Alaskan Cruise or Misssippi River Cruise.

I'd do a week up in Banff, BC. it's very pretty.

quote:

Originally posted by mholmes:
Live in TN, would like to hear from ones that have done Viking or Alaska cruises

Your state is one of my favorites to visit. When I need a country ham or BBQ fix.

quote:

Originally posted by sunburn:
They are, it is very slow and everything comes in by boat or barge of course. Thousand a day to ferry your crew back and forth. Any quantity of material is by barge and you pay out of pocket until/if insurance pays. Contractors are overwhelmed with work, most pass on the hassle of the out islands.
Apologies to OP for the thread drift.

Thank you for the update and I apologize for the drift as well.

To keep on topic I'll give my second go-to suggestion which is Sedona, AZ. The scenery is second to none, and you can do as much or as little walking as you want. There are plenty of shops if you like that, jeep and other tours if you prefer, and amazing food. There are also lots of winerys nearby if you're into that. Among others things.

Yeah, unfortunately, $6K ain't going to get you much these days, especially overseas. The airfare alone will cost you most of that.

I'd suggest putting off the trip a few months and doing a drive through New England in the fall. It'll change your life

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Originally posted by flashguy:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:

quote:

Originally posted by scratchy:
In the summer, I'd opt to visit Quebec City and
it's surroundings.

Edit to add: Costa Rica is always cool.

I would second Quebec City and Old Montreal. Very quaint and European feel closer by.

Quebec City has a lot to see. There are also day trips to Montmorency Falls, Basilica of Ste. Anne de Beaupré, and the Ile l'Orleans. Photos of that tour here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...202/with/6091283762/ and here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...57631963948981/page2 (second page).

flashguy

One of the trips to Canada on my list is to go to Montreal during their comedy festival. This year, it's July 14 to 29th.

Quebec City is 3 hours away so one could easily do Montreal Comedy Festival and Quebec City on one trip.

Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean

You should be able to stay in your budget with airfare. Mature crowd and amazing service

We are doing Spain and Portugal in October

https://www.celebritycruises.com/

quote:

Originally posted by mholmes:
Live in TN, would like to hear from ones that have done Viking or Alaska cruises

Viking is a premium river cruise line, adults only, much more sophisticated experience, more cultural enrichment than a lower-end operation. The beauty of European river cruising is you'll hit major historic areas, cities with deep history and location wise, you're not too far from sites of interest.


For Alaska cruising, Princess Cruises is the dominant player, not only do they have the ships but, also the buses and rail cars for overland trips; Holland America and Celebrity are also the big lines that cruise Alaska. I've had several friends travel via Costco Travel package and they were pleased with their trip. Not stuffy or, overly sophisticated but, definitely not a booze-cruise or, Wal-Mart-on-the-waves experience. Shore excursions could either be booked in advanced in your package or, separately as they come up.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean

Is there any cruise they do that won’t need bail? For you or crew?

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Celebrity cruise in the Mediterranean

Is there any cruise they do that won’t need bail? For you or crew?

Wut?

quote:

Originally posted by mholmes:
Live in TN, would like to hear from ones that have done Viking or Alaska cruises

I've not done any Viking cruises, but have done some Avalon Waterways (Globus) ones that were very similar. I've posted links to my photos of those earlier.

I've done 2 Alaska cruises, but as part of tours by John Hall's Alaska. One was a big boat cruise of the Inside Passage on the Ryndam (Holland American) from Seward, AK to Vancouver, BC. It was nice. Photos here https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157601967848026/ beginning with Day 14.

The other was a cruise on a small boat (the Baranof Dream, search web for vendors) that began in Skagway, AK and ended in Sitka, AK. It traveled to many small ports the big ships can't do, and was really great. Photos here https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157648510965310/ beginning on Day 10.

In 2021 I did a cruise of the Snake and Columbia Rivers (WA and OR) with American Cruise Lines. They offer cruises of the Mississippi River, too. They may be too expensive for you. Photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157719908474971/.

The only other cruises I've done were some years ago. In 2006 a cruise of the Mediterranean Sea and Turkey, photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157600960852061/ and in 2008 a cruise of the Baltic Sea, which I thoroughly enjoyed, photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157606977706995/. I suspect those are over your budget, too.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:

quote:

Originally posted by mholmes:
As the title says, looking for vacation ideas for my wife and me. Can be in the states or out. Time frame would be July - August. We’ve done all inclusive to the Dominican, and Jamaica before so don’t want a repeat of that. While I like historical things that’s not her cup of tea so please exclude those ideas. Also, renting an RV and touring national parks isn’t in the plans.

So are you opposed to the Natl parks or just opposed to renting a RV to checkout the Natl parks? Yellowstone, Glacier and Badlands Natl parks are amazing and you can just drive your car instead of renting an RV or fly to Montana and then rent a car. If you've never been to any of the three parks I mentioned you're really missing out on the beauty of God's creation.

My wife and I went cross country driving twice. We hit Yellowstone on the first one and it is something to not miss. Ironically, I was stationed in Idaho Falls, ID and that was one of the places most people went to during that time but I was never much for sight seeing back then.

However, 7-8 days is not enough to go driving anywhere let alone Yellowstone. We spent a week in Yellowstone alone, most places we spent 2 or 3 days at most. If you have limited time, you want to minimize the time spent getting there and back. And spending TIME in Yellowstone is the way to enjoy it; having a clock running down in the back of your mind takes away from the pleasure of being there, I think. And maybe that's my perspective because when I was there, I didn't have a job I had to get back to.

Nothing wrong with an AK cruise, not sure about costs. There are also train rides across Canada.

Much depends on where you’ve been, and interests. Flying to a cruise could take $2k of the budget. Do you want to drive?

Sounds like it will be the heart of Summer, I’d look towards the northern tier. Do you want to sit & look out the window or drive to different sights?

Just throwing it out there, ‘great lakes tour’. That could be Traverse City, Mackinac Island, back through WI, maybe the Airventure fly-in at Oshkosh on the way back.

Again, we really don’t know all your interests & where you’ve been. I can gin up a trip with zero reservations, others want everything reserved.

Some here can be happy on the ‘bourbon trail’, the next may spend 5 days going over every bit of Gettysburg history.

Corsair's Viking video was spot on. For two more days they're offering free airfare for European river cruises:

https://www.vikingrivercruises...ns/europe/index.html

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
For Alaska cruising, Princess Cruises is the dominant player, not only do they have the ships but, also the buses and rail cars for overland trips;

I lived in Alaska for 5 years and the joke was when you traveled Princess you’d never set foot in anything not owned by Princess or they weren’t getting a cut. I’m sure it’s nice (the Princess hotel I stayed in was), but people need to be certain it’s the type of travel (highly scripted, employees do same thing every day, etc) you like. I’m not the type of traveler who likes being lead around by his nose.

We did our Alaska cruise out of Vancouver, got there a couple of days early to enjoy some of the city, and buy some Cuban Cigars for the cruise.

The Inner passage out was nice, sun was out for the first part of the trip, the view is fantastic.

It did get cold of course at night, making after dinner cigars on the deck a bit chilly, but enjoyable.

Weather is the issue, if you get nice weather you'll have fantastic views of the ocean, coast and glaciers. Everything you read here about the stops at cities is accurate.

The long time at sea once out of the inner passage up to the Glacier at the farthest point can get a bit boring especially if the weather prevents spending time outside on the deck.

Fly to Zurich and take the train to Interlakken. Stay a week in Lauterbrunnen exploring the many waterfalls, small villages, incredible views, and wonderful hiking trails. Doable for $6K.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
For Alaska cruising, Princess Cruises is the dominant player, not only do they have the ships but, also the buses and rail cars for overland trips;

I lived in Alaska for 5 years and the joke was when you traveled Princess you’d never set foot in anything not owned by Princess or they weren’t getting a cut. I’m sure it’s nice (the Princess hotel I stayed in was), but people need to be certain it’s the type of travel (highly scripted, employees do same thing every day, etc) you like. I’m not the type of traveler who likes being lead around by his nose.

It's only gotten worse. Now they're looking at building an international airport right at Denali Park so what little bit they didn't have full control of, will be within their network also. The only real money that gets pumped into Alaska from cruises...are the docking fees. Even 90% of the employees are foreign.

quote:

Originally posted by AKSuperDually:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
For Alaska cruising, Princess Cruises is the dominant player, not only do they have the ships but, also the buses and rail cars for overland trips;

I lived in Alaska for 5 years and the joke was when you traveled Princess you’d never set foot in anything not owned by Princess or they weren’t getting a cut. I’m sure it’s nice (the Princess hotel I stayed in was), but people need to be certain it’s the type of travel (highly scripted, employees do same thing every day, etc) you like. I’m not the type of traveler who likes being lead around by his nose.

It's only gotten worse. Now they're looking at building an international airport right at Denali Park so what little bit they didn't have full control of, will be within their network also. The only real money that gets pumped into Alaska from cruises...are the docking fees. Even 90% of the employees are foreign.

The ugly side of the cruise industry, while very convenient, depending on cruise-line and itinerary package, you're completely insulated from the location you're visiting. Might as well go to Disneyland for an isolated, curated environment, detached from wherever you're at. Venice Italy pushed back hard and limited cruise ship visits because of the disparity those ships brought and nobody benefited. For visiting Alaska, I get it, for the majority of people, it's their ONLY time visiting the state, and the Inland Passage is isolated so, travel by ship is the easiest way to see things.

I think this is the biggest advantage of river cruises versus big cruise ship trips- the entertainment is outside on shore, I don't need to be wowed by endless onboard amenities, where you tie-up is usually in the middle of city/town you're visiting you don't have to get herded around, I'm not a fan of crowds as river ships are much smaller, food quality generally better, shore excursions are included versus big ships which have a constant upselling presence.

^^^^^ I've been to Alaska 3 times, all hosted by John Hall's Alaska. Two of the tours included cruises (mentioned earlier). I don't think I'd plan on seeing Alaska via a cruise vendor. John Hall's team does a great job (kissalaska.com). I strongly recommend them, but they aren't in your budget.

FWIW, I just received this offer from Viking: https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folde...enReGY_yUnwAyyGv5Q7E. It offers several river cruises that are within your budget. Another nice thing about river cruises is that there is always something to see on shore. Food choices are not as varied as big ships offer, but I've always found them adequate.

flashguy