New to Oceania & Europe - what do you think?

[true45]

About to book Riviera Rome to Venice with 2 hotel nights b4 & after cruise.

Cruise has 4 stops in italy/sicily and 2 in greece, & dubrovnik.

 

Fortunate to do it this time, may not be able to do it again, is this a good choice. It seems exhausting with a port every day but we want to try while we are still up to it, LOL.

 

I know it is hard to predict what a stranger will like but we have liked all our Celebrity cruises but would like to try a smaller ship -- this was a reasonably priced sailing, too. I would appreciate any tips from CCers.

 

Thanks

[cruzmaven]

I was on a similar itinerary last summer on the Marina. If you liked your experiences on Celebrity, you'll love the ship, food and service on O.

 

We also stayed a few days in Rome before and Venice after and then on to Florence for a few days. It was a great trip.

 

I joined people from our roll call for private tours in Tuscany, Amalfi/Pompeii and Cannes.

 

We picked a few ports to just walk around without a formal tour and returned to the ship early - these were our "sea days".

 

It was a great trip, you're going to love it.

[JimandStan]

About to book Riviera Rome to Venice with 2 hotel nights b4 & after cruise.

Cruise has 4 stops in italy/sicily and 2 in greece, & dubrovnik.

 

Fortunate to do it this time, may not be able to do it again, is this a good choice. It seems exhausting with a port every day but we want to try while we are still up to it, LOL.

 

I know it is hard to predict what a stranger will like but we have liked all our Celebrity cruises but would like to try a smaller ship -- this was a reasonably priced sailing, too. I would appreciate any tips from CCers.

 

Thanks

 

Before you book with any Cruise Line that is new to you, it is a very good idea to read through the Review Section, here on Cruise Critic, to give yourself an idea of what they are offering. Since the Riviera hasn't sailed yet, you might want to read the Reviews for her identical sister ship the Marina.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=526

 

I would say that 85% of those who are dissatisfied with any cruise simply discovered that the Line was a bad fit, after it was too late to do anything about it.

 

DON'T Spend thousands of dollars on a trip without KNOWING that you will enjoy it. The tools are out there and don't cost anything but your time.

Use them. :D

[skandls]

We did our first Oceania cruise in 2010 on the Insignia - an older smaller ship. We have cruised with Celebrity - love the new Aqua class restaurant. With the very port intensive cruises - Oceania is great. Dinner is open seating and the food very good no matter where you choose to dine. The biggest weakness is the nighttime entertainment. But we were so busy and tired from touring that that was not a problem for us. We are booked on the Marina and I am looking forward to the cabins - a lot bigger than the one we had on the Insignia.

 

Tours in Europe can get very expensive. I pick and choose where to do an organized tour and where to DYI (find the Hop On bus or a walking tour). I try to leave some flex time - I don't want to get really tired from running around. As one of the previous posters mentioned - 'seadays' are a short walk around town finding an internet cafe or local place for a small bite and a glass of wine.

[true45]

cruzemaven, did you make a stop in zak..... sorry forgot the whole name of the town in Greece? I have heard that this is not such a great stop & might be worth skipping in favor of resting.

 

jimandstan - i've done some reading of the reviews. I think we will love oceania. I tried princess recently thinking it would be much like celebrity but there was no comparison. It is the one line i'd avoid.

 

skandls - thanks I will do more reading for sure on the ports.

[cruzmaven]

cruzemaven, did you make a stop in zak..... sorry forgot the whole name of the town in Greece? I have heard that this is not such a great stop & might be worth skipping in favor of resting.

 

No. Our only stop in Greece was Corfu. That was a day that we just walked around town and got back to the ship early in the afternoon.

 

Good places for finding information for the individual ports are the ports of call boards here on CC, this is the one for Greece:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=594

 

and also on the Tripadvisor forums. This is the forum for Zakynthos:

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g189462-i544-Zakynthos_Ionian_Islands.html

 

Researching your itinerary is at least 1/2 the fun, imo. Have a great time!

[Andi2008]

We just got home from our 10 day cruise on the Marina - Barcelona to Rome, so different from the cruise you are looking at, but had to write to say it was FABULOUS. The ship is gorgeous, the crew amazing, the food fabulous, the "new port every day" experience challenging, but FUN and interesting... This was our first cruise with Oceania (I have cruised on RC and Radison Seven Seas) and will definitely put Oceania at the top of our list for our next adventure. We did not use any of the Oceania excursions -- too expensive and not enough value. I instead did my homework and booked independent drivers/cars for three ports (Marseilles, Florence, and Rome) and we were glad we did.

 

Good luck with your trip planning - to me that is half the fun of cruising!

 

Andi

[true45]

Thanks everyone.Yes, planning can be fun, but it's hard to think straight & get things done -- we watch our granddaughters while their parents work. I appreciate any tips from CCers.

 

Anyone have experience with extending the trip by a couple of days? We are thinking 2 in rome & 2 venice. Oceania's hotel pickings are crazy expensive but they have transportation from airport to hotel & hotel to port & reverse if you book those too.

[ksps cruise fan]

Thanks everyone.Yes, planning can be fun, but it's hard to think straight & get things done -- we watch our granddaughters while their parents work. I appreciate any tips from CCers.

 

Anyone have experience with extending the trip by a couple of days? We are thinking 2 in rome & 2 venice. Oceania's hotel pickings are crazy expensive but they have transportation from airport to hotel & hotel to port & reverse if you book those too.

 

For fun and for lots of hand-holding, please go to the Italy Port Call web site (URL follows). The posters there are very knowledgeable and will steer you to a price range hotel that feels more comfortable for you along with a reliable, reasonably priced transfer strategies in both cities. (Canals instead of streets complicates transportation and movement with luggage in Venice.)

 

I enthusiastically recommend you extend your cruise by land stays front and back. Do you expect to return to Rome and Venice? That might affect the length of your stay. Two days is probably enough to experience Venice reasonably well, but two days in Rome feels inadequate. Over the years, my husband and I have spent a month in Rome. We're heading back for four more days this summer and our plans include nothing we've ever done before!

 

Italy Port of Call Board:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

[no fuss travel]

cruzemaven, did you make a stop in zak..... sorry forgot the whole name of the town in Greece? I have heard that this is not such a great stop & might be worth skipping in favor of resting.

 

Zakenthos (sp) was quite interesting. We walked off the ship, found a taxi driver, named Denys (sounds like an Australian as he lived there for many years, but is a native of Greece) and he talked us into taking a tour around the island. We saw sites that no one else did on the ship and were really glad that he talked us into it. A beautiful island and you are not stuck on a tour bus.:D It was quite a relaxing day as he did all the driving and all we had to do was admire the beauty. He stopped whenever we wanted to take a picture or something interested us.

[skandls]

Thanks everyone.Yes, planning can be fun, but it's hard to think straight & get things done -- we watch our granddaughters while their parents work. I appreciate any tips from CCers.

 

Anyone have experience with extending the trip by a couple of days? We are thinking 2 in rome & 2 venice. Oceania's hotel pickings are crazy expensive but they have transportation from airport to hotel & hotel to port & reverse if you book those too.

 

We book our own hotels and transfers. It is usually way cheaper. We are ok doing this and we always buy travel insurance (not from the cruise line) early enough to cover pre-existing conditions. Check the hotel websites for rates if you want to stay at the Oceania hotels.

[aohkay]

cruzemaven, did you make a stop in zak..... sorry forgot the whole name of the town in Greece? I have heard that this is not such a great stop & might be worth skipping in favor of resting.

 

My BFF and I went on a packpacking trip 35 years ago. We landed up on Zakynthos and then spent a blissful few months on the island. This is WAY before tourists.

 

On our Med cruise we just HAD to get back to our Greek island and spent a week there post cruise. In the main town, Zakynthos, there's not much to see; I highly recommend driving around the island. Some beautiful, beautiful areas. The island is not that big, so it won't take you long.

 

My advice is to never skip a port. If you want to relax and take it easy, jut DIY.

[true45]

Thanks for great advice. We booked today rome to venice, will do our own hotels and NOT skip any ports.

 

We will check the boards and trip advisor and other sites -- but there is nothing like a personal recommendation from CCers.

 

Linda

[aohkay]

You'll have a wonderful time; have fun with the research and planning!