Mediterranean cruise for 2016 season

We are booked on HAL Eurodam B2B 24 days Venice to Istanbul and return to Venice, then Venice to Barcelona, both with different ports. We are really looking forward to this, seeing as much as we can without having to pack & unpack, fly, train etc. I know it is port intensive, but we choose the ports we want to do excursions in the rest we get off for a while, have a walk around then go back to the ship and kick back.

Chris

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I hope the Greece issues have been resolved before we all arrive there next year on our various cruises.

We did a 12 night Mediterranean cruise on the Norwegian Spirit from Barcelona to Venice last year. Fantastic cruise, very port intensive with only 2 sea days but that is what Europe is all about, so much to see and do you don't want to waste a minute. We had a few days prior in Barcelona and a few days post in Venice then a train trip to Rome for a few days before flying home through Dubai. Watch out for some lines that do not spend a lot of time in each port. Pick the places that are a must see for you and find a cruise that suits. Good luck and happy cruising.

A further thought for anyone planning a Med cruise.

If you want more bang for your buck...you might consider adding your cruise with one of the repositioning cruises . In that way you could do a Med , Trans Atlantic , and Caribbean cruise all in one.

You would have to cruise when they were being done and that is usually very early or very late in the season....(one way to avoid the crowds ..:D)......although when we did it , some of the venues had not opened yet or had closed for the season.

We did a 12 night Mediterranean cruise on the Norwegian Spirit from Barcelona to Venice last year. Fantastic cruise, very port intensive with only 2 sea days but that is what Europe is all about, so much to see and do you don't want to waste a minute. We had a few days prior in Barcelona and a few days post in Venice then a train trip to Rome for a few days before flying home through Dubai. Watch out for some lines that do not spend a lot of time in each port. Pick the places that are a must see for you and find a cruise that suits. Good luck and happy cruising.

Good points with the times in port. Some are only there for half a day while others do the whole day and evening or even an overnight.:D

We did a 12 day cruise in 2011 from Venice-Istanbul-Venice with HAL Nieuw Amsterdam and 24 day cruise in 2014 once again on Nieuw Amsterdam from Barcelona-Istanbul-Venice. Both were fantastic but to spend 24 days on an amazing ship with a equally amazing itinerary was something we will never forget.

I really like the look of a lot of the HAL itineraries, not just the Mediterranean, however their smoking policy bothers us a bit. On the port intensive Mediterranean itineraries though, you wouldn't have a lot a time to spend on the balcony so an Inside or Oceanview cabin would be OK.

Do they allow smoking in the rooms? If so, I will stay clear from HAL.

Do they allow smoking in the rooms? If so, I will stay clear from HAL.

Not inside the cabins but on stateroom balconies.

Not inside the cabins but on stateroom balconies.

Cheers.

Thanks for that, I cannot stand the smell of smoke inside rooms, the balconies I can live with if need be. I would prefer if they had the designated areas like X or Princess though.