After three years “on the hard,” I was eager to cruise again on a line and ship that I had been on before. As our inaugural effort, we selected 12-night Fall Foliage Cruise on the Seabourn Quest. We started in New York City earlier this week and are now approaching Halifax in Nova Scotia. My intent is to describe how cruising has changed in the past three years.

As dedicated small-ship cruisers, we have sailed on 2-3 voyages a year for more than two decades: mostly on high-end lines including Silversea, Regent, Crystal, Oceania, Azamara, Windstar, and Seabourn. Later this year, I will do the same while we are cruising on some of the newest offerings from Viking Ocean and Regent.

As a veteran of more than 40 international cruises, I used to turn up my nose whenever someone suggested that I sail from domestic ports. The only exceptions I ever made were a cruise to Iceland from New York City; a repositioning cruise to Japan that left from Seattle; one to South America that departed from Los Angeles; and two from Miami that sailed to Europe.

I reasoned that, if I was going to kill a night flying from LAX to a departure port and have an after-dinner drink and a Zolpidem tablet after dessert, I could just as easily wake up in Europe, Asia, or Australia as on the east coast of the US. Honestly, you don’t notice the difference—especially if you fly Business or Premium Economy.

After having two international jaunts canceled last year, and considering the possibility of the military crises in Europe broadening before I could sail again, I rethought these views. I booked a Fall Foliage Cruise from NYC to New England, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Montreal for a client and us. It’s only 12 nights, but with overnight stays in NYC and Montreal, the trip will be nearly the Read the rest of this entry »