Choosing a Destination – Part One

There are a number of reasons why you might be struggling to settle on a cruise, and I know we’ve covered some of them on this blog before. You should be able to find a cruise line that’s right for you, and hopefully if you’ve read some of our posts you’ll know the best time to book depending on where you want to go (if you’ve not read it, make that your mission after reading this one). But what if you don’t know where to go?

We’ve written on destinations in the past, talking about what’s there to see, but what if you’ve read all of these and you can’t pick between them? Well there are a number of ways you can narrow down your itinerary choice, and here are just some of them:

#1 – A long-held desire

Maybe there’s somewhere you’ve just always wanted to see. Sounds obvious but if it’s accessible by cruise, why wouldn’t you consider it? This is a perfectly valid reason and can sway your decision, but there’s a caveat – a cruise isn’t necessarily going to give you a huge amount of time to explore.

Say for example you’ve dreamt of seeing Rome. You find a sailing that includes a stop at Civitavecchia, so you’re onto a winner, right? But you’re only there for the day, and by the time you’ve transferred from the port you’ve only got the time to see one or two attractions in detail, or a whistle-stop tour of the landmarks. So yes, if you’ve always wanted to see a city or a port, take that into consideration, but don’t forget the nature of a cruise.

#2 – Distance between ports

It depends on your itinerary but some regions have more days at sea than others, just because the ports are further apart. So you need to think about your own personality and what kind of holiday you enjoy the most – if you’re the sort of person who can spend multiple days at sea just relaxing, taking advantage of the on-board facilities, then you’ll be fine but if you get bored easily then you may want to look to voyages in more compact areas.

#3 – Who is travelling

This is another fairly obvious point but consider whether you’re travelling with children, and if there’ll be enough at the destinations to keep them entertained. A number of cruise lines have excursions tailored to family groups, while places with beaches such as the Caribbean are always fun – your only consideration then is getting them there: would they be happy on a Transatlantic cruise or on a flight, or would they simply be bored?

It’s not just children who need extra thought though. A number of cities, particularly those with a heavy medieval influence in the architecture, may be a challenge for anyone with mobility issues. While there are usually driving tours to enjoy, sometimes you just cannot fully enjoy a destination if you can’t get up close and inside with ease.

I’m going to leave this here before I end up rambling for too long, so look out for part two when I go into detail on the types of attractions, travel time and more.

By Ian Lewis
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