 240 €. At home it would be cheaper, but it shouldn’t ruin you. Some other lines have even washing machines aboard. For knowing how many deodorants, toothpaste e.g. I need to bring I once did a list how long things usually last. The rest is calculating. I usually add a drinking package and have no surprises there. For excursions I was prepared to pay 100 € each, but with my plans as today I am at an average of 77.44 € only - although I will be skipping free excursions for doing more interesting things. Of course what is interesting to me need not to be interesting to you.
 
Immigration rules are not really problematic, but of course you need to know them. I am aware that there are people living without a passport, those of course have to forget travelling the world - or simply should apply for a passport. Every country has different rules based on your nationality. I personally need for my world cruise three ETAs, one e-visa, and one visa question needs to be clarified, whether cruise guests get visa stamped into the passport aboard of cruise ships in the past again, or I need to apply for in advance. Of two countries I will have new stamps in my passport, but for this officials come aboard and do that work while I will be on excursion. In one country I am in a better situation than most passport holders, here a very few nationalities may enter without visa, others need special cruise ship visa. Everything for that cruise can be done from behind my computer anyway. For most countries my passport alone is enough for tourist visits. There are lists about for a first orientation, for example visaindex.com. Since you, oceandream, live in Canada I take Canadian passport holders as example. They have according to this list 186 countries and territories without complicated visa procedures, 139 destinations completely without visa, 7 with ETA (one on the list suspended ETA this month until the end of 2024), or 40 just putting a visa in form of a stamp on arrival, be it against a fee or for free. Also quite uncomplicated e-visa are available in 18 countries. Worldwide there are 25 states Canadians would need to apply for tourist visa through an embassy in advance, for me this number is 24. By far the most of them I wouldn’t consider to visit anyway, among them are Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, North Korea or Syria. Not even Venezuela, where Canadians need full visa and I may enter visa free. Only two of the countries requiring full visa through embassy in the near past were visited by cruise lines regularly - and had exemptions for cruise guests visiting short time, these were Russia and China. True, travelling in your home country only is easier, but immigration rules are for a tourist from Canada nothing to panic about at all.
 
Yes, definitely take care of the part of your life you leave behind at home. This, however, is again more about planning than an obstacle. I pay my monthly bills electronically anyway, once at the end of the month ten minutes of stable internet connection is my only requirement. Nevertheless, you need to take care of your home whether you are three weeks or three months away, the difference is about quantity, not quality.
 
Gay life aboard is another question. My experience is that these small towns called cruise ships are exactly that: small towns. You won’t be the only gay guest aboard, but here things end. On short cruises I saw some lively LGBT gatherings, but on my long ones things were different. Costa has none schedules anyway and on MSC it was a note in the daily only, I went twice and was completely alone. Perhaps MSC should not advertise it as “inhospitable” (I suppose they wanted to express “without host”). So it comes down to you if you want to get in contact with other men.

[DopeyDave]

Fascinating thread!!  My husband and I have started saving for a projected world cruise to celebrate our retirements, hopefully in the 2027 World Cruise season.  We'll see if we make it or not.

 

Actually, as a Lutheran Pastor, my husband really wanted to hit the Holy Lands on a world cruise.  I said, "Wouldn't it make more sense to visit there while you're still in the church so you can come back and use your experiences in your preaching, than after you retire?"  Thus we're doing an 11-day Greek Isles cruise in August where we'll hit Jerusalem/Nazareth and other sites in John's ministries.  Looking forward to that.

 

Also saw some interesting cruises on HAL's schedule in the past of fully circling South America or Africa out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Something else I'd like to try.

[CruiseMsclDad]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:01 AM, oceandream said:

Would be interested to hear your experience on a long cruise, between 30-90 days. Any tips, advice. Thank you fir sharing.

The longest cruise I  have ever been on was 38 nights, any questions that I can answer feel free to email me! There are pluses and minuses to an extended cruise.