It's Been a While...

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. 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Mon Jan 4 Fort Lauderdale, FL 4:00pm Tue Jan 5 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00am 2:30pm Wed Jan 6 At Sea Thu Jan 7 Aruba 1:00pm 11:00pm Fri Jan 8 At Sea Sat Jan 9 Cartagena, Colombia 7:00am 1:00pm Sun Jan 10 Panama Canal (Partial Transit) (Cruising) Sun Jan 10 Gatun Lake, Panamá (Cruising) Sun Jan 10 Colon, Panama 3:00pm 7:00pm Mon Jan 11 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 6:30am 4:00pm Tue Jan 12 At Sea Wed Jan 13 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands 8:00am 5:00pm Thu Jan 14 At Sea Fri Jan 15 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am

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. 

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Sun Jan 10 San Juan, Puerto Rico 9:30pm Mon Jan 11 At Sea Tue Jan 12 Barbados 7:00am 4:30pm Wed Jan 13 Grenada 7:00am 4:30pm Thu Jan 14 Martinique 7:00am 4:30pm Fri Jan 15 Antigua 7:00am 4:30pm Sat Jan 16 St. Kitts 7:00am 4:30pm Sun Jan 17 San Juan, Puerto Rico 7:30am Mexico and Central America isn't as expensive or as long as South America... DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Thu Jan 14 Fort Lauderdale, FL 4:00pm Fri Jan 15 At Sea Sat Jan 16 At Sea Sun Jan 17 Aruba 7:00am 12:30pm Mon Jan 18 Cartagena, Colombia 9:00am 3:00pm Tue Jan 19 Panama Canal (Partial Transit) (Cruising) Tue Jan 19 Colon, Panama 5:00pm 8:00pm Wed Jan 20 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:00am 6:00pm Thu Jan 21 At Sea Fri Jan 22 Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands 7:00am 4:00pm Sat Jan 23 At Sea Sun Jan 24 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Sat Jan 16 Fort Lauderdale, FL 4:00pm Sun Jan 17 At Sea Mon Jan 18 At Sea Tue Jan 19 Aruba 7:00am 12:30pm Wed Jan 20 Cartagena, Colombia 9:00am 3:00pm Thu Jan 21 Panama Canal (Partial Transit) (Cruising) Thu Jan 21 Colon, Panama 5:00pm 8:00pm Fri Jan 22 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica 7:00am 6:00pm Sat Jan 23 At Sea Sun Jan 24 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 9:00am 4:00pm Mon Jan 25 At Sea Tue Jan 26 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am

Some of you mentioned South America - definitely a 2 week cruise at around $2,500! 

DAY	DATE		PORT	ARRIVE	DEPART
Sun	Jan	3	Buenos Aires, Argentina		Embark
Mon	Jan	4	Buenos Aires, Argentina		5:00pm
Tue	Jan	5	Montevideo, Uruguay	8:00am	7:00pm
Wed	Jan	6	Punta del Este, Uruguay	7:00am	6:00pm
Thu	Jan	7	At Sea
Fri	Jan	8	Puerto Madryn, Argentina	8:00am	5:30pm
Sat	Jan	9	At Sea
Sun	Jan	10	Cape Horn (Cruising)	4:00pm	6:00pm
Mon	Jan	11	Ushuaia, Argentina	7:00am	4:00pm
Tue	Jan	12	Punta Arenas, Chile	9:00am	6:30pm
Wed	Jan	13	Strait of Magellan (Cruising)
Thu	Jan	14	Chilean Fjords (Cruising)
Fri	Jan	15	Puerto Montt, Chile	8:00am	5:00pm
Sat	Jan	16	At Sea
Sun	Jan	17	Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile	5:00am

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Sat Jan 2 Buenos Aires, Argentina 6:00pm Sun Jan 3 Montevideo, Uruguay 7:00am 4:30pm Mon Jan 4 At Sea Tue Jan 5 Puerto Madryn, Argentina 9:00am 6:00pm Wed Jan 6 At Sea Thu Jan 7 Port Stanley, Falkland Islands 9:00am 4:00pm Fri Jan 8 Cape Horn (Cruising) Sat Jan 9 Ushuaia, Argentina 7:00am 2:00pm Sat Jan 9 Beagle Channel Sun Jan 10 Punta Arenas, Chile 7:30am 7:30pm Mon Jan 11 Strait of Magellan Tue Jan 12 Chilean Fjords (Cruising) Tue Jan 12 Patagonic Channel (Cruising) Tue Jan 12 Canal Moraleda (Cruising) Wed Jan 13 Puerto Chacabuco, Chile 7:00am 2:00pm Thu Jan 14 Puerto Montt, Chile 8:00am 6:00pm Fri Jan 15 At Sea Sat Jan 16 Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile 8:00am

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.  

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

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). 

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

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

As for a BALTIC CRUISE, we would leave out of Amsterdam on June 7.

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

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.

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

There are also a few cruises to different places...like Amsterdam to Rome via Portugal, Spain, Gilbralter, and Florence in early September.

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.  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 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