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Has anyone been on a world cruise? Is it too much time afloat? Do you really get a feeling for the cultures you visit or is it one big party?
I like the idea of a cruise because you don't have to pack and repack, going from one hotel to the next and you don't have to worry about transport.
My concern is that you do not get a proper depth of the cultures you are visiting.
I love cruising but your concern is justified. That said, and having lived overseas, I think you need months - maybe years - in a place to get a proper depth.
When I take a cruise, I see the port stops as an opportunity to spend a full day in a town/city and get a really good feel for the place. I do not see it as an opportunity to visit a country.
We are cruising Sydney to Los Angeles next February. Never having been to Australia, we are taking 9 days before the cruise to get to know the Sydney area. We did something similar when we cruised Lisbon to Lisbon last year. We took 3 days either side to visit in Portugal. That is one way to enjoy the cruise and get a more in-depth feel for a place.
I love cruising but your concern is justified. That said, and having lived overseas, I think you need months - maybe years - in a place to get a proper depth.
When I take a cruise, I see the port stops as an opportunity to spend a full day in a town/city and get a really good feel for the place. I do not see it as an opportunity to visit a country.
We are cruising Sydney to Los Angeles next February. Never having been to Australia, we are taking 9 days before the cruise to get to know the Sydney area. We did something similar when we cruised Lisbon to Lisbon last year. We took 3 days either side to visit in Portugal. That is one way to enjoy the cruise and get a more in-depth feel for a place.
Yes, perhaps taking a cruise just to get a flavor of a place and going on a more extended trip later?
Your idea of arriving early seems like a really good idea. Enjoy yourselves.
Has anyone been on a world cruise? Is it too much time afloat? Do you really get a feeling for the cultures you visit or is it one big party?
I like the idea of a cruise because you don't have to pack and repack, going from one hotel to the next and you don't have to worry about transport.
My concern is that you do not get a proper depth of the cultures you are visiting.
No. All you see of the world is ocean and a bunch of touristy gift shops in ports. The only people you talk to are your own boring countrymen describing other cruises they've been on.
How do you know you've actually been to those places, or if they just change the Hollywood set of the same port while you sail around the ocean for a couple of days, and just keep doing that over and over again.
No. All you see of the world is ocean and a bunch of touristy gift shops in ports. The only people you talk to are your own boring countrymen describing other cruises they've been on.
How do you know you've actually been to those places, or if they just change the Hollywood set of the same port while you sail around the ocean for a couple of days, and just keep doing that over and over again.
Just because you spend your time in touristy gift shops does not mean that the rest of us do
We went on a cruise with SilverSea, my husband was invited as a guest and at the time we didn't think we were the type of people to enjoy a cruise, we were wrong. I wouldn't say we immersed in the countries we visited, but we did visit countries we would have never thought of. We really didn't do the touristy gift shop thing, we went to the markets, wandered the streets, ate at restaurants where no one spoke english but still managed to get amazing meals, and searched out the best gelato in each port. Some evenings we dined alone, sometimes we had dinner with others that we had met, no boring cruise babble. I'm sure our experience would have been very different if we had been on a mega ship, but SilverSea was a very nice size.
Jaggy001 - Don't miss the Sydney Fish Market if you like seafood, we had a great lunch there.
We went on a cruise with SilverSea, my husband was invited as a guest and at the time we didn't think we were the type of people to enjoy a cruise, we were wrong. I wouldn't say we immersed in the countries we visited, but we did visit countries we would have never thought of. We really didn't do the touristy gift shop thing, we went to the markets, wandered the streets, ate at restaurants where no one spoke english but still managed to get amazing meals, and searched out the best gelato in each port. Some evenings we dined alone, sometimes we had dinner with others that we had met, no boring cruise babble. I'm sure our experience would have been very different if we had been on a mega ship, but SilverSea was a very nice size.
Jaggy001 - Don't miss the Sydney Fish Market if you like seafood, we had a great lunch there.
Thanks for the tip re: the Fish Market. A couple of people I know have mentioned it so it must be a place to go.
I also prefer the smaller cruise ships as they tend to call at less frequented ports which means you can avoid a lot of the tourists. However, a port call is what you make of it. A lot of people like to do the touristy thing whether it is walking the Ramblas in Barcelona or hanging out at Margaritaville in Grand Turk. That is fine for them. I have never found it hard to do my own thing and a few minutes spent on Google makes that pretty easy. For example, we used the local bus system to go sightseeing in Malta .... the fare was 47 cents and the bus was probably 47 years old. But it was great fun (although at one point I thought we would all have to get out to push it up a hill ). Same in Mykonos ... local buses are easy to use, pretty cheap and get you away from the tourist areas. In Grand Turk, a $5 taxi ride took you away from the cruise port and the crowds and you get to explore the town in peace and quiet.
We see our upcoming Sydney to LA cruise as an opportunity to visit islands that it would be difficult to see otherwise ... New Caledonia, Kiribati, Fiji, Pago Pago, Vanuatu, etc.. We also enjoy the relaxation of sea days and the possibility of seeing dolphins, whales or other sea creatures.
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). Same in Mykonos ... local buses are easy to use, pretty cheap and get you away from the tourist areas. In Grand Turk, a $5 taxi ride took you away from the cruise port and the crowds and you get to explore the town in peace and quiet.
