Planning Med Cruise with questions on ports

[love2cruisegal]

We are planning a med cruise but not for a couple years. I'm a planner and have been researching different itineraries...Celebrity and Princess. Although we have only cruised Celebrity once and Princess is our #1 choice, have been looking at a 10 day Rome to Rome cruise on Celebrity with stops in Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Sicily on the Reflection. We would stay in Rome a few days before and after and train to Florence and Venice for a few days. The other cruise is on Island Princess for 12 days from Barcelona to Venice (Grand Med). This cruise doesn't stop in Santorini which is on our bucket list which is reason for the Celebrity cruise. However, the Grand Med cruise stops in Istanbul which was never an option, but have read on this board and other places how many people really like Istanbul. Have also been reading here on cc about all the crowds and hastle getting around and to and from the shuttles on the

 

My questions is would you give up a cruise including Santorini for a cruise including Istanbul but with 2 more days and also ports of Barcelona and France? Barcelona is not on my bucket list, but would definitely love to see it and also to say that I was in France. Princess is our favorite line and we are Platinum and would have the little extras.

 

Thanks for any suggestions from all you Europe cruisers, this would be our first time in Europe and not sure if we will be able to go again. We are saving hard for this one.

[Loonbeam]

Given its the Island which is my absolute favorite ship class on Princess, I'd have to consider that. There's nothing stopping you from going to Santorini after, except time and budget (and Istanbul IS spectacular).

[shukapaw]

HI,

 

Like you, we prefer Princess and really wanted to maximize our upcoming European vacation. However, after doing the research, we ended up using Princess for the British Isles portion and went with Norwegian for the Mediterranean portion of our trip. There was a huge difference in price between the two for essentially the same itinerary in the Med. Although we'd have preferred to stick with Princess, a known entity, the savings were just too great to ignore.

 

We spent a number of days in Istanbul a few years back and it was a great place to visit.

 

Oh yeah, I see Celebrity does an 11 day trip which costs just a tad more than the 10 day you mentioned and it visits both Santorini and Istanbul.

 

I know I've probably introduced more confusion into your decision-making process but wanted to make you aware of this different option.

 

 

Brian

[r2d2inltd2]

It looks like a tough decision. We have done Med cruises numerous times and my choice would be the one on Princess because of Istanbul. Santorini is a beautiful place especially if you drive around the island. However you will find Mykonos to be delightful, too. My husband writes port guides tomsportguides.com which has lots of info on almost all of these ports. Reading them may help you decide. They all have lots of pictures. I found Istanbul to be one of the most interesting places I have ever visited. Good luck on your decision making.

[nanwel]

I totally agree with the last post. Yes, Istanbul was crowded, but it was a completely different city than any of the others you will have seen. I found the people very friendly, we had an overnight, and I went for a long walk before the ship left port, was standing looking at the different things in a bakery window - the owner opened the door and gave me a sample(store was not open yet). He knew I was a tourist, and was being nice. You will get taken to a rug making place, and asked to look at all their rugs, but, they do not pressure you to buy, but ask you to please look - they will offer you tea. It is a very old and very worn city, I loved it, and look forward to going back again in the future and spending some time there.

I have been to Santorini, and it too is nice, but not as unique, I liked it, but, been there done that.

[TM]

We did an 11 day on the Reflection last September/October round trip out of Rome. We stayed 5 nights in Rome prior to the cruise and that was absolutely spectacular. I believe Santorini was our first port. There were 2 other ships in port that day and we did not arrive till almost 3:00 pm. This is a tender port and it was tough trying to get of the ship and over to the island early. We took a speedboat to Oia(sp?). It was extremely crowded there. Then a bus back to Fira which was also very crowded. But we did get to watch the famous sunset sitting in a café at the top of the cliff. Glad we went there but certainly wished we could have gotten there much earlier in the day and also without the crowds. We also spent an overnight in Istanbul. Very interesting but 1 day would have been enough for us. Kusadasi and Mykonos were both spectacular and would not hesitate to go back to either. And of course Athens is a must.

 

It really depends what you want to see and of course the air fare plays into consideration. Not matter which itinerary you choose It would be hard not to enjoy them. But they are tiring as there is so much to see and do in each city.

[hawkeyetlse]

I wouldn't make the decision based on just one port. Santorini in particular, I've had port days cancelled there because the ship couldn't dock due to high winds and rough seas.

 

For your first visit to the Mediterranean, no matter what the itinerary, you will get back on the ship after just about every port stop saying to yourself, "That was on my bucket list and I didn't even know it" :) And coming back on board to all your Platinum perks will be the icing on the cake!

[azdmelani]

We are planning a med cruise but not for a couple years. I'm a planner and have been researching different itineraries...Celebrity and Princess. Although we have only cruised Celebrity once and Princess is our #1 choice, have been looking at a 10 day Rome to Rome cruise on Celebrity with stops in Naples, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Kusadasi, Sicily on the Reflection. We would stay in Rome a few days before and after and train to Florence and Venice for a few days. The other cruise is on Island Princess for 12 days from Barcelona to Venice (Grand Med). This cruise doesn't stop in Santorini which is on our bucket list which is reason for the Celebrity cruise. However, the Grand Med cruise stops in Istanbul which was never an option, but have read on this board and other places how many people really like Istanbul. Have also been reading here on cc about all the crowds and hastle getting around and to and from the shuttles on the

 

My questions is would you give up a cruise including Santorini for a cruise including Istanbul but with 2 more days and also ports of Barcelona and France? Barcelona is not on my bucket list, but would definitely love to see it and also to say that I was in France. Princess is our favorite line and we are Platinum and would have the little extras.

 

Thanks for any suggestions from all you Europe cruisers, this would be our first time in Europe and not sure if we will be able to go again. We are saving hard for this one.

 

I just got back from the reverse 12 day itinerary (venice to Barcelona). I cant speak for Istanbul, but Barcelona and the stop in Toulon (we went to Aix en Provence and Cassis) were beautiful.

[helenb]

To add another element to this, we are elite on both Celebrity and Princess, and we prefer Celebrity for extremely port-intensive cruises (like the Med). The new Solstice-class ships are very elegant, the rooms comfortable, and the food is wonderful. These are the perfect ships for relaxing after a busy day in port. The little touches, such as iced towels and cold fruit juice when reboarding after a long, hot day, make all of the difference. Celebrity also tends to have a wider variety of shore excursions, if you like to purchase them through the cruise line.

 

So outside of the ports issue, I would recommend sailing the Med with Celebrity. And don't forget to take an excursion to the Vatican on the way to the airport, after you disembark! Perfecto!

 

(For those who are wondering why I am even here on the Princess board, we find that we prefer Princess for cruises with a lot of sea days and/or casual ports, such as the Caribbean, Hawaii etc. The entertainment during days at sea is far better on Princess than on Celebrity.)

[baggal]

There's more to picking a Med. cruise than just choosing an itinerary that sounds good. If budget is a consideration, I would calculate the PER DAY cost of each cruise in a similar cabin class and begin to use that as a guide. Also consider that in most cases an "open jaw" airline ticket (arrive Barcelona depart Venice) will be more expensive that a round trip from one city (Rome for instance).

 

And don't forget the cost for excursions - even if you go with private tours - some of them can be pricey.

 

Whatever you choose, a Med. cruise is always wonderful no matter which itinerary you take.

[love2cruisegal]

I want to thank you all for your wonderful informative replies. Since we have quite a bit of time to make a final decision, as of now, we are leaning more to the 12 day Grand Med on Princess. Hope the Island will still be sailing in 2015 and beyond when we decide to reserve. Been on her to Alaska, and really loved it.

 

As for NCL, we are not interested in doing NCL. Very interested in the many comments about Istanbul, however, only want to do Istanbul for one day; 11 day Celebrity is an overnight for 2015. The 12 day Grand Med for 2015 stops in Istanbul, but apparently not this year. We will still keep both 10 day Celebrity and the 12 day Princess as our final two. As for shore excursions, I was comparing them a couple weeks ago on both Celebrity and Princess, and I like the options on Princess better. Celebrity similar excursions were much pricier and had less options available. We will probably only do cruise line excursions in a couple ports anyway.

 

Thanks everyone again for your suggestions; I knew you would not disappoint!!

[SingerEsq]

I planned our Med. cruise for at least a year, researching each port, once we had chosen an itinerary.

 

Such tough decisions. I love Santorini. It is fantastic. However, I have been to Turkey twice now, and it remains one of my favorite countries. Istanbul is easily 3 days, but if you only have one port day, I am sure you will make the most of it. Kusadasi for Ephesus (assuming you are also going there) is unbelievable. In my opinion, the ruins in Athens pale in comparison to Ephesus (but, I love Athens, too!). I was lucky enough on my first trip to Turkey to travel inland in Turkey for a few days. Beautiful country. Tough, tough decisions!

 

You mention the train between Rome and Venice. Our cruise started in Rome and ended in Venice, so we took the high-speed train from Venice to Rome for our return flight home. It was lovely.

 

And Barcelona is great, too!

 

I don't think I'm being of much help here. ;) Have fun planning!

[hawkeyetlse]

Just wondering what you meant in your first message where the last part of this sentence got cut off:

Have also been reading here on cc about all the crowds and hastle getting around and to and from the shuttles on the

Were you referring to Istanbul? Actually, I can think of many Mediterranean ports where this comment could apply, so you might want to start preparing yourself for the crowds and the hassle now :p Edited September 15, 2014 by hawkeyetlse

[shredie]

Santorini is so beautiful. I would find it hard to turn down. It's one of my favorite ports of all time. On the other hand, a chance to see Ephesus (from Turkey) would be a very hard thing to give up.

[love2cruisegal]

Just wondering what you meant in your first message where the last part of this sentence got cut off:

Were you referring to Istanbul? Actually, I can think of many Mediterranean ports where this comment could apply, so you might want to start preparing yourself for the crowds and the hassle now :p

 

I was referring to Santorini. Sorry about that; I noticed it too late! Read so much about the crowds and the mad rush and long lines to get back down to board shuttles to the ship. Sounds like no one has much time to spend in Oia before returning to Fira. Makes me wonder if the beauty is worth all the rush!

 

Yes I have read about crowds everywhere, but Santorini seems to have the most crowds and lines and it was on the top of my bucket list!!

[SingerEsq]

The line for the cable car going up is usually a pretty long wait .... which is why we opted for the donkeys/mules to go up! :eek: No waiting. About 20 minute ride (if memory serves me). And it was a blast! :D

 

Coming down, I think we did use the cable car and do not remember it being a particularly long wait. Although I cannot remember how many ships were in that day.

 

We rented a car in Fira and had the day to ourselves. There was more than enough time to see the island and even have a drink overlooking the caldera before we took the cable car down.

 

I suppose you could walk down fairly quickly too. I would not suggest walking up, though.

[LEtue]

I see Celebrity does an 11 day trip which costs just a tad more than the 10 day you mentioned and it visits both Santorini and Istanbul.

Brian

 

OP, I think this is your solution! Do both.....

 

Every post in the Med is spectacular - including Barcelona :D

[hawkeyetlse]

On the other hand, a chance to see Ephesus (from Turkey) would be a very hard thing to give up.

It sounds like both of the itineraries the OP is considering include Kusadasi. At least as far as anyone can predict, since we're talking about 2016.

[HRPro]

I loved Barcelona and can't wait to return. If you start or end in Barcelona, plan to spend 2-3 days there. it's a beautiful city.

[Shogun]

Hi

Istanbul is a must see, only once you have been will you understand why so many people want to return to the city a few hours just can not do this amazing place.

 

Santorini is very pretty but is not a must see.

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[Colo Cruiser]

Istanbul is pretty cool. We walked from the pier to the spice market, all I can say is you have to experience it at least once. However Santorini is beautiful too. Always have to get my Souvlaki fix when I am in any part of Greece. I plan to do that several times on our cruise.

We are going to Ravenna, Italy on our first stop and was hoping it would have been Kotor, Montenegro. :(

[homeinboca]

Tough choices aren't they? I'm no expert, but been on two different Mediterranean cruises with Princess, and we loved it all. Santorini is literally heaven on earth, the views and scenery are like nothing you will ever see.

 

On the other hand, Istanbul is one of the most exotic, exciting cities I've ever visited. They are really very different choices - one is for the beautiful scenery of a Greek island unlike any other, and the Istanbul is all about history, art, people, culture, food, in a city that was the center of civilization for 4 different empires.

 

We had private guides in both places that made getting around very easy. I'm sure whatever choice you make - it will be a good one!

[leavingocalaagain]

Istanbul and Ephesus (Kusadasi or Izmir) were our favorite ports that we visited. Both were incredibly interesting.

[Mulege]

Santorini was beautiful but crowded with long lines for the cable car. Istanbul is so interesting and Ephesus and Mary's house a must see IMO. Celebrity has the 123 Go offer and at least one online agency us offering all 3 picks. Princess is fine too.

[FawnRiver]

I'm biased (see below ;)).

 

We are really looking forward to the Grand Med itinerary on the Island, especially since the prices dropped :D. The only thing that I'm not fond of on this trip is lack of sea days, but we're planning on arriving in Venice a few days early and staying on in Barcelona for a few days after.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great cruise, either way.