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I am beginning to plan my next cruise and while searching, I am finding the same ports I will have recently visited are coming back up. There are a few new ones scattered here and there. Now, I also understand Caribbean cruises only have so many ports to visit to begin with.
My questions are; how do you feel about visiting the same port multiple times in general and how do you feel about visiting the same ports on consecutive cruises?
It depends on the port. Revisiting ports, we have probably taken any excursions we want and we really like staying on the ship for port days, if we have nothing planned. In Belize, there is a wood carver we really like so we go find him. Finding local craftsman is fun and you don't get any Made in China souvenirs. We are in the Caribbean during a time when we are often snow or below zero at home. If you have only been to a port once, there might be others things you want to do that you didn't have time for last time.
Well that completely depends on the port. Some ports you can return to several times and still not see everything, other ports once and done.
For example in Europe there are several ports I would like to go back to once was just not enough to se everything. I have visited Victoria, Canada multiple times. Once we just walked around the next time we went to butchart( not sure of spelling)gardens. There is a coffee shop I will always get off and enjoy a morning of coffee pastries and people watching.
Ports like Ensenada and Jamaica, I will sit in a hot tub on the ship and enjoy an almost empty ship.
As far as returning to the same ports on consecutive cruises, this is where my better half and I have a difference of opinion. I have reached the point where the ship is my destination and the ports are icing on the cake. If the price is right I would do the same cruise back to back To back to back!
I have only been on 2 cruises. One from Boston to Bermuda and one from NY to Florida, stopping at Harvest Caye which we did not do because of rough waters, and Nassau, Bahamas. I would go to Bermuda again in a heartbeat but don't care if I ever go on a cruise to Nassau again. If I did I might do a quick excursion and back to the boat.
Well that completely depends on the port. Some ports you can return to several times and still not see everything, other ports once and done.
For example in Europe there are several ports I would like to go back to once was just not enough to se everything. I have visited Victoria, Canada multiple times. Once we just walked around the next time we went to butchart( not sure of spelling)gardens. There is a coffee shop I will always get off and enjoy a morning of coffee pastries and people watching.
Ports like Ensenada and Jamaica, I will sit in a hot tub on the ship and enjoy an almost empty ship.
As far as returning to the same ports on consecutive cruises, this is where my better half and I have a difference of opinion. I have reached the point where the ship is my destination and the ports are icing on the cake. If the price is right I would do the same cruise back to back To back to back!
I agree completely. Sometimes a port is just that, a port. Which provides access to all sorts of different areas. You get that a lot in Europe. But just staying on board is often really nice too. I call it "A sea day tied to the dock". We like to do the winery tours but sometimes you get fooled. One time we booked a winery tour on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily, it was a good tour. Our port for this was Catania, on the far east end of Sicily. Five days later we were back in Sicily but this time on the far west end of the island at Palermo. We booked a wine tour there too. Got on the coach, toured the country side while driving for a couple of hours. Pretty soon we got to our winery, same one we did when porting in Catania. Small island.
We beat this up pretty good in another thread, debating whether folks cruise "for the port" or "for the ship"..we do a lot of Caribbean cruises out of NO. We don't even pay attention to where the ship is going, or if we've been there b4. Yes we took a bunch of tours the first few times back in the day, but now we stay onboard for most port days...Its a different world onboard then. And now that NCL has brought megaships to NO, we're totally spoiled. Sure we get off to wander if its convenient, but usually get back onboard with a couple hours. Ive seen 3rd world and jungle, don't need to revisit it, and pay for the privilege. I enjoy the act of cruising "for its own sake"...Couldn't care less where it goes. One thing is for sure, the places in the world we have visited by air, deserved way more than a few hours cruise tour to begin with.
I agree with all of the above. We have booked cruises based on the ports of call, the ship, the company and cruise line. If it's a port we enjoy or have only visited a few times and haven't seen all we want to see..then we do that. If we like it and we like to see the same thing that can be good too. Or if we want to share it with friends and we have been there a time or two already, still goo. If it's a port we do not care for, we might stay on the ship or just get off to walk around a bit. Enjoy your adventure!
Revisiting a port a second or third time in most cases should still be fun unless you really do not like the port and surrounding area or do not like it for safety reasons. In most places there is usually a variety of things to do or see so it will depend on the port and on you mostly. I have no problem with going to the same port a few times but then I also go to the same place 5 days a week and sit in the same chair 5 days a week.
As others have said, it depends on the ports. After you cruise for decades you have hit most ports. If it is a port I'm not to interested in like Nassau I'm more then happy to stay on the ship and enjoy a near empty ship with no lines and good window tables at lunch. Then there are ports that even though I have visited before I'm always happy to return ti, I can not get enough of Rome or Venice (I have spent weeks in both pre and post cruise). Not being much into water activities ports in the Caribbean after a few excursions I mostly go for the cruise, not the ports.
Like everyone else has said, for me it would depend on the port. If I absolutely hated a port or felt unsafe no matter where I was, I probably wouldn't care to get off the ship a second time there. But in general, I love the idea of re-visiting ports because I never feel I have enough time there the first time around. It's also a great opportunity to do a different kind of tour or activities. For the first time in a place, I like to do tours of the town or a general overview type of excursion to see what the place is like and some of its history. For the second time and beyond, it can be fun to do more specialized activities like snorkeling, or a food tour, or something like that.
We have stopped doing Caribbean cruises because we were repeating ports and after a while they all seemed the same. Now our cruises are further afield and visit more interesting places. We are about to cruise from Singapore for the third time. Several of the ports will be different, but those we are repeating are in areas we want to explore more fully.
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