Any help trying to plan a Mediterranean cruise?

At first we were thinking about going to Alaska next summer but now may do a Mediterranean cruise instead.

really do not know anything about Eastern Vs. Western med cruises.

I would appreciate any advice as to which cruise line and certain itineraries or ports to definitely not miss.

Thanks for the help

Sorry. forgot to add some info.

Thinking around 8-10 days. Depending where we embark and debark from, may add on a few days at either the beginning or end of the cruise

Too many places to choose from! It's not just a few islands and ports but more than 10 different countries. You need to do some research on your own.

First you'll have to decide which month you want to go.

The main embarkation/disembarkation ports are Barcelona , Athens , Rome and Venice.

If Venice the number choices is limited. Decide whether you want to board and leave the ship at the same port.

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. Read about them, and decide where you want to go. Then go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and choose some of those ports from the Ports of Call list. It will tell you who is calling there, and their itineraries. EM

The key thing to understand about a Med cruise is that it is port intensive. You will be up and off the ship by 8:30am most days (sometimes earlier) and you won't get back onboard until after 5pm. Because of this, the ship becomes a floating hotel where you have breakfast, dinner and are usually so tired, you go to bed because you know you are going to have to get up the next day and go on another tour. So...the ship doesn't matter all that much nor does entertainment on the ship as you might not ever feel up to going to a show. In my most recent 3 Med cruises spanning 36 days, I've attended precisely 1 show. Med cruises are really exciting and there is so much to see and do - you can't possibly do it all in one cruise! We love to leave from Barcelona where we stay in Hotel 1898 and the port is just a few blocks away. Usually you arrive pretty early in the morning and then get a taxi to take you to your hotel where you may or may not have to wait for your room to become available. Once you figure out what cruise you want to go on, get on your ship's roll call and make arrangements for private tours with others - it is cheaper this way and you get to see a whole lot more than the ship's typically bus tours that move at the pace of the slowest in the group - often someone on a walker. It is a bit more inconvenient to leave from Rome as the port is 90 minutes away and you usually go by train to get there as shuttles are very expensive.

Start by looking at itineraries..not specific cruise lines/ships. Several major online cruise agencies have pretty decent search engines that will let you look at many options. Consider the places and countries you really want to visit. Keep in mind that some of the Eastern Med ports such as places in Turkey, Israel, and the Ukraine have a history of issues that can cause last minute changes in itinerary.

Since you talk about both pre and post cruise extended visits (a great idea) we suggest you look for cruises that being and end at two different ports. For example, you might take a cruise from Barcelona to Civitavecchia (port for Rome) or perhaps Venice to Civitavecchia. This enhances your ability to visit two different land regions at the beginning and end of your cruise. If you book your own air, you can take advantage of so-called "Open Jaw" air fares which allow you to fly in and out of different airports with little or no cost penalty. And the cruise lines also have their own options for air...although we have often found that we are better off doing our own air and transfers.

We also suggest buying a copy of Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports. You can get this at Amazon or many online book stores. This is an excellent guide for those of us who prefer to do our own thing in ports (no expensive cruise line excursions) but it also will give you a great overview of the various ports/regions commonly visited by cruise ships.

Hank

Check out Mediterranean cruise info (under Choices) on http://www.tomsportguides.com

You can look for cruise line and itinerary after.

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Too many places to choose from! It's not just a few islands and ports but more than 10 different countries. You need to do some research on your own.

I plan on doing plenty of research. I was just looking to get opinions as to which ports people like/dislike. A lot of times it is better to get information from people here that have already done the cruises.

Thank you everyone that has given me good information and books to check out. There is so much to do and so many places to see that it helps to at least get an idea of where to begin

We love the Med. It is hard to choose favorites but for us, Rome, Florence, Barcelona, Venice and Athens stand out for beauty, history, architecture, and food! We have a soft spot for Rhodes--ancient "feel" everywhere!

You cannot hit all of these in one trip. As others have said, pick a few of YOUR "must-sees" and read up on the other ports offered on the different cruise lines. Pay attention to the ports you will visit ( and the length of time spent there--a short day in Florence will waste much of the day getting there and back! That is more important than the ship to us!

Most important of all, take time to stop and just soak in the atmosphere!

I've taken nine Med cruises that have visited more than 60 different ports (plus a few repeats). Of these, there are only a few that I wouldn't highly recommend.

What I like may not be what you like. Are you interested in ancient history (Athens, Rome) or more into gorgeous scenery (Santorini, Amalfi Coast)? Maybe you want to visit a few beaches (Mykonos, Rhodes), or are into the Renaissance (Florence, Rome again). As you can see, it's difficult to make recommendations.

The Eastern Med itineraries are sadly reduced from what was offered a few years ago. Turkey has been removed from most itineraries, as has Egypt, and because of that, Israel is also not often a port of call, since ships aren't headed in that general direction.

That said, there are still many gems on both itineraries. I would get some of the books recommended and also read the port descriptions here on CC (under the Destinations tab) to get ideas.

I would also try to make the trip at least two weeks, with stays on either end. I'd probably recommend doing a cruise with different embarkation and disembarkation ports so you can enjoy two different cities. Most of the big cities have a lot to offer and it's hard to see them successfully in a single day.

I plan on doing plenty of research. I was just looking to get opinions as to which ports people like/dislike. A lot of times it is better to get information from people here that have already done the cruises.

Whatever you do, start or end in Civitavecchia (Rome's port). Make that a three night pre/post cruise add-on. Find a great hotel and know that the best boutique ones (e.g., Garibaldi Suites near the Spanish Steps) may be booked as much as a year in advance during high season. Check with the concierge about a driver and guide for private city tour on one day and meet the guide for day two 3-4 hrs at the Vatican. Know that a truly great licensed private tour guide (not a "wannabe" driver guide) is worth his/her weight in gold.

There are pluses and minuses to every Med itinerary and the other start/end port ((besides Rome) should be chosen based on what you want to accomplish. For us, we'd pick Lisbon in a flash. Wonderful food, good museums, nice people and, of course, Fado!

If you want the finest example of ancient ruins, particularly Greek ones, add Sicily to the itinerary in such a way that you can get to Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples (google it and you'll know why).

In planning this, also recognize that some of the best sites (the Alhambra or the Academia) are quite far from the ships)

Finally, while I agree that you should start with the Rick Steves Med Cruise Guide to get your bearings, I disagree with anyone who says the choice of ship is not equally important. That ship will be where you eat and sleep and the last thing you'll need are accommodations that do not match your lifestyle expectations.

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Check your easiest flights from your nearest airport... it's no good heading for Athens if you have to break your journey when there's an easy flight to Rome, for your first European break. Check prices, too.

The Western cruises are - roughly- around Spain, the south of France and western Italy, with various islands such as Malta; Eastern are around the eastern side of Italy, Croatia, Greece and the Greek Islands.

The one mentioned to Lisbon is yet another European route, which is lands facing the Atlantic, such as Portugal, Northern Spain, France, UK and Ireland, right up to Norway/Baltic/Russia etc.

All different; all gorgeous!

We did our first Mediterranean cruise l980s, we have done so many lost count .. visited most ports in western and eastern Mediterranean. I think Barcelona is the easiest port to leave from or return to.. close to the airport for a first timer. We have gone out of Venice, Rome, Athens, Istanbul and Barcelona over the years... my best advise would be pick an itinerary that interest you, assume you will go again, don't try to do it all.. the cruises are very post intensive but they don't have to be. Have gone so many times, we now don't get up so early and don't stay port all day... Our next cruise out of Barcelona is a TA in October back to Florida on the Royal Princess... TA are usually less expensive... air fare can be high. No matter what cruise you pick you are in for a treat... each port offers a lot. We have cruised Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard, crystal, and NCL I can highly recommend these main stream lines. Happy Cruising.

All of the given info is absolutely helping. I am starting to narrow down on itineraries. Thinking about going in late March-early May. I figure this is not peak season yet during the summer so maybe the prices will be cheaper.

So far, I have found some that look interesting on Princess, Norwegian and Celebrity.

I know absolutely nothing about any of the mainly European cruise lines. Can anyone give any insight how they compare the US cruise lines. MSC, Costa, etc..??

We do not need upscale cruises. We have sailed 5 times to the Caribbean and have gone on carnival every time. Probably going to get an OV cabin since all of the cruises are very port intensive. Save some money to use on excursions instead of booking a balcony.

I agree with Flatbush Flyer's advice ref the cruise lines. Yes, it IS an important decision. I agree itinerary is first priority, but choice of cruise line/ship most certainly is important too.

Nothing can ruin a cruise vacation faster than being on a ship that does not suit you. Otherwise, why not just book ferries? Heck, why even take a cruise at all? I think that's terrible advice.

You mentioned Princess, NCL and Celebrity in your last post. Of those 3, I most recommend Celebrity. They have good entertainment, good food and the ships are beautiful. Princess is also good, but I find their ships to be a little crowded and not as nice as Celebrity. NCL is a different breed. They're like the Spirit Airlines of cruising, in my opinion. They have great entertainment and really good specialty restaurants, but no one will nickel and dime you more than NCL.

I also recommend Eastern Med. The Greek islands are my favorite, as is Venice and Dubrovnik...basically the whole area around the Adriatic, Ionian and Aegean Seas.

Both Costa and MSC are Italian, so English is not the first language, but announcements will also be in English and other languages. Costa is owned by Carnival; MSC has some beautiful ships.

Cunard's Queen Victoria is in the Med during the summer, with a series of different length cruises which you can do back to back and have different ports. Also part of the Carnival family, but more formal than Carnival's own ships .

There are smaller ships around, including Thomson, which cater more to the British market; a P&O ship (Carnival) from Malta; some German ships such as Aida (Carnival) and Tui; there's also a Cypriot line, Celestyal (Louis), and lines which cater to Spanish cruisers- I think Pullmantur is part of RCI?

We did Western first since we decided Rome and the French Riviera were "must-do's" for our 1st time. We thought of starting/ending in Rome, but Barcelona was easier & more accessible for us. YMMV.

We did Eastern last year. As mentioned, we had trouble finding the "perfect" for us itinerary.

Best advice is nothing new - do your homework for each port and plan based on the experience of others. The Caribbean is cool for winging it in port, the Med not so much, imo. The Port of Call boards is where you want to be.

Enjoy the planning journey as much as the trip itself.

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Whew, what a broad question! Our first two cruises were European (10 days Eastern on Norwegian Jade and 12 days Western on Royal's Serenade of the Seas). Both were FANTASTIC! First was from Rome, which is an amazing city to spend some time in before or after. 2nd was Barcelona, perhaps even MORE fun to stay in before or after...although Rome wins if history and classic sites (St. Peter's, Coliseum) are a priority. Barcelona is a more beautiful city in a lot of ways, and the food options are phenomenal.

I could go on with my thoughts for several pages, and it would be somewhat meaningless because everyone has their preferences. It is true that these are port intensive cruises. They can be a bit exhausting. That 2nd cruise we took had the first 4 days in a row of excursions (Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples) before we had a one day break. You WILL get pooped if you try to do the cities thoroughly. HOWEVER, we still powered through and saw the shows most nights, but we did almost no truly late nights. Bed by 10 just about every day...but then up by 6. It was the most exhausting and most fun vacation time of our lives.

We like NCL (and Royal). Yes, they are often selling more things on board than perhaps other lines...but if you like Carnival, I don't know that you'll feel too far off the mark with NCL. Many of the ships sailing Europe are smaller...if you really care about the size of the ship, take that into consideration as you're looking around. There are BIG ships, but just not as many, it seems.

One final, random note: Rome is a tough city to see in one day. The port is a fair distance from the city, so you're going to burn AT LEAST an hour each way, whether you take a car or a train. If you really want to spend time in Rome, that would make an excellent starting/ending location. Give yourself a couple of full days, and you'll still be packed with stuff to do. Just the Vatican and St. Peter's can take most of a day if you're really into it. And you can/should get advance tickets to the Vatican Museum (which includes Sistine Chapel). Easy to do on line, but so many people inexplicably do not bother. Last time we were there, we walked in almost immediately, but the line of non-ticket holders snaked halfway around the darn country!

 

I know absolutely nothing about any of the mainly European cruise lines. Can anyone give any insight how they compare the US cruise lines. MSC, Costa, etc..??

 

One thing to be aware of with Cost and MSC is that they tend to have shorter port times than some of the "mainstream" US cruise lines. Even a couple of extra hours in Athens, for instance, can make a BIG difference in what you can see and do with your time ashore.

So do look carefully at not just the ports but the actual port times when you're deciding on a cruise.

Cruisemom speaks with a lot of cruise wisdom :). We have long had an issue with some MSC European itineraries. They often sacrifice time in port to cram in more ports. In Europe, long port days are very important in many ports. When evaluating European itineraries one needs to pay careful attention to not only the amount of time in each port, but also the days of the week (and holidays) versus ports. In many cases, Sundays and Mondays (and sometimes Tuesdays) can be problamatic because of closures. For example, if visiting Rome...the Vatican Museums are closed on Sunday (except for one Sunday a month). Many museums close on a week day (often Mon or Tuesday). Shopping can also be very limited on Sundays...in many places.

Hank

No much advice to give but we also were planning an Alaska Cruise for this summer but ended up booking a Western Med Cruise. We leave in less than 3 weeks. We decided on a 10 day Cruise Rome to Rome and will stay in Rome for 3 days after in a rental apartment. We also will arrive a day early. We are going on Oceania mostly because my Parents love Oceania and they are taking us on this Cruise. We picked the Cruise based on many reasons, I wanted to an Eastern Med Cruise but was worried about traveling in that part of the Med due to the political climate. I didn't want a Port to be closed say Turkey and miss out and have to spend an extra sea day. I have been to the South of France and my Husband has been to Italy, we both have not been to Spain, so we thought it would be a good First Cruise for us. We do have a day at sea in our itinerary so we will get to experience ship life a little bit more than having a Port day every day. Good luck on your choice!!

The next question is of the Princess, NCL and Celebrity cruises you like the itineraries for, which specific ships were you interested in? That might help with your decision. BTW, I'd say MSC is just an Italian version of Princess but the port times in the Med can be an issue (though not always.) NCL has no formal nights at all. Celebrity will be the quietest of the 3 cruise lines. But the specific ships make the difference here as there are both older and newer ships and ships that have been through a recent dry dock and ships needing to go into dry dock.

I am glad to see you mention Early May as your time to cruise. Summer is MISERABLY hot & humid. 105 - 110 degrees with 90+ % humidity. And the walking is very intense. The buses have to park very far away from the attractions. End of July to Early August 2013 we took the 12 day Med. cruise from Barcelona and ending in Venice on NCL. We arrived Barcelona Friday afternoon and cruise left Monday evening. So we had a couple of days to adjust our inner clocks. We also had a few days in Venice to finish off our trip. So our last Friday of the cruise we were in port in Venice mid-day. EVERYONE left the ship to go explore. We stayed on the ship, had the pool & hot tub to ourselves. All of the staff kept asking us WHY are you on the ship? We told them we don't fly out of Venice until TUES!!! I have to say I was VERY disappointed with the excursions. WAY overpriced and disappointing. Did not deliver what was promised. BUT we had no way of knowing how to tour these countries and ports.