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You are here: Home / Archives for cruise

Where I Want To Take a Cruise

July 18, 2013 By Danny

Living in South Florida I’m greeted almost every day with the sights of cruise ships docked and taking on passengers.  Some of these boats have space for over 5,000 passengers with thousands more spots reserved for crew.  While these huge cruise ships have their place among those that like a little relaxation and pampering on the high seas, I’m more intrigued by the smaller vessels that can take you smaller ports of call.  Here are a few (one from each continent!) that are high on my list:

North America – The Alaskan Marine Highway

We have been trying to arrange a trip up to Alaska for a few years now, but it remains elusive for one reason or another.  This year we almost made it but as luck would have it, we found something better to do instead (we had twins!).  Our plan was to cruise along the marine highway, using public transportation, to Whittier, Alaska.  From there we would visit the rest of the Kenai Peninsula before heading north to Anchorage, Fairbanks and Denali itself.  The best part of the cruise trip, from Juneau to Whittier was that with State of Alaska’s hop on hop off ferry system, allowing us to create our trip itinerary as we went along.

South America – The Amazon River…from Peru!

Most Amazon cruises move along the ‘busy’ part of the river between Manaus and the Atlantic Ocean.  The Amazon river itself though, has its headwaters in the Andes mountains.  That being the case I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to head to Iquitos, Peru, to start the trip.  You’ll have to fly into Iquitos as it holds the ubiquitous distinction of being the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by road. From there it is 3600 km to the Atlantic Ocean.  Just don’t forget the mosquito repellant and a hammock.

Africa – A Nile River Cruise

Although I’m not so sure many people are planning on taking a Nile Cruise in 2013 with all the mixed news coming out of Egypt, I’m sure that those who do go find exceptional value everywhere they go along the river.  One of Egypt’s chief exports is tourism and much of the industry is hurting.  The city of Luxor alone could keep the budding Egyptologist busy for weeks and given how inexpensive Egypt was when it was crowded, it is a downright bargain right now.

Europe – The History of the Danube

I’m not entirely sure what it is that makes me want to take a cruise along the Danube but I think it has something to do with the amount of history those waters have seen.  Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava are all cities I’ve seen and really enjoyed but it’s downriver—Croatia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria—that attracts my attention.  Of all the ideas listed here this is certainly the most expensive but it also represents the crossroads of Western Civilization.

Asia – A Thai SCUBA Live-aboard

The problem with Asian rivers is that many are simply too dirty to enjoy.  Instead, I’d suggest doing a bit of Island hopping off the coasts of Thailand and Malaysia.  This is some of the best SCUBA diving in the world and the mainland has plenty of low priced creature comforts anytime you want to come ashore.

Thanks to BTerryCompton for use of the Alaska image via a Creative Commons License

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Filed Under: Headline, Travel Reflections Tagged With: beach, cruise, river, scuba

Cruising the Mediterranean

August 26, 2010 By Jillian

IMGP6283Cruising the Mediterranean should conjure up imagines of deep turquoise and blue waters, yachts, drinks at sunset and fresh grilled fish. Add in a few Italians, a cadre of Australians, some itsy bitsy man bikini’s and lots and lots of ice cream and you’ve got our cruise along the Med.

Needless to say the four days on the cruise weren’t exactly the hardest days on the “road.” Joined by our friend Baris, we sailed from Fethiye to Olympos, stopping at nearly ever beautiful blue, turquoise lagoon along the way. Our boat was crowded, the temperature was hot and no matter how many times we swam in a single day, usually around four, we couldn’t get enough. We lingered in the water until the meal bell rang, ate traditional Turkish food, and jumped right back in.IMGP6284

From blue lagoon to blue lagoon we went, exploring little inlets along the way, cold spring fed lagoons, a sunken city, small fishing villages and finally arriving like refugees at the treehouse village of Olympos. We slept under the stars, the waves rocking us in to a blissful sleep.

It’s hard to describe the pure relaxation on the cruise. The only concerns we had were to apply sufficient sunscreen, swim back to the boat before the Australian water polo team finished our lunch and whether the Italian in his little white calvin klein’s would catch a fish. For the record our Turkish friend Baris caught the biggest tuna on the boat.

Despite all the rest and relaxation, four days was about all I could take of bobbing in the Mediterranean. Although we looked somewhat like an overcrowded refugee boat with all our luggage piled on the dingy, we were glad to be back onshore.

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If You Go: Turkish “blue cruises” go from Fethiye to Olympos or in reverse. Go prepared for a lot of sun, even with the sunshades there isn’t much shade on deck. We went with V-Go Cruises. Our boat was slightly overcrowded with little room to sleep on deck, but overall it was a good experience. Check with your company to see if beverages are included in your package price- usually they are not. After four days even water adds up, so ask if you can bring your own on board. The practice was discouraged on our boat but some people did anyway.

Filed Under: Europe, Headline, Middle East, Turkey Tagged With: boat, cruise

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