I like longer cruises. I get longer tourist time without needing to pack/unpack with less of my vacation in airplanes and airports. However, I found the 4 1/2 months of my 2019 World Cruise a bit too long – after 3, 3 1/2-months I was feeling a bit of “cabin fever”. No matter how nice a ship is and how wonderful the food, you get tired of seeing the same cabin every day.
Yes, I enjoyed the two weeks in the Galapagos last year, but the two days flying to/from were a high cost for those two weeks. One of my goals for this 2 1/2-month South America Grand Voyage was finding out if I can last that long without getting all squirrelly.
So far, so good.
Silversea bribes you with a 5% additional discount if you buy another cruise while on your current cruise. My original plan was to take a long cruise every two years, giving me 20 months to lose all the weight I put on during the cruise. COVID got in the way of that, but I can now get back on plan. So, I looked around at the upcoming cruises that go to places on my “I haven’t been there before” list.
There is a great 2025 two-weeks around Japan during cherry blossom cruise that I love. However, it conflicts with the 2025 world cruise.
My plan is to take the first half of the world cruise, going from Tokyo to Istanbul over two months.
The first half of this covers Asia, and I have been there before, but this cruise visits many ports I have not been to. But the big things are:
- Mumbai – it takes the ship seven days to travel to the Red Sea. Silversea offers a seven-day “field trip” into the Indian interior then flying to Jeddah to re-join the ship. I so am doing that.
- Istanbul – are you kidding? I could spend a day in Hagia Sophia alone. Since that is the end of my cruise, I would stay a few days and discover more of Turkey.
I’ve placed a down payment of this cruise, so this is now the next cruise. So, I now have a deadline to fit back into my “thinner” tux. Wish me luck.