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ok, here’s a couple questions, do you have an example of costs involved, and can one just do the Philippine stops?

Thanks

My cruise is an inside cabin for two, costs $3,400 for 12 nights, covers lodging food and entertainment on the ship. One cannot pay a lesser amount to get off early. In the USA the cruise lines are fined if anyone gets off early, unless they are being arrested

On 11/20/23 A 10 night cruise goes from Thailand, to Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, then stops at Puerto Princessa,  Boracay and ends in Manila.  Current price is about $1700 per passenger, in an inside cabin.  Same ship Norwegian Jewel cruises out of Manila on 11/30/23 hitting similar ports.  That one is about $2300 per passenger, inside cabins.

Imagine taking a cruise and stopping in Manila... What a s***e! 😆 🤣 Puerto Princessa.... O.k.ish... Manila... Not so much.

When we stopped in Manila we took a boat out to Corregador,  that was worth the trip.

If you like cruises, and a sampling of other places it sounds like a good itinerary. For me, having just a day (or two at most) in a port makes things too rushed. I prefer to spend the time to get to know a place, preferably for at least a week. Go at my own pace. I have done 3 Caribbean cruises that were all reward trips for work performance, all were window or small balcony. One was a really small ship, a cat.

I did enjoy the feeling of the boat traveling on the open sea, but it was always a rush when in port - going into into the island towns with limited time before you had to get back to the boat in order to set sail again. On every trip I ended up extending a week and spending it on an island somewhere and just doing relaxing things. That said, I never would have seen so many different islands if not for the cruise ship.

I suppose it is a difference in priorities and what one enjoys - I imagine a true cruiser, such as you and your wife must really enjoy the shipboard experience - the meals, entertainment, amenities, etc as much as the destinations. That would be a double win. I hope you enjoy the trip, Mugteck, it sounds like you're an experienced cruiser, so please post up how it went. There are many who would be interested I'm sure.

We have a Miami to Rome 15 nights cruise in April with stops in the Azores, Spain and France.  Spent 3 nights previously in  Barcelona,  great art and great buildings, looking forward to spending a day there again.  Gonna fly from Rome to Cyprus and spend 6 days with family . Been to Cyprus for two Greek weddings in 2014, not much else going on there.  The DMZ is nofun, no pictures allowed.

I agree that one day at most places is not enough, but it gives me a taste ,as a result we have spent 8 days in Hong Kong and 7 days in Singapore, one day in Cambodia was enough.  Planning on going back to Thailand and Vietnam.  We often spend 3 or 4 nights in the city at the start of the cruise and another 3 or 4 nights at the end of the cruise. We did a transatlantic once before and hope to do a transPacific in the future.   My dad described to me what it was like to pull into San Francisco on a ship, and I got to do that 2 years before he died.  Hoping to pull into Nagoya, Japan one day, won't be quite like when he was part of the 1945 occupation force with the 25th division.

I've never been on a cruise. Well not that kind of cruise. For a laugh back in the late nineties after I had broken up with my English GF I did a weeks cruise on a Turkish Gullet out of Marmaris in the Med. It was the first and last singles holiday I ever went on. A gullet is essentially a sailing vessel. Ours had 8 cabins. 4 girls & 4 guys. Except on this one there were 5 girls and 3 guys.

Unfortunately the chemistry just did not work. The atmosphere was so strained that in one bay we docked in I swam over to another Gullet cruise boat anchored nearby and these two gorgeous beauties invited me aboard ( I felt like the guy from the Milk Tray ad but nowhere near as butch) They asked the captain if I could transfer to their gullet as they were on the same schedule but he wasn’t having any of it. Their guest list ran to 12 but 2 of the cabins were vacant. 6 guests were from Manchester and 6 from London and they had all fallen out.

Everyone I have spoken to who has been on a major cruise liner has enjoyed the experience but I’m quite an independent person and would hate the feeling of being ‘processed’ from one port to another without the time to do your own thing. Remember the American 1969 movie ‘ If it’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium’ - yeah right.

That said if there was something like this in the Philippines I really think it would be an instant hit. 6 filipinas & 6 foreign guys ideally from various nationalities cruising the islands. One can dream..

Hopefully the cruise lines will be held accountable for any illegal discharge and will be environmentally conscious. NCL is one of the better cruise lines out there as far as reputation goes

Hopefully the cruise lines will be held accountable for any illegal discharge and will be environmentally conscious. NCL is one of the better cruise lines out there as far as reputation goes
-@Morgacj2004

Hopefully is the key word here.  Princess Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation, was fined $40  million for illegal discharges, and a few years later another $20 million.  Cruise ships more than 4 miles off the US coast can deposit untreated sewage into the ocean with no penalties. Last thing Manila Bay needs is more pollution, Pasig River provides too much already.

Been on 2 Caribbean and 1 Mexico, nice to see there are options here, but for me I prefer to Return back to the port I left from instead of being dropped off in another country where I need to arrange transport back home.

Been on 2 Caribbean and 1 Mexico, nice to see there are options here, but for me I prefer to Return back to the port I left from instead of being dropped off in another country where I need to arrange transport back home.
-@vehicross100

There are a few cruises which start in Manila, and a few that end in Manila, thus only one flight required.

The Philippines needs to come up with its own cruise line, with international quality and standards, and just island hop around the country.