My wife and I just got back from our very first cruise ever. Oh, we’d thought about it, talked about it and even several times over the last few years planned it, but it just didn’t seem to materialize until two weeks ago.
We weren’t sure if we were going to like ‘cruising’ so we took a short, 5 day trip. First, the basics so you can put this into perspective:
Cruise line: Celebrity
Ports of call: Jamaica, Grand Cayman
Sailed: New Year’s Eve
Now for the report card, keeping in mind that this was our first cruise so we don’t really have any frame of reference to make comparisons.
Ship: A+
Service: A-
Food: A+
Stateroom: A+
Ports of Call: C-
Perhaps I’d better explain that C-. Jamaica and Grand Cayman are both gorgeous. And that may have been the problem. We are the kind of people that like to explore. When we travel some place new, we spend as much time as we can getting into the craft shops and the local attractions and the local food and culture. The downside to cruising for us seemed to be the lack of time that was available in the ports of call. When you have 6 or 7 hours in a beautiful new country, it would have been wonderful to have much more time to explore.
So we’re now in re-evaluation mode. Although we truly enjoyed the cruising part (as you can see from the picture), we really missed the opportunity to learn about the ports of call. Options seem to be taking a longer cruise that features more time in each port or going to a resort and using that as a base of operations for touring the area.
That’s where you come in.
Help, please.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on cruising. Where to go? What to see? Your ideas for getting the most out of the cruise and experiencing the most out of the ports of call. Do you have a favorite cruise line? Favorite ports of call?
And thanks! Your input is appreciated.
And by the way, please don’t tell me that the photo looks like Ernest Hemmingway. I’ve heard that way too much since we got back.
