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My wife and I have avoided cruises because we like to get to know a locality for several days. Preferably at least 4 or 5 days. The " if it's Tuesday, it must be Cozumel" cruises are not for us. We took one cruise (Lewis Black comedy cruise) and liked that feature each night, but just stopping in 10 ports over a period of 10 days from 8am - 5pm really doesn't let someone live the locale's experience. That doesn't let us even get a nice dinner in the port. Are there any cruises that provide such opportunities?
I have seen cruises in Europe do that. I was on a cruise which stopped in Saint Petersburg for 2 days, 1 night and Copenhagen for 2 days 1 night. We also stopped in, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallin and a small town north of Berlin. It was a great cruise and the two days in those two ports were fantastic.
Usually longer cruises will have this more often. I have never seen a Caribbean Cruise stop for two days but I have seen some leave ports late at night like 10-11pm.
In most cases people don't want to stay in one port more than one day, they feel that they get more bang for their buck by visiting many ports on a cruise. Then they can go home and brag about seeing the world. That's probably why most cruise lines out of the US ports plan their itinerary.
I do agree that I'd like to spend more time in fewer ports to really get the feel of the people and their true lifestyle, not the trumped up tourist traps.
Royal Caribbean's and possibly Norwegian Cruise Line's ships that sail to Bermuda stay overnight in Bermuda. The cruise I was on stayed there 2 nights. We arrived in the afternoon the first day, were there the whole next day and set sail in the evening the 3rd day. It was the first cruise I'd been on where the ship overnighted in a port. It felt kind of weird in that way.
My wife and I have avoided cruises because we like to get to know a locality for several days. Preferably at least 4 or 5 days. The " if it's Tuesday, it must be Cozumel" cruises are not for us. We took one cruise (Lewis Black comedy cruise) and liked that feature each night, but just stopping in 10 ports over a period of 10 days from 8am - 5pm really doesn't let someone live the locale's experience. That doesn't let us even get a nice dinner in the port. Are there any cruises that provide such opportunities?
You have struck upon what is--for me, anyway--probably the biggest negative about cruising. Way too much of it is oriented toward herding cattle, er, passengers, on and off the ship at one port or another on a tight schedule with little time to breathe much less enjoy a particular destination.
FWIW, I've found that the luxury and semi-luxury lines (e.g. Seabourn, Silversea, Crystal, Azamara, etc) are slightly better at late-nights and overnights, but only slightly. Of course as mentioned above there are a few ports like Hong Kong and St. Petersburg where your luck can be better, but not by much. Two or even three days in St. Petersburg is barely enough, especially for a first-timer.
I've searched in vain for a decent Adriatic cruise. I'd like a RT Venice with overnights in Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik, etc but the only ones I can find are quick stops with just a few hours in those spectacular cities, just so they can tack on quick stops in some Greek isles as well. But anyone who's been on a couple Mediterranean cruises has surely seen the Greek isles already.
Everything--everything--in the cruising industry is driven by financial considerations so either it's cheaper to stay on the move or pax demand it, or both. In a place like Croatia, where I don't know a word of the language, I'd dearly love a leisurely maritime itinerary but I've given up.
My wife and I have avoided cruises because we like to get to know a locality for several days. Preferably at least 4 or 5 days. The " if it's Tuesday, it must be Cozumel" cruises are not for us. We took one cruise (Lewis Black comedy cruise) and liked that feature each night, but just stopping in 10 ports over a period of 10 days from 8am - 5pm really doesn't let someone live the locale's experience. That doesn't let us even get a nice dinner in the port. Are there any cruises that provide such opportunities?
Yes, The Bermuda cruises spend about 3 or 4 days in Bermuda and many of the European cruises do the same, including some of the small ships. Also there are a couple of cruises that leave out of places like Quebec city but you board the ship a day or so before sailing. Those, however, when they start the sailing they do, exactly what you don't like: a port a day.
of course people who really do enjoy getting to know the people and getting a really good feeling for a port probably are better off not cruising. Our younger daughter is this way: she and hubby like to relax, get to know the people when they travel, explore on their own and are not cruisers. The rest of our family prefer cruising to almost any other type of travel.
A unique option, especially for those who desire lifelong learning, is to take a Semester at Sea cruise (semesteratsea.org). They typically have fall, winter and summer cruises lasting from 65 days (summer cruise) to about 100 days. Adults (40 and over) travel with students during the cruise and may audit classes and attend seminars. Classes and seminars are held while at sea. When the ship docks it's often for 4 days or more and traveling "in country" is possible and even encouraged.
Of course it's a large time commitment and not inexpensive, but well worth it. While I have not had the pleasure of experiencing a Semester at Sea voyage my parents went on two and thoroughly enjoyed both. If interested check out their website at semesteratsea.org.
Hmmm...I was thinking it might be nice to cruise on a ship that spent more time at sea than stopping at a bunch of different ports. I know you can stay on the ship in port, but I'd like to keep cruising.
Hmmm...I was thinking it might be nice to cruise on a ship that spent more time at sea than stopping at a bunch of different ports. I know you can stay on the ship in port, but I'd like to keep cruising.
Actually many cruises spend as much or more time at sea then in port. If you really want to experience a lot of sea days, try a transatlantic cruise. They are usually about 10 days long and spend about 4 to 6 days at sea, only stopping at a couple of ports. These cruises are less expensive and many people prefer them to the traditional onces. They are usually repositioning cruises. Most cruise lines do them, all the way from the mass marketed lines to the upscale ones like Cunard.
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