Med cruise choices??

[sandiego1]

I am looking for a vacation to celebrate a big milestone birthday. I am considering one of 3 HAL Med cruises for Sept 2011. I was in Rome, Venice and Florence in Sept 2010 but wouldn't mind going again as I loved it - especially Venice. I have never been to any of the other ports listed on the itineraries. Other than my recenty trip to Italy, I've done very little traveling in Europe.

 

Any recommendations for which I should choose?

 

10-Day Roman Empire - HAL Noordam

Ports of Call: Civitavecchia (Rome); Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kerkira, Corfu, Greece; Katakolon, Greece; Thira (Santorini), Greece; Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey; Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Messina, Italy

11-Day Ancient Discoveries - HAL Ryndam

Ports of Call: Barcelona; Trapani, Italy; Valletta, Malta; Katakolon, Greece; Kerkira, Corfu, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Naples; Cagliari, Italy; Palma de Mallorca, Spain

12-Day Mediterranean Romance - HAL Nieuw Amsterdam

Ports of Call: Venice; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Kerkira, Corfu, Greece; Argostoli, Greece; Thira (Santorini), Greece; Catania, Italy; Cruising Strait of Messina; Naples; Civitavecchia (Rome); Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy; Barcelona

[CruiserBruce]

I would take as long a cruise as possible- even a back to back- as it is a long trip there, and there is so much to see and do.

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:) If you really want to treat yourself well and have the time, consider the 45 day r/t from Ft lauderdale to the Med and back on the Maasdam Oct 28. We booked this one about a month ago and counting the days.

[sandiego1]

45 days is impossible. We do multiple vacations/year - typically 1-2 wks each. Since we are not retired, we can't be gone from work for much more than 15 days each time. So a 12 day cruise is pretty much our limit (plus travel days and a few days spent before the cruise in the embarkation city).

[debsea]

12-day Mediterranean Romance, no question. You said of your previous trip to Italy that you especially enjoyed Venice, and the other ports of call on this itin are also wonderful, especially Dubrovnik, Santorini, and Catania!

[vino100]

We cruised the 10 day Roman Empire cruise on the Noordam last year.We have cruised many times and this was our favorite cruise ever.:D The ports were fantastic and the ship superb. All three look great so I'm sure you can't go wrong.

[Willsot]

I would take as long a cruise as possible- even a back to back- as it is a long trip there, and there is so much to see and do.

 

I agree. The longer, the better IMHO.

[cruisemom42]

In addition to the itineraries, you should also make sure that you pick ports at the beginning and end that you want to spend a couple of extra days exploring.

 

Personally I like the first itinerary (Noordam) because it visits both Santorini and Kusadasi (Ephesus); both are wonderful ports.

 

On a side note, why do so many cruises stop in Corfu? There's not much to do there from my perspective....

[Storylady]

I would chose Cruise number 3. With Venice, Dubrovnik, Naples, Santorini, Corfu and Florence how could you possibly go wrong. If you could spend a couple of days at the beginning and at least a day at the end you have one of the best combinations.

 

Think a Room with a View---Florence

 

Santorini---one of the most romantic islands

 

Naples---the view from the ship is fantastic, have cocktails and watch the sail out and then go for a lovely meal in the Pinnacle Grill

 

Dubrovnik---a lovely, compact, scenic town, have a romantic time walking the walls

 

Corfu---think For Your Eyes Only (James Bond)

[cruzmann]

Vino100 has it right. The Roman Empire cruise was the best of the bunch we have taken. If you want to have a day or two to adjust to the time change just fly into another city and take the train to Civitivecchia on cruise day. We did a couple of days at the Hilton Stucky Venice and did the express train from there. Doing the other side of the Med this year in June on the Noordam. We have more pictures of Oia on Santorini than any other little town in the world. Go for it.

[cruisinggranmama]

They all look terrific. Been to Corfu on our last Med cruise and for the life of me I can't remember anything but the palace (Bond) and the beautiful scenery from far above the sea. The history of the palace was quite interesting and the statuary lovely. Love Athens, Santorini, Ephesus, had a drink in a little restaurant along the dock in Katakolon - very picturesque. I had a tough time getting a glass of red wine. I finally pointed to a red color on my very colorful blouse and that did it for me.

 

Doing 10-day Mediterranean Enchantment in September primarily for Barcelona and Naples. So can't speak to those - yet.

 

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong.

 

Have a great milestone celebration.:)

[kazu]

You know what? You have to figure out what you like.

 

I like number 3 myself, but it's YOUR CRUISE, so take a look and see what ports suit you the best. and go for what you like the best.

 

have a great cruise in the Med. We love it:):)

[schoolinmy3]

We are booked on number 1 in your list - the Roman Empire aboard the Noordam in May. My son knew what ports he wanted to visit and after carefully studying the itineraries this was his choice. We did another Mediterranean cruise last May aboard the Eurodam - Rome to Dover but he really wanted to return for the ports in Greece.

Diane

[EGCruisers]

We (family of 7 at that time, from 60's to 20's and a 14 month old) did the Roman Empire on the Noordam in 2009. The ports were the same. It was wonderful -- so much history and so much to see. I haven't done the other two, so I can't offer a comparison, but we all loved the Roman Empire itinerary. There wasn't a single port that I would skip.

[Harley57]

All of the itineraries look wonderful and you can't go wrong with any of them. IMHO I think the longer 12 day trip is the way to go. DH, DS and I did a 12 day on RCI in 2008 and have wonderful memories. Florence, Kusadasi and Santorini were our favorites. Enjoy!

[sandiego1]

I think we'll have to go w/ #1. I don't know if I want to go on the Ryndam - it's an older ship. And #3 is too late. Hubbie's biz trip ends the night of 9/13 but the cruise doesn't start until 9/21. Don't think he can be out of the office from 9/7 to 10/3. Too bad because I really wanted to go back to Venice for my bday again (it was wonderful last yr).

 

Also looking at a few Celebrity cruises. But it is more expensive than HAL. I can get an SC suite for $3500 pp for #1. For a Med cruise on the Solstice, the least expensive Sky suite is $4900 (similar size cabin but it is 2 days longer cruise). And there's no Neptune lounge ;-( The regular Verandah categories are roughly the same price on the Solstice as the Noordam.

[vino100]

I think we'll have to go w/ #1. I don't know if I want to go on the Ryndam - it's an older ship. And #3 is too late. Hubbie's biz trip ends the night of 9/13 but the cruise doesn't start until 9/21. Don't think he can be out of the office from 9/7 to 10/3. Too bad because I really wanted to go back to Venice for my bday again (it was wonderful last yr).

 

Also looking at a few Celebrity cruises. But it is more expensive than HAL. I can get an SC suite for $3500 pp for #1. For a Med cruise on the Solstice, the least expensive Sky suite is $4900 (similar size cabin but it is 2 days longer cruise). And there's no Neptune lounge ;-( The regular Verandah categories are roughly the same price on the Solstice as the Noordam.

 

Just my 2 cents again.:D We stayed in SC 6166 ,a corner aft cabin, on the Noordam and loved the location. While the Neptune isn't on the same deck,it wasn't that far of a walk. Enjoy your cruise.

[mmr923]

You won't regret it! DH and I did that same itinerary on the Noordam in August of 2009 and it was an AMAZING cruise! We loved the ship and the ports, and we spent a little time in Rome after the cruise seeing the sights there before going home. I also took some spectacular photos in Oia in Santorini (as well as in Dubrovnik and Athens) - there are at least a dozen of them decorating our living room wall now! If you have any excursion questions please feel free to ask! We did some days on our own, some off ship excursions and some HAL excursions, and were happy with all our choices. Ephesus is an amazing site! And my favorite excursion was probably the volcano hike/sulfur hot springs swim offered by HAL at Santorini (which still allowed time to go back to the ship, change, have lunch, tender back to the island, and take the local bus to Oia to walk around for the afternoon! Ahhh... the memories... Have a great time! :)

[Deebs2]

we are booked on the 8/6 sailing of the 10 day Roman Empire. I went to Greece and Turkey around 20 years ago and can't wait to go back. Santorini is amazing. I just wish we were going to Mykonos too.

[sunshine nana]

If you've already been to Italy, I would pick a cruise with Ephesus. That and Dubrovnik and Venice were the high lights of our Greece/Turkey cruise that started and ended in Venice. We didn't get to go to Santorini, but that will be next along with Istanbul. We did a Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Florence, Malta which was great, but Epheusus was more impressive than Pompeii because we did the Terrace houses.

[jwds]

Have you considered the N. Amsterdam round trip from Venice? It is one of the best Med. itineraries that I've seen.

[sandiego1]

it leaves too early for us (9/9). Hubbie's biz trip doesn't end until the night of the 13th. But I did like the itinerary

[jwds]

Then I would recommed the Celebrity 11 night from Rome. We've been on it and it is a great ininerary.

[ariawoman]

Personally, I've done the 12 day Med Romance last Oct on Nieuw Amsterdam and it was great.

 

I also agree with other posters that mentioned Corfu being a bust. To be honest of the 3 ports we went to in Greece (Corfu, Argostoli and Santorini) I only found Santorini to be worthing returning to (and if given the choice would have traded out the other 2 for other ports altogether as I just wasn't moved by either).

 

I'm torn, part of me thinks I'd go with Option 1, because of Turkey (never been and have heard great things) and of course Santorini. I also personally loved Rome and would never mind being back there. I'd not really want to extend my stay on the end of that option though, which kinda makes me lean towards another option.

 

Barcelona is a beautiful city and deserves a few days so option 2 would allow you to do the cruise plus extend a few days into Barcelona. Walking the walls in Dubrovnik is simply amazing views every which way you turn. Option 2 also has many ports I've never been to. Hmm methinks I talked myself into Option 2 LOL.

[sandiego1]

Well, I did it! I made a choice (well, hubbie helped). I just booked us on #1. The dates were the best for us since it leaves only 1 day after my DH biz trip ends.

 

#2 is on the Ryndam and I prefered to be on a newer ship. It was tough because I wanted to go to Barcelona, but Ephesus won out over Barcelona.

 

#3 on N. Amsterdam just left way to late for us. We would have had 7 nights in Venice before the cruise left (was just there in Sept for my last bday and LOVED it). Since it was a 12 day cruise, combined w/ DH biz trip, he would have been away from home for 27 nights. Too many for him.

 

Also looked at a few on Celebrity. The prices were just too high for a similar size suite. And no Neptune lounge or free laundry. HAL won out on a price per day comparision and amenities.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone!