Work has been really crazy since mid-September, but it looks like things are settling down. That means I have time to think about what's going on in the cruise world for 2016.
Not sure who is interested and who isn't. Yes, it's still early, but you know how planning for our past trips has gone.
Remember, we are planning from the blog until we make a decision. If I don't hear from you, then I will assume you are not interested and we will move forward without you.
There are some great deals to be had, but you have to be prepared to move on them. So that's why we need to think about our destination - makes planning so much easier.
Take a look below and let me know if you have any cruises that make you happier than others. I would like to downsize our options to about 2-3 choices, and then from there, focus on 1. It's really hard to do, but if certain areas appeal to you more than others, that will help make a decision.
While it's still early in the planning, if we can come to a consensus, then we can at least make deposits, and when great deals come along, we can take advantage of them, vs. trying to get everyone to commit and be on the same page in just a few days.
I just returned from a short cruise to the Bahamas. Boy did that get me itchin' to take another cruise...and sooner rather than later. Nothing like fun in the sun in the Caribbean!
Celebrity has finally put out their 2016 schedules for Europe. Itineraries were very much what I expected. Costs for both Med and Baltic are pretty much the same on the face (about $2,700), but when you search for deals, that's when things change a little (down to around $1,900 for inside, $2,300 for ocean, $2,600 for balcony). I don't anticipate paying face - we want deals! And there are also some onboard credits, upgrades, etc.
And of course, I haven't completely ruled out a cruise to the Caribbean or some other location either. There are some amazing places to see down there. It's all a matter to time and money! Isn't that always the case?
Royal Caribbean doesn't have their 2016 Europe schedules out yet, and although they have some great deals, on my most recent cruise, I was NOT impressed by RC. Even the bartenders were pissy and those are usually the most fun people on the ship. NCL and Holland have not released their schedules, either.
Some of you mentioned some of the countries in South America and Central America. These types of cruises are very reasonable right after the new year. Holland has this for around $1,600. Flights would be much cheaper because we would fly from Lauderdale. Brings back memories of spring break during the college years :) But, there are 4 days at sea, so it's more relaxing than port intensive cruises.
I am NOT a fan of the Mouse House cruises, but they do have a good itinerary for a shorter cruise around $1,300, with time to explore San Juan and El Yunque (the rain forest). The return falls on the MLK holiday weekend, and many of you are off on Monday.
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Mexico and Central America isn't as expensive or as long as South America...
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Some of you mentioned South America - definitely a 2 week cruise at around $2,500!
For a Med cruise, looking at May 19, 2016 out of Venice. We would use the ship as a hotel one night (2 days), so we would only be at sea 11 nights, 1 day at sea.
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Thu | May | 19 | Venice, Italy | | Embark |
Fri | May | 20 | Venice, Italy | | 4:30pm |
Sat | May | 21 | Koper, Slovenia | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Sun | May | 22 | Ravenna, Italy | 7:00am | 7:00pm |
Mon | May | 23 | Zadar, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | May | 24 | Split, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Wed | May | 25 | Kotor, Montenegro | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Thu | May | 26 | Dubrovnik, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | May | 27 | At Sea | | |
Sat | May | 28 | Valletta, Malta | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sun | May | 29 | Catania, Sicily, Italy | 7:00am | 4:00pm |
Mon | May | 30 | Naples (Capri), Italy | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | May | 31 | Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy | 5:00am |
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Docking in Rome, so you would be able to spend some time in Rome at the end of the cruise. This date may affect those of you with kids/grandkids graduating. Looks like we would be gone at least May 17 or 18 through the 31 or even early June if you spend a few days in Rome. The alternative date is in late August - and it would be extremely warm...and possible miserably hot! Remember, locals go on holiday in August because of the heat. But it's an option.
Taking Rome out of the picture, there are 2 round-trip Venice cruises, with many of the same stops, but 2 days at sea, so you see less (one is longer than the other).
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Mon | May | 9 | Venice, Italy | | 4:30pm |
Tue | May | 10 | Koper, Slovenia | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Wed | May | 11 | Zadar, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Thu | May | 12 | Split, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | May | 13 | Dubrovnik, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sat | May | 14 | Kotor, Montenegro | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sun | May | 15 | At Sea | | |
Mon | May | 16 | Naples (Capri), Italy | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | May | 17 | Catania, Sicily, Italy | 9:00am | 6:00pm |
Wed | May | 18 | At Sea | | |
Thu | May | 19 | Venice, Italy | 6:00am | |
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Sun | Jun | 12 | Venice, Italy | | 4:30pm |
Mon | Jun | 13 | Koper, Slovenia | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | Jun | 14 | Zadar, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Wed | Jun | 15 | Split, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Thu | Jun | 16 | Dubrovnik, Croatia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | Jun | 17 | Kotor, Montenegro | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sat | Jun | 18 | At Sea | | |
Sun | Jun | 19 | Naples (Capri), Italy | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Mon | Jun | 20 | Catania, Sicily, Italy | 9:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | Jun | 21 | At Sea | | |
Wed | Jun | 22 | Ravenna, Italy | 9:00am | 7:00pm |
Thu | Jun | 23 | Venice, Italy | 8:00am | |
Fri | Jun | 24 | Venice, Italy | Disembark | |
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As for a
BALTIC CRUISE, we would leave out of Amsterdam on June 7.
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Tue | Jun | 7 | Amsterdam, Holland | | 5:00pm |
Wed | Jun | 8 | At Sea | | |
Thu | Jun | 9 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Noon | |
Fri | Jun | 10 | Copenhagen, Denmark | | 5:00pm |
Sat | Jun | 11 | Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany | 7:00am | 9:30pm |
Sun | Jun | 12 | At Sea | | |
Mon | Jun | 13 | Tallinn, Estonia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | Jun | 14 | St. Petersburg, Russia | 7:00am | |
Wed | Jun | 15 | St. Petersburg, Russia | | |
Thu | Jun | 16 | St. Petersburg, Russia | | 6:00pm |
Fri | Jun | 17 | Helsinki, Finland | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Sat | Jun | 18 | Stockholm, Sweden | 9:00am | |
Sun | Jun | 19 | Stockholm, Sweden | Disembark |
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We would use the ship as a hotel on day 1 in Stockholm. There is also a reverse of this trip starting in Stockholm on June 19, which means if we spent at least 1 more day in Sweden, we would get home before the 4th of July.
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Sun | Jun | 19 | Stockholm, Sweden | | Embark |
Mon | Jun | 20 | Stockholm, Sweden | | 3:00pm |
Tue | Jun | 21 | Helsinki, Finland | 10:00am | 5:00pm |
Wed | Jun | 22 | St. Petersburg, Russia | 7:00am | |
Thu | Jun | 23 | St. Petersburg, Russia | | |
Fri | Jun | 24 | St. Petersburg, Russia | | 6:00pm |
Sat | Jun | 25 | Tallinn, Estonia | 7:00am | 5:00pm |
Sun | Jun | 26 | At Sea | | |
Mon | Jun | 27 | Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany | 7:00am | 9:30pm |
Tue | Jun | 28 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Noon | |
Wed | Jun | 29 | Copenhagen, Denmark | | 3:00pm |
Thu | Jun | 30 | At Sea | | |
Fri | Jul | 1 | Amsterdam, Holland | 6:00am | |
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There are also a few cruises to different places...like Amsterdam to Rome via Portugal, Spain, Gilbralter, and Florence in early September.
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Sat | Sep | 3 | Amsterdam, Holland | | 5:00pm |
Sun | Sep | 4 | Zeebrugge, Belgium | 7:00am | 5:00pm |
Mon | Sep | 5 | At Sea | | |
Tue | Sep | 6 | Bilbao, Spain | 10:00am | 8:00pm |
Wed | Sep | 7 | At Sea | | |
Thu | Sep | 8 | Lisbon, Portugal | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | Sep | 9 | Seville, Spain | 1:00pm | 11:00pm |
Sat | Sep | 10 | Gibraltar, UK Territory | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Sun | Sep | 11 | Cartagena, Spain | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Mon | Sep | 12 | Palma de Mallorca, Spain | 7:00am | 4:00pm |
Tue | Sep | 13 | At Sea | | |
Wed | Sep | 14 | Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy | 7:00am | 7:00pm |
Thu | Sep | 15 | Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy | 5:00am | |
And finally....the land down under! Yeah, flights are probably the most expensive thing. But ocean views around $1,900 aren't bad.
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Fri | Jan | 8 | Sydney, Australia | | 7:00pm |
Sat | Jan | 9 | At Sea | | |
Sun | Jan | 10 | At Sea | | |
Mon | Jan | 11 | Bay of Islands, New Zealand | 10:00am | 7:00pm |
Tue | Jan | 12 | Auckland, New Zealand | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Wed | Jan | 13 | Tauranga, New Zealand | 8:00am | 4:00pm |
Thu | Jan | 14 | Napier, New Zealand | 10:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | Jan | 15 | Wellington, New Zealand | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Sat | Jan | 16 | Picton, New Zealand | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Sun | Jan | 17 | At Sea | | |
Mon | Jan | 18 | Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand | 8:00am | 5:00pm |
Tue | Jan | 19 | Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | | |
Tue | Jan | 19 | Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | | |
Tue | Jan | 19 | Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | | |
Wed | Jan | 20 | At Sea | | |
Thu | Jan | 21 | At Sea | | |
Fri | Jan | 22 | Sydney, Australia | 6:00am | |
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DAY | DATE | PORT | ARRIVE | DEPART |
Tue | Jan | 5 | Sydney, Australia | | 6:30pm |
Wed | Jan | 6 | At Sea | | |
Thu | Jan | 7 | Melbourne, Australia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | Jan | 8 | At Sea | | |
Sat | Jan | 9 | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sun | Jan | 10 | At Sea | | |
Mon | Jan | 11 | At Sea | | |
Tue | Jan | 12 | Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | 8:00am | 9:00am |
Tue | Jan | 12 | Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | 1:30pm | 2:30pm |
Tue | Jan | 12 | Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) | 4:30pm | 6:00pm |
Wed | Jan | 13 | Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand | 9:00am | 7:00pm |
Thu | Jan | 14 | Akaroa, New Zealand | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Fri | Jan | 15 | Wellington, New Zealand | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Sat | Jan | 16 | At Sea | | |
Sun | Jan | 17 | Tauranga, New Zealand | 8:00am | 6:00pm |
Mon | Jan | 18 | Bay of Islands, New Zealand | 7:00am | 6:00pm |
Tue | Jan | 19 | Auckland, New Zealand | 6:00am | |
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