Holland American cruise Mediterranean

[katrinacomebacks]

I have been trying to find a 10 day cruise to the Western Mediterranean in September. I am thinking about Holland America from Barcelona to Venice: ports--- Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik & Kotor. I see that it is an old ship. Any opinions on the cruise line, ports, or the ship. I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice and don't really need to see these again although we could go to Pisa...don't know where to go other than Rome. We are in our 60's and still very active---don't want a really old crowd.

Edited March 13, 2014 by katrinacomebacks

[katrinacomebacks]

I have been trying to find a 10 day cruise to the Western Mediterranean in September. I am thinking about Holland America from Barcelona to Venice: ports--- Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik & Kotor. I see that it is an old ship. Any opinions on the cruise line, ports, or the ship. I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice and don't really need to see these again although we could go to Pisa...don't know where to go other than Rome. We are in our 60's and still very active---don't want a really old crowd.

[katrinacomebacks]

No reply

[aquilegia]

No reply

 

Your original post is timed at 4.23pm and just 3 minutes later at 4.26pm you're noting that you've had no reply? Give people a chance!

[CruiserBruce]

Come over to the Holland America board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

for all the Holland America info you will ever need.

 

For port ideas, look at the Ports board, here:

 

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

 

To see what others are doing on your cruise, check your roll call. As you didn't mention what ship, here is the master list of HAL roll calls:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

 

Select your ship, then your sailing date.

[katrinacomebacks]

Sorry that came off that way. I don't do well with computers and didn't think my 1st post went through

[katrinacomebacks]

Thank you very much. I will.

[Hlitner]

Have to smile at the OPs comment "We are in our 60's and still very active---don't want a really old crowd." We cruise a lot on HAL and know others that might say "We are in our 80s and don't want an old crowd."

 

But if you are cruising the Med in September (a great time to be in the Med) on HAL it will be an "older" crowd with many retirees. And as a rule, we generally find that HAL attracts a more "sedate" crowd where those who are awake after 10pm can be very lonely. We are really puzzled why you would list ports "that you do not need to see again" and then post that you are considering a cruise that goes to those same ports! Why not find a cruise that takes you to totally different ports? For example, Voyages to Antiquity (an older ship) has a very interesting Sept 13 cruise to interesting ports in Greece and Turkey. And the Celebrity Constellation does a fascinating cruise (round trip from Istanbul) on September 20. This is normally a great time of year to be in Turkey and Greece since it is outside the busy season, temperatures are reasonable, and there is not normally a lot of rain.

 

Hank

[marco]

A Med cruise is likely to be more about the ports/itinerary. No matter which ship or line you're on, on this kind of cruise evening activity is not as lively as, say a Caribbean cruise where there's a lot more lounging around during the day. Folks are up and out earlier and doing a lot more during the day. Also, I assume you are taking one of the "Statendam" class ships. Yes....older, but not old. Of the HAL ships, I prefer this size/type vessel. There are not 3,500 people disembarking at the same time and you don't need a shuttle to get from one public room on the ship to another. We're in our late 50's/early 60's and HAL is our favorite line for a a variety of reasons, some being, the bedding, the overall fit and finish of the ship, the dome over the main pool, the art on board, the staff.

Edited March 14, 2014 by marco