Ave number of ships in ports for Mediterranean this summer?

[mtnsofthemoon]

We will be taking our first Mediterranean cruise this summer - August - peak season. Have cruised before and experienced at most 3 ships in port at the same time. Was wondering how many to expect over in the Mediterranean during peak season? :)

[GaryfmCol]

We will be taking our first Mediterranean cruise this summer - August - peak season. Have cruised before and experienced at most 3 ships in port at the same time. Was wondering how many to expect over in the Mediterranean during peak season? :)

 

We just came back from an eastern Med. cruise.

I can tell you, in Athens, there were about 7 cruise ships in port, and, trying to go to the Parthenon was awful. There were hordes of people there. One couple we went with did not even attempt it. They waited for us, down below near the busses.

There is only one walkway up there and, the same one coming down. Plus, it was pure traffic gridlock with the coaches taking people there.

It took one hour from the port to the coach parking area.

 

Another thing, when we got off the ship in Civetavecchia (Rome)

to come home, the airports were also crammed with hordes of people and, it took forever to get through the lines to catch your aircraft.

 

Plan on plenty of time.

[glittergal1]

there is a website you can go on and it tells you the ships in port on the days you want I cant remember what is now but someone on here posted it so hopefully they will read your thread and post again

[argyle143]

I found a similar question on Cruise Critic a few months ago. The poster included the below website called Cruise Timetables. It's a website that will let you know what ships are in port on a particular day. I haven't taken my Med Cruise yet (Sept 2012), but it looks pretty extensive. Hope it helps.

http://www.cruisetimetables.com/

[glittergal1]

You are in luck I have found it www.cruisereport.co./portsofcalllist.aspx

 

I dont know how acurate it is though

[baggal]

Don't let it worry you. A Mediterranean cruise is so fabulous that you won't notice the other ships!

[wantocruisemore]

We just came back from an eastern Med. cruise.

I can tell you, in Athens, there were about 7 cruise ships in port, and, trying to go to the Parthenon was awful. There were hordes of people there. One couple we went with did not even attempt it. They waited for us, down below near the busses.

There is only one walkway up there and, the same one coming down. Plus, it was pure traffic gridlock with the coaches taking people there.

It took one hour from the port to the coach parking area.

 

Another thing, when we got off the ship in Civetavecchia (Rome)

to come home, the airports were also crammed with hordes of people and, it took forever to get through the lines to catch your aircraft.

 

Plan on plenty of time.

 

Found out we are 1 of 6 cruise ships in port at Piraeus. We have a private tour set up as soon as we get off the ship. I had heard that the private tours usually made it to the Acropolis first and many times people had toured and were leaving when the buses got there.

 

It sounds like you DIY?

 

Also, how early was your flight out of Rome on the way back?

[richstowe]

Don't let it worry you. A Mediterranean cruise is so fabulous that you won't notice the other ships!

 

Actually, I kindda like having other ships in port at the same time -within reason.

On our first cruise it was a thrill to walk through cruise ship canyon.

[mtnsofthemoon]

Thank you everyone for the info/replies. Used the cruise port website and see there will be 7 ships total (including us) in the Rome port! Yikes est. 13 thousand passengers will be descending at one time. We will be doing a private tour for Rome and hope to avoid the masses of tour buses.

[Texas Teen]

The Mediterranean is going to be more crowded and oversaturated than the Caribbean this summer.

 

Many cruise lines are taking away more and more ships from the Caribbean for the summer and sending them to oversaturated Europe every year. :(

[richstowe]

Thank you everyone for the info/replies. Used the cruise port website and see there will be 7 ships total (including us) in the Rome port! Yikes est. 13 thousand passengers will be descending at one time. We will be doing a private tour for Rome and hope to avoid the masses of tour buses.

OK ,7 ships is overkill!

The Mediterranean is going to be more crowded and oversaturated than the Caribbean this summer.

 

Many cruise lines are taking away more and more ships from the Caribbean for the summer and sending them to oversaturated Europe every year. :(

Got to believe there will be less next year. If not I'll be taking another cut rate cruise.;)

[GaryfmCol]

Found out we are 1 of 6 cruise ships in port at Piraeus. We have a private tour set up as soon as we get off the ship. I had heard that the private tours usually made it to the Acropolis first and many times people had toured and were leaving when the buses got there.

 

It sounds like you DIY?

 

Also, how early was your flight out of Rome on the way back?

 

We were on the British Airways flight at 11:00 AM, from Rome to London.

We arrived at the terminal around 8 A.M., so we had plenty of time. It took us about 1.5 hours to do everything with the lines of people.

 

Out of London Heathrow we were on a British Airways flight n/s to Denver...which was why I wanted to fly British Airways, so we could avoid ORD, JFK, ATL. Good thing we did because there were TRW's and, tornados all over on Sunday, but, our route of flight was behind the weather lines..we had a descent trip home...but, very tiring, to say the least. OUr friends coming home through ORD, had a miserable time with all the weather and, delays.

[Cruzinbabe06]

We just came back from an eastern Med. cruise.

I can tell you, in Athens, there were about 7 cruise ships in port, and, trying to go to the Parthenon was awful. There were hordes of people there. One couple we went with did not even attempt it. They waited for us, down below near the busses.

There is only one walkway up there and, the same one coming down. Plus, it was pure traffic gridlock with the coaches taking people there.

It took one hour from the port to the coach parking area.

 

Another thing, when we got off the ship in Civetavecchia (Rome)

to come home, the airports were also crammed with hordes of people and, it took forever to get through the lines to catch your aircraft.

 

Plan on plenty of time.

 

We are on the same cruise in October. I have a few questions please.

 

How was the food on the ship? Haven't been on RCCL in a while. Did they have lobster? I was reading about there being no lobster on the Med. cruises.

 

Can you tell me what you did in each port? Tour guides? Any helpful tips?

How was Crete? Did they shuttle pax to town? Did you see or go to any beaches in Crete? I read that the Golden Beach is in walking distance from town.

 

What time did you arrive at the ship? We're doing a little touring in Rome that day so we are going to arrive around 3 or 4pm. Wondering if that's too late. Lines, etc.

 

Any other thing you can think of would be appreciated. Shows, entertainment, comedy shows, etc.

 

Sorry for all the questions. :D

 

Thanks in advance

[GaryfmCol]

We are on the same cruise in October. I have a few questions please.

 

How was the food on the ship? Haven't been on RCCL in a while. Did they have lobster? I was reading about there being no lobster on the Med. cruises.

 

Can you tell me what you did in each port? Tour guides? Any helpful tips?

How was Crete? Did they shuttle pax to town? Did you see or go to any beaches in Crete? I read that the Golden Beach is in walking distance from town.

 

What time did you arrive at the ship? We're doing a little touring in Rome that day so we are going to arrive around 3 or 4pm. Wondering if that's too late. Lines, etc.

 

Any other thing you can think of would be appreciated. Shows, entertainment, comedy shows, etc.

 

Sorry for all the questions. :D

 

Thanks in advance

 

I would plan on cutting that Rome tour short.

You have no idea of the traffic around there.

It is not worth the risk.

 

The time is Crete for us was short.

We only had until 2:30 P.M., so, we went into Chaina

early from the port. It cost only 11 Euros. Have the driver take you to the

Old Town. There is a taxi stop right across the street.

It is about a :30 minute ride from the port.

The buses cost 3 Euros for a round trip. Per Person.

A cab with 4 is cheaper and, alot faster.

 

Yes, I saw lobster on the menu in the MDR.

Alot of comedy shows in the theater..in fact, I thought,

too many. :o

 

When in Messina, we took a cab to Taormina.

Incredible, beautiful, little town. We hired a cab to take us there and, wait for us, and, return.

It cost us 125 Euros including tip. Well worth it. There were 4 of us in the cab.

Not much to do in Messina.

 

We bought an excursion in Athens to go to the Parthenon. Alot of people..

In Turkey, we went to Ephusus. The city of Kusadasi is beautiful itself.

Lots of shopping and, restaurants there. Very clean...wonderful people.

 

Enjoy your trip. We certainly did.

It is a beautiful area to visit, by ship.

And, the Navigator of the Seas is a beautiful ship.

Be real careful of getting to the ship on time... :rolleyes:

[Cruzinbabe06]

Oh wow. Thank you

 

We're staying in a Rome hotel, precruise. Touring the Vatican that same day.

 

The plan was to tour the Colloseum the following morning. Come back, check out of hotel (noon), have lunch, then have the shuttle pick us up at 1:30pm. Arriving at the port around 3:30.

 

But, you're right, we don't want to be in panic mode, if any traffic holds us up. I think we'll just grab a sandwich and eat lunch on the shuttle bus. If they let us. And have them pick us up around 12:30pm.

 

That should give us plenty of time.

 

Thanks again for the heads up and answering my questions. :D

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

I wouldn't worry about a lot of ships in major city ports such as Athens, Civitavecchia, Barcelona, etc. They are all major cities and are built to handle that.

 

In peak season in the Caribbean, do you also complain about how many ships there are in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday or Sunday?

 

The only time I ever felt gridlock in the Mediterranean during the peak season has been on islands such as Mykonos and Santorini. Santorini just doesn't seem built for 6 or 7 ships anchored around it at a given time. And Mykonos only has limited docking, and the remainder of the ships anchored. We wanted to go to a beach on Mykonos but the taxi line from the town center was horrendous and there was no guarantee of getting a taxi to take us back.

 

It is still a once-in-a-lifetime experience despite the crowds, so don't let the crowds deter you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[bigeck]

http://cruisett.com/ports.php This link might help.

 

Alex

[suekay]

http://cruisett.com/ports.php This link might help.

 

Alex

Great site - so easy to find the info. Thanks:)

[sippican]

Great site - so easy to find the info. Thanks:)

 

A word of caution, I posted the link to cruisett a few weeks back and was told by a fellow CC member that it was "senseless" to recommend that site since it has so much misinformation.

Hmmmm ...... Just sayin :rolleyes:

[bigeck]

A word of caution, I posted the link to cruisett a few weeks back and was told by a fellow CC member that it was "senseless" to recommend that site since it has so much misinformation.

Hmmmm ...... Just sayin :rolleyes:

 

I must have got this from you. Since seeing your post, I checked other sites and all ships are scheduled to be in all ports for my cruise on Oct 1st from Malaga. Seems good to me. Thanks for posting it.

Alex

[Tina0922]

WOW, thanks for the link. I too was getting a little worried about the crowds and taking the tours with my elder parents....Mariner is the only ship when we embark & disembark in Rome as well as in 2 ports. The other ports there are only 1 or 2 other ships which is really nothing. Only port that concerns me is Naples with 4 ships total. I think Istanbul could handle total of 3 ships being big city, right??? We are there overnight but was only able to pull up link for arrival day, not the following. Thanks again, will let other family know as well since Rome was a big concern for us getting to early flights home.

 

Tina

[PCWalton1]

Dear friends:

 

I wouldn't worry about a lot of ships in major city ports such as Athens, Civitavecchia, Barcelona, etc. They are all major cities and are built to handle that.

 

In peak season in the Caribbean, do you also complain about how many ships there are in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday or Sunday?

 

The only time I ever felt gridlock in the Mediterranean during the peak season has been on islands such as Mykonos and Santorini. Santorini just doesn't seem built for 6 or 7 ships anchored around it at a given time. And Mykonos only has limited docking, and the remainder of the ships anchored. We wanted to go to a beach on Mykonos but the taxi line from the town center was horrendous and there was no guarantee of getting a taxi to take us back.

 

It is still a once-in-a-lifetime experience despite the crowds, so don't let the crowds deter you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

We were in Civitavecchia (Rome) last year with seven other ships and didn't even notice. Rome is going to be crowded anyway.

[will773]

OK ,7 ships is overkill!

 

Got to believe there will be less next year. If not I'll be taking another cut rate cruise.;)

 

To put things into perspective, winter time in Ft. Lauderdale can lead to up to 8 ships in port on any given day, over 23,000 people.