European Cruises-- Help!!

[MWGD87]

My DH and I are planning to take a European cruise this summer and are overwhelmed by the number of choices. We would love any recommendations for first timers cruising in Europe.

[teacherman]

Our first European cruise was a Baltic 10 night cruise. It got us hooked on cruising and there have been many since then. Why we liked the Baltic: At most ports, you are there, not 20 miles away (like in Rome), most ports are easy to enjoy on your own, you visit countries which are very different (Finland, Sweden, Russia), it is a chance to visit Russia (St Petersburg), an overnight stay (Russia) which allows for much touring and sightseeing, departure ports of Amsterdam or Copenhagen are easy to get from hotel to ship, etc. We have also done several other European cruise and enjoyed them all. But if you ask about SUMMER, then I would go to the Baltic. (In fall, I would do a Med cruise that maybe included some north African country (Egypt, Tunisia, etc). Just my opinion. Also, I have reviewed all of our cruises on the Review page. You can find them if you wish to see what, and how, we did our arrangements.

[PCWalton1]

I guess it really depends on where in Europe you want to go. If its the Mediterranean, I would recommend a Western Med cruise such as we took in 2010. It gave us an opportunity to see multiple countries (Spain, France, Italy, Monoco, Vatican City) all in a 7 day cruise. We got together here on CC with people in our roll call for private tours in each port which made for a more relaxed (and less expensive) adventure.

Bill

[NorbertsNiece]

Where in the world are you? I've sailed to the Med from the UK and the Med out of Malaga. If you've never been to the UK and can spare 2 weeks plus come and sail out of Southampton on Independence! Adventure is also coming to sail out of Southampton..... not too sure if the Med is on her itinerary any more though. Alternatively fly straight to the Med area.... it all depends on the time you have to spare and what it is you want to experience port-wise :D

[mjldvlks]

There are many choices and there is no way you can make them all your first cruise. Our first was Eastern Med aboard Splendour of the Seas from Venice with port calls at Dubrovnik, Kusadasi [Ephesus], Santorini, and Corfu. We loved it. But I would be hard pressed to criticize another choice [such as the Baltic mentioned by Teacherman].

 

There are probably a few places that interest you more than others. Put those at the head of the list and then look for specific itineraries that suit your wishes as to time, ship, price and so forth. Once you have picked one, go and enjoy and don't worry about what you missed -- just dream about what is next.

[ssb]

Im assuming you are in US?

 

We like Transatlantics and a Europe BTB

with one airfare from or to Europe

If you can go April May June or October November December

and have time...look into them

 

Or just do transatlantic with one airfare

 

Our next is as example - same ship - same room:

Italian Spanish- Rome to Barcelona - Navigator - 7 day -11/03/13

Transatlantic - Barcelona to Galveston- Navigator - 14 day - 11/10/13

 

prices are reasonble on these right now

 

Go from to/from east coast, florida, or gulf coast

to/from Europe

 

This is food for thought

[LeesSummitCruiser1]

All are good. Barcelona is a very easy city to get in and out of and it is a wonderful city to start your vacation a few days early in.

[artypharty]

I couldn't decide where to go on our first Med. cruise either. I just started looking at was available for the time frame we had. I was looking at one in particular and I just got a smile on my face and unbelievably excited at the prospect. That's the one we took. 11 days, 6 countries, 9 ports. It still rates as my favorite and it isn't offered any more.

 

I think you'll know which one is for you when you see it. :)

[MWGD87]

Thanks everyone!!! We are in the US ( South Carolina to be more specific). We are both educators so summer is our time to play. And.... as far as "where do we want to go?"...... I have no idea. So many choices.... I am overwhelmed. We are both very active and love the outdoors. We love spending time on and around water. I think we would steer more towards days of sightseeing and enjoying the culture of an area rather than hours inside trying to absorb all the historical information. ( I am an elementary teacher... I love to be as active as my children:)). Please keep the suggestions coming.

[Langley Cruisers]

.... as far as "where do we want to go?"...... I have no idea. So many choices.... I am overwhelmed....

 

You know what? In my opinion, any European cruise is overwhelming. It just is. There is line and ship to consider, itinerary, ports, length of cruise, getting your Euros, airfare, hotels, transportation, luggage, visas if necessary, etc. etc. We will always be overwhelmed. *shrug*

 

Hopefully this will not be your only-ever trip to Europe. If you take it in baby steps and know that you will not see everything you want to in one go, it might be less stressful. A cruise is a great way to know where you want to return to one day. For instance, it took us 30 years to get to Santorini, Greece and last year we finally did! Med cruise of a lifetime and it was everything we had hoped. We enjoyed Santorini and are considering a land vacation there in future.

 

Just relax, and enjoy the planning stage. Our first considerations are ship and itinerary. Like I said, you can't and won't do it all. Knowing that might take some of the pressure off. :)

.

[baggal]

I would make a bucket list of places that you really want to see. There are some very good on-line travel sites where you can pick cruises by ports of departure, ports visited, etc. Most European (especially Med. and Baltic) cruises are very port intensive so the ship itself may not be so important. See which itinerary and price fits your needs.

 

Make sure you fly in the day before your cruise, or possibly a day or two before that so that you can explore the city you are departing from.

 

And, when you are comparing cruises, see how long each ship spends in a port - for example, a few extra hours in Venice, can be a world of difference.

 

Have a great time!

[Scubadoobie2]

My wife and I did our first European cruise in May, 2012. It was on board the Navigator of the Seas, sailing the Eastern Med. Spent a few pre-cruise days in Rome then sailed away (from port of Civitavecchia) to Sicily, Turkey, Athens and more. It was an incredible experience.

 

By the way, we are in our 50s with no physical disabilities. Just thought we'd mention that because there IS a lot of walking involved, though the sights are so spectacular you'd hardly notice.

 

We're doing that same cruise again on 05/26/13, this time with our 2 children, both in college. Just wanted them to see the spectacular sights in Ephesus, Turkey and Athens, Greece.

 

Check out the roll calls for our May 20, 2012 cruise and our upcoming 05/26/13 cruise. That should give you some sense of whether that ship and itinerary are right for you as well as some of the planning that goes into it. I have a link in the 5/26/13 roll call to pictures from our last cruise.

 

Happy hunting!

[IWORK2CRUISE]

We took out 1st Europe cruise this past summer.

 

I had been intrigued by the 12 day Jewel (we love that ship!) to the Baltic and was sure that was what I was going to book. Then, I researched some airfare and transportation from Heathrow to the ship. Things were adding up and I started to back away. It was for right after the Olympics and I feared that the airfare would not come down in cost.

 

I started searching on other departure ports and hit on a real winner for us.

 

We ended up on Brilliance from Copenhagen to the Baltic, B2B with Copenhagen to the Norwegian Fjords. 14 days instead of 12, more places to see and better airfare from NY!

 

We had a blast and loved seeing so many places.

We had a full day tour in St. Petersburg and did all other port calls on our own.

[KAYTWO]

Did an amazing Eastern Med cruise on Legend in 2008 - From Rome with stops in Mykonos, Ephesus, Cyprus, Rhodes, Alexandria, Athens and Naples. An unbelievable experience - but you will love any trip you do there I'm sure :p

[crafty sue]

We have done 2 med cruises one fly cruise from Palma Majorca with RC nice ports Barcalona, Malaga, Ibiza and Gibralta - and it was just enough for a first attempt, we then did P & O out of Southampton, as we are UK residents thought this would be fun, but you have a couple of sea days through the Bay of Biscay which can be very very choppy, we enjoyed all the ports lisbon, Cadiz and Gibralta were fun, but Casablanca is a dirty hole - I know people do like it but most of our fellow cruisers got the shuttle in and came straight back to the ship ! the Med is a great place to cruise to see lots of different places and meet lots of people from all over the world

[mskaufman]

We've been on 8 or 9 cruises and last year did our first Med cruise. It was something different. Before going we compared it to various ground tours and decided that the cruise was the way to go. A different city every day. While you don't get to spend overnight (usually) in a city you also don't spend your days on a bus going from place to place.

 

We did Liberty of the Seas out of Barcelona and also on the trip got to Aix, Nice, Eze, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. We really saw a lot in a week. Feel free to check out the pictures.

 

http://markandkareneurope2012.shutterfly.com/pictures