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All in Cruise Destination
A Day Ashore in Abu Dhabi
A portExplore Port Profile of Abu Dhabi - information for Cruisers on what to do, where to go and how to do it!
Although we had a plan for each port, it wasn’t as detailed as we would normally expect to have! So on this particular morning our plan was simple… leave ship, get taxi to the fictional Honoré, in reality a pretty village called Deshaies on the north coast of Basse-Terre, a forty kilometre, one hour drive to the north coast of the island. Sorted!
Back at the start of the year - when the world looked very, very different and we had no idea how lucky we were - we took cruise on a Dubai - Singapore route onboard Celebrity Constellation. As we were travelling to some completely unfamiliar countries and ports we decided to change our usual DIY approach to going ashore for a couple of ports partly also because we had some very short days in port. A recommendation in talkExplore Facebook group led us to take a look at the excursions from the Viator Company.
I wanted to share my thoughts on our ‘worst ever’ port excursion as we learnt some important lessons from it, both about the questions you should ask when booking a shore excursion and also about what we took ashore with us that day. We were visiting Laem Chabang in Thailand on a Princess Cruise, which is what we call a ‘FOR’ port - a large industrial port ‘FOR’ Bangkok which is actually 125km away…
‘FOR’ & why that one little word means your cruise may not be taking you to exactly where you think you’re going!
On Valentines day I was thinking about the title of ‘Most Romantic City in the World’ in relation to cruise destinations and for me the most romantic destination for cruisers it just HAS to be Venice! I know the title is meant for Paris, but much as I like Le Havre it doesn’t seem a very Romantic cruise destination!! So I’m voting for Venice (for as long as they’ll have us!) and it was while I was looking for some pictures from my various visits that I thought that I should tell you the story of how PortExplore was born in Venice…
DOVER... The majority of visitors to Dover arrive through the frankly uninspiring Ferry Port on the Eastern side of Dover Harbour, drive off the ferry and get out of Dover as fast as they can Others arrive at the Western Docks by cruise ship and are herded onto a coach trip to see the sights of London! So while most of these arriving passengers will have spotted the famous white cliffs from the sea and some may even have noticed the famous Dover Castle perched high above the port they are missing out on some real hidden gems. There is a lot more to Britains oldest port than white cliffs so make time on your visit for a little portExplore.…
Sailaway - safely back onboard ship and the perfect time to reflect on an awesome day spent ashore!
But the perfect day isn't something that just happens is it? It needs planning!
And it's difficult to plan ahead at the moment because the rules on cruising are changing all the time.
So we have thought about the best way to move forward in the current uncertainty.
Read our Blog post GOING ASHORE and see if you agree...
Sitka, on the Pacific Coast of Barenof Island in Alaska, is one of the more unusual ports to see featured on an Alaskan itinerary. Originally built by Russian traders in the early 1800’s it has a very different feel to the wild west, gold rush mining towns that form most of the other ports of call in the area and is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance!
I wanted to share my thoughts on our ‘worst ever’ port excursion as we learnt some important lessons from it, both about the questions you should ask when booking a shore excursion and also about what we took ashore with us that day. We were visiting Laem Chabang in Thailand on a Princess Cruise, which is what we call a ‘FOR’ port - a large industrial port ‘FOR’ Bangkok which is actually 125km away…
The Singapore Tourism Board has announced that the pilot scheme will begin with itineraries offered by two lines that are based there − Genting Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean - beginning with a short itinerary for Gentings newest ship, World Dream, leaving Singapore on November 6th
