Around the World Cruise - Anyone been on one?

[DisgruntledVirus]

I thought this sounds awesome, but that's a lot of money. If I won the lottery or something maybe, but it's doubtful I'll opt to do this just because that much money could go towards so many more things that I'd enjoy more I think.

 

[randomrogue]

Once again do you need luxury? Is backpacking an option?

For $500-$1000 a month you can easily have a great time in South East Asia and India. For $1000-$1500 you can have a good time in Africa. For $1500-$3000 a month hit up Europe. Add in travel expenses. They can range quite a bit from $1 in a place like Indonesia to $100 in Northern Europe. One of the nicest buses I've ever taken was from Kuala Lumpur up into Thailand and it cost me $4.

Roughly. People spend months in places like Laos or India spending $10 a day.

Someone asked me for names of places I've hung out for dollars a day. Don Det and Vang Vieng in Laos. Monkey Bay and Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi. Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Those were some of the cheapest places I've ever been on the planet lately. Eastern Europe used to be dirt cheap but most of it isn't anymore. 10 years ago it was about $10 a day in most places there. You probably missed the boat on Thailand but 10 years ago that was dirt cheap and I stayed in that hut at Khao Lak for $10 a day in expenses. Even Koh Phi Phi was less than $20 a day for everything. Twenty years ago Greece cost me less than $15 a day on the islands. All of these prices are in full on party mode too.

If you can afford this cruise you can afford to do just about anything. The question is whether you want to be stuck on a boat vs seeing something new each and every day.

 

[Midwayman]

For the cost you could do it yourself, for longer, and maybe cheaper. Puffff went around the world in a year, I think, on around $25k

Depends on the level of comfort you demand and where you end up. Holland America has RTW cruises for $23k list (You can do better) Alot of the companies that offer RTW cruises are luxury lines (Think Ritz Carlton level) even the more mass market lines that offer them tend to be the upper range (like maybe hilton?)

Trouble with a RTW cruise isn't necessarily the cost. Its that most cruise lines only stop a day or two of most in ports. Port charges are expensive. That's not a lot of time to explore some areas. Also a lot of the most interesting stuff isn't right in the port. You need a long drive or a flight to get there, like I flew several times in port. I tend to like cruises to hit smaller ports where a couple days is more than enough. The biggest benefit to doing a RTW flight vs a cruise would be the flexibility to stay as long as you want in places that interest you more and get inland.