Final Thoughts: Is Milford Sound Worth It
We say an enthusiastic yes!
Of course, this is all just our two cents, so take it as you want. But I will add that we travelled for;a;month throughout New Zealand and never did we hear anyone say Nah, I wish we hadnt gone to the Milford Sound.
Instead, everyone we spoke to seemed to have similar sentiments and raved about their experience and it became a conversation point to bond over. In our informal poll of people we crossed paths with,;everyone agreed that the Milford Sound was, in fact, worth it!
Myth : You Must Book An Entire World Cruise
Few travelers have the deep pockets or accrued vacation time to devote to an entire world cruise, which can easily run three to four months or longer. That’s why cruise lines allow you to simply book a segment of even a week or two. Smaller segments deliver a rich sampling of a world cruise vibe, allowing people with full-time jobs to participate. Plan on meeting other passengers with a hankering for travel and squeezing in many bucket-list places in a short time if you go this route.
Regent World Cruise: 120 Days
This Regent World Cruise sails round trip from San Francisco. Aboard the Seven Seas Mariner, youll tour the Pacific Rim, hitting 59 ports in 17 countries, seeing the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Cruisers will have access to more than 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, as well as nearly 300 daily excursions. You will overnight in such cities as Honolulu, Sydney, Bangkok, Shanghai and Vancouver. Youll return to San Francisco on May 5, 2022. The fare for this cruise is one of the pricier ones, beginning at $66,499 per person.
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The Best Cruise Destinations
Cruising is unlike any other way of travel. While aboard a cruise ship or yacht, you get to enjoy the trip in luxury. Time slips away, and you are encompassed by sky, sea and dreams that may have lain dormant for too long.
A plane ride might get you somewhere fast, but youll miss the journey along the way. Cruising is about savoring both journey and destination. Some places make ideal cruise destinations.
In this section, we provide a list of the best cruise destinations in the world. Well highlight the features that make these locations especially bucket-list-worthy and desirable.
1. Alaska
Many people dream of taking in Alaskas pure, unmatched beauty and observing the bountiful wildlife. With glaciers the size of Hong Kong, the chance to observe animals from caribou to grizzly bears and waters beckoning onlookers to whale-watch, Alaska is a wilderness-lovers dream come true.
When its time to recharge after a day of outdoor exploration, Alaska offers an array of charming seaside eateries to choose from. Visitors have opportunities to warm up and chat with locals about Alaskas fascinating history and rugged lifestyle.
A cruise allows you to traverse Alaskan waters and witness its wild beauty safely aboard a cruise ship, so that you can enjoy the excursion comfortably. With so many waterways to explore and glaciers to get close to, Alaska is best seen by boat.
2. Asia
3. Canada and New England
4. Caribbean
5. Costa Rica and Panama
6. Greece
7. Italy
9. Northern Europe
Chapter : The Best Cruise Destinations In The World
Wouldnt it be amazing to close your eyes and teleport to Naples to enjoy a slice of Margherita pizza, hot and fresh out of a wood-burning oven whenever you please? And when you feel content with Italian cuisine, you could then teleport to a powdery-white beach in Aruba to nap away your sinfully delicious feast and awake to the option of swimming in calming blue water.
Since most of us do not have the power to arrive anywhere on the planet instantly, we need to be a little choosier with where we go. Although it would be a dream come true to explore a new country, city or town every day, life is short. Make sure to pick destinations that excite you the most.
Choosing your favorite destinations can be difficult too. For example, how do you pick between spending a day lounging on a tropical beach or tasting world-class wines in a medieval city? Before we jump into the details of the best cruises out there, well help you narrow down your top bucket list destinations.
To choose the best cruise for you and what youll enjoy most, follow these steps:
There are thousands of worthwhile destinations to choose from on this planet. Unfortunately, there are only so many places one can visit in a lifetime. Well help you pick the places you cant afford to miss.
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Eating And Drinking Costs On This Cheap World Cruise
During our 2½ months on cruises, we indulged in the included fine dining each night while sailing across the worlds oceans. The incredible cuisine we have access to onboard is one of the aspects we enjoy most about using one-way cruises to transfer between continents.
While traveling around the world on a budget, often fine dining experiences are out of reach for our finances. So when we get on a cruise, the included four-course dinners are an absolute treat. During the 2½ months we spent cruising over the past year, we enjoyed so many great appetizers, from escargot to seared scallops. Favorite main courses over the voyages included filet mignon, lobster, chateaubriand, and beef wellington.
These cruises werent just a giant buffet of cheap sandwiches. Its really quality menu items and fine dining!
We almost never order dessert when dining out around the world. But on a cruise, that all changes. When a different cheesecake is available on the menu each night, were going to try them all!
Each of the four cruise lines we used has their own specialties. Perhaps most interesting was the Italian liner, Costa, which featured a regional Italian menu each night. And after roaming around dairy-free Asia for nearly a half-year, I cant even begin to express what an amazing novelty it was to reintroduce delicious Italian cheese into our diet. We helped ourselves to so much authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano throughout the month we spent on that ship!
Repositioning Cruises Are The Way To Go
When cruise ships need to switch itineraries and embark from a new port, they reposition, or take a one-way trip to get from their original port to their new one. Since the main objective is to simply transfer a ship, trips like these usually involve multiple days at sea, less port stops, and more random itineraries. If that doesnt bother you, book a repositioning cruise! Prices are a fraction of the cost of a regular, round-trip itinerary , the trips are longer, and you might even get to do bucket-list experiences like cross the Panama Canal or do a transatlantic cruise from the U.S. to Europe. Cruising is rarely cheap, but if its a relaxing escape youre looking for, a repositioning cruise might just be the best bang for your vacation buck.
INSIDER TIPContact cruise lines to find out about their repositioning cruises and book fast before they sell out.
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How To Pick A Cabin
A lot depends on your budget for this one, but if you are going to be at sea for several months, it’s worth splurging on the biggest and best room you can afford. If nothing else, you need plenty of space to store all your clothes.
A suite would be lovely but isn’t necessary. However, if you can afford it, a balcony cabin is probably worth the splurge so you have somewhere to hide away from your fellow globetrotters for those moments of “me” time.
The usual rules apply if you are able to pick your specific cabin. The lower rooms in the center of the ship are the most stable if the sea turns nasty. If you can’t bear being near the water line, choose a cabin higher up but still in the center of the ship. Conversely, cabins at the front and back take the brunt of the movement in a heavy swell, but those at the rear often have wonderful views over the ship’s wake .
Cabins near elevators can be noisy as people return to bed late at night. Staterooms at the back are handy for the self-service buffet on the top deck and the restaurants on the lower decks, which are invariably at the aft end of the ship.
For general tips on how to choose a cabin, read our feature.
Some Cruise Lines Included Lots Of Extras
Depending on the cruise line and your specific deal, worldwide cruises often throw in a lot of extras. Of course, these extended trips arent cheap but getting freebies can make your cruise a lot more comfortable. Its also nice not to have to worry about being nickeled and dimed when youre on a cruise ship for a month or two.
For instance, we found deals on Oceania Cruises that include your choice of free shore excursions, free beverage package, or free onboard credit with your cruise. Their deal also took care of gratuities, onboard medical care, free Internet, and more.
Not every line will have these free, but these sorts of deals are out there.
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The Cost Of A World Cruise
Several cruise lines already booking short in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, California coast or Mexico have also entered the world-cruise market. Among those companies embarking on world cruises are Crystal Cruises, Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Oceania Cruises, P & O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seaborn Cruise Line, and Silversea Cruises.
Of that group, the most expensive are Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seaborn Cruise Line, and Silversea Cruises while you can find more affordable fares on Holland America, MSC Cruises, and Princess Cruises.
Here are two types of itineraries:
This 111-day world cruise round-trip from Los Angeles on Princess Cruises visits 48 ports . Cost: $18,499+
This 180-day world cruise from Los Angeles to New York City on Oceania Cruises travels to Hawaii, French Polynesia, Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, India, South Africa, Namibia, Gambia, Senegal, Spain, France, U.K., Netherlands, Ireland, and Canada. Cost: $39,999+
Worldwide Cruises Are A Great Way To See Tons Of Different Places
Even if you were to book a land-based tour that lasted the same length of time as an around-the-world cruise, theres no way that youd be able to visit the wide variety of places youll see when you sail.
The biggest issue with traveling around the world is transportation. Flights, buses, and trains are an exhausting way to get from place to place. But with a ship, you can move from port to port without the same hassles.
While you dine, visit with other passengers, or sleep comfortably in your bed, youre taken to your next destination. Thats much better than having to try to sleep in an airplane seat as you fly from country to country. It leaves you feeling refreshed as you greet each day with a new port of call.
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How Our Cheap World Cruise Plan Materialized
While backpacking across the Andes of South America in early 2017, we began conceptualizing this cheap world cruise idea and eyeing potential one-way repositioning cruises to take.
We had long wanted to spend some extended time traveling across Canada. So we booked a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia at the beginning of July, where we began to scour the Internet to investigate this cheap world cruise idea further. Turns out, that flight to Halifax would be the very last time we would get on a plane for quite a long time.
When we werent actively traveling and exploring Canada, much of the time during our 10-week trip across the country was dedicated instead to exploring the possibility of this idea of a cheap world cruise. Countless hours of research, budgeting, route-planning, and price checks were conducted between our touristic pursuits throughout Canada.
It wasnt until we were in Montreal in August, that we pulled the trigger to really set this cheap world cruise trip into motion. Thats when we booked a last-minute repositioning cruise from Vancouver, across the Pacific Ocean, all the way to Japan!
It was happening.
Can You Stay Entertained
Short answer: Yes. Todays cruise ships have no shortage of onboard entertainment, from comedy acts, piano bars, cooking demos, and trivia games by the pool, to figure skating, lectures, late-night movies, Cirque du Soleil performances, concerts, and even Broadway at Sea productions. A lot of these are included in the cost of your ticket, but somelike fitness classes, spa treatments, wine tastings, IMAX movies, laser tag, escape rooms , and gamblingwill cost you extra.
Whats included aside, the question isnt if youll be entertained, but how. Designed to accommodate all passengers, cruise entertainment is far from a local experience, so if youve paid all that money to see cool destinations, youll want to deboard and get the real thing. That said, entertainment is subjective, so choose activities youll actually enjoy doing, onboard or not.
INSIDER TIPLook over the list of included entertainment and activities prior to booking your cruise. If everything you like doing costs more, consider that when evaluating the cost of your trip.
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Myth : Those Sea Days Are Repetitive
On any cruise, a sea day can be as chill as you like: sleep in, read books, work out, dine late. But there’s plenty of programming if you can’t sit still. Learn to cook in hands-on culinary classes held onboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises world voyages in professional-style kitchens. On Crystal Serenitys 106-day Miami to Rome world cruise departing January 6, 2020, there will be distinguished guests like celebrated writers, scientists, diplomats, generalseven Olympiansto deliver interesting lectures. In the ship’s own computer lab you can work on mastering some technical skills, like professionally editing your trip photos along the way, or learning to build and code a website. Or, hit up some workshops on subjects like wine or finance. Maybe youll even discover an inner flair for color and brushstroke in an art class.
Be Sure To Book Milford Sound Tour In Advance During High Season
If youre planning to take a Milford Sound tour during the high season, particularly during a holiday weekend, be sure to book your Milford Sound cruise well in advance!;Milford Sound tours are very popular trips in New Zealand.
Your;ideal time or tour may be booked full if you dont get a chance to reserve your space in time. We recommend to book your Milford Sound cruise through Viator;since they have a low-price guarantee AND they allow free cancelation if your plans change. This gives peace of mind to secure your booking in advance before these trips become fully booked.
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Homesickness Can Be A Real Thing
The good news is that the Internet has made communicating back home easier than ever. Meanwhile, Internet service is available on the ship, as well as in port. That makes it easier than ever to keep in touch back home.
Even so, you should be prepared to have some homesickness when youre on an extended worldwide cruise. Away for so long means you will inevitably miss some of the people back home. And even if you can keep in touch, dont forget about the comforts of home. Sometimes you miss your favorite shows, or your neighborhood restaurant, or even the taste of your coffee at home.
Keep this in mind and realize that bringing some creature comforts with you on your cruise can make you feel a little better and not so far from home when youre on the other side of the world.
World Cruises: What You Need To Know
World cruisers, I have discovered, fall into two groups: those who fill their days moaning about anything and everything — and those who are fed up with the nitpickers. On my voyage on P&O‘s Aurora, one of my tablemates at dinner fell into the latter category. “People who haven’t been on a world cruise before get bored at this point, so they start to moan,” she told me on my first evening onboard. It was her 52nd night since the ship sailed from Southampton.
Like 1,100 others, she was following in the footsteps of that most famous of circumnavigators, Phileas Fogg, and cruising around the world in 80 days. I, on the other hand, was a world cruise virgin, doing a two-week sector between Hong Kong and Mumbai in India.
My tablemate was only half right. Even practiced circumnavigators were starting to long for home by the time I got onboard, due mainly, I suspect, to the many consecutive sea days, which are trying for all but the saltiest sea dogs. Aurora had just done six in a row when the ship got to Hong Kong, and another five were looming after Mumbai.
“They see the list of ports and don’t realize how many sea days it takes to get between them,” my world cruise expert advised knowingly. Lesson number one: Count the days in between those exotic-sounding ports.
Circumnavigators have a hard life. Here are some tips if you’d like to become one of them and take a world cruise.
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