We find that cruises offer a great opportunity to sail around and see various new ports of call. The new ports of call can eventually turn into destination vacations if we really find we like the specific port of call enough. By cruising to new and exciting destinations around the world we can sample different areas while cruising.
Some cruises are more port intensive than others. These port intensive cruises serve a good purpose for those scoping out places to return in the future. Of course some folks only ever want to get a quick flavor of each port which is fine. We’ve been to many ports where we were happy to just get a flavor of them while the ship was in port and others we will see again on a longer vacation. Why this works so well for us, is the advertising for various ports of call make them sound like a great place for a long vacation but when we visit them on the ship we find they are good for a day maybe two only.
We cruise to both see ports we will see again on land vacations and to get to some ports that are good only for a day at a time as we see them. The Western Caribbean cruises we like are great for getting to some ports for a day of activity and then off for more similar ports. Several of these ports we like as day stops but likely would not visit for a week long getaway. That said I will go to Grand Cayman for a week at some point to relax and enjoy some great diving and snorkeling there.
On our recent Asian cruise, we visited a port in Viet Nam that we expected would be a quick port of call stop only. Wow were we amazed, when we go back to Viet Nam, I hope we can spend a few days there in addition to traveling between other key historical points there. Nha Trang is a beautifully coastal city with the modern buildings you expect to see in a big city of the Western world and the old world charm of the countryside in Asia. The water and beaches there are so incredibly beautiful and all of the people we met were very friendly.
Some ports used by cruise ships are primarily ship based ports of call as they don’t have much to do if you were to fly in. It would be nice to see fewer of these commercial venture ports go away and more new ports added on the Caribbean sailings where we can see more of what makes the country special. Some of this has happened in Belize and Honduras. These ports are relatively new and were designed to allow cruisers to interact with locals, see great things and possibly decide to come back. Both are great places for those who love to scuba dive or snorkel and have many great resorts to go back to see again.
So when I cruise to new destinations I like to see if the ports would serve as great places to come back and spend a week. In the Southern Caribbean I’ve found several islands I’d love to spend a week enjoying. In Asia we found a gem we never expected to be such an exciting stop. These are just a couple examples of why cruising can be a great way to sample places for future visits.
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