Friday, April 15, 2016

Excellent Cruise and Port of Call Information

Whether you are just going on your first cruise, have cruised a couple of times, or are a veteran cruiser (the category I put myself in with over 30 under my belt), the absolute best resource I have found is the board on Cruise Critic.

This forum is used by cruisers all over the world. Whether you want to know about a specific cruise line or ship, or want details on what to see and do (and how to do it) in a port of call, this forum should be your first stop.

On a cruise in October, 2015, one of our ports of call (POC) was Istanbul. Not being a big fan of ship shore excursions, I found excellent information on the forum on how to do it ourselves. (I simply used the Search feature, typed in Istanbul, selected the Ports of Call forum, Europe, Other Mediterranean Ports, hit Search Now and a wealth of information was made available to me. So much so that my husband and I were able to do Istanbul on our own, using the tram and visiting the highlights of the Blue Mosque, Topkapi and the Aya Sofia. And everything worked out perfectly.

On an upcoming trip one of our stops will be Casablanca. Back to the forum to find out that everyone who had posted in response to a request about Casablanca said to get out of the city and visit either Rabat or Marrakesh. And almost everyone who went to Marrakesh said to take the ship's excursion because of horrible traffic and the possibility of arriving back late into port.

Want to meet some of your fellow passengers before boarding ship? Join your ship's Roll Call. Thinking about river cruising? There's a forum for that too. Travel with a wheelchair? You'll find help with that also.

Yes, it may take a little while to get the hang of the forum (for instance, responses to threads you post in will be displayed when you click CP on the tab bar at the top) but don't let that defer you. There is just too much great information and help here to pass up on.

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