Help Picking Special Cruise 2024-2025

[taylortime05]

6 hours ago, tfred said:

Baltic cruise even without St Petersburg. We did this is 2022 and loved it. Ports are great and a different vibe than the Mediterranean   Got any money?  Book a suite. 

Thank you!  The Baltic is definitely on our bucket list.   

[koolforkatz]

We just came back from an Antarctica cruise (with Princess). Sailed from Santiago to Buenos Aires. This was our second South America cruise but first Antarctica and I can't say how special and amazing it was. Absolutely breathtaking scenery - glaciers, icebergs, snowcapped mountains, whales, penguins, on and on. To see where Shackleton and his men landed was incredible. Can't recommend it highly enough. We will definitely go back.

[phoenix_dream]

Norway was amazing!

[Ken the cruiser]

Here are a few that we currently have booked that have us excited.

 

A 12-day cruise through the Norwegian fjords along with 2 days cruising above the Arctic Circle.

 

12 Nights Norwegian Fjord & Arctic Circle from Southampton, England | Celebrity Cruises

 

Galapagos is also a pretty cool place to visit. This particular cruise is in Dec 2023. But you can book it any time as they offer cruises year-round.

 

10 Nights Quito & Galapagos Inner Loop from Baltra (Galapagos) | Celebrity Cruises

 

Then if you want to stay closer to home and are interested in seeing the New Orleans Mardi Gras firsthand, here's a cruise that can offer that in March 2025.

 

12 Nights New Orleans & The Caribbean from Tampa, Florida | Celebrity Cruises

I’ve also posted some recent Live From threads in my Signature on some of our more recent cruises to Africa and Iceland/Greenland if those areas might interest you. 😁

Edited March 17, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Mark_K]

5 hours ago, ILgirl said:

I booked a 13 night sailing on the Edge which is my favorite ship.  Starts in Vancouver on 9/20/24 and ends in Honolulu.  I’ve never been to Hawaii or Vancouver so I plan on tacking on a few days on each end to explore.  I’ve also wanted to try a TA sometime.  This itinerary includes five days at sea after leaving Astoria, Oregon( first port after Vancouver) so this cruise gives me a taste of that experience as well.

We’ve done a Vancouver to Honolulu cruise. I’d recommend the Pan Pacific hotel in Vancouver, it’s a nice place and they will take your bags from your room and get them to the ship for you.  On the other end, we spent three days at the Hilton and really liked it.  Sign up for HHonors and even if you have no status, you get special treatment.

[miched]

Do a  Great Lakes cruise, a River cruise or the Galapagos.  If you are really up to it do the 3 year around the world cruise.
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, koolforkatz said:

We just came back from an Antarctica cruise (with Princess). Sailed from Santiago to Buenos Aires. This was our second South America cruise but first Antarctica and I can't say how special and amazing it was. Absolutely breathtaking scenery - glaciers, icebergs, snowcapped mountains, whales, penguins, on and on. To see where Shackleton and his men landed was incredible. Can't recommend it highly enough. We will definitely go back.

I assume your Shackleton reference is to where his crew waited whilst Shackleton and 2 companions set off for South Georgia. Our Antarctic adventure enabled us to land at Grytviken to see the remains of the whaling station, the preserved church and Shackleton’s grave. 100 of our fellow passengers did part of the Shackleton walk across the island and we all got to visit a colony  of over 30,000 King Penguins.

In case you wondering Shackleton is buried on South Georgia because his widow said “if I can’t visit him neither can his mistress”.

[mahdnc]

@taylortime05, I presume you are asking for Celebrity ideas.  However in case your mind is open to other cruise lines, I would also recommend this unique Emerald Princess cruise:

 

Apr 4 2024, 15 night Panama Canal (Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale) with Total Solar Eclipse

 

Princess recently altered the itinerary to allow Emerald Princess to view the total solar eclipse (Apr 8 2024) at sea off the coast of Mexico near Mazatlan.  The ship should be able to position itself under a clear spot in the skies (if there are clouds) to view over 4 minutes of totality.

 

We have seen one total eclipse at sea (1991) and on land (2017) and I can tell you that it is a lot easier to watch it at sea (no car traffic, worrying about being clouded out, etc).  It is a sight to behold.

 

Combined with a full canal transit, this cruise takes care of two things that may be on your bucket list.

 

Aug 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, Paducah KY

[taylortime05]

21 hours ago, tfred said:

Baltic cruise even without St Petersburg. We did this is 2022 and loved it. Ports are great and a different vibe than the Mediterranean   Got any money?  Book a suite. 

This has been on our bucket list.  We just keep taking the Caribbean cruises because I either find deals or they are just so easy.  But I need to start focusing on some cruises that hit our bucket list items.  We usually stay in a Aqua cabin.  We did sail in an S3 suite on the Edge, Apex and Beyond.  We loved the ships and suites.  But we also love the S class ships and have been very happy with the Aqua cabins. 

 

[taylortime05]

21 hours ago, breezer said:

I'm looking for something special for October 2024 for our 40th anniversary.  Considering Celebrity Solstice on October 1st.  Starts in Honolulu with several stops in French Polynesia and New Zealand and ends in Sydney, Australia.  Add a few days in Hawaii  and a few in Australia... I'd say that's pretty special.  Just wanted to do something different than the Caribbean and I have no interest in Europe.

Thank you!  This sounds like a wonderful cruise too!  We almost made it to Hawaii a couple years ago and then Covid hit and changed our plans.  This cruise sounds perfect.  I’ll check into it.  

[taylortime05]

21 hours ago, AmberCascades said:

Our most favourite so far was our Antarctica cruise on the Infinity.  We love that ship and Antarctica was magical.

 

Another favourite was the Panama Canal (full transit, again on Infinity). 

 

Norway (fjords) and Iceland were great as well (I think that was Eclipse - not our favourite ship but we like the smaller ones).  Iceland is like a whole other world.

Thank you!   Panama Canal is on our bucket list but I really had not thought about Antarctica.  Several of the these posts have recommended Antarctica.  I’m putting it on my list to check out.  

[taylortime05]

19 hours ago, rodndonna said:

Some great ideas in this thread.

 

I'd throw Asia into the list.  It's on "list" for 2025, likely Japan, but we haven't booked anything yet.

 

Another option would be to do a river cruise, We did the Nile about 15 years ago, and it's high on our favourites list.

Thank you!   We’d love to do a river cruise.   I’ll need to check out the Japan cruises too.   There is so much to see in the world.  

[raudacruise]

I’m looking for new itineraries too. (Going to Alaska for the first time in June.) I like Ken the Cruiser’s Norway Fjords/ Arctic Circle cruise and it fits my schedule. But for me the Retreat “starting from” price is over $47,000! Guess I need to book early to snag something lower than an Edge Villa. It does look lovely…

[Ken the cruiser]

19 minutes ago, raudacruise said:

I’m looking for new itineraries too. (Going to Alaska for the first time in June.) I like Ken the Cruiser’s Norway Fjords/ Arctic Circle cruise and it fits my schedule. But for me the Retreat “starting from” price is over $47,000! Guess I need to book early to snag something lower than an Edge Villa. It does look lovely…

I know the prices are ridiculous, but they usually are when Norway is involved. The price for our Aqua cabin has gone up $350 pp since we originally booked it when it first came out. We also had the follow-on 7-day Norway cruise booked as a B2B out of Southampton. But then we found this cool Princess Baltic cruise that left the same day out of Southampton. So we decided to switch and we made our cruise a "side-to-side" (S2S) booking. 😃

 

Cruise Details - 14-Day Norway, Denmark & Sweden - Princess Cruises

 

[the penguins]

17 hours ago, the penguins said:

I assume your Shackleton reference is to where his crew waited whilst Shackleton and 2 companions set off for South Georgia. Our Antarctic adventure enabled us to land at Grytviken to see the remains of the whaling station, the preserved church and Shackleton’s grave. 100 of our fellow passengers did part of the Shackleton walk across the island and we all got to visit a colony  of over 30,000 King Penguins.

In case you wondering Shackleton is buried on South Georgia because his widow said “if I can’t visit him neither can his mistress”.

 

[the_dylaness]

One of my dream itineraries has always been an Eastbound Panama Canal sailing.  (Why Eastbound? So I can get the crummy jet leg and long flight out of the way first, since I live in the righthand side of the country...)

 

I would also love to see Scandinavia and the fjords.  Not sure if I would want to do this on X or a smaller line.

 

What a great "problem" to have! Enjoy whatever you choose.

[voyager1964]

On 3/17/2023 at 1:26 PM, cw2go said:

Sorry, I'm kinda hijacking this thread but my question may also help the OP. Since you've sailed Antarctica can you share if you have regrets of "no Landings" 

It is very difficult to get an unbiased answer to this question, because the underlying costs are very different.. 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 3/17/2023 at 12:26 PM, cw2go said:

@AmberCascades and @mahdnc 

 

Sorry, I'm kinda hijacking this thread but my question may also help the OP. Since you've sailed Antarctica can you share if you have regrets of "no Landings" 

 

I am researching an Antarctica cruise vs Expeditions, I get so overwhelmed by the logistics and costs.(Expeditions are most likely not in our comfort zone, I'd prefer several vacations to one) We've sailed Alaska, Caribbean and Europe many times. Seeing penguins is on my bucket list but I'd hate to just see black and white dots 🐧

I am also concerned of so many sea days? When we sail we often jam pack our port days and sea days can get monotonous. 
 

Thanks for any input, 
Patty 

We cruised on the HAL Zaandam in Jan 2018 on a 22-day “drive by” cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago that included 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula! We stopped at a variety of ports in Chile and Argentina as well as the Falkland Islands, and went on awesome excursions at each stop. We saw many pods of whales, 5 different varieties of penguins, as well as a variety of seals and walruses and many different types of birds. We were in a balcony cabin, with awesome views as well as enjoyed walking around the ship’s promenade to take in all of the wonderful things there is to see in that part of the world! HAL also provided some very in-depth lectures by professional lectures as well as some great entertainment each night. We had an awesome time and paid around $280 pp/day.

We are once again booked on an Antarctica “drive by” cruise in Jan 2024, only this time it’s a 30-day B2B cruise on the Sapphire Princess in an aft-facing Vista Suite with the Plus Package for $480 pp/day.

 

The first leg is from Santiago to Buenos Aires to include 4 days once again cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula.

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H403

 
with the second leg going from Buenos Aires to Santiago with a mostly different itinerary, but loaded with more visits to ports loaded with wildlife and beautiful scenery!

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H404

 

A mini-suite balcony with the Plus Package is around $250 pp/day.

 

When we checked out expedition cruises, they definitely sounded awesome like the @the penguins pictures and descriptions illustrate above. But at around $800+ pp/day for an Oceanview cabin with minimal evening entertainment, that was just a little too pricey! Then we found a 24-day Seabourn expedition cruise in Nov 2022 for $950 pp/day, so we took the bait and booked it, as we figured it was a once in a lifetime adventure which also included going to South Georgia Island! Six months later for what ever reason Seabourn cancelled our $50k cruise. Thank goodness they did because we have booked some awesome cruises since then with that $50k to include our upcoming Antarctica cruise! 😂

 

But to answer your question, only you can make that decision. One suggestion is to first go on a “drive by” Antarctica cruise. Then if you’re not totally wowed, book one of the many 11-12 day expedition cruises that fits your budget out of Ushuaia a few years later.

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[southernbreezes]

On 3/17/2023 at 5:02 PM, taylortime05 said:

Thank you for the great suggestions.   There are few posts suggesting South American itineraries.  I’m going to start looking at some of these.   I’ve looked at the Galapagos before and they were quite pricey.  Maybe if the stock market starts heading in a positive direction we’ll have some extra money to consider the Galapagos. 

All the suggestions are great but...before you decide look also at airfare the price, duration and times.

Edited March 19, 2023 by southernbreezes

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We cruised on the HAL Zaandam in Jan 2018 on a 22-day “drive by” cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago that included 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula! We stopped at a variety of ports in Chile and Argentina as well as the Falkland Islands, and went on awesome excursions at each stop. We saw many pods of whales, 5 different varieties of penguins, as well as a variety of seals and walruses and many different types of birds. We were in a balcony cabin, with awesome views as well as enjoyed walking around the ship’s promenade to take in all of the wonderful things there is to see in that part of the world! HAL also provided some very in-depth lectures by professional lectures as well as some great entertainment each night. We had an awesome time and paid around $280 pp/day.

We are once again booked on an Antarctica “drive by” cruise in Jan 2024, only this time it’s a 30-day B2B cruise on the Sapphire Princess in an aft-facing Vista Suite with the Plus Package for $480 pp/day.

 

The first leg is from Santiago to Buenos Aires to include 4 days once again cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula.

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H403

 
with the second leg going from Buenos Aires to Santiago with a mostly different itinerary, but loaded with more visits to ports loaded with wildlife and beautiful scenery!

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H404

 

A mini-suite balcony with the Plus Package is around $250 pp/day.

 

When we checked out expedition cruises, they definitely sounded awesome like the @the penguins pictures and descriptions illustrate above. But at around $800+ pp/day for an Oceanview cabin with minimal evening entertainment, that was just a little too pricey! Then we found a 24-day Seabourn expedition cruise in Nov 2022 for $950 pp/day, so we took the bait and booked it, as we figured it was a once in a lifetime adventure which also included going to South Georgia Island! Six months later for what ever reason Seabourn cancelled our $50k cruise. Thank goodness they did because we have booked some awesome cruises since then with that $50k to include our upcoming Antarctica cruise! 😂

 

But to answer your question, only you can make that decision. One suggestion is to first go on a “drive by” Antarctica cruise. Then if you’re not totally wowed, book one of the many 11-12 day expedition cruises that fits your budget out of Ushuaia a few years later.

 

It's vital to compare apples with apples. Best prices for Expedition Cruises are to be had by booking early - we booked the day the Fram went on sail. We didn't find the evening  entertainment "minimal" just very different for example. A wonderful crew show and an hilarious fashion show mainly featuring the officers including the captain, quizes based around the cruise experience. Lots of different talks from the expedition teams. All landings are included. Very few passengers stayed up late as landings often started very early. 

Its a once in lifetime experience go while you are fit and able, we would not be able to do the cruise now.

Another huge difference is that on the big ships you are always looking down on the bergs which are more impressive when you get close and look up.

We enjoyed both but the Expedition was the clear winner.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 3/17/2023 at 8:44 AM, taylortime05 said:

Hi,

 

I’d like to pick a great itinerary for a cruise in 2024 or 2025 for me and hubby.  We’ve been to the Caribbean at least 15 times, the Mediterranean twice and Alaska once.

 

What are some of your favorite itineraries and ships?  

 

Thank you for your feedback.   

Here's another set of awesome itineraries to consider that we went on this past November on the NCL Jade. It would have been nice if Celebrity would have offered them, but we had a great time none the less.

 

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:52 PM, patty1955 said:

We're scheduled for Oceania Sirena  (Transatlantic) On 4/22/25. It's a great itinerary.  Cruise

Too many ports 😱😁

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Too many ports 😱😁

Booking the Owner's Suite will take some of the sting out of having to visit all those unusual places.

[patty1955]

9 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Too many ports 😱😁

A lot of ports but unusual ones

[cw2go]

13 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We cruised on the HAL Zaandam in Jan 2018 on a 22-day “drive by” cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago that included 4 days cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula! We stopped at a variety of ports in Chile and Argentina as well as the Falkland Islands, and went on awesome excursions at each stop. We saw many pods of whales, 5 different varieties of penguins, as well as a variety of seals and walruses and many different types of birds. We were in a balcony cabin, with awesome views as well as enjoyed walking around the ship’s promenade to take in all of the wonderful things there is to see in that part of the world! HAL also provided some very in-depth lectures by professional lectures as well as some great entertainment each night. We had an awesome time and paid around $280 pp/day.

We are once again booked on an Antarctica “drive by” cruise in Jan 2024, only this time it’s a 30-day B2B cruise on the Sapphire Princess in an aft-facing Vista Suite with the Plus Package for $480 pp/day.

 

The first leg is from Santiago to Buenos Aires to include 4 days once again cruising around the Antarctica Peninsula.

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H403

 
with the second leg going from Buenos Aires to Santiago with a mostly different itinerary, but loaded with more visits to ports loaded with wildlife and beautiful scenery!

 
https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/details/?voyageCode=H404

 

A mini-suite balcony with the Plus Package is around $250 pp/day.

 

When we checked out expedition cruises, they definitely sounded awesome like the @the penguins pictures and descriptions illustrate above. But at around $800+ pp/day for an Oceanview cabin with minimal evening entertainment, that was just a little too pricey! Then we found a 24-day Seabourn expedition cruise in Nov 2022 for $950 pp/day, so we took the bait and booked it, as we figured it was a once in a lifetime adventure which also included going to South Georgia Island! Six months later for what ever reason Seabourn cancelled our $50k cruise. Thank goodness they did because we have booked some awesome cruises since then with that $50k to include our upcoming Antarctica cruise! 😂

 

But to answer your question, only you can make that decision. One suggestion is to first go on a “drive by” Antarctica cruise. Then if you’re not totally wowed, book one of the many 11-12 day expedition cruises that fits your budget out of Ushuaia a few years later.

 

Thank you for your input, I feel like the Expedition cruises look amazing but they take me too far out of my comfort zone.

 

The vibe and cost are very concerning, 

 

Patty