Discussion
NOT booked (yet!) but Mrs DG has pushed a circumnavigation of Australia cruise under my nose which does look very interesting. Problem is it's 40 days and our take is that if you're going to Oz, it'd be sensible to do NZ too (in truth I prefer the thought of NZ), time isn't really an issue due to being retired, what is an issue is what do you do with 2 cats if you're away for 2 or 3 months? I know that they're not going to care as long as someone (anyone!) is feeding them but....
paulguitar said:
I'd certainly visit NZ at the same time. It's a brutal trip to get down there, so you might as well maximize your time. There is some great stuff to see in NZ. 40 days on a ship is probably too much for most people, so maybe do a shorter cruise and possibly some land-based holiday as well?
in truth, most of our ideas of Oz have involved either the Ghan or (and?) the Indian Pacific railway - problem is that these are not cheap!! 
Still best to start looking for late '24 or '45 about now 
just had this sent to me - looks quite good value: Tokyo to Vancouver
https://www.imaginecruising.co.uk/holidays/luxury-...
'sadly' unable to make it as we're already away then
https://www.imaginecruising.co.uk/holidays/luxury-...
'sadly' unable to make it as we're already away then
justin220 said:
Cruise newbie here, and looking to book my first for next year. Ideally in the Med, but would love to stretch to the Caribbean if possible.
Is there a hierarchy of cruise operators? I've had a look at the usual names but getting a bit lost/overloaded. The Royal Carribean ships seem more our style, we're be going as a group of 5. Me, wife, 4 years old and two grandparents. So needs to be a broad range of things to do, entertainments etc.
very much so!! IIRC Silversea, Seven Seas, Regent, Oceania seem to be in the leading bunch of (semi) normal operators - and are priced accordingly with Azamara and Celebrity below them. For a lot of the rest it's more a matter of what your priorities are - for example Ambassador and Fred Olsen seem (to me) to cater more for an older clientele. P&O, Princess, HAL, MSC, Virgin more of a broader range of customer ages.Is there a hierarchy of cruise operators? I've had a look at the usual names but getting a bit lost/overloaded. The Royal Carribean ships seem more our style, we're be going as a group of 5. Me, wife, 4 years old and two grandparents. So needs to be a broad range of things to do, entertainments etc.
Cruise Critic is an excellent resource
Well just departed Los Angeles on the Emerald Princess and looking forward to to Panama Canal 
As an aside it was brought home to me just how big these bloody boats are when seeing the Norwegian Bliss parked up behind the USS Iowa (one of the largest battleships ever built)... Iowa looks decidedly small
As an aside it was brought home to me just how big these bloody boats are when seeing the Norwegian Bliss parked up behind the USS Iowa (one of the largest battleships ever built)... Iowa looks decidedly small
Well finally back from our Panama Canal (& Vegas add-on). Absolutely loved it.
Messed up in LA as we were knacked from Vegas so pretty much did nothing (dtill kivking myself for that, would've loved to visit USS Iowa, Griffith Observatory etc).
Didn't like Cabo
Huatulco was interesting
Panama City was cool, though we missed out on the old locks tour
(the new locks are still pretty awesome though)
Colombia/Cartagena was also nice, though not long enough
Certainly do the trip again - possibly try for a smaller ship to give us a chance of going through the old locks
Hoover Dam
Cabo
Huatulco - even saw turtles swimming in the sea
Panama
Panama Canal
Cartagena. An aviary in the tropics is a little different - loved this little fella despite him wanting my laces!
Apparently L.A. to Miami is the 'best' way to do the locks as the sun is always behind you during transit...
Food was great, portions a fair bit smaller than expected (good!!), buffet was better/more civilised than expected
Messed up in LA as we were knacked from Vegas so pretty much did nothing (dtill kivking myself for that, would've loved to visit USS Iowa, Griffith Observatory etc).
Didn't like Cabo
Huatulco was interesting
Panama City was cool, though we missed out on the old locks tour
(the new locks are still pretty awesome though)Colombia/Cartagena was also nice, though not long enough
Certainly do the trip again - possibly try for a smaller ship to give us a chance of going through the old locks
Hoover Dam
Cabo
Huatulco - even saw turtles swimming in the sea
Panama
Panama Canal
Cartagena. An aviary in the tropics is a little different - loved this little fella despite him wanting my laces!
Apparently L.A. to Miami is the 'best' way to do the locks as the sun is always behind you during transit...
Food was great, portions a fair bit smaller than expected (good!!), buffet was better/more civilised than expected
Boringvolvodriver said:
Also booked the LA to Fort Lauderdale Panamá canal cruise over Christmas and New Year with Princess so was interesting to see what DodgyGeezer said about it.
We don’t go to Columbia which I would have liked to do but being away for Christmas is a bonus!
I really regret not getting down to see the Iowa and a few of the other LA sights, c'est la vie.We don’t go to Columbia which I would have liked to do but being away for Christmas is a bonus!
I think I mentioned that on the Emerald Princess (I think that'll be your ship) you'll be going through the new locks (which are, to be fair, quite amazing) as the boat is too large for the old locks
That being the case when we do the cruise again we'll book a trip to the locks so we can see the 'classic' side of things. Cabo, to me, felt crowded and uninviting. We did catch sight of a couple of whales, which was pretty cool, but there were another 10 boats chasing sightings at the same time which did make me wonder how pissed-off said animals were getting! Huatulco by contrast seemed less popular/underdeveloped (in a good way) and we enjoyed our time there a lot more.
I'd recommend booking the trips soonest as the good ones do seem to go quite quickly - there's always the option of booking a local tour instead but the price differentials we saw didn't seem to warrant the (very slim!) risk associated with a late return to the boat (that could be: a timing thing as we left our selections quite late; an age thing, as I get older I find myself more 'risk-averse' even when there's little to worry about).
One thing you do need to be aware of... we had trips booked to 'meet at 07.30' and tossers were still rolling up at 07.45 and being allowed in - for someone who is quite anal about timekeeping this was rather piss-boiling. Forwarned is forearmed and all that,...
If you can't decide what starter/main/dessert you like the sound of order more than one so you can at least have a try. If on-board activities are your thing then there are a lot of things to try ranging from quizzes to other stuff. Massages were insanely expensive on our trip and we didn't notice any discounts. The black forest gateau at the international bar is possibly the largest single slice of cake I've ever seen
this is an interesting review - a Costa cruise for £30 per day...
https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
https://www.cruisemummy.co.uk/costa-smeralda-revie...
admittedly there would be flights to add to that but still stonkingly good value
Deep Thought said:
stevemcs said:
Norway has to be a balcony cabin, we are looking but its either Iona this year or Celebrity Apex next year.
Yeah thats wholly our thinking too.Really looking forward to it
covmutley said:
DodgyGeezer said:
This'll be our 1st cruise without a balcony- given the potential (virtual certainty of) cold weather it didn't seem like an issue to miss it - obviously if the Northern Lights appear at 03.00 it could be something we'll regret
Is this the cruise up to Tromso? My parents are on it! If you see them say hi. Old couple- you wont be able to miss them
Deep Thought said:
Deep Thought said:
Looking at Cunard Queen Anne for 1st June 2025.
Looks like a pretty impressive ship. The speciality restaurants sound lovely and £1018 each for an unobstructed balcony room and $140 on board spend each sounds like pretty good value. Drinks package is pricey and adds around £400, but will probably take it too.
Went ahead and booked that. Looks like a pretty impressive ship. The speciality restaurants sound lovely and £1018 each for an unobstructed balcony room and $140 on board spend each sounds like pretty good value. Drinks package is pricey and adds around £400, but will probably take it too.
If you enter BALCONY50 at checkout you get another £50 off so that takes it down to £993 each.
Have to say, that feels like a cracking price for a week on Queen Anne with a Balcony cabin.
MarkJS said:
I'd avoid P&O as you'd possibly never do another cruise if that was your first time. I do appreciate that they're relatively cheap by comparison to other offerings but I'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for.
I can see where you're coming from on that - in fairness, I don't mind P&O (although the musical 'entertainment' is truly execrable - and that's being kind!) it is very much a case of 'you get what you pay for'. I'm aware of this and am happy for that compromise (I actually prefer Princess to P&O as a near competitor, IMO, on price). Anywho just got back from the Northern Lights trip and loved it - somehow we've manged to book:
Southampton - Canada/New England - Southampton in September... should be a different experience
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