Need some advice on Mediterranean cruises

[puppycanducruise]

We did an Eastern Med cruise on HAL in April/May that left Rome, so we went 2 days early to do some sightseeing there, then 11 days on the ship. Athens (ship overnighted there), Ephesus and hiking up Mt Vesuvius were highlights for us. We didn't get to Venice or Istanbul, but maybe next time.

There's a lot to see in Europe - too much for 1 trip. Pick and itinerary and go - I'm sure it will be wonderful.

Not too many children on our ship since it was school was still in session.

We also did a Baltic Sea cruise about 6 years ago - I'd love to go back there sometime too.

[ducklite]

Boulders : We loved Disney, for our first cruise we couldn't have asked for a more perfect experience. Going with my parents to the Med so Disney won't be a good fit with them...no casino for Grampa being the big one. Disney right from the start does all it can to make sure you have an unforgettable experience, we are going to book another Disney Fantasy cruise after we book this one.

 

I'm not familiar with the other cruise lines other than Disney from our recent cruise and then RCL as a few friends have done the Caribbean which is why I need help. I have a lot of info now to read up on!

 

Waterpark area isn't a necessity a good kids activity area would be sufficient.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Think this out first. Med cruises are port intensive, you might have one sea day on a 10-12 day cruise. You are in port every day from early morning often until later in the evening. There will be very little time for playing or gambling.

 

I'd also like to point out that the larger the ship, the more limited you are in which ports they can visit and how long it takes to tender everyone on and off. I remember watching a big ship tendering people into Santorini for almost two hours before the tenders were not running crammed full. Absurdity! We were so very glad that when we arrived that morning it was only the Wind Surf and the L'Astral, about 500 passengers total between them, so no lines.

 

The line for the funicular up the hill must have been over an hour for the last to get off that big ship--so after waiting two hour to tender, they had another hour wait before they could even start to explore. Half of their shore time was spent waiting in lines just to get there!

 

I would suggest you look at some of the smaller ships that welcome children. Regent would probably be my first choice as long as it was a sailing where they were running Club Mariner for children.

 

 

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

Easter is April 20 next year. I would avoid Europe the week before, and the week after. We arrived in Rome on April 1, 2009, with Easter April 12 that year. Rome was overrun with school groups of European kids, lots of Brits. You couldn't get close to any of the attractions. The Vatican was wall to wall people, Trevi Fountain was a mess...Our visit later that year, in Oct. was much different. EM

[hansolosmom]

Think this out first. Med cruises are port intensive, you might have one sea day on a 10-12 day cruise. You are in port every day from early morning often until later in the evening. There will be very little time for playing or gambling.

 

I'd also like to point out that the larger the ship, the more limited you are in which ports they can visit and how long it takes to tender everyone on and off. I remember watching a big ship tendering people into Santorini for almost two hours before the tenders were not running crammed full. Absurdity! We were so very glad that when we arrived that morning it was only the Wind Surf and the L'Astral, about 500 passengers total between them, so no lines.

 

The line for the funicular up the hill must have been over an hour for the last to get off that big ship--so after waiting two hour to tender, they had another hour wait before they could even start to explore. Half of their shore time was spent waiting in lines just to get there!

...

 

Amen to this! We spent a lot of time figuring out which cruise to do because the ports are the big draw. We ended up on Celebrity Reflection. I wouldn't recommend it with a 7year old as the pool area is way too small.

 

Santorini was like a lost day for us. We were lucky and got a low tender number, but even with that we waited at least an hour to get to the top. It was a nightmare.

 

I can't stress enough thinking about where you want to stop. If it helps look at the port possibilities and think about what you'd do there to narrow it down. I think you mentioned walking being an issue and trust me there's a lot of walking involved for most of the ports.

[Tatka]

Well, small ships that can get to small ports are usually really small and luxury or close. These cruises are way more expensive and definitely not for families with kids.

 

My personal favorite for families is Princess, which is catering for the different age groups and has several adult only free and not free zones as well as good kids club. Royal is a bit better in terms of kids club and sports activities.

[momofmeg]

Hi all!

 

I am looking at booking at 10-14 day cruise in the Med next year for my parents, my husband, my daughter (7) and myself. Any advice on what a good itinerary would be? East or West Med which is better for inexperienced cruisers? I don't even know where to start other than it has to have a casino for Grampa and a cool waterpark for daughter & Grampa lol

 

We just came off a 7 day Disney Fantasy cruise to the East Caribbean and are hoping to find a cruise that is going to be even more impressive than that one (service wise)

 

 

Thanks everyone for any suggestions you may have for me!!

 

Since it is your first Med cruise, I think you should go with what ports you would most want to see. We chose roundtrip Barcelona because it did 4 ports in Italy (including overnighting in Venice) as versus cruises leaving from Rome only did a couple and Italian ports was what we wanted to see most. If we ever cruise the Med again, we would more than likely pick a cruise that does ports in Greece.

 

Just do your home work, pick up Rick Steve's book on the Med.-read up and then discuss if with your family and take a vote of the ports you most want to see-then go from there.

 

BTW-most Med cruises have 12 hour ports and very few sea days- which is another reason I would pick by ports and not so much line.

[momofmeg]

Easter is April 20 next year. I would avoid Europe the week before, and the week after. We arrived in Rome on April 1, 2009, with Easter April 12 that year. Rome was overrun with school groups of European kids, lots of Brits. You couldn't get close to any of the attractions. The Vatican was wall to wall people, Trevi Fountain was a mess...Our visit later that year, in Oct. was much different. EM

 

June was like that too lol! jus tnot school groups but tons of tourists. It was also very hot-just as hot as it is here at home in Georgia-lol! I loved what I saw, but the heat exhausted me.

[momofmeg]

Once you get your list, find an online TA website that has a robust cruise search that allows you to put in all the ports as selection criteria. Keep in mind that if you think you can't do a city in a day - use that for an embarkation port. Or, as others have mentioned, it's easy to fly into a must see city and then travel to an embarkation port.

 

As for keeping costs down - there is chance of catching decent flight prices, prior to June and after September.

 

Several on our roll call last year flew Air France, because they were allowed to stop over a few days in Paris at no extra charge. British Airways did not offer that, to stop off in London instead of just changing planes there as we did, would have been $500 a person extra. We decided to spend extra time in Barcelona instead. of course we had been to England several times before, if we had not seen London, it would have been worth $500 each extra to spend a couple of days there.

[ducklite]

Well, small ships that can get to small ports are usually really small and luxury or close. These cruises are way more expensive and definitely not for families with kids.

 

My personal favorite for families is Princess, which is catering for the different age groups and has several adult only free and not free zones as well as good kids club. Royal is a bit better in terms of kids club and sports activities.

 

Wrong that they aren't for families with kids. Regent has kids programming on certain sailings. If they have sailed on DCL and are planning in doing so again, Regent shouldn't have too much sticker shock once you factor in all the things that are included, such as air fare, gratuities, all beverages, shore excursions, etc.

 

 

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[ducklite]

June was like that too lol! jus tnot school groups but tons of tourists. It was also very hot-just as hot as it is here at home in Georgia-lol! I loved what I saw, but the heat exhausted me.

 

We were in Rome May 30-June 2 last year and crowds were quite manageable and it was warm but not uncomfortably hot.

 

 

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[kitty9]

Remember for Gramps, when the ship is in port, which in the Med is usually every day, the casino will not be open, and many other services aren't available. There won't be a lot for Gramps to do day after day, if he doesn't leave the ship.

[momofmeg]

We were in Rome May 30-June 2 last year and crowds were quite manageable and it was warm but not uncomfortably hot.

 

 

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It was late June last year (2012) when we were there. We had to go later because of our teacher daughter who went with us. I imagine July is no better. Since you live in Orlando, I guess what you consider "manageable" is different from me anyway. Lol! I live in GA and have a really hard time with our summers, Italy weather seemed very humid like here,it felt like here. Venice was even worse than Rome. Venice felt like Orlando in July-lol! I was thinking it would be cooler than here, because when we were in Bordeaux, France, weather in late July in 2009 it was so nice and so much better than here. Not humid at all. But then I guess I was comparing apples to oranges. It would be like comparing Georgia weather to California weather.

Edited November 11, 2013 by momofmeg

[ducklite]

It was late June last year (2012) when we were there. We had to go later because of our teacher daughter who went with us. I imagine July is no better. Since you live in Orlando, I guess what you consider "manageable" is different from me anyway. Lol! I live in GA and have a really hard time with our summers, Italy weather seemed very humid like here,it felt like here. Venice was even worse than Rome. Venice felt like Orlando in July-lol! I was thinking it would be cooler than here, because when we were in Bordeaux, France, weather in late July in 2009 it was so nice and so much better than here. Not humid at all. But then I guess I was comparing apples to oranges. It would be like comparing Georgia weather to California weather.

 

Your weather is about the same as mine in terms of temperature and humidity. It was vey humid in Rome and Italy in general--except when we were up in the mountains at a winery--more so than we had expected, and that is what made it feel somewhat uncomfortable. By the time we got to Greece two weeks later it was downright hot. We had no plans one afternoon and were very glad our hotel had a pool and some seating in the shade. A month can make a big difference, which is probably why it was manageable while we were in Rome and so hot when you were there. I know my husband and I agreed that when we go back it will be in April or October for cooler weather.

 

PS--I've been in California when it was very humid. This past July they had a heat spike that also brought humidity, unfortunately it was when I was visiting.

 

 

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[momofmeg]

Your weather is about the same as mine in terms of temperature and humidity. It was vey humid in Rome and Italy in general--except when we were up in the mountains at a winery--more so than we had expected, and that is what made it feel somewhat uncomfortable. By the time we got to Greece two weeks later it was downright hot. We had no plans one afternoon and were very glad our hotel had a pool and some seating in the shade. A month can make a big difference, which is probably why it was manageable while we were in Rome and so hot when you were there. I know my husband and I agreed that when we go back it will be in April or October for cooler weather.

 

PS--I've been in California when it was very humid. This past July they had a heat spike that also brought humidity, unfortunately it was when I was visiting.

 

 

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I was thinking San Diego and southern coastal CA which has better summers. I know that California is a huge state and would be like putting GA. FL and SC together size wise and many areas the weather is not so nice, especially inland.

 

BTW, we came home to a heatwave in GA. It was 101 the day we landed (June 30) so maybe the weather in Rome IS better.

[jocap]

I think Scrapnana's idea is good, if you're staying in Paris first; another idea is to cross to the UK by train under the tunnel, or by ferry- and take the Independence OTS out of Southampton- one of the Freedom class of ships, with lots to offer on board. The right itinerary would include the lovely places in Northern and western Spain, plus Portugal, before rounding the Rock of Gibraltar into the Med.

Just to add to your confusion! :D

[SaskAries]

I think Scrapnana's idea is good, if you're staying in Paris first; another idea is to cross to the UK by train under the tunnel, or by ferry- and take the Independence OTS out of Southampton- one of the Freedom class of ships, with lots to offer on board. The right itinerary would include the lovely places in Northern and western Spain, plus Portugal, before rounding the Rock of Gibraltar into the Med.

Just to add to your confusion! :D

 

Thanks so much jocap.....and yes you did add to my confusion, but just a wee bit lol I was looking at some of the cruises out of Southampton and hubby had tossed the idea of taking the train to the UK as well.

[momofmeg]

I think Scrapnana's idea is good, if you're staying in Paris first; another idea is to cross to the UK by train under the tunnel, or by ferry- and take the Independence OTS out of Southampton- one of the Freedom class of ships, with lots to offer on board. The right itinerary would include the lovely places in Northern and western Spain, plus Portugal, before rounding the Rock of Gibraltar into the Med.

Just to add to your confusion! :D

 

jocap, if we book Air France from the US, they charge no extra for staying a few days in Paris (where we would change planes for other European destinations) so that works too and no train. Of course I would like to take that train between London and Paris even if it added cost to the trip.

[Tiggertastic]

Ok, celebrity has no cool waterpark for your daughter - they do have a teen club but nothing else

 

NCL Epic has a water park and a rock climbing wall but only does 7 night itineraries

 

NCL jade has a kids pool and a slide

 

All of the ships have a casino so gramps is taken care of

 

I would go for the itinerary first - it depends on the time of year too

 

June / July / August - west med

September / June - east med - it stays warmer for longer in greece, turkey, and the adriatic longer

 

We love greece and turkey for wandering around, but south of france is beautiful too and monaco and montecarlo are wonderful

[SaskAries]

Ok, celebrity has no cool waterpark for your daughter - they do have a teen club but nothing else

 

NCL Epic has a water park and a rock climbing wall but only does 7 night itineraries

 

NCL jade has a kids pool and a slide

 

All of the ships have a casino so gramps is taken care of

 

I would go for the itinerary first - it depends on the time of year too

 

June / July / August - west med

September / June - east med - it stays warmer for longer in greece, turkey, and the adriatic longer

 

We love greece and turkey for wandering around, but south of france is beautiful too and monaco and montecarlo are wonderful

 

Thanks for the info... it's a whole lot more challenging to book a cruise with other people than it is with just hubby, daughter and I!! But it will be an experience none of us will forget, Monte Carlo is one port we hope to get to!

[SteveH2508]

Thanks for the info... it's a whole lot more challenging to book a cruise with other people than it is with just hubby, daughter and I!! But it will be an experience none of us will forget, Monte Carlo is one port we hope to get to!

 

TOP TIP: Do not buy a beer in the bar by the casino in Monte Carlo - it is an outrageous price!

Edited November 15, 2013 by SteveH2508

[Tatka]

TOP TIP: Do not buy a beer in the bar by the casino in Monte Carlo - it is an outrageous price!

 

Well, MC is hardly a cheap place, as Europe overall.

 

In our experience money spent ashore on European trips are way more than cruisefare, unless you do serious research and even then it is expensive.

[ducklite]

Well, MC is hardly a cheap place, as Europe overall.

 

In our experience money spent ashore on European trips are way more than cruisefare, unless you do serious research and even then it is expensive.

 

This was not our experience. We often had lunch that included a local draft beer and/or glass of house wine for under €10. The key was walking a few blocks outside the tourist areas into the more residential areas and finding a cafe full of locals. By doing this the prices were downright cheap (in many cases less than we would pay in the US for similar) and the food was very good. While we took a few very expensive shore excursions, they were very specialized and private--not the ships excursions. We found that the majority of ports you don't need an excursion, you can DIY it for a few Euros in bus or train fare, or just explore the port city itself in many cases.

 

An example would be Oia in Santorini, the ship was offering a tour for $90 per person. We took the bus and explored on our own for the equivalent of $3 or so.

 

 

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[agabbymama]

Just a couple suggestions. We flew non-stop from LAX to Paris (we only spent 8 hrs there) then flew on to Rome for 3 days pre-cruise. We left from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Monte Carlo, to Livorno (Pisa & Florence), Naples, Santorini, Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos (missed due to high winds), Athens, Katakalon (Olympia), Corfu, and ending in Venice. 3 days post cruise in Venice, then flight back to Paris for 2 days before flying home. We were gone from home for 21 days. If you choose to do something similar, be sure your add-on flight from Paris is booked with your International flight, so you get the extra luggage allowance.

 

We were on Grand Princess for a 12 day Grand MED cruise. Princess has a pretty good kid's club and pools too. They have a casino.

 

I couldn't see the video that someone posted, but Celebrity is a nice atmosphere for your parents, not sure about the child.

 

Don't book too late in October, we arrived into Venice on 10/29 to pouring rain and it continued off and on the 3 days we were there, and Acqua Alta (flooding) beings around that time too. Sure puts a damper on walking in Venice and any sightseeing in the pouring rain.

 

I'd leave England for another trip, maybe to the Baltics (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, St. Petersburg, out of Dover).

 

And last but not least, have fun planning your trip, and then taking it. Europe is AWESOME!

[gui218]

We did the eastern Med in May 2013, weather in the 70's-85, some showers over 23 days. The 11 days out of Venice gave us 9 ports and with 5 nights in Florence and 4 in Rome, equals good value for airfare $$. No matter what ports you cruise out of and return to take a few days to stay and do land tours. Great holiday!

We will do the western and northern European at some time.

[Tatka]

Well we rarely ever take ships excursions, however to see Rome in such short time you want to have a private tour. We used http://www.driverinrome.com and were able to get from port and close to majority of main attractions without being dead tiered, but still were tiered. People on big buses from ships tours were DEAD as buses cannot get close by. It was cheapper than ships tours even with tickets to Colloseum and Vatican, but still more than 100 eu pp.