It is autumn (or fall as they might say) for our friends in the northern hemisphere. Cruisers can see Mother Nature put on one of her best shows with colorful leaves as far as the eye can see, on sailings on the coast of New England and Canada. Cruise passengers can also celebrate Halloween complete with ghosts and ghouls and enjoy elaborate shipboard Thanksgiving feasts.
Fall is also the time when cruise lines reposition their ships from summer to winter homes, including Alaska and Europe to warm destinations, and these repositioning cruises provide both unusual itineraries (with a combination of port calls and days at sea) and attractive prices.
Here are some fall cruising ideas inspired by cruise line members of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA):.
See fall foliage
Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, American Cruise Lines, Seabourn, Princess Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Silversea Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line are among cruise lines with fall sailings in New England/Canada, embarking from cities including Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Bayonne (New Jersey), Montreal, Quebec City and Baltimore. Leaf-peeping combines with such delights as whale-watching, eating lobster, seeing lighthouses and absorbing American history. Some of the cruises are one-way and others roundtrip with sailings ranging from five to 22 days.
Celebrate all things spooky
Disney Cruise Lines’ Halloween on the High Seas expands this year, with the whole fleet featuring themed decorations, activities and events from late September through October. Try “Spooky Juice” and spider cakes, hear haunted stories under the stars, watch scary movies and participate in the “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing and Scream” experience – where you can meet Jack Skellington and Sally. Bring a costume or make one shipboard. Or join the group KISS and rock out on KISS Kruise IV onboard the Norwegian Pearl, embarking October 31. This year’s cruise includes a Halloween pre-party on the ship on October 30. During the sailing, theme nights include KISS Around The World, Dress As Your Favorite KISS Song, I Was There and Dressed to Kill. Pack your face paint, costumes and suncreen.
Give thanks at sea
Thanksgiving cruises allow you to say goodbye to holiday stress and relax at a time during the year when vacation-goers need it most. On Princess ships, the shipboard chefs prepare dinner with all the traditional fixings for an easy, yet festive feast. Make Thanksgiving memorable with a holiday cruise on Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Symphony in Australia, including the Great Barrier Reef, or Crystal Serenity in the sunny Caribbean. Both ships will host an elaborate holiday celebration onboard. Or treat the family to Thanksgiving on a Disney ship and enjoy a wide array of holiday festivities – including a traditional turkey dinner and college football offerings. The line’s four ships will be decked out with holiday decor – even including special Thanksgiving towel animals in staterooms. Mickey and other characters will of course wear their holiday attire. Help feed the hungry when booking a holiday cruise on American Cruise Lines. The line is making a donation of $50 to the Connecticut Food Bank for every booking on the Thanksgiving sailings of the Queen of the Mississippi, cruising from New Orleans to Memphis, and the Independence, sailing from Jacksonville, Fla. to Charleston, S.C. Both ships will feature a feast of Thanksgiving favorites.
Do a repositioning cruise
You can typically snag a deal when a cruise line moves a ship from one destination to another for a season and that’s certainly the case this fall – with ships repositioning from places including Alaska, Europe and Bermuda to the Caribbean, South Pacific, Asia and South America for the winter season. Some of the itineraries cut from the Pacific to the Atlantic through the Panama Canal. Transatlantic itineraries include port calls at fascinating cities in Europe, while transpacific cruises can get you to the tropical paradise islands of French Polynesia.
For more on information on cruise vacations and to find a CLIA cruise counselor to plan a cruise vacation of a lifetime, visit www.cruising.org.
SOURCE CLIA