Europe - which destinations are best by cruise?

[familycruzinnewbie]

As a bit of background - we are from Canada but lived in Ireland for a year (with kids 6 and 9). We took several land vacations using discount airlines etc. (London, Paris, Mallorca, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Salzburg, Muerren (Switzerland), plus UK and Ireland roadtrips). DH and I had seen Italy separately before we met. We would like to head back for a vacation in the future (maybe when kids are 9 and 12, or the year after). I'm wondering which areas are best seen by cruise and which are better for land based vacations. We would love to see the Batics and Greece is still on my list, the kids have yet to go to Italy and there is a lot of France and Germany we haven't seen .....)

 

Some of the Baltic routes look interesting but prices I've seen are high ($2000+ per person). Are there any reasonably priced cruises in this area or regular promotions. Where would you recommend seeing by cruise and what is best left for land based travel. Do you have a particular line or cruise to recommend.

[lmg1230]

Hi there,

Definitely a matter of personal opinion but we have gone through the same thought process in trying to decide where to cruise with our kids and where to do land-based vacations. Our daughters are currently 6 and 13 and we have travelled with them at least twice a year - primarily land-based vacations - since they were infants. We have cruised in the Caribbean twice, to Alaska once, to the Baltics once and I am currently planning a Mediterranean cruise for the summer of 2011.

 

While we quite enjoy cruising we have decided that it suits us best as a means to get to some interesting ports that we wouldn't otherwise see. I found cruising in the Caribbean fun but not terribly interesting. We had travelled all over North America and the Caribbean (including Alaska and Hawaii) but I was itching to get back to Europe. We decided that my youngest would be old enough last summer when she had just turned 6.

 

Their first trip to Europe was a Baltic cruise that started in Copenhagen and sailed to Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersberg, Tallinn, Gdansk and Oslo on the Emerald Princess. We chose this cruise because neither my husband or I had been to any of these countries (other than Russia and Denmark) and we thought that they were places that we wouldn't necessarily go to on a land-based vacation. Fell in love with Stockholm and Oslo though and would love to go back. We also spent a few days in Copenhagen pre and post cruise which was great for really exploring and getting to know the city.

 

This past spring break we took our children to London for 10 days and spent the time exploring the city and a bit of the countryside outside of London. I would love to see more of England and I think it needs to be a land-based vacation.

 

Later this month our family is going to the south of France for two weeks. We have rented a villa in Provence and will be exploring the south from that home base. There are a couple of ports in the south of France on cruise ship itineraries but I think that we will enjoy immersing ourselves into the culture and exploring on land more.

 

I am currently looking into a Mediterranean cruise for next summer and have narrowed it down to three. Ideally our cruise will start in either Rome or Venice so that we can spend some time in each of those cities and see them properly. One of the cruises that I'm looking at embarks in Venice and disembarks in Rome so that we could do both. I don't want a cruise that has ports of call in Rome, Venice or Florence because I want my children to be introduced to Italy in a more substantive way and I'm sure that we will do a land-based vacation there within the next few years. I would like to stop in some of the Greek islands as I think a cruise is the best way to see the islands and I think a day in Athens would suffice. I'm also interested in the Turkish ports (Istanbul and Ephesus) and Croatia (Dubrovnik and Split) at least as an introduction to those countries to see if we might like to do a land-based vacation there.

 

I know that was a lot of rambling and I don't know if it will help you at all but, generally, I think cruise to ports where you don't think that you would otherwise go or where you would like an easy introduction before returning at a future date. Do land-based vacations where you want a fuller experience.

 

Lisa

[onthelake]

Sounds like you are starting your research early so I will suggest you start reading the travel section of the nearest 'big city' newspaper - Toronto, Vancouver, etc. There are sometimes amazing specials - we once booked a Baltic cruise that included airfare, 2 nights at a wonderful London hotel, a 1/2 day tour of London and transfers to Dover as well as the cruise at an unbelievable price. Just following the travel specials will help you determine a reasonable price even if you don't choose to book one of them.

 

As we are posting on another thread here, it is all about the ports. We did a b2b two years ago that included overnight in Venice, Istanbul (the turnaround port) and Alexandria. We visited Athens on the first leg of the trip and disembarked there at the end. We also visited Ephesus on each leg. We were lucky that the time we spent away was not an issue and wanted to capitalize on the airfare cost and chose to spend a week in Paris before boarding the cruise ship. (Paris was my son's choice).

 

You have plenty of time to consider different options. Involve the kids. My dream was to visit the pyramids, my son wanted to climb the Eiffel tower. Sometimes it isn't about immersion in a city, it is about that one special moment. I would return to Venice anytime but sailing into Venice is an incredible moment in my mind.

 

There are a lot of European cruise options now so you have a lot to consider. It is about the ports, the ports and the ports.

[familycruzinnewbie]

Thanks for the info. The Toronto packages don't always work for me as I'm way east of there so need to factor getting to Toronto. We do get some direct service to London, though not usually cheap. Also going through Newark on Continental an be a good deal at times (other than the 8 hr layover :) ) Is there a place you can register to be notified of certain destination cruises much like you can tick off your preferences on the Air Canada site. I wish the "save money on cruises" board was more about deals and less about rum runners.

 

There are so many options for the Baltics, I just found some interesting river cruises through Russia and the Ukraine. Those are areas I'd pay for the cruise/tours as it's harder to plan safe option on your own.

[chipmaster]

Cruising isn't for everyone and has limitations, but nothing beats the one pack/unpack and showup in a new port/country every day. Its frustrating that much of Europes charm can't be accessed by a port and the ones that can often can't be done justice in a day, but even with that we found our Med a vacation for the ages. This web site has a good overview of what is close and possible for each port

 

http://www.europeportreviews.com/

 

 

As a bit of background - we are from Canada but lived in Ireland for a year (with kids 6 and 9). We took several land vacations using discount airlines etc. (London, Paris, Mallorca, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Salzburg, Muerren (Switzerland), plus UK and Ireland roadtrips). DH and I had seen Italy separately before we met. We would like to head back for a vacation in the future (maybe when kids are 9 and 12, or the year after). I'm wondering which areas are best seen by cruise and which are better for land based vacations. We would love to see the Batics and Greece is still on my list, the kids have yet to go to Italy and there is a lot of France and Germany we haven't seen .....)

 

Some of the Baltic routes look interesting but prices I've seen are high ($2000+ per person). Are there any reasonably priced cruises in this area or regular promotions. Where would you recommend seeing by cruise and what is best left for land based travel. Do you have a particular line or cruise to recommend.

[DALSAL]

We did the Med/Greek Isles Cruise a few years ago. Started in Venice, and did Athens, Turkey and Dubrovnik. It was awesome! Would love to do it again. We stayed a few days in Venice before the cruise. How magical!

[Lisou]

Bonjour fellow Canadian!

 

Last fall, I cruised alone with my 6yo daughter to the Western Med on board the Voyager of the Seas. It was an amazing holiday!!! It was my sixth time to Europe (all land based previously) but my favourite time.

 

We sailed to and from Barcelona and our ports of call were Naples (Mt Vesuvius and Herculaneum), Livorno (Tuscany region: Pisa and Lucca), Rome, Villefranche (French Riviera), Marseilles (Provence). We loved it so much that we`ve booked two other cruises for the upcoming fall (Eastern Med and Holy Land!!!).

 

If you live East of Toronto, you might be closer to Montreal to fly out. Air Transat has a direct flight to Barcelona from Montreal.

 

Happy Planning!