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Princess European Cruise Advice


karatemom2

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We are planning to try to do a European Cruise with Princess in the Summer of 2012 for my son's high school graduation. We have been talking about it for years and it is something we really want to do before he goes off to college. I know the itineraries aren't out yet, but I have been looking at the itineraries for next year and it is presenting a dilemma.

 

We are debating between a British Isles cruise or a Med cruise. Both have a lot of appeal. We love the idea of seeing Rome and Athens, but we also would love to visit Great Britain, Scotland and Ireland. I would love to get feedback from those who have done one or both of these itineraries.

 

Also, I am reeliing over the price of airfare for our family of four, so any advice on how to get good deals would be most appreciated. This will likely be our only cruise in 2012 so I want to do it right!

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We have sailed both the British Isles cruise, and the Egypt/Aegean cruise with Princess. The Egypt/Aegean cruise wins hands down. Very impressive. Although the British Isles cruise was great, it just could not compare to the Egypt/Aegean ports.

 

Sorry, can't help with the flights, we use FF miles for our flights of this length.

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We did a Med cruise (Barcelona to Istanbul) for our daughter's graduation from college and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The sheer amount of history that comes to life in seeing ports from Florence, Naples (Pompeii), Venice, Athens to Ephesus, with others mixed in cannot be beat, as these cities form the basis of a lot of western civilization, and one gains a new appreciation of it when standing in the Acropolis or in Ephesus.

 

Her high school graduation brought us on a land tour of Ireland, where our family came from, and was a totally different experience.

 

Good luck on your choice that fits your family.

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Being British I would pick the Rome and Athens over the British Isles.

Which month are you planning to go?

 

We have just come off Grand Princess and on our day in Rome it was so hot it was not a pleasure to walk around, especially mid day. That was the end of August. I have been told it was even hotter the previous cruise.

 

Saying that, Rome and Athens and the ports around that area are well worth a visit.

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I had planned to take my DS on a Med cruise this year for his HS graduation as well. He was much more interested in the Med than in Britain (although he'd already been to London for a week with me....). Just be aware that neither will be a very "relaxing" cruise!! ;)

 

Strategies to keep costs down:

 

Skip the balcony; if you can make do with oceanview (and you book relatively early) you'll get a MUCH better deal. When I booked our Greek isles cruise, I saved about $900 pp (for 2 people in a cabin) by booking oceanview vs. balcony. There are plenty of inviting spaces to watch sailaways, find a lounge and read or get sun on the public decks.

 

Do your own tours. I have detailed notes on almost every port in the Med (including Rome, Naples, Istanbul, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, etc.) and I rarely take ship tours or even private tours. Public transportation is cheap and reliable and with a little research and planning you can save thousands this way.

 

These are the two biggest money savers. Others might include getting a credit card affiliated with an airline and start using it for all CC purchases -- with enrollment bonuses you could probably save enough to get at least one free ticket.

 

Summer season is the most expensive and most crowded in Europe. Try to go as early in June as you can. August is miserably hot in many places and the most crowded month in the Med.

 

Make your own hotel reservations for any pre- or post-cruise stay directly with the hotel. Ask for their best rate. Ask if they will offer a discount for payment in cash (often true in Italy).

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That's a tough call. We did the Ruby last summer - Med Cruise - Barcelona to Venice. We did the Crown this summer - European Explorer - Rome to London.

 

I loved both, but I probably loved the Med a little more.

I think your son would love Barcelona, and you could do a day or two there before getting on the cruise. Ending up in Venice was nice too.

 

You will be blessed with lots of sun on the Med. The British Isles will be cooler and more rain/clouds. The seas are gnerally rougher on the British Isles.

 

We found airfare much cheaper flying in to Paris, so we did a few nights in Paris before flying to Barcelona to catch the ship. Might look at doing something like that to save on airfare.

 

Either way, I think he'll be happy with whatever you choose!!

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Based on your son's age, I would vote for Mediterranean. Based on personal experience I would suggest going as early in the summer as possible. I've done a Princess Med Cruise in August and the ports were miserably hot. As someone previously mentioned, the sheer history of the Med region is so wonderful, especially for a student going off to college. I find the British Isles itineraries to be quite dull and boring. Try to find a voyage that has a lot of sea days so you don't feel extra rushed or hurried each day of your cruise. We had an excessive number of ports and that plus the long travel from the US left us feeling very worn out when we arrived back home. If you can't do that then add some time pre- or post-cruise days to your trip.

 

Enjoy yourselves.

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What a wonderful decision to make! And, I don't think you could go wrong with either itinerary. But, and for me this is a very large "but", sailing on a Med cruise in the summer will be hot. I would not choose that itinerary at that time of year. I have been in Rome twice during April, visiting the Vatican Museum both times. As warm as it was in there then, I cannot imagine what it must be like in mid-Summer!

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Hi There,

 

Why not do a Med Cruise from Southmpton, you will get the chance to spend a few days in UK then 12 or 15 days seeing Europe may be a few days after wards in the likes of Barcelona.

 

We try to do b2b cruises when we fly long haul, to get best value out of our flights, can you get the time to do b2b.

 

yours Shogun

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Hey Neighbor! We are due a DQ catch up one of these days... Much to talk about.

 

Well, you know I'm a Brit and that we have done both these itineraries more than once. It's hard to choose between them because they are both so very different. It really comes down to where your interest lies... I can happily tell you about the pros and cons of both cruises (over an ice cream, preferably...)

 

In terms of cost savings... flights to Europe for the 4 of you are very expensive but overall, I think there are more flights to choose from going to London and they would be a bit cheaper, though nothing's cheap in the height of summer... You can also fly direct London, whereas a lot of European cities require a layover and change of plane. Airfares really add to the cost of the cruise...

 

Maybe the British Isles would be a gentle introduction to traveling outside the US and thn you could wet your appetitie for the Med after that??? You can't go too wrong with either option, so it's a hard choice if you can only do one.

 

When are we going to see each other to mull over this dilemma in person????

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Thanks everyone for all the responses. It is so helpful. We would probably plan to leave within a few days of his graduation in mid-June and spend two to three weeks so wondering what the weather is like in both locales in June??? Maybe not so hot as July or August?

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Hey Neighbor! We are due a DQ catch up one of these days... Much to talk about.

 

Well, you know I'm a Brit and that we have done both these itineraries more than once. It's hard to choose between them because they are both so very different. It really comes down to where your interest lies... I can happily tell you about the pros and cons of both cruises (over an ice cream, preferably...)

 

In terms of cost savings... flights to Europe for the 4 of you are very expensive but overall, I think there are more flights to choose from going to London and they would be a bit cheaper, though nothing's cheap in the height of summer... You can also fly direct London, whereas a lot of European cities require a layover and change of plane. Airfares really add to the cost of the cruise...

 

Maybe the British Isles would be a gentle introduction to traveling outside the US and thn you could wet your appetitie for the Med after that??? You can't go too wrong with either option, so it's a hard choice if you can only do one.

 

When are we going to see each other to mull over this dilemma in person????

 

Hi there you!! I would love to hear all your insights over a Blizzard. I sent you an email!

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Thanks everyone for all the responses. It is so helpful. We would probably plan to leave within a few days of his graduation in mid-June and spend two to three weeks so wondering what the weather is like in both locales in June??? Maybe not so hot as July or August?

 

Well, southern Europe should be slightly cooler than July/August... The bulk of the crowds won't be there yet, so that's also a plus.

 

The British schools don't get out till late July, so most families won't travel before then. We did a late June Crown P British Isles sailing (which I'm currently scrapbooking and will add to facebook when I'm done..) and it was mellow and perfect for touring.

 

However, a word of warning about my homeland... NEVER, ever book a trip over there based on what you expect the weather to be..... It is so darn mercurial... I just treated myself to a nice new rain jacket- in August. I wore my one cashmere cardigan into the ground in the month I was there this summer... If you want hot summer, go to the Med. If you want cool and green with a chance of showers and dose of British culture, take the British Isles cruise. The bonus on that one is you also get Ireland thrown in as well, which is a nice plus. As for the weather... You pays your money, you takes your chances....

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I would do a combination. I would do the European Explorer from Rome to Southhampton. I would fly into Rome a few days early and stay about a week in Britain (more time if I had the time) at the end which should allow you time to go to Scotland or Wales after seeing London. We have done the European Explorer and the Holy Land cruise with Princess. We have the Baltic scheduled for next spring and I also really want to do the one around the British Isles someday. From London you can take the chunnel train to Paris quicker than it takes the bus to go from LeHavre to Paris if you are interested in that.

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We did the Med on the Celebrity Summit in June 2008 with our kids, and the British Isles on the Crown Princess in July 2009. Both cruises were fantastic experiences. Here's a link to a post describing what we did on the British Isles cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=21582161&postcount=12

 

We are returning to the Med in June 2011. This time we want to embark from Rome because it's too difficult to try to see that city on a one day port stop. We also want to visit Istanbul this time around.

 

But I would also tell you that you can't go wrong with the British Isles cruise. We had a wonderful pre-cruise visit to London. The weather alternated between sunny and rainy, but was an improvement over the heat and humidity of our Med cruise. Another plus was that we could fly nonstop to London, which we couldn't do on our Med cruise. Plus it was certainly helpful to be able to speak the language and read the signage. And finally, we felt more welcomed and appreciated as tourists in many of the British Isles ports in a way that we didn't feel in the Med ports. The cruise ships don't call that often in places like Glasgow or Cobh, and they really made us feel that they were happy to see us all pile off the ship.:)

 

I know what you mean about the airfare! We are looking at RT airfare to Rome for the four of us, and it ain't pretty. Right now it would cost us about 6K for the four of us.:( We we're putting off buying the airfare for now.

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Just a thought on airfare.... we found round trip to Venice considerably cheaper than round trip Rome. If you take a cruise that begins in one of those cities and ends in the others, take the train from one to another after the cruise (book first class so you can be with your luggage) and you can save a lot of money by booking round trip air rather than open jaw. I totally agree on taking a med trip as early in the summer as possible! Have a great trip!

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We've sailed the Mediterranean 3 times in August with teen and preteen. If you plan to sail the Med, the itinerary I recommend as an introduction to that area is the Princess Grand Med (Venice overnight, Piraeus for Athens, Kusadasi for Ephesus, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Civitavecchia for Rome, Livorno for Florence/Pisa, Monte Carlo, and ending in Barcelona).

 

I would also consider the Baltic cruises, including St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Helsinki, etc. We sailed this route once, and it was actually our favorite of all the European cruises. This area is packed with places of interest to teens.

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These are all great suggestions and so appreciated. I can see that whatever choice we make it will be a fantastic experience. I think my son would probably favor a cruise that includes Rome and Greece since he is fascinated by ancient history. I will likely let him have a lot of influence on the final decision since it is in large part to celebrate his graduation. And since we are starting to plan now I'm looking at all my options for building up FF miles. We are traveling to the East Coast next summer and I'm hoping to make sure most of our expenses for that trip provide airline benefits to help defray the cost for the following year.

 

Does anyone have an idea of when Princess will release the European itineraries for the summer of 2012?

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Can someone tell me which cruise would be the most scenic if one could not get off the ship at all? I would like to treat my parents to a cruise and neither is mobile enough to do any tours. But if there is a scenic cruise, they would love to do it. Alaska is great for them because there is so much to see from the ship, but I would prefer to go to Europe with them in 2012...

 

Katherine

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Can someone tell me which cruise would be the most scenic if one could not get off the ship at all? I would like to treat my parents to a cruise and neither is mobile enough to do any tours. But if there is a scenic cruise, they would love to do it. Alaska is great for them because there is so much to see from the ship, but I would prefer to go to Europe with them in 2012...

 

Katherine

 

 

Many ports are far from scenic. A cruise with many of the Greek Islands will have scenic port days. Scandinavian cruises will often have a scenic sailing along the fiord to the port city.

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