Which cruise line would you recommend for Mediterranean cruise

[Stratheden]

There is a repositioning cruise leaving Civitavecchia in Mid-October 2015 and disembarking in Fort Lauderdale. Looks just perfect for you. :)

[cruisemom42]

You consider Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini. Ephesus and Malta limited?

Loved it and would return in a blink.

 

It is when you have done them multiple times. I like lines who throw in a few off-the-beaten track places as well, places that aren't necessarily wall-to-wall with other cruise ships.

[celebrity]

It is when you have done them multiple times. I like lines who throw in a few off-the-beaten track places as well, places that aren't necessarily wall-to-wall with other cruise ships.

 

I guess we were fortunate. We sailed 9-12 through 9-26 last Sept.It certainly wasn't wall to wall ships at the time. The only port that I recall having another ship was in Naples and that was an NCL ship.

[agabbymama]

OP, I like to start a graph chart when I start researching a cruise. Across the top put the various cruiselines/ships. Then down the side put the things of importance to you (size of ship, cabin type, ports, time in ports, excursions, etc). As you research put an "X" in the conjoining box. I'd go to the library and check out a Frommer's, Fodor's, Rick Steves Europe guide book. It's a lot of work planning, but it's half the fun too. As you near the end of your research, one should have more x's than the others.

 

When I planned our Med cruise, I knew we wanted to do as much in Italy & Greece as possible. I found the Grand Princess did a great itinerary from Civitavecchia to Monte Carlo, Livorno, Naples, Santorini, Kusadasi Turkey, Mykonos (cancelled due to high winds), Athens, Katakolon (Olympia), Corfu, ending in Venice. A 12 night cruise, plus a day in Paris pre-cruise, 3 days in Rome pre-cruise, 3 days in Venice post-cruise and 2 days back in Paris before flying home. We were gone a total of 21 days. The Grand was a larger ship than I like, but chose it for the itinerary.

 

Take half the clothes you think you need, and twice the money. Have a Plan "A", then a Plan "B" for when A falls apart. Then be prepared to go with the flow when Plan A and B fall apart. We found Europe to be a completely different animal from traveling here in the U.S.

 

Only you know your preferences. We can only tell you ours. NCL Jade was in a lot of ports with us, and they provided shuttles. Princess didn't. If I were to go again, I think I'd look at NCL. Have fun planning, then taking your cruise.

[iancal]

I agree with cruisemom42. After several Med cruises over the past 2 years we are going back to land trips. We find many of the cruise stops very artificial in comparison to what we experience on a land trip.

 

If we do another Med cruise it will most likely be a gullet cruise in Turkey. We don't want to spend essentially 6 hours of touring time at a port stop bookended by a full American breakfast and a dinner/ evening that could be in any dining venue/resort in North America. For us, we find that we miss out on too much of the travel experience. But this is a personal preference.

Edited May 28, 2014 by iancal

[cruisemom42]

I guess we were fortunate. We sailed 9-12 through 9-26 last Sept.It certainly wasn't wall to wall ships at the time. The only port that I recall having another ship was in Naples and that was an NCL ship.

 

Well, I agree you were very fortunate, as this is still quite a busy time of year in the Med. I looked at some of these ports for 2014 during this same time frame (and when Equinox or another Celebrity ship is scheduled to be in port) and this is what I found, keeping in mind that not all ships are listed yet and some smaller ones are not listed at all:

 

 

Civitavecchia (9/17) -- 11,326 passengers, including Equinox, Norwegian Epic (a huge ship), Serenade of the Seas and a smaller Thompson ship.

 

Naples (9/16) -- 9,600 passengers, not including Equinox (+2,852) which is docking at close-by Salerno. All of which will be headed to the same attractions in this area.

 

Barcelona (9/20) -- Here Equinox is lucky to share port with only 2 others that day, for a total of 5,268. But fair warning -- the passenger load the following day at this popular port is 14,300!

 

Athens -- There don't appear to be any calls by Equinox in the second half of September, but when Celebrity Reflection calls on 9/23, there are 6,462 passengers in port, and on 9/30 when she calls again, there are 8,710.

 

Santorini-- Arguably one of the prettiest Greek islands but also one of the more difficult ones to enjoy with a lot of other passengers. Again, I don't see any calls by Equinox in the last half of September, but when Reflection calls on 9/17, there are a whopping 9,065 passengers in port. Silhouette has it slightly better two days later with only 6,666 pax.

 

 

I could go on, but I think it's pretty clear that many if not most days, these ports are going to have a fair load of passengers.

 

On the other hand, 4 of my Med cruises have been on ships that carry around 350 passengers total; I have been lucky enough to visit some small places with few(er) tourists -- in addition to the bigger ports.

Edited May 28, 2014 by cruisemom42

[iancal]

Absolutely.

 

We can attest to how very different places like Dubrovnik or Santorini are like when there are thousands of people in town for a few hours vs what it is like in off season or in late afternoon when the cruisers have left. It is an entirely different world, an entirely different experience. We find far more enjoyment in the many of the small ports in Turkey than we do in the usual well travelled Med cruise ports.

[celebrity]

Well, I agree you were very fortunate, as this is still quite a busy time of year in the Med. I looked at some of these ports for 2014 during this same time frame (and when Equinox or another Celebrity ship is scheduled to be in port) and this is what I found, keeping in mind that not all ships are listed yet and some smaller ones are not listed at all:

 

 

Civitavecchia (9/17) -- 11,326 passengers, including Equinox, Norwegian Epic (a huge ship), Serenade of the Seas and a smaller Thompson ship.

 

Naples (9/16) -- 9,600 passengers, not including Equinox (+2,852) which is docking at close-by Salerno. All of which will be headed to the same attractions in this area.

 

Barcelona (9/20) -- Here Equinox is lucky to share port with only 2 others that day, for a total of 5,268. But fair warning -- the passenger load the following day at this popular port is 14,300!

 

Athens -- There don't appear to be any calls by Equinox in the second half of September, but when Celebrity Reflection calls on 9/23, there are 6,462 passengers in port, and on 9/30 when she calls again, there are 8,710.

 

Santorini-- Arguably one of the prettiest Greek islands but also one of the more difficult ones to enjoy with a lot of other passengers. Again, I don't see any calls by Equinox in the last half of September, but when Reflection calls on 9/17, there are a whopping 9,065 passengers in port. Silhouette has it slightly better two days later with only 6,666 pax.

 

 

I could go on, but I think it's pretty clear that many if not most days, these ports are going to have a fair load of passengers.

 

On the other hand, 4 of my Med cruises have been on ships that carry around 350 passengers total; I have been lucky enough to visit some small places with few(er) tourists -- in addition to the bigger ports.

Would love to know which ships you prefer. I must return to the Med. It was the vacation of a lifetime. I think about it every day.

Edited May 28, 2014 by celebrity

[SPacificbound]

My husband has just surprised me by saying we should take a Mediterranean cruise around October 2015. I've been teaching for 30 years, and we'll be celebrating my retirement and also our 40th Anniversary.

We've sailed Carnival 3 times and will take a short cruise on Norwegian this summer, but we've never ventured to Europe. Rome is on my bucket list, (has been since age 12 or so.) I also took French in college and enjoy hearing the language spoken, so I'd love to visit a French speaking area somewhere.

Our anniversary is in October, but if that's a bad time to cruise, we certainly could plan for another time of year. We also have a daughter we like to visit in Florida, and wouldn't mind sailing from Florida or disembarking in Florida, if that's even possible. Thank you for any help. I'm so excited, even though it's a long way off.

So here's my questions:

1. Which cruise line do you think we should look into? We will both be about 62 at that time.

2. Is October a bad time to cruise in the Mediterranean as far as bad weather or too crowded?

 

Hi! We are cruising the Mediterranean in October 2015 and then a repositiong home on Royal Caribbean. :)

[Markanddonna]

What a coincidence. We did a TA from Rome to Galveston when I retired from teaching and it was our 40th anniversary too. I would try to find a ship that leaves in the earlier part of Oct. We went on Nov. 2nd and it was pretty chilly and a bit rainy, but not horribly so. We spent four days in Rome.

 

I know others will disagree but I sort of like the east bound TA's better. The big reason is you get more USEABLE daylight in the spring. True, you do lose 6 hours on the way over but it gets dark so early in the fall. Fall is also hurricane season and our TA was almost cut short by Hurricane Sandy. Lots of nail biting on the departure.

 

Book your own hotel. Use tripadvisor to get some good hotel advice.

 

Celebrity sounds like a perfect choice for you!

[navybankerteacher]

There are a number of trans-Atlantics which make several stops in the Mediterranean before crossing to Florida - usually with one or two stops in the Azores. HAL Zuiderdam sails from Rome 10/21/15, makes 6 stops in the Med before crossing to Fort Lauderdale - 11/9. Celebrity Silhouette has much the same - Rome 10/31/15 to Fort Lauderdale 11/15. Rome is worth several days pre-cruise, so you could have the best of both approaches.