Longer Cruises
 

My wife and I have taken a few cruises now and are intersted in either a back to back or some other long cruise to either Europe or Australia New Zealand.

Any recommendations on what cruise line to book a longer trip?

We usually book ourselves but I think I should use a travel agent for something this size. Does that sound like a good idea?

Thanks

Happy sailing

Wes

Wes,
There are a very large number of cruises that would fit your search. You may have trouble deciding unless you get more specific as to what area you want to cruise in. Do you want to avoid flying and thus cruise out of & return to US (i.e. Boston to Norway and back on North Atlantic) or are you willing to fly far and then cruise (maybe return to US on the ship).
These cruises would be no different than a short cruise and you can book them yourself or through an agent. There are a number of "World cruises" offered by many cruise lines and you can take 1, 2 or 3 segments, etc.
I think Vacations to go at:
http://www.vacationstogo.com/
is a good place to search for cruises as you can put in any parameters such as geographical area, length of cruise and see what is available.

I love the Prinsendam for longer voyages. I believe Holland America does both a grand mediterrannean and a grand Australia/New Zealand which are quite long, over 60 days.

Cruise Specialists in Seattle is our agency and they really are the experts in the longer cruises.they are at www.cruisespecialists.com

Our agent is Lynne. She is wonderful.

Yes, you need to be more specific and let us know how much flying you're willing to do and how long a cruise. We have done many longer cruises including 2 Around the World cruises of about 4 months each. Our favorite cruise line for long (or shorter) cruises is Regent but we've been on other cruiselines.

Let us know more specifics and I'm sure you can get lots of suggestions.

And no matter what you do, once you find a cruise line (or lines) in which you are interested, contact a travel agent that specializes in the line(s). I'm always surprised that people don't realize that you can not only gain a terrific amount of in-depth knowledge of the itineraries and the nuances of the ships, but many times you actually pay less than dealing directly with the cruise lines. That may be counter-intuitive (especially compared to airlines), but that's the way it is. Petlover and we, share the same terrific agent who specializes in luxury and near-luxury lines such as Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, and Oceania (www.brownandkeenetravel.com). For longer cruises, it's nice find a line that has larger cabins as a standard.

Let us know what longer means to you...I'm guessing around 60 days but it could mean something different to each individual.

Wow!

Thanks for all the help! We found the Grand Australia on Holland America on the Cruise Specialists website and contacted one of their agents.

Its a bit longer than we had planned so we may not take the whole cruise. We've always wanted to go to New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef.

I'm glad to hear working with a travel agent won;t cost me any more than booking it ourselves. I just wouldnt want to leave anything to chance on such a big expenditure by booking it myself.

Have any of you cruised to Australia/New Zealand? Any spots/tours we shouldnt miss?


Thanks again for all your help

you will et alot of info if you
register - gratis - at
wwww.cruisecritic.com.

the folks who post on the site are
avid cruisers. And there is a
section on ports

I have cruised all around New Zealand and Australia. IYou didn't mention the itinerary you're going on. I'm assuming you may do as I did and begin in Los Angeles, cruise first to the French Polynesian islands and then on to NZ then Australia. I can't remember exactly how long this took because we then headed up to Singapore....guessing about 30 days or so. Will you fly home from Sydney?

That doesn't seem like a very long cruise when you said "Longer Cruise" but it's all relative. Remember, this is the Southern Hemisphere so you'll be going during our winter months. The waters were very rough at the Great Barrier reef and the smaller boats you take there were being thrashed up and down. Some didn't make it, and turned away and came back to the cruise ship. Ours did but many of the passengers got quite sea sick.

It is a beautiful part of the world and I know you'll love it.