After an 11-hour flight and two nights in Waikiki, we boarded The Pride of America on Saturday, November 18.   We were greeted at the cruise terminal with shell leis and after a short wait, we walked up the gangway and onto the ship.

Suppose you’re on a cruise that is port-intensive, meaning the ship stops at a port of call every day or nearly every day of the itinerary. Do you get off the ship at every port, whether you have booked a shore excursion or just want to explore the port on your own? Alternatively, do you skip some ports and spend the day relaxing on the ship?

For some travelers, part of the fun of traveling is seeing how many countries you can visit in your lifetime. Whether it’s putting pins in a map or checking countries off of a list, each new country visited, or “collected” is like a conquest, or a badge of honor. Cruising is a very efficient way of collecting countries, especially if you choose itineraries like these: