winter cruises

Winter Cruises

Here are 8 destinations for winter cruises that take you from Hawaii to Cairo. Also listed, are details of places you shouldn't miss while on these cruises. These cruise destinations are some of the best places to go on a cruise, during the months of winter. Read on to know more about how you can plan that winter cruise...

No one likes spending winter at home, with the surrounding darkness and the chill setting in. Most of offices and schools are shut due to snow, and there is a limit to things you can do at home. Almost all families opt for a holiday during this time of the year. Winter cruises have always been a common, and favorite option to spend the winter vacations. Everyone looks forward to these cruises and so, the bookings are done weeks, sometimes months, before the season actually arrives. Here are few of the best places to go on cruise vacation, places that will take you away to some sun. Deciding the destination, and then the cruise, needs to be done in time. Though these destinations will take you closer to coming to a decision, you also have to take the monetary aspect into consideration. The best way to go about it, is to take a poll on these options and finalize one. Read through the entire article and zero in on a place of your choice. ♦♦ Best Winter Cruise Destinations
Hawaii Hawaii is, and has always been one of the most favorite destinations for winter cruises. There is so much you can do here, the best part being that, it gives you a feeling of being far away from the world. You can go snorkeling with sea turtles and dolphins, or horseback on the shoreline. You can eat some amazing food in Honolulu and hike across the lava fields of Hawaii's lunar landscapes. The acrobatics show in Hawaii's famous shore break is another activity you would want to watch when you are cruising there. Some of the famous vacation spots in Hawaii are Oahu, Maui, Kauai beaches and Hawaii, the Big Island. Kauai is nicknamed the Green Island as it is a lush green paradise with rain forests, where the movie Jurassic Park was shot. In Oahu, you can enjoy some shopping, whereas in Maui you can visit Haleakala which is the worlds largest dormant volcano. Also visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, the Big Island. Hawaii beaches and islands are few of the unexplored islands in the world today, offering quiet and peace throughout the year. Hawaii vacations are a perfect way to enjoy some sun and some adventure.
The Panama Canal The Panama Canal is one of the best places to go on a cruise in the winter, as along with the sun, it offers some of the world's best architecture. All the 'ports of call' in the Panama Canal cruise, will offer you lots of shopping, water sports and some of the best scenes in Central America. However, more than these mesmerizing scenes of nature, the transit through the canal is what you should wait for. The time when the ship gets in line behind other huge number of ships, is the best time to see all the engineering skills that were applied to make this canal in the early 90's. The physics applied in lowering ships with weights of 100,000 tons is something spectacular. These interesting facts and natural settings, make this one of the most worthwhile cruises. You can take this cruise twice in a year, once in Spring from East to West, and then in the fall from West to East, the time when ships move from the Caribbean to Alaska. If you have the time and the money, you can choose for a cruise up to whichever port of call you want, on the way to Alaska or while coming back to the east. There a number of routes that you can choose from for this cruise, so make sure you choose the best.
Caribbean Islands Before planning a cruise to the Caribbean Islands, you first need to decide whether you want to travel to the Eastern, or the Western Caribbean Islands. There are a number of Islands you can visit while on a cruise to the Caribbean. Some of the must-see places, or islands in the Caribbean are Grand Cayman Island, St. Maarten, Dominica, United States Virginia Islands, Puerto Rico and Barbados. Stingray City in the Grand Cayman Island is famous for water rides and sports like scuba diving, whereas in St. Maarten, you can go for some yacht racing. In the USVI, you should visit Buck Island Reef and also go rain forest hiking in El Junque, Puerto Rico. In Barbados, don't forget to have some high tea in Sunbury. In Dominica, you can or rather should visit Champagne, as Caribbean Cruises are not complete without this one. In Champagne, in the bed, is an area where you can see famous tiny volcanic fissures which keep on releasing small bubbles in the water. On almost every island, you can go for small submarine rides. The best part about choosing winter cruises to the Caribbean islands is that you get some great variety in the places, and can cover most tourist attractions in a few days.
Mexican Riviera If you want to see some vibrant culture, and lots of beaches to explore, you should opt for the Mexican Riviera winter cruises. You can visit Cabo San Lucas, and snorkel among the most vibrant tropical fish and coral reefs, with colors that you knew nothing of. You can get some good sun on Mazatlan's spectacular beaches. Baja in Mexico is a town with beautiful beaches, just a small trip away from Bahía de los Ángeles. During this cruise, you can also visit The Starlight, a famous undersea garden in Catalina. You can go in search of whales in Los Cabos, and also trek through some exotic plantations and jungles during the entire cruise. You can also learn how to make wine, the Mexican way, in Ensenada. Many people plan yearly trips to beaches in Mexico, as apart from the beaches, it also boasts of other tourist attractions from museums to archaeological sites, and some beautiful Mexican resorts even. Cancun is another beach city in Mexico you shouldn't miss, as it has 12 miles of beautiful shores that have perhaps the best scenic waters. The Mexican beaches will make you forget the worries of winter in no time, and you'll be enjoying the heat, the food and the music far away from home.
Lake Tahoe Another winter cruise destination in the western parts of America is Lake Tahoe. This destination can be considered as one of the cheap winter cruises. The lake is set in mountains, and has some beautiful, mesmerizing, natural panoramas. Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Lake Tahoe is an exquisite, vast freshwater lake. To be precise, it is located between Nevada and California, to the west of Carson city. It is the largest alpine lake, and the second deepest with depth a depth of 1,645 feet. Summer here is spent with a dozen activities near the water. If you want to go on a small cruise and enjoy fishing, this is one of the cruises you should opt for. This destination also provides you with a tranquility like no other. There are some amazing Paddle Wheeler tours to the Emerald Bay which you might find interesting. Some of the cruises at Lake Tahoe are M.S. Dixie II, Tahoe Paradise, The Party Boat, Tahoe Queen, Tahoe Thunder, Tahoe Cruz, Tahoe Princess, Woodwing Sailing I and Woodwing Sailing II. One thing you must note, is that most of the cruises on Lake Tahoe are one day cruises. So, you should plan to stay at different locations every night to make this a longer trip, and experience all the cruises mentioned above.
♦♦ Winter Cruises Abroad
Cruise on the Nile If you are done cruising the lakes and the seas, how about cruising on a river? The best part of this cruise on the river Nile, is that you can visit a lot of places, that you usually can't if you travel by air or land. In early times, journeying through the Nile was earlier the only way to visit temples and other landscapes along the river. Apart from the advantage of having your hotel travel with you, you can visit 5,000 year old cultures that still thrive in Egypt. The duration of this winter cruise is somewhere between a minimum of three days to a maximum of 14 days. Some of the significant ports of call are Luxor, Aswan, Cairo, Dendera and a short flight to Abu Simbel even. The latter usually comes along with the longer cruises. The prices range anywhere between 55USD to 350USD per night, depending upon the cruise line you opt for. During Christmas and Easter, there is usually a price rise of 25%-50%. The longer cruises wait at Cairo for around 4 days so that you can see all the Egyptian pyramids with detail. This is really one of the best winter cruises, as it shows you the best of both land and water.
Australian Cruises There is absolutely no better way to cruise, than to cruise in Australia and wake up to an amazingly scenic destination everyday. You need to plan this cruise with precision and detailed planning, as there is so much to see. Australian cruises can be summed up of many cruises together such as the Great Barrier Reef Cruises, Whitsunday Cruises, Sydney Harbor Cruises, Murray River Cruises, Top End Australia Cruises and Fiji Site cruises. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest marine park globally, and one the places that everyone should see in their lifetime. While cruising here, smaller ships are made available to places where larger vessels don't get entry. Whitsunday Cruises will take you to the outer Great Barrier Reef where you can enjoy some adventurous snorkeling among the reefs. In the Sydney Harbor cruises, you can cruise the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers and along the Sydney Harbor too. These cruises can also be done over a weekend. Cape York Peninsula, Arnhem Land and the Coburg Peninsula are other important places included in Australian tourism that you wouldn't want to miss. Also a must, are the boat rides to the wetlands.
Mediterranean Winter Cruises Mediterranean cruises are always special as you can visit many countries in a single cruise. Few of the countries that make up the best destinations for these cruises are Italy, Turkey, Spain and Jordan. Some of the other common destinations for cruises are Athens, and Greece, which is surrounded by 4 amazing mountains and the spectacular sites of the Parthenon and Acropolis. Then you can visit Cairo in Egypt, where you can see one of the seven wonders of the world - the Pyramids. Morocco is another destination you should consider, specially the lovely culture there. While cruising in the Mediterranean, you would want to know some more destinations, just in case you find the time. Try the Regent's Freedom of Seas cruise, as it will offer everything, from an interactive water park to an ice skating ring. It also has a full-size basketball court, a miniature golf course, a rock climbing wall and cantilevered whirlpools for you to enjoy. Just like an Australian cruise, you need to plan the Mediterranean cruises with absolute detail as there are many variations to it. So far, the Mediterranean cruises offer the most variety in destinations and places right from the northern hemisphere to the southern.
These were some of the unique and best winter cruises. I hope this list of nice places to go on cruises this winter appealed to you. Winter cruise deals are always lucrative if you start searching for them as early as possible. In the winters, people from Canada come down south for these winter cruises so make sure you are fast with your bookings. Cruises are the best way to spend some time away from those cold winds, basking in the sun and enjoying the sea. Hope you have a good one too!

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