Western Mediterranean 7 Days Roundtrip from Rome

[TWENTY564]

We're thinking about booking the Western Mediterranean 7 Days Roundtrip from Rome on the Ocean Princess for sometime in 2011. Maybe May or late Sept/Oct. Not really sure yet. Never have cruised in Europe, so this will be something new for us. Any recommendations, suggestions, ideas..etc. would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks~>RC

[chipmaster]

My 2cents, Med cruises are great whilrwind trips. If you can squeeze in a longer vacation and go 10-12 days think hard about that. If you are flying from the US then after you add airfare and time adjustment one week is just so short.

 

Rome is a great city to start and end in as one day port stop there is just too short. On the other hand you didn't mention what the other ports you are interested in. When I started researching my list was longer then any cruise I could find :mad: In the end I made a list and picked the cruise that hit my top 6 ports.

 

Happy planning.

[geoherb]

I agree that a one-week trip to Europe isn't worth it. I suffer jetlag the first couple of days. But if you can combine the week-long cruise with more time in Italy, it sounds great.

 

We were tempted this year by a one-week cruise to Norway from England--but ended up back in Alaska instead because I could not take off extra days. I'm hoping next year will work out for us to go back to Europe.

 

On our cruise last week on the Sapphire, the future cruise consultant mentioned that Princess is adding more 7-night cruises in Europe next year.

[ssbeagle]

The one-week cruises are good for people who live over in Europe and don't want to take a longer cruise. I would seriously consider a 12-day one. They are also port-intensive (a lot of ports, maybe one sea day/two at most) and if you fly over a day or two to get over jet lag you can count on 2 weeks to get the best of the vacation.

[TWENTY564]

We'll be flying from Boston, so it would be good to take a few extra days before the cruise, and get extra time to see Rome..etc. Someone already recommended the 12 day cruise, and I don't have a problem with that. It all depends on my wife's vacation time. We've never sailed with Princess before, but have gotten good reports from family members.

As for ports....Italy is our main focus, so as many in Italy as possible. Monaco, Spain, Turkey, Greece..etc. It's all good. I'll probably have to research it a bit more, as I just started looking into these cruises. It's actually going to be our first trip to Europe, and we thought this would be the best way to start out with vacations in Europe.

Thanks for all the help so far. Looking forward to more input. It's greatly appreciated.

 

Later~>RC

[catergirl]

we did a 12 day, 10 port one with princess 2 years ago. starting in barcelona, marsielles, florence, rome, naples, mykanos, ephesus, istanbul, athens and ending in venice. we stayed a couple of days at both ends too:D

[janina]

If you do the 7 day cruise, definately spend time prior to the cruise in Rome. It is a magnificient city, and you really can't experience it with a day tour off a cruise ship. Remember to budget plenty of money for your shore excursions. Italy especially is not cheap. The euro is somewhat down right now, but who knows about next year. In May you can expect some rain in Italy. I would choose end of sept or October...

[sunsetbeachgal]

I'll be doing this cruise in Sept of this year back to back with the 7 day Greek Isle cruise just prior (I think the 7 day Western Med cruises on the schedule for 2011 are the same as this years?) and intend to either do a Live From and/or review when we return so keep watching cruise critic! :)

[Talisker92]

We are booked on Ocean Princess Rome to Dover-12 days, May 27,2011 then we will spend almost 2 weeks in England. Since the hardest part for us on the West coast is the flight over and back, we have just come back from back to back cruises.

[kilworth]

If you have the time consider a trans-Atlantic cruise. In 2008 we did a 25 day Mediteranean and Atlantic cruise on Holland America. In October 2010 we are doing a 30 day trans Atlantic on the Westerdam. We are picking up a lot of ports we were not in before plus and overnighters in both Venice and Funchal. You arrive back in Fort Lauderdale thoroughly rested and ready to pick up the threads of your busy life.

[TWENTY564]

Anyone have any idea when Princess will post the dates for the 2011 7 day cruises from Rome? We're looking to spend extra time in Italy, and then do the 7 day cruise, which seems like our best bet.

 

Thanks~>RC

[TWENTY564]

Just found from Princess that they're not going to do the 7 day roundtrip cruises from Rome in 2011. Guess we'll find another cruise line.

 

Thanks~>RC

[caber]

Go for as long as possible.:)