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35th Wedding Anniversary Cruise


RME

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We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this fall and would like to take a cruise to celebrate. We (I am changing this to I, since I do all the planning) were on the Grand Princess Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary and it was fabulous. We will have two or two and a half weeks in total and DH does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary. We have never been to Hawaii and I was thinking perhaps about spending a week on one of the big islands and then taking NCL to see the others. I have heard horror stories about this cruise though. Another possibility would be a South Pacific cruise. And, we have never been to Alaska either. One more thing I am considering is a South America cruise. I would love to see Antarctica, but DH has no interest, so I will have to save that for a cruise with friends. We are not interested in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Baltic, or Mediterranean for this cruise. I know it can be difficult to recommend cruises for people you do not know, but, have any of you been on cruises so very special that you would recommend them for this celebration? We live in the New York City area. Thank you for this board.

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Does my upcoming Western Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Solstice show up properly? If not, can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong. I am doing that one in May with a friend. This will be my first cruise without DH. He can only handle a cruise every two years or so. Traveling is not as important to him as it is to me. Other cruises I would like to add to my signature

Dawn Princess - Southern Caribbean - February 2002

Carnival Imagination - Key West and Cozumel - 2003

Grand Princess - Baltic - July 2004

RCCL - Mariner of the Seas - Caribbean - January 2008

I think we did one more Caribbean cruise on Princess, but cannot remember for sure. Sigh, they do say the memory is the first thing to go.

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We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this fall and would like to take a cruise to celebrate. We (I am changing this to I, since I do all the planning) were on the Grand Princess Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary and it was fabulous. We will have two or two and a half weeks in total and DH does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary. We have never been to Hawaii and I was thinking perhaps about spending a week on one of the big islands and then taking NCL to see the others. I have heard horror stories about this cruise though. Another possibility would be a South Pacific cruise. And, we have never been to Alaska either. One more thing I am considering is a South America cruise. I would love to see Antarctica, but DH has no interest, so I will have to save that for a cruise with friends. We are not interested in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Baltic, or Mediterranean for this cruise. I know it can be difficult to recommend cruises for people you do not know, but, have any of you been on cruises so very special that you would recommend them for this celebration? We live in the New York City area. Thank you for this board.

We were born and grew up in New York City, so I am using that comparison experience in providing my thoughts. When it comes to romantic, the Hawaiian islands are the best IMHO. My oldest son and daughter-in-law were married there and loved it. A few years later my wife and I flew over for one of our anniversaries (somewhere between 40th and 45th) and spent a few days on Hawaii (the Big Island) and saw the volcano, the Parker Ranch, and into Kona with the coffee plantations and the sights there. We then flew to Maui stayed in a resort there and did sightseeing, swimming, etc. and had a ball. From there we flew to Kauaii and enjoyed the spectacular scenery. When we left there we flew to Oahu, which appealed to us even more. In addition to the history you can experience there, Honolulu is a big city with lots of things to do. On the north shore there is the Polynesian cultural center, which is an experience all its own. You can drive to the center of the island to the Dole pineapple plantation. This was not a cruise, but it gave us a chance to really experience the islands and it was wonderful.

 

If you want to experience the most fantastic scenery (mountains, sea, ice bergs, etc.) you have ever seen, then I would vote for Alaska. We did a cruisetour with Holland America for our 44th anniversary (remembered that one). We set sail from Vancouver, up the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, College Fjord and Seward. Lots of things to see at every stop. From Seward we were bused to Anchorage and flown to Fairbanks where we were taken to a former mining operation, panned for real gold and had a great dinner. The next morning we boarded a sightseeing train for the trip to Denali National Park. We spent a day at the park viewing all of the animals in their natural habitat. If the mountain is not lost in the clouds and you can see Denali (Mt. Whitney), it is a fabulous sight. We got back on the train and continued our trip back to Anchorage. On the way we saw deer, moose, elk, etc. We flew home from Anchorage.

 

Those were our best anniversary trips apart from Europe. I hope that I have given you a taste of what there is to enjoy in Hawaii and in Alaska.

 

Steve

 

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Steve, Thank you so much for your very informative reply. That will help a lot. My husband is actually the born and bred New Yorker. I grew up in New England and it is still in my blood for sure. Maine is my favorite place in the world. Hawaii is sounding wonderful. Thanks again.

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Steve, Thank you so much for your very informative reply. That will help a lot. My husband is actually the born and bred New Yorker. I grew up in New England and it is still in my blood for sure. Maine is my favorite place in the world. Hawaii is sounding wonderful. Thanks again.

Glad to have been of assistance. My DW was a manager at Lechmere in Framingham, MA for about 6 years. We had occasion to visit various parts of southeastern Maine on a few occasions when she was there. We lived in the mid Hudson Valley for about 30 years and made many trips through New England. I can easily understand your love for it. Having been through or lived in most of the United States, I can truly say that New England is one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.

 

Steve

 

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RME, we celebrated our 50th cruising to Alaska compliments of our oldest son. The only thing was HAL did not congratulate us and wish DH Happy Birthday. Both our TA and Son let HAL know of both celebrations which would have been on the first Formal night. He ordered a cake and flowers, none came. Needless to say I was really hurt and we left right after dessert. To add more salt to the wounds, our 4 tablemates didn't show up either. :(

I emailed HAL about this as did our son, he got credited for the cake and flowers. It took about 4 months to hear from them. They apologized and on our next cruise in Sept. we will be getting the Romantic Voyage package. This year it will be our 52nd. So if you are going to cruise on HAL to Alaska and want a cake or flowers, check with the Consierge (sp) when you board to make sure you get what you want.

Congratulations on your 35th and wherever you go, have a wonderful time. We loved Alaska, that's why we are going back.:)

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  • 2 months later...
We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this fall and would like to take a cruise to celebrate. We (I am changing this to I, since I do all the planning) were on the Grand Princess Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary and it was fabulous. We will have two or two and a half weeks in total and DH does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary. We have never been to Hawaii and I was thinking perhaps about spending a week on one of the big islands and then taking NCL to see the others. I have heard horror stories about this cruise though. Another possibility would be a South Pacific cruise. And, we have never been to Alaska either. One more thing I am considering is a South America cruise. I would love to see Antarctica, but DH has no interest, so I will have to save that for a cruise with friends. We are not interested in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Baltic, or Mediterranean for this cruise. I know it can be difficult to recommend cruises for people you do not know, but, have any of you been on cruises so very special that you would recommend them for this celebration? We live in the New York City area. Thank you for this board.

Have you sailed on the Queen Mary 2? DH and I did a transatlantic sailing from NY (Brooklyn) to Southampton, England...it wa s fabulous!

 

The ship is just magnificent! I think the passengers are more in our age range, although we met a very lovely couple in their 30's. There are so many nice activities-dance lessons, Black and White Ball, Ascot Ball, High Tea each afternoon, Oxford at Sea classes, a planetarium and a movie theater, (they showed a Jane Russell movie and then after the movie, Jane Russell, herself, got up and talked to the crowd and answered questions)..just wonderful!

 

AND, they do a ceremony during the sailing where you can renew your wedding vows! We did it on our sailing and there were maybe another 18 couples who did it as well!

 

The crossing takes 6 days, and then we staying in London for about 5 nights and flew home. We have friends who live in England who met us in London for a few days. It was a simply wonderful trip!

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Hello, my husband and I have cruised Carnival for many years (have also cruised Holland American) there are several things to take into consideration, we cruise later in the year normally October and it is a much quieter time, there will be plenty to do for the younger famiy members, and in my opinion the food is quite good, not 5 star but neither is it ugh! There are many quite places on the ship where you can think you are on the ship by yourself and if you want to have company plenty of that too. One of my favourite places in the evening is the Piano Bar, lots of fun there. My husband even won a ship on a stick and he was pretty bad think they gave it to him to stop him! Enjoy your cruise.:)

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  • 4 weeks later...

RME,

 

Cruise Critic offers some great information from "ports of call" to the "roll call" areas. Both of these areas offer great information on either Alaska or Hawaii.

The wife and I did a land/cruise of Alaska with Princess in 2007. We landed in Fairbanks and then took the Alaskan railroad to Denali, Mt McKinley and then to Whitter where we boarded the Diamond Princess and cruised the inner passage. Cruised into Glacier Bay and stopped in Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. Ending the cruise in Vancouver. It was our first cruise and we really did enjoy it.

This year we celebrated our 30th cruising the Hawaiian Islands on NCL. We sailed May 23rd and visited the islands of Maui, Hawaii, Kauai and Oahu. We thought the Pride of America was a nice ship and really enjoyed the food. However we did consider the ship as being our floating hotel and didn't have high expectations. We did end our cruise impressed with the sheer beauty of the islands. If you plan on a Hawaiian cruise I would recommend that you arrive at least two days early to take care of the jet lag and stay at least a day or two after the cruise and enjoy the beaches.

Cogratulations on your 35th and enjoy which ever trip you choose.

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Now this is still nearly 4 years in the future for us but my hubby and I want to do a round trip Los Angles to Hawaii cruise on either Princess or Celebrity for our 30th. Both lines do a few every winter.

 

We plan to fly into LA, spend one or two nights on the Queen Mary pre cruise, and then board ship.

 

Another cruise we have considered is a full transit Panama Canal cruise. Next year we will do a partial Panama Canal transit. I suppose after that, we will decide if it will be Hawaii or a full transit.

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Congratulations RME! We just celebrated our 35th on June 1! For our celebration we took a 14 day transatlantic on Celebrity in Late April and early May. On this European trip we ported in Funchal, Portugal; La Coruna, Spain; Le Havre, France (did an excursion for our first time in PARIS - so beautiful in the spring time!); Dover, England; and ended in Amsterdam, Holland just at tulip time (visits to the Anne Frank House and Keukenhof Gardens were the highlights). In December we will be taking a full transit of the Panama Canal from Miami ending in LA where our son just moved.

 

Three years ago we took the NCL Pride of America cruise around the Hawaiian Islands in June 2006. Here is a link to our full review: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=19142

As you will read we had an absolutely marvelous time in every way! DO plan to arrive at least a day or two early in Honolulu. A day or so afterwards would be great too, but the pre-cruise time is even more important and fun, IMHO.

Since it has been three full years since we went on that cruise there have been some changes. NCL at that time had three ships all running the same route there, now there is just the Pride of America. No pre-cruise leis are given out anymore by the ship, I just found out, and the only specialty restaurant on the POA that is still without an extra charge is the Cadillac Diner. Our son, his wife and 7 other of her family members sailed on the POA last week, just disembarking on Saturday, and had a FABULOUS time. It is important to keep in mind that this is a VERY port intensive cruise that gives you a wonderful overview of four Hawaiian islands that would be very difficult and super expensive to duplicate any way but on this great inter-island cruise. If you think of the ship as your floating hotel taking you to see all four delightful islands it is much better because there are NO full sea days so unless you stay on the ship and forgo exploring each fascinating island (not recommended), there is very little time to just enjoy th ship and cruising. ESPECIALLY if you have never been to Hawaii before, this will be a SUPER 35th anniversary cruise!

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Congratulations RME, we will be celebrating our 40th next year. We (and just like you ,by that I mean me!) are planning a 14 day B2B to the Caribbean. Unfortunately we have to fly to FL. but I think that would be a great cruise. We too live in NYS, and would love to just leave out of NY for every cruise. Hope you and DH have a wonderful time and great anniversary, no matter what you choose.

Neverthought

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We have cruied the NCL Hawaii after spending 4 days on OAHU...highly recommnded!!! NCL was great and the Hawaii itinerery is the only way to see all the islands-private excursions made it perfect although we rented a car on each island and had a great time. Wr also love the caribbean-mostly because it is much less flight time. My DH hates to fly those long trips. Our 35th is inAug---trying to pick a trip!!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I found my perfect dream cruise-January 2011. Cunard Queen Victoria-34 days from NY through the Panama Canal and on to Hawaii, debarking in San Francisco.

 

Hubby and I have been debating whether our 30th should be Hawaii or a full Panama canal transit-we could accomplish both with this-bad thing is-that is the year of our 28th!

 

The price is not too terrible. It starts at $5,500 a person for an inside.

 

anyway I thought I would pass this on to you-maybe this is a possibility for you.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Our 40th next month and we are going on Istanbul to Athens with post cruise in Madrid Spain. We are doing our 20th cruise and we do land also.

Hawaii is very cheap right now for hotels. We flew from island to island and it is similar to bus -- line up and get on. Rent small car for excursions. Trip advisor can give you ideas. We loved the Alaskan cruise awesome scenery. If DH does not like flying much go one way and do a TA back to NYC or NJ. Many cruises available for repositioning which are relaxing and fun. Finally the QM2 is absolutely wonderful -- so civilized.

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We spent our 35th onboard the Mariner of the Seas with Capt. Johnny sailing the Western Carribean. It was a gift from our daughter and her husband. Ended up to be eleven of us. A nice trip. In 20 days though, we will be taking the trip we had always talked about. Alaska. 10days out of San Francisco. Plenty of sea days, and ports enough to learn about the State without being overwhelmed.

The next one we hope will be a 14 day out of Los Angeles to Hawaii.

 

Congratulations and enjoy

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  • 3 weeks later...
I think you can't go wrong with Alaska on Princess. They are more our age, the food is very good, the trip is awesome. And extend it with the land tour and you are good to go. And another some mentioned - the full Panama Canal transit. :)

We agree Princess to Alaska has been our best cruise.lots of great memories. We plan to return soon.

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Congratulations on your 35th anniversary! We will be celebrating our 30th late this fall. As far as suggestions for a celebration cruise, Alaska is outstanding if you include the land portion, but fall is the wrong time of the year for that. We did a South American cruise from Rio to Santiago, Chile this spring and LOVED it! It did not include the Antartica due to the cost increase for that, but did include the Falkland Islands. I would not really recommend Rio or any Brazilian port, as the cost and trouble of getting a Brazilian visa really add to the cost for such a short time there that wasn't any different from other South American ports.

 

We lived on Oahu for two years and visited all the other islands while there. I would definitely recommend seeing Hawaii, spending several days on each island with a rental car. The inter-island flights are short and inexpensive, but if you wish to avoid that, follow-up on the suggestions to fly in early to spend several days on Oahu before boarding a ship to see the others. Check to see which itinerary covers the most ports and time on each port for comparison. The "big island" of Hawaii can NOT be seen in one day, so you would definitely need to have two different ports stops on that island.

 

Enjoy the planning, as well as whatever you decide upon. I have as much fun with the planning as I do on the cruise.

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  • 4 months later...
We will be celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary this fall and would like to take a cruise to celebrate. We (I am changing this to I, since I do all the planning) were on the Grand Princess Baltic cruise for our 30th anniversary and it was fabulous. We will have two or two and a half weeks in total and DH does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary. We have never been to Hawaii and I was thinking perhaps about spending a week on one of the big islands and then taking NCL to see the others. I have heard horror stories about this cruise though. Another possibility would be a South Pacific cruise. And, we have never been to Alaska either. One more thing I am considering is a South America cruise. I would love to see Antarctica, but DH has no interest, so I will have to save that for a cruise with friends. We are not interested in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Baltic, or Mediterranean for this cruise. I know it can be difficult to recommend cruises for people you do not know, but, have any of you been on cruises so very special that you would recommend them for this celebration? We live in the New York City area. Thank you for this board.

 

Just because the hubby does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary and you can catch the ship in Brooklyn (no flying). We have done this cruise and it was very nice. Especially seeing that you are from New England. We took the Crown and stopped in Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, St. John and Halifax. Plus this cruise will not have many children on board. Something to consider or not.

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Just because the hubby does not want to go anyplace too out of the ordinary and you can catch the ship in Brooklyn (no flying). We have done this cruise and it was very nice. Especially seeing that you are from New England. We took the Crown and stopped in Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, St. John and Halifax. Plus this cruise will not have many children on board. Something to consider or not.

 

I am thinking the OP has taken her cruise. She first posted this in February 2009.

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Congratulations on reaching your 35th Anniversary. Both my wife and I have just completed our 50th Anniversary and we went on a cruise on the Sun Princess - as you can guess we are from Australia and we fly from the East Coast (Sydney) to the west coast (Fremantle) to go on our cruise to Asia of 17 days. we had a great time with the crew supply us with champagne and a special Anniversary cake. We are going on our next cruise on the Dawn Princess to the Pacific Islands as far as Fiji and return.

:)

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