For a while now my latest wanderlusting (is that even a word?) has been over cruises. I’ve seen Facebook friends and bloggers hopping off on these giant ships and visiting paradise coloured islands and it has had me thinking. Why do they get blasted as ‘for old people’ and why have I never tried cruising before. It seems like an awesome way to see a handful of countries on one trip and there are so many cruise deals available in Europe.
Just to satisfy my wanderlust a little I’ve been searching different routes you can take and here are my favourite options.
Five Cruises I’d Love To Take
New Caledonia – Photo By Thomas Ballandras
Lets start with that route that has been inspired by one particular blogger: Sydney to Sydney via New Caledonia. Jayne of Girl Tweets World first had me inspired for this trip with the amazing experience of sailing out of Sydney Harbour, then with pristine beaches of the islands of New Caledonia and lastly with the fantastic facilities on board the ship. The typical route of this trip involves four days exploring the islands with two and a half days at sea either side, I’d say you need to be brave for this to be your first ever sailing trip.
Norway
So I grew up not far from the port of Southampton and would love to take a trip which departs from here, research shows all of your typical beach destinations but the cruise around Iceland and Norway has me the most excited. Scandinavia is high on my wish list of countries to visit after my brief 24 hours in Iceland last year and I couldn’t think of a better way to do so. The landscape is stunning in these areas and what better excuse to just sit and watch the world go by than on a ship.
Barbados – Photo by Berit Watkin
No cruise list would be complete without a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, I’ve found many different options for this – some departing from the UK as a round trip others with fly options where you could start in Spain and take in Cape Verde before hitting the Caribbean. The latter of these routes sounds like a dream trip to me, visiting six Caribbean islands and countless beaches over the span of three weeks.
Croatia – Photo by Alessandro Caproni
Europe is an easy cruise destination and a brilliant way to tick a handful of countries off on one trip. This is no more true than a trip around the Adriatic sea taking in Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and Albania. Sailing into famous spots like Venice and Dubrovnik makes this one of the most prestigious sailing trips around and would certainly check off several ‘must visit’ European countries for me. Although you would need to be able to cope with how busy these towns are if travelling in the high season.
Italy – Photo by Shann Yu
Alternatively a cruise across western Europe on an adventure from Greece to Tenerife also sounds appealing. There would be no risk of feeling like you are seeing the same thing as this trip racks up the miles and leaves the departure port far behind. Heading through Greece, Sicily, Italy and Spain before sailing south to the islands which sit nearer to the coast of Africa than Europe. This would be a trip of mixed cultures and views for a busy 11 nights.
I’d love to try cruising at least once, whether that is on one of these extravagant trips or a much smaller city break to just test the waters and see if I like it. Still a girl can dream…
I’ve been on a few cruises, mainly the Caribbean and Mediterranean, and I love them! You do get a fair few old people on them but that’s only because the whole trip is nice and easy and pretty much everything is planned out for you. The only thing I don’t like about cruises is that you don’t stay in one place long enough to get a real feel of it but I love that you get a glimpse into loads of different places. Plus unlimited food 24/7 can only be a good thing!
Your pic of New Caledonia looks exactly like my pic from the Cook Islands (look!! http://mrsaylasadventures.com/2014/08/05/my-favourite-beaches-around-the-world/). The Pacific is just paradise!
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Unlimited 24/7 food definitely sounds like a good thing and from what I’ve heard there is a good range of food on cruises. I know what you mean about a day not being long enough to get to know a place, I guess you’d spend a lot of time seeing it fro afar. That picture does look so similar to yours of the Cook Islands – I like to go there too!
It is definitely nice to go on a cruise every once in a while. Just let your brain rest and know that you’re already paying for most things when you book your ticket. I’m going on one next year with my family to the Caribbean, but some of these you pointed out look so relaxing. I would love to see Scandinavia too, so that one probably tops the list. 🙂
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I really like the fact you know that you’ve paid for (nearly) everything when you head off on a cruise. Your Caribbean one sounds awesome although like you I think the Scandinavia one sounds the best!