I’d love the information for the Norwegian fjords myself. I used to work with a woman who did barge cruises every year in France and loved it. Very slow movement and time to get off the barge in small towns and relax and enjoy.
A good friend of mine and her husband have just booked Seaborn for next summer departing Copenhagen and going to Tallinn, Helsink and St. Petersburg…
Check out Windstar . Small ships, more casual than Seabourn or Crystal but still elegant, small ships with sails that may appeal to your in laws. http://www.windstarcruises.com/yachts
Sevmom We were on the Celebrity Equinox (or was it the Eclipse?) I’ve been on Princess, Windstar, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas and for a fairly large ship (2800) I think Celebrity does a nice job. We would have preferred a smaller ship, but none had the itinerary we wanted at the time we needed, but I had no complaints at all about our cruise. In fact, we’ve booked the Celebrity Eclipse for a Baltic cruise next summer.
Proud Mary, I really also like Celebrity-was on the Infinity to Alaska and coincidentally, that ended up being the same ship we had for a British Isles cruise. Have fun on your Baltic cruise next year!
@mom60 - I’m going to put in a recommendation for Windstar Cruises like @sevmom in post #41. My parents took one of their cruises around the Greek Islands and loved it. They are not inveterate boaters like your in-laws but they appreciated that the smaller ship (148 people) was able to get in an out of ports the larger cruise ships had to pass by because of their size. I believe they stopped every day which would be nice for the younger adults in your group. Your in-laws could pick and choose their activities based on how active they wanted to be on any given day. I’d love to take my kids and their SOs on a couple of those cruises…
i love cruises that are port intensive. And as @SyrAlum says ,stopping in ports should keep the young adults happy. A couple of Windstar’s older ships don’t seem to have elevators, so I would double check if you do look at all at Windstar and take that into consideration if you think anyone in the group will have issues with steps. And look at deck plans in terms of any ship or any cruise line to look for a cabin location that works best for your needs ( near an elevator or stairs , closer to the restaurant or fitness area, etc.).
https://www.rssc.com/cruises/default.aspx?m=&r=&dy=&sh=&p=&sp=
Regent Seven Seas Cruises- they are not cheap, but the ships are smaller, and very nice!
Looking at the link you posted above, @thumper1, one nice thing that helps offset the cost somewhat is that everything is included - gratuities, unlimited shore excursions, etc. Not sure if this is typical of the luxury cruise category or not.
We went on a cruise…and believe me…it was NOT $10,000 a person even with all the extras.
But this family is looking for something special, and a smaller ship. It might be good. Friends choose this one because it was smaller. But I’m going to guess that at $10,000 plus per person, the crowd would tend toward an older group…and maybe not families with even college age kids.
Seriously, once you start getting into the neighborhood of $10K per head, and are bringing many people, it would be better to charter a yacht of some kind and tailor make your itinerary. The added benefit in places like Alaska and the fjords is being able to go where the bigger boats can’t.
how about an easier closer option not a lot of people have heard of…
15 people from 3 generations getting too and from europe in itself would be an less a vacation and more of a logistics nightmare and stressful. (IMO)
this could be different,interesting and easy to get to and from. and less stressful (what vacations should be about…no stress!!!)
http://www.americancruiselines.com/
@doschicos , I have to admit that Below Deck on Bravo (about yacht charters) is a guilty pleasure. I love Captain Lee and Chef Ben. Agree that chartering a yacht (in this case , in Europe) could be worth looking into , since 15 people are involved and budget is not a big concern…
We’ve taken two cruises to see total solar eclipses. The one in the South Pacific in 2005 was viewed only by the Paul Gauguin and Discovery, near Pitcairn Island.
Discovery was the previous ship of the “Voyages of Discovery” line and was about 700 passengers. (It was the sister ship of the Love Boat, so seemed very familiar.) Their new ship, Voyager, holds 540 passengers, so might still be a bit larger than you want, but certainly not as huge as the Princess trips. When we went, we were super impressed with the food, activities, lectures, crew, port activities, etc with Voyages of Discovery. Their website shows a number of cruises to various parts of Europe. They were very multigenerational, though only two families (us included) had young kids. Aside from the eclipse chasers, there were a number of older passengers who were aboard the ship for 3-6 month trips. We got on the ship in Tahiti and our leg of the cruise ended at Easter Island, which we loved.
We also heard great reviews from people who were on the Paul Gauguin for the eclipse. I think they went to the Galapagos after the eclipse. I agree that they are Galapagos specialists.
Our other cruise was with MSC Cruises in Europe. We had a great time because the land stops were super: Pompeii, Egypt, 2 stops in Libya, and Malta. The food on the ship was a disappointment, however.
Lots of yacht charters in the Galapagos as well. http://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=stella-maris-9137
Wow–a yacht charter does sound like a memorable once in a lifetime (or at least rare) gig that would be worthwhile considering if price isn’t a barrier.
How do the young adults of this group feel about cruising? To me, cruising on a medium to large cruise ship does not sound like something active young adults would enjoy.
My college kids would totally love a cruise through the fjords of Norway or to the Galapagos. Both itineraries would incorporate physical activity and, for the Fjords, many ports of call. Plus, my kids like family reunion type events and would have no problem hanging out with the generation or two above them, eating good food and drinking wine, discussing all kinds of things between stops or during the evenings. Is this atypical of college aged young adults?
OP here- so many great ideas. I hope this thread can benefit others not just my family.
I need to make a phone call to my MIL and find out what cruise company her friends used. I think that will help me determine what price range she is thinking. @“Cardinal Fang” does bring up a good point. A couple of summers ago they rented a beautiful house in a small village in Provence. The kids could walk to the village but otherwise we all had to pile into 2 minivans. That was an issue in getting everyone ready to go at the same time. We had lovely family time but I think the younger family members would have like something more active. My D felt we could have had the same experience much closer to home. @doschicos My kids and the cousins love being together and don’t have a problem interacting with all the generations. I don’t feel they need a trip with a lot of young people around but I think they would like to have experiences they would not have been able to afford. We went on a safari to Africa and all who went felt it was the multigenerational trip of a lifetime. Unfortunately that trip a couple family members weren’t able to go. I think the cousins would love a trip to the Galapagos or a cruise in the Mediterranean. I don’t know how much they would enjoy a river barge trip.
I also have found the ideal large family trip for us is where most of the decisions are already made. Trying to get 15 people to decide on where to eat or what to do isn’t always easy. Which is why a cruise is appealing on many levels.
I know my MIL has mentioned her desire for such a trip next summer. Narrowing it down to specific dates and amount of time away will be a challenge. I really don’t have any idea how long she is thinking. I know for my children 10-12 days total including traveling there and back will be the most they can get away. The challenge is also that the three college age cousins are on three different calendars. I know my D finished in early May but goes back mid August. 1 cousin won’t finish till mid June but doesn’t start back till late September. A couple of the working adults have some summer deadlines that make some dates not doable. The added challenge with a cruise over renting a house or even hotels is that people need to firmly commit. We have a few in the family who have a problem in that area of their lives.
I am making a list of all the cruise line suggestions. I don’t see my H wanting to be on a large private yacht. I also wouldn’t propose a trip that is 10,000 per person. My kids have a couple of long term SO that will be invited. I don’t think my MIL should have to pay for them so I think my H and I will offer to pick up those costs and I’m not spending 20000 to bring them along.
@“Cardinal Fang” can you post the link for your tulip bike/ barge trip. I thought you had but I can’t find it. My good friend wants to do a bike trip during tulip blooming season next spring.
Have you ever considered any of the museum or alumni travel programs? I know people who have gone on small-ship sailing cruises with the Met and have liked it.
http://www.metmuseum.org/join-and-give/travel-with-the-met
I’d be curious to hear from others about this option.
(I’ve never been on a cruise but I’m following this thread with interest).
My inlaws (in their 70’s) are heavy duty cruisers. They are of sound mind (well my MIL is nuts, but you know what I mean) and fairly sound body (capable of walking miles and doing stairs).
They say do not take those old people on the Galapagos cruise. They did it about a decade ago and it wiped them out.
She also wouldn’t recommend really long flights as FIL ended up with a blood clot in his leg from a trip to Australia. He also got a UTI during a trip to China that was no fun. Long flights are really taxing.
They do love the river cruises in Europe.
Their flat-out favorite cruise to do is the Alaska cruise on the super high end lines. Few, if any kids, amazing amenities, and, as she says “they cater to old people and old people problems”. I asked her what the name of the line she cruises but she didn’t put it in her email.
Look up cruises that run about 25k for the concierge level + personal butler and that’s the cruise they take. They have friends who are in their early 90’s who cruise with them, so that line does a very good job with the old folks, but they still do crazy fun stuff like helicopter rides over glaciers.
Ah, she said “Regent”.
We had friends who chartered a yacht and it was a total comedy of errors-it was like Captain Ron was the captain, the refrigerator died and the captain didn’t have enough money to get a new one (our friends had to cough one up if they wanted food on board), and they ran out of fuel a lot. It was seriously ridiculous, so if you go that route, do your homework and find a reputable boat and a reputable crew. If you have issues with seasickness look for catamarans-they are a lot more stable and less subject to pitching and rolling with the double hulls. (The bigger the boat, the smaller the sea feels).
@“Cardinal Fang” our teenagers love the RCCL big cruise ships like the Oasis and the Allure. They have an enforced curfew of 1 am for kids under 18, so the older teens and young adults have a lot of fun late at night on those ships.
Disney’s price for an inside stateroom on a seven night cruise is now $5000, if you can believe that. So 10k is not outlandish for a cruise.
Well, let me amend that-$5k for a disney cruise is outlandish.