European Cruise Advice

[whynotsooner]

Hello all,

I need some help with planning my European(Med)cruise for July 2014. It's our 6th cruise but first in Europe! We are looking for 10-14 nights. I have a few ideas and I would. Love your opinions.

 

-Cunard: Queen Elizabeth Q410D Greek Isles and French Riviera

-Celebrity: Celebrity Silhouette 12 night Adriatic

-Royal Caribbean: Any of Serenade of the Seas 12 night

Any of the 14 nights Independence or Adventure of the Seas

 

Hope you can give your opinion

 

 

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[momofmeg]

Being your first I do not think you can go wrong with any. Have you been to any of these places before? Then you may pick something that is more "new" to you unless you really loved a certain area. We wanted to go to several ports in Italy, more than Greece or Turkey so we picked a cruise roundtrip from Barcelona, as it overnighted in Venice, but also went to Naples, Rome and Livornio. (We went to Kotor Split and Toulon also)

 

Personally I have never cruised on Cunard, I may would pick that ship just to try out that line if it was not tremendously more than the others. However, that may not be important to you. I also prefer Celebrity to RCI or Princess, but that is a personal preference.

 

Maybe you should check the cruise reviews section here and find reviews of those or similar cruises. I think you would get a better feel of what is best for you than a lot of people telling you here what they would like best.

[boulders]

For a Med cruise, choose by the itinerary, not the ship. We've been twice, once on Disney and once on HAL. Both were great.

[momofmeg]

Oh I must add, and again this is personal preference but I would love to do a cruise on Serenade of the Seas. I loved her sister ship, the Jewel of the Seas. It is the larger RCI ships I do not enjoy.

 

 

we considered booking her instead of Celebrity Solstice. they had almost the same exact ports. We chose the Solstice because she was a better price, but then SOS went down in price, so we would have been just as happy with her.

[Keith1010]

I do think that the itinerary is the most important but then if you like more than one then the ship and the cruise line are factors.

 

Cunard is the most formal of the three.

 

Celebrity is a little more upscale than RCI.

 

All three are really good choices.

 

Look carefully at the itinerary. All things being equal I would chose Cunard or Celebrity ahead of RCI but that is just my opinion and since we don't know your likes and dislikes it is really impossible to say what would work best for you.

 

Keith

[whynotsooner]

Okay some more info about us:

-mother and teenage son

-port extensive itinerary so don't mind not having other teens

-enjoy good food and shows

-never been to Europe before

-Do not stay up very late and do not want a ship that will be super crowded

 

 

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[puppycanducruise]

Go with the best itinerary for you. Since this is your first trip to Europe, start with the cruise with your most desired ports.

Go to a local travel agency and get a bunch of brochures. Study them, and check the web (here on Cruise Critic and other sites) for reviews of the ship and itinerary (take them with a grain of salt).

Fly to your cruise a couple of days early and explore that city. We did a Med cruise last spring, and spent 2 days in Rome before embarking on our cruise. I know 2 days in Rome isn't enough, but at least we got to see a bit of the city.

For us, the days were so busy, we didn't care about entertainment on the ship.

Have a great time, and plan on going back to do another cruise. We've done 3 (Med, Baltic, Rhine River) and are hoping to do another. :)

[donnatello]

As others have said, itinerary is the most important factor, but if all were the same, I'd choose Celebrity or Cunard.

[Colorado Kat]

We did a Med cruise last summer and loved it.

 

You said July. Keep in mind that will be quite warm, you might want to keep north, instead of Greece. Do you prefer history, or would want to explore the outdoors? Big cities or smaller towns? Or just a taste of everything?

 

We loved Croatia. Venice is exciting. Rome and Florence are interesting cities, but very crowded. We went to Capri when we docked in Naples.

 

We mostly did our own sight-seeing, with a few excursions booked. Read up on the Port of Call area on this board. Have a wonderful trip!

Edited December 6, 2013 by Colorado Kat

[ldubs]

We have gone on cruises in Europe several times. We were on the Celebrity Silhouette 12 night Adriatic last year. We had been to many of the ports before, but it was still a great cruise. The Silhouette is fantastic ship. On board entertainment was very good. Dining was better, across the board, than what we experience with RCI or Princess. I would suggest you add at least one overnight to explore Venice.

 

Take care.

[dolittle]

Okay some more info about us:

-mother and teenage son

-port extensive itinerary so don't mind not having other teens

-enjoy good food and shows

-never been to Europe before

-Do not stay up very late and do not want a ship that will be super crowded

 

 

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With a teenage son I would go with Royal Caribbean there will be very few young people on Cunard or Celebrity. Also would get the overnight in Venice.

[hansolosmom]

Really study the ports and decide what you'd like. We had a family meeting to decide which trip to do.

 

We did the Med this past summer & for us Rome was the most important so we chose one which started and ended there so we'd have more time to spend there.

We actually ended up flying into Venice so we could see that city since the ship didn't stop there and took the train down to Rome to spend a few days before the cruise.

 

I kind of liked the Serenade itinerary with the Greek aisles, the ports are similar to what we did - we considered a trip similar to this one but were on Celebrity Reflection. I would have preferred to be on RC

Edited December 7, 2013 by hansolosmom

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. Both you abd your son should read about the ports on the cruises you are considering,m what there is to do in the ports in the time allowed, and then choose the cruise that seems to have the ports that most intrigue the two of you. EM

[Lerin]

I'd do Cunard without hesitation. However with a teen RC is probably a better choice.

[cruiserking]

Hands down I'd pick the Cunard Queen Elizabeth she is an elegant ship with excellent service, beautiful public spaces and delicious food. We had the great pleasure of sailing her through the Mediterranean in 2011 and adored the experience.

 

The itinerary for the QE trip is pretty spectacular with stops in the Greek Isles plus the South of France, Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Cunard is a formal line but, will offer so many wonderful things like a Grand Ballroom the entire width of the ship with string quartets playing as you enjoy afternoon tea.

 

Book your cruise on the Queen Elizabeth and don't look back she is beautiful ship.

 

Here's a link to a recent QE trip report to the Med. from the Cunard boards with a vast amount of ship board pictures included in a separate link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1939884

 

Jonathan

[momofmeg]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. Both you abd your son should read about the ports on the cruises you are considering,m what there is to do in the ports in the time allowed, and then choose the cruise that seems to have the ports that most intrigue the two of you. EM

 

 

I second that!

We did that and we also watched several of his videos on the different ports as our county library had them. He had great advice and really helped us to make the most of our trip.

[zoncom]

Did the Sillie Adriatic last summer.One of the most beautiful ships out there with food, service to match. Thats a great itin. also. Cunard only if you are British, can be stodgy.The mentioned RCL ships both getting kind of old.

Edited December 7, 2013 by zoncom

[whynotsooner]

Actually after brainstorming we might take a 12 night cruise of the Baltics on Eurodam because we both found the ports more are speed

 

 

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[Essiesmom]

Actually after brainstorming we might take a 12 night cruise of the Baltics on Eurodam because we both found the ports more are speed

 

 

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well, Rick Steves has a book for Northern Europe ports, too. Brand new in August. EM

[Sherlock43031]

we just returned from the Nov3 SOS Med cruise.. IMO, everything.. food, entertainment, rooms, general condition of the ship, port debark/embark went smoothly and quickly.

,

[maryann2]

Actually after brainstorming we might take a 12 night cruise of the Baltics on Eurodam because we both found the ports more are speed

 

 

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.If you are going in July that is a good choice. Italy and Greece are far too hot to do any sightseeing in July and August. Good for lying on a beach those times.

[momofmeg]

Actually after brainstorming we might take a 12 night cruise of the Baltics on Eurodam because we both found the ports more are speed

 

 

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It was very hot in June 2012, especially on the Adriatic side. Rome, Naples, and Livornio were not as bad but uncomfortably hot for me. If you can only go in the summer, you may enjoy that better. That is a cruise I would like to do-on the bucket list. I can imagine it would be great fun for sure.

[Bluehawks]

We are planning our first Europe Med cruise this year as well and would like to ask what time of year would be the best weather wise. Warm enough to enjoy the locations and pools, but not too hot or cold. I've heard September for the Italy and Greece regions. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!

[LHT28]

We are planning our first Europe Med cruise this year as well and would like to ask what time of year would be the best weather wise. Warm enough to enjoy the locations and pools, but not too hot or cold. I've heard September for the Italy and Greece regions. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!

 

May or Oct are the ideal times

[jocap]

If you're thinking of Independence or Adventure OTS in July, sailing from Southampton, be aware that most UK schools other than Scotland will end their school year in the middle of July, and these ships are very, very popular with families....you sometimes see reviews where there have been hundreds of children around. They will probably be booked up early, as UK children are not allowed to leave school for travel in term time, so people will have to book Middle July- end of August.