Cruises - World Cruises

Anyone who's taken an around-the-world cruise cares to share how was it like?
They may be pricey but are they worth it?
Which cruise line often gets good reviews for this type of cruises?

the lines seem to be getting away from this....i don't think there are any cruises that go all the way...

our longest was 66 days iirc as part of a world cruise on rssc in 2011....it was about 2 weeks too much....some people were griping about the world cruises being cut back....quite a few were on for 5 or 6 months & were looking for another line for this year....

crystal is offering some longer trips....

don't do it for your 1st cruise....

Most of the world cruises these days seem to be along the lines of start on the east coast of the US, and go west, ending in Europe. They don't quite complete the whole trip around. I've also seen some lines do ones that go about 3/4 of the way around, but then come back, rather than completing the loop (Regent might have been the last one I saw doing this). Generally they seem to be about 100-112 days long or so.

Typically it's going to be smaller ships doing these routes. HAL, Seabourn, Cunard (2 ships), Silversea, and Princess are all doing ones in 2013. Most world cruises seem to depart in January every year for some reason: (One exception is Princess lately has been doing one starting in May that's round-trip Sydney, it's under their Princess Australia banner, which while marketed by Princess, is a different on-board experience than regular Princess trips. This is also probably the largest ship doing a world cruise, the Sea Princess.)

There's also a couple lines doing longer cruises that are circle South American cruises, in the 60-70 day range. These frequently also cruise up the Amazon to Manaus as part of that trip. Having done both the Amazon and the Rio to Santiago cruises, I'd say these would be pretty interesting.

I followed a blog once of someone that did one that ended up giving up on the cruise about 3/4 of the way through, he was physically and emotionally spent.

Personally, I've always kinda wanted to do one myself, but don't know that I'll ever be in a spot where I can drop $25k+ a person on a cruise (on the low end), especially after I reach retirement age (since I'm not like to get 100+ days off before retirement :) ).

A blogger on cruisecritic's Crystal forum, Keith1010, he and his wife have taken several Crystal world cruises and have write-ups. Different itineraries.

Never done a world cruise but if I did, I would likely choose Seabourn first, then Regent 2nd. Maybe even Cunard, generally two of its Queens sail rtw each January. That said, Silversea is overrated and Crystal is for those who need to be led by the hand 24 hours daily and dress lavishly and flash their jewels.

Worldspan
131 cruises strong

Most of the world cruises these days seem to be along the lines of start on the east coast of the US, and go west, ending in Europe. They don't quite complete the whole trip around.

Well, they may not return to the same port you left but if they travel through almost every continent, that's as close as it can get. In all fairness, it's not possible to reach every country.

There's a list of current ones listed at www.worldcruisecentral.com:
Cunard
Crystal
Holland
Princess
PG&O
Silversea
Regent

Not all of the above offer a true world cruise. The periods range from 99-139 days. To get more details for each and their respective prices, you need to go into each of the cruise's site. I think you can expect to pay above $10K in most of them.
Silversea does have one that lasts 115 days leaving from CA and returning in FL. Lowest price quoted from their site is $49,999.
PG&O offers a World Circumnavigation next year starting at £9,999 (inside cabin) for 108 nights. It does return to the same port in Southampton, GB where it departed from.
Hollande has a similar one for 115 days but it departs and returns from the US.

There's also a luxury cruise line named "The World" (aboardtheworld.com)
It continues to travel the world (including the Antarctica) all the time. It's currently being discussed on another thread.
You don't need to buy the studios/suites (prices can range from $600K to $13.5M) or worry about the yearly maintenance fees starting at around $20K. They rent them out too like Ritz does. However, I'm not sure how much it would cost to rent as a guest for a short period of time. I think it may be around $1K per night.

You can go around the world (100 days +/-) on a freighter for around €100 pppd. No midnight buffets, BYOB, but a fascinating experience.

http://www.freighter-cruises.com/voyages.php#World_Cruises

Yes we are planning our first world cruise in 2015. No jewels sorry but we are taking Crystal. We will visit Madagascar for 2 ports. This will be our second visit to the red island. We are hardly needing to be led by the hand. Take a look at our Madagascar trip report a few years back. We are adventure travelers who are getting a great bang for our buck.

YMMV,
ijkh

Is there a point to your post? Perhaps you can explain it on the way to Iceland. Looks like we're on the same cruise.

There are a couple cruises that go 85% around...from Los Angeles to Florida the long way. Check out VacationsToGo.com.
I read recently that a passenger booked a suite for a 2010 ATW cruise and had the suite redecorated on the preceding cruise by a special crew. She spent over $110,000 US on the "remodel" and that didn't include the actual cruise.

That is on my bucket list. But I think I'll wait for the kids to grow up and just do it with my wife. We take the kids on all the other cruises (up to 3 weeks in length) but I think this would be a bit much for them and they would probably be about the only kids on the ship.