opinions on Europe cruises? Special anniversary trip

This fall is my husband and my 10th anniversary. We have been talking about going to Europe to celebrate for years. Generally we only take cruise vacations. I am concerned that a cruise is not the right way to visit Europe since the itineraries seem quite aggressive. We like to relax and not have to be up and out early on a cruise and we are afraid being in a country for one day, we'd have to be up at the crack of dawn and going all day to get to see enough. We think this may spoil what we enjoy about cruises. I don't see any that have many days at see inbetween. That said, I am completely overwhelmed at the thought of planning just a land vacation. What we like about cruises is no decisions and everythings included. Planning a land vacation seems so stressful. Also, with the exchange rate so bad, now may be bad timing. We are open for other suggestions, maybe a different special cruise. I'd love suggestions. We have been to the Mexican riviera and the caribbean over and over. I have been to Alaska and my husband prefers warm places. We like the idea of Quebec but don't feel the need to spend half a cruise within driving distance of our house which most Canada cruises seem to do. Typically we go on vacation late Sept. to early Nov. and late April/May.

A Euorpean land vacation or cruise is not as "relaxing" as say, a Caribbean cruise. There is a lot more to see, and if you want to see it, yes, you are up and out early. On the other hand, you don't have to be, but that would kind of negate the purpose of going to Europe to see the cities and sights. We've done both, several times. A European cruise will give you a "taste" of a city or country. You miss a lot too, whilst traveling from city to city by ship, rather than over land. With the time alloted in port, you will have to pick and choose what you want to see, vs what you can't because of the time constaints. We have found cruising that area is fine for revisiting someplace you have been to, and you can concentrate on a sight(s) you missed previously, or give you a taste of a place that you might want to go back to and stay longer. Keep in mind, you really only get see some of one city, rarely are you there overnight to experience a city "after dark". If you don't think you'll get back there for a long time and you REALLY REALLY want to see and experience Europe, my first choice would be a land tour over a cruise. If you first priority is taking a cruise, fine, if your first priority is seeing Europe, a land tour is a better option (I think). Also, usually ships don't dock that close to the heart of the city, so if you are planning of seeing the sights, plan on spending considerably more for tours and transportation than you would on say, a Caribbean cruise, whether the tour is ship sponsored, or on your own.

I hope you have looked into the escorted coach tours -- Tauck, Insight, Trafalgar, etc. You have to pack and unpack but every thing else(hotels, many meals) is all arranged. Some sightseeing is included in each city and others are "optionals" (equivalent to "excursions"). Tours that spend 2 nights in each city are more relaxing. Tauck is the most expensive (all 5* hotels). We did Trafalgar Eastern Europe 10-days 5-cities last Sep 2004. /Sultan

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That said, I am completely overwhelmed at the thought of planning just a land vacation. What we like about cruises is no decisions and everythings included. Planning a land vacation seems so stressful.

Have you considered the river cruises in Europe?

If you have a particular country or region you are interested in you can cruise the rivers of that country or region. That way you get the best of both worlds.

Just a thought.

mcboo:)

Tahiti warmer.

We did a Med Cruise two years ago and had a fantastic time. The cruise wasn't too port internsive. It left from Barcelona, we boarded one day and left the next afternoon. Got to Monte Carlo the next morning and Livorno the next day. Naples was next and then a day at sea before our day in Athens. We then went to Kusadasi and Istanbul the next two days. Then we had two days at sea heading for our last port, Venice. We stayed an extra three days in Venice and wished we had planned on staying even longer.

All in all it wasn't that much more demanding than any other cruise. As far as comparing to other forms of seeing Europe I still think it is one of the best ways to do it. You don't have to pack and unpack in hotels each night and don't have the long bus trips except for the shore excursions.

The earlier poster who suggested a river cruise might be on to a good thing but there you definitely have a port a day. No days at sea.

Have a great next cruise whatever you decide.

I had friends (2 sisters) that did a tour of Italy a couple of years ago. They complained that they did not get to stay at anything long enough to see it good and wished they had done it on their own. One of the girls went back with a nother friend and they did their own little tour. she said that was frustrating because of the language barrier.

So I guess no matter what you do there will be some sort of problem.

I personally love cruising because over the years whenever we took a land vacation hubby would always manage to get us lost and would not dare stop to ask for directions. Crusing has solved that. Now vacations are relaxing instead of coming home even more stressed out.

sorry... I didn't finish my post...

Tahiti is warmer and more relax. Good for anniversary and honeymoon.

We done 2 Europe cruises before, and by the time we get home, we want another vacation from the trip because we were so busy everyday to see things and no time down time at all (port everyday).

I just got back from Paris this week. The exchange rate was a killer. An Espresso and a croissant cost more than 6$ US.

Why not do both? Combine a week in Italy or Spain with a 7-day cruise. That way you can see a few places in depth and then get a taste of other places you might want to visit again.

We did that in 2003. It was our anniversary, too, although only our 9th. We flew into Milan, took the train to Lake Como (it's easy, it really is) and stayed there for 2 nights. VERY relaxing and nice just to wander around George Clooney's new hometown of Bellagio. Then back on the train to Milan & onto Florence for 3 days. Then the train back to Milan & flew to Barcelona, where we embarked on the Splendour of the Seas for a 7 day cruise. The Italian train system is very easy to navigate, just so long as they don't have a strike - but they will give you advance notice - they're very civilized!

Although the cruise was port-intensive, we got lots of relaxing in. We were only up at the crack of dawn once, for Rome. We did Monte Carlo & Nice on our own by train (EASY), then a ship's tour of a Tuscan vineyard (left in the afternoon) because we had already "done" Florence, a ship's tour of Pompeii from Naples (which I don't recommend-take the train, it's EASY and you can go on to Sorrento & be back in plenty of time. Or take the hydrofoil to Capri for the day). In Rome, we did a tour because the port is 2 hours away & we didn't want to have to worry about traffic. We walked a lot, had gelato twice plus a nice lunch (burp) & were back onboard in plenty of time. On Malta we did another afternoon winery tour & trip around the island. Oh, and had more gelato.

I think you can do it without a lot of planning stress. We liked it so much we're doing something similar this year, but it will be Venice, Florence & the Cinque Terre before we head to Barcelona for a quick cruise to Mallorca and Corsica.

Was that WTMI?:D

Princess does a cruise between Hawaii and Tahiti - I took it 2 years ago and it was lovely. Tahiti is one of the most beautiful places in the world, the weather is great, you might like to check out the itinerary. :cool:

We did a barge cruise in Burgundy last Sept. for 6 nights. There we 20 passengers and 7 crew. The rooms are very very small but the cruise experience was exceptional. Daily tours were included - some morning some afternoon. Wine was included with lunch and dinner - food was really good. It was our first trip to europe and we wanted to see more of the country than a large cruise ship would allow. Since we were more in the country than city we did not have the masses of tour groups you will find in the major stops on the cruises. This year we are planning a river cruise Budapest to Amsterdam. Some friends are going on a Med. cruise on Princess but since we really enjoyed seeing more of the countryside then we would on a regular cruise, we decided to try a river cruise.