Which cruise line for first timer - Mediterranean

[Lorio77]

Hello - hubby and I have never cruised before but are very interested in a Mediterranean crusie - a 12 day. We had a friend take a similar cruise and he did pre days in Spain and post in Italy - plus the cruise - sounded like bliss :)

 

What cruise line would you recommend - we are two adults late forties, no children so It's very important to have a ship that is more high end and caters to adults or at least very little children. Again, we will want a ship that is quality/perhaps higher-end and don't mind paying a few extra dollars - we just don't want a "party-boat/spring break" atmosphere if you know what I mean....

 

Really appreciate the advice.

 

Thank you.

 

Lorio

[brunello22]

Hello - hubby and I have never cruised before but are very interested in a Mediterranean crusie - a 12 day. We had a friend take a similar cruise and he did pre days in Spain and post in Italy - plus the cruise - sounded like bliss :)

 

What cruise line would you recommend - we are two adults late forties, no children so It's very important to have a ship that is more high end and caters to adults or at least very little children. Again, we will want a ship that is quality/perhaps higher-end and don't mind paying a few extra dollars - we just don't want a "party-boat/spring break" atmosphere if you know what I mean....

 

Really appreciate the advice.

 

Thank you.

 

Lorio

 

Welcome to cruise critic!

 

I recommend you look into Azamara Club Cruises. Like you, we are a couple in our mid-late forties (OK, maybe closer to late 40s now), have no children, and prefer a more adult cruise vacation experience.

 

We have sailed Carnival, Royal Caribbean International, and Celebrity Cruises, and have sailed both Azamara ships, and prefer Azamara above them all. Azamara offers longer stays in many ports, and even some overnight stays. Azamara is also very inclusive, I will not say all inclusive, but they offer many complimentary wines, beer, spirits, specialty coffee, and bottled water in the pricing. We have sailed 7-night Greek Isles and 12-night Black Sea.

 

I think there are some super promotions going on right now.

[TheBeeSea]

Cannot dispute the above post. Remember that European summer holidays will possibly see children on a cruise - July and Aug being the peak period.

[puppycanducruise]

We did an 11 day Eastern Med cruise on HAL last spring.

We stayed a few days in Rome before the cruise.

The weather was wonderful - we had one evening of rain in Rome, no rain during the cruise. It was quite warm in Athens - over 30C, and that was in May!

I don't remember seeing many children on board.

We were so tired from all the touring during the day, we didn't care too much about late night entertainment aboard ship.

I suggest you go to a local travel agency and get some of those lovely cruise brochures and study them. Make a list of the ports you want to visit, when you want to go, and make a list of the cruises that fit. Then use Cruise Critic to do more research.

Have a great cruise.:)

 

[marco]

MSC and Costa cater to a more European clientele....it just "different" Neither would be my 1st choice. Other then those two lines, I would choose by date/price/itinerary. The last being the most important.....where do YOU want to go?

[Lorio77]

Thank you for this.... As to the poster that asked where I want to go.... well, the itinerary should ideally include France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. Looking for approx. a 12 day with great port cities so I can do a couple days pre & post.....

 

Lorio

[Illyria]

I'd second an Azamara or Celebrity recommendation.

 

I don't think there was a single kid on the ship when I was on Azamara (halfway through the cruise one of the officer's family came onboard with a toddler in a stroller - but not a single regular passenger).

 

Azamara being very small ships, the entertainment and other activities are much more limited compared to Celebrity. Food was great on both of them. You would also feel any rough waters much more on a small ship, but I doubt you'd have that problem in the Mediterranean

[Lorio77]

Thank you - I am definatley checking out this cruise line - are there other options that would offer a slightly larger ship and perhaps more entertainment /dining options, etc. for the evenings?

 

Thanks again....

 

Lorio

[Essiesmom]

You are not going to get all those locations in a 12 day cruise. Ports in France traditionally are on a 7-12 day cruise between Barcelona and Civitavecchia, although some may end in Venice. We did back to back 12 day cruises on HAL, starting in Venice with an overnight, and an overnight in Istanbul. The first cruise was round trip Venice, the second from Venice to Civitavecchia. Most Med. cruises are very port intensive, we had one sea day per 12 day cruise, so the ship is not as important as the itinerary. Go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and from the second list of ports, choose places you want to visit on your cruise. Then choose the month you want to cruise. It will tell you who is calling there, and their full itinerary. EM

[Captain Canuck]

been on a few med cruises...one of the best cruises was on an old ship. ship is not the feature the ports are. look at the ship as transport..has the benefit of not having to unpack and including food. save the ship experience for a later cruise..where the ship is the destination and the ports are an afterthought

 

we have been on Costa..ship passengers were mostly italian. announcements were in 5 languages with English last. food etc geared to Italian taste. But the ship was gorgeous and the ports were the deal.

 

can suggest that you pick out your must see ports and then try and find a cruise that does most of them. then use cruise critic to find tips on port excursions. our best experiences were with organizing a group on cruise critic to share private excustions. did Egypt for 20% of the ships tour. stayed in the same hotel in Cairo. group of 12 which made it much more fun

[pris993]

We have been cruising the Medeterranean since l989... lost count on how many times. We are going again this October, out of Rome, 14 day, on Celebrity Silhouette, visiting Italy, Greece, Turkey and Israel, mainly because we want to visit Israel. This cruise spends 3 days there.

 

We have cruised on a number of lines in the Mediterranean: Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Crystal, Cunard and NCL. Cunard and Crystal are high end and NCL on the less expensive side.

 

We have cruised from Rome, Venice, Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona - sometimes round trips (especially out of Rome). Our first cruise in l989 was from Venice to London. There are lots of options. There are even Transatlantics that start in the Mediterranean in the fall hitting many ports ending up back in the USA.

 

Figure out what ports you are wanting visit, then pick the line(s) that has the desired itinerary. You can do a search on the web for travel sites that can list cruises by line, dates to explore itineraries.

 

We generally cruise in the late spring April/May and fall late September/October - less families with kids and less crowds in port. Great weather too.

 

Mediterranean cruises are very port intensive. So the ship is really less important it serves more as a floating hotel for us.

 

Pick a cruise and go, you will never be sorry. Our first cruise hooked up many years ago.

[maryann ns]

The ship is less important than the ports. When looking at your options also give a long hard look at the time in ports. Sometimes you get what you pay for and a cruise may be less expensive because it spends less time in port or goes on days that major attractions are closed (Check very carefully for Rome and Istanbul.)

 

Rome is far away from the port (Civitavecchia) and I would avoid having Rome be a one day stop. If you want to spend time in Rome look for a cruise which starts and ends there.

[Lorio77]

Thank you - that is a good suggestion about Rome! :)

 

Lorio