Africa River Cruise & Safari with AMA Waterways review

My Favorite Cruises- Part 2!!

Around 5 years ago we wrote a blog post titled “Our Favorite Cruises”.

In there, we tried our best to answer a common question we get often.

At that time we had done 27 cruises and now we’ve done 56 in total so that question hasn’t stopped being asked to us, in fact, we get it more often then ever! 🙂

So, here’s “Part 2” to that first post to help answer the question you may have for us…

“Of your 56 Cruises, which was your favorite?”

(FYI, this new post will tell you our favorites of our last 29 Cruises… our part 1 post “Our Favorite Cruises” will tell you what we enjoyed the most after our first 27 sailings… but keep in mind that post was 5 years ago so some of the “finer details” may be out of date.)

Without further ado, here they are:

14 Night “Africa River Cruise & Safari” with AMA Waterways

Africa River Cruise & Safari with AMA Waterways reviewWe did this Cruise in June, 2017 and till then it was almost impossible for us to answer the question “Yeah, but if you had to pick just ONE Cruise, which is your favorite?” But now, if we absolutely had to pick our best trip ever, this would be it as there’s something magical about a visit to Africa. Between our time in Cape Town, our sailing on the Chobe River, our visit to Victoria Falls, our time in Johannesburg and our 3 day Safari in Krueger Park it was pretty much a perfect itinerary! Beautiful scenery, Beautiful nature, Beautiful people, Beautiful animals, Amazing history, Great food, etc. This trip had it all!! You can see our full review of our Africa River Cruise & Safari here.

 

7 Night “Galapagos” Cruise with Lindblad Expeditions

seeing Giant Tortoises in Galapagos lindblad expeditionsAs we say in our Galapagos Islands Cruise review this is probably the most under-promoted Cruise in the World compared to what it should be! It truly is a magical destination with some of the most unique Animals you’ll ever come across… and the terrain that you’ll walk about to see these creatures is unique itself. As is the fact that ALL your exploring is done by Zodiaks, hiking, nature walks, snorkelling, etc. so this is not one of those sit back and relax and eat till your hearts content Cruises… it’s exciting & adventurous!! 🙂 And on top of all that, it’s the perfect Cruise to add a visit to Machu Picchu which made our overall experience a simply Fabulous one! 🙂

 

11 Night “Blue Danube” River Cruise with Tauck

We’ve done pretty much every River Cruise there is to do in Europe but for sure the upper Danube River was one of our favorites as visiting Epic cities like Budapest, Vienna & Prague is a treat in itself… so much Beauty & History everywhere you look in these destinations! And as Tauck offers very exclusive excursions like a private dinner & musical performance at the Akademia Club in Budapest, at a Private Palace in Vienna and in a Private Palace in Prague Castle it truly left us with Memories that will last a lifetime!! Here’s our full review of our “Blue Danube” River Cruise.

 

10 Night “Tahiti & French Polynesia” Cruise with Paul Gauguin Cruises

paul guaguin tahiti cruiseTahiti is “Paradise on Earth”… enough said… you have to go there! 🙂 Okay, even though we could leave it at that we’ll say a few more things about this BEAUTIFUL destination! You’ll truly be hard pressed to find warmer/more clear/more inviting waters then here so if you like to snorkel or dive or wade in the water at the beach it’s a perfect spot for you! And Paul Gauguin’s private island is one of the best spots in the World for this! FYI, this region is very non-modernized like some other warm weather places… it has the charm that Hawaii lost many years ago. And going on Paul Gauguin Cruises is the perfect way to see this area for so many reasons… you can read our Tahiti & French Polynesia Cruise review to learn why.

 

7 Night “Douro” River Cruise in Portugal & Spain with Uniworld

Nancy and shawn power portugal river cruise reviewAs mentioned earlier, we’ve sailed pretty much every River there is to sail in Europe but none were more Scenic then the Douro! It’s a short River only taking about 1.5 days to sail from one end to the other but it packs a punch with valley after valley, beautiful winery after winery, etc. As soon as we started this trip in Porto we were fascinated by the scenery as this hillside city is one of the most unique settings in Europe. Whether you’re a wine/port fan or not (personally, Port is a little too strong for our taste buds! :-)) you’ll love the settings where these aromatic concoctions are created! Here’s our full review of our Douro River Cruise in Portugal & Spain.

 

14 Night “Mekong” River Cruise in Vietnam & Cambodia with Uniworld

Angkor Wat

Three times now we’ve been to Asia (we’ve also done a Yangtze River Cruise in China and an Irrawaddy River Cruise in Myanmar/Burma) and we have to say, we’ve loved all of our experiences there… the people are so nice, the history is epic, the food is yummy and it’s simply an Exotic part of the World to visit! And our Cruise on the “Mekong” River in Vietnam & Cambodia was no exception… visit here to check out our review of that sailing.

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7 Night “Rhine” River Cruise with AMA Waterways

Rhine Gorge AMA waterways river cruiseThere are so many wonderful Rivers to sail in Europe but if you’re a newbie to River Cruising and want to know which River is perfect to see what a River Cruise is all about, then the “Rhine” River may be just what you’re looking for! It’s a perfect combination of a nice amount of sailing time, gorgeous scenery (the “Rhine Gorge” is something else with it’s dozens of Castles lining the shores like you see in this picture above) and you get to visit diverse cities & countries like Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Cologne & Rudesheim in Germany, Strasbourg in France, etc. If you check out our Rhine River Cruise review you’ll get a great feel for what this sailing is all about.

 

11 Night “Nile” River Cruise in Egypt with Uniworld

egypt river cruises reviewWe did this sailing less then a year ago and even though the News makes it sound like it’s a Country you shouldn’t visit right now, we beg to differ! The sites you see in Egypt are some of the most magnificent in the World… the Pyramids and Temples in this region will leave you in awe! And like many of the other Exotic places we’ve been, the people are gracious (despite what you hear on the news), the culture is fascinating and again we got to try some yummy, unique foods. And yes, we felt 100% safe the whole time! The attractions we visited are more secure then most in North America and EVERYBODY was super welcoming… as you’ll see in our Nile Cruise review we had a fabulous time and it was another trip of a lifetime!

 

7 Night “Burgundy & Provence” River Cruise with Uniworld

Nancy & Shawn Kayaking on the Gardon RiverA little over two years ago we did 3 back to back to back River Cruises in France. We started with Paris & Normandy, followed it with Bordeaux and then finished with what we’re describing now. Although we really enjoyed them all and overall fell in Love with France way more then we expected to (we thought France was nothing more then Paris but that’s just a spec if it!) our favorite of our 3 sailings there was on the “Rhone” River in Southern France… we simply thought it was the most diverse & scenic of the 3… as you’ll see in our “Burgundy & Provence” River Cruise Review, if you choose to do this sailing, you “for sure” won’t be disappointed!

 

As you’ll see above, a common theme when it comes to the first 9 cruises we mentioned is that they were all very destination focused Cruises. They were about visiting a Fabulous new place in the World and being immersed into the Culture… and we for sure love those types of trips!

But…

…sometimes, you want to get onboard a Cruise and be pampered and couldn’t care less were it goes…we for sure love those types of trips too! 🙂

So here’s 3 that stuck out for us when it comes to the onboard experience… maybe they’ll appeal to you too!

 

7 Night “Greek Isles & Turkey” Cruise onboard “Silver Spirit”

butler service on silversea silver spiritLike Regent, Crystal & Seabourn… Silversea is considered a 5+ Star Luxury Cruise Company. And they don’t disappoint! EVERY room onboard our Ship was a Suite! We stayed in one of the most basic balcony rooms onboard and as you’ll see in our Silversea Review it was way, way better then even some of the best rooms on the big mass market lines. And EVERY room came with Butler Service. Also, ALL tips & ALL drinks were included onboard and the food & service was impeccable! If you have a hefty budget for your next Cruise and want to get a taste of the “Luxury Life” (without the pretension) then consider a sailing with Silversea or one of the other Luxury lines!

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12 Night Caribbean Cruise onboard Azamara Quest… in the “Owner’s Suite”

Azamara Ocean & Owners Club CruisesWe liked this Cruise for a couple of reasons. First off, if a Cruise on a Luxury line like Silversea, Regent, Crystal or Seabourn isn’t in your budget then an “Upper Premium” line like Azamara (or Oceania or Viking) may be for you as it’s a great value as we describe in this post. Also, we were super lucky to be upgraded to the “Owner’s Suite” which was quite the experiencewe describe that experience here and talk about some of the highlights like the private dinner in the Library for a few lucky guests. Overall, after sailing on Azamara 3 times and Oceania twice, we find “Upper Premium” Cruiselines to be a great alternative to big, mass market ships!

 

7 Night Alaska Cruise onboard Celebrity Infinity in a “Penthouse Suite”

celebrity royal suite patioSpeaking of big/mass market ships (Carnival, Norwegian, Royal, Holland, Princess, Celebrity) after having now sailed on many small “Upper Premium” & “Luxury” & “River Cruise” ships we were pretty much done with big ships… in our opinion they’re way too crowded, you get nickelled & dimed to death and in our minds why would we want to spend our vacation money on those types of Cruises when there’s way better options out there! Well, last year we sailed in a Suite on Celebrity Cruises and they totally changed our minds about what a big ship can be like. Now don’t get us wrong, we recently sailed on a big ship in a regular balcony room and the experience was as bad as we expected but if you want to go on a big ship as you love the multitude of entertainment and lots of people to mingle with then consider a Suite as it can change your whole experience (as it’s way more inclusive & exclusive!) as we talk about in our Celebrity Suite review here.

 

So there you go, that was “Part 2” of our top Favorite Cruises so far… hopefully they’ll give you an idea or two for your next Journey! 🙂

And as always, if you’re ready to hit the Seas and take your first, or next Cruise, get a hold of Shawn as it’d be his pleasure to help you plan & book it. After all, he loves hearing from YOU and since his favorite topic is cruises, it’s a win win!! 🙂

We appreciate YOU!

Nancy & Shawn
Your Trusted Cruise Experts!

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