Help on Selecting a Med Cruise

[LovescatsNC]

We have been given a free 7 days cruise...we have our choice of either NCL Epic from Barcelona to Italian ports or NCL Jade departing from Venice to the Greek Ilses. (we have to provide air travel)

 

Never been to Europe so either cruise would be interesting. We are more about the ports and visitng cities we've never seen that just cruising. We're in our late 50's.

 

Any suggestions or help in making the decision is so appreciated.

[Keith1010]

Hi welcome to cruise critic.

 

If you could list out all of the ports it would be even more helpful.

 

No matter what you do I would recommend spending a few days pre cruise in one of the locations. I say this because if you fly in the day of the cruise you will get on the ship jet lagged and that is a hard way to start a cruise, let alone a seven day med cruise and also if your plane is cancelled or delayed you could miss the ship.

 

So, think about which location you would like to spend a few days assuming your budget and schedule accommodates this.

 

The other thing I would do is price out air for each of the two cruises and get a sense of how easy or challenging it is to get to and from the ports of embarkation and disembarkation and whether or not there is a major difference in the cost of the flight.

 

Again, if you could list out the ports on each itinerary that would be a big help to provide feedback.

 

Keith

[CruiserBruce]

To do some of the research Keith suggested, you might look at the Europe Ports board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

You will find answers to many of the questions you will have, and get the background info Keith talks about.

[paul929207]

You need to look at the itineraries and see what most appeals to you. We all have our own preferences. As Keith suggested, try to arrive a few days early and/or stay over after the cruise.

[wantocruisemore]

I can tell you that the deciding factor in picking our Med itinerary was the port of embarkation. We picked a place (Rome for us) that we wanted to spend more time in pre-cruise. Then we looked at all the cruises leaving from Rome during the time period we could travel. I had already narrowed it to a few cruise lines so I concentrated on those.

 

Then, since there are 9 of us traveling, I tried to get a consensus of a couple of places ones really wanted to see. My husband really wanted to stop at Sicily, BIL liked Athens. I have been to all the places except Sicily so I know what to expect. Then we really only had one option and that was the 7 day Royal Car. Navigator of the Seas. We were limited to a 7 day cruise since we wanted time pre-cruise and we can not take more than 2 weeks off.

 

So if you start with your "must haves" and then add in your "would like tos" you should have a good narrow list to work from.

 

Have fun planning!

[Happy ks]

Wow, tough choice. You cannot go wrong with either, but I'll agree you need to add on some pre and post days after the 7 day cruise.

 

I think if it were me I'd do the Jade, since we haven't been to Greece. But, then again, even though I've been to most of the ports from Barcelona...I've never been to Barcelona and would love to go there.

 

Why not do both? Pack light, get off one cruise and fly to the other port, reboard and do the other? The flight over there will cost you so much, you may as well take advantage of some extra time there.

[John Bull]

Epic's itinerary is more typical of mainstream Europe.

Jade's itinerary is more laid-back.

But they're both good.

 

Whichever you choose, the cost & grief of flying across the Pond is surely worth more than 7 days.

Shame that both cruises start/finish in one place, so you can't tag a few days onto each end of your cruise.

For a stay of a few days, Barcelona (Epic) has perhaps more to offer than Venice (Jade), and not so expensive.

 

Whichever you choose, do fly in a few days ahead. Not only is that a better hedge against missing the cruise because of flight delays, but if you fly in/out same day all you'll see of your embarkation city is the airport and the dock. And a magnificent sail-away in Venice.

 

John Bull :)

[aohkay]

I completely agree with the others...tack on some days pre/post cruise. One week is simply not enough time.

 

For our last trip to the Med, we stayed in Lisbon 2 days pre cruise, did our 12-day cruise and upon disenbarkation flew to Greece and spent another week on Zaynthos. Best of both worlds!