Melozone Posted February 21, 2015 #76 Share Posted February 21, 2015 YES, but .... after Rome, Venice & Barcelona :) I'm on the Allure with you it appears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardface Posted February 21, 2015 #77 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Thanks for this suggestion. At this point, we like cruises and were hoping to do one in Europe, but we'll see. Anytime, and don't get the feeling that I'm telling you not to cruise. I absolutely love cruising, but I saw the amount of time people were in these cities firsthand when ships were in port and.... I'll just say this... for Rome, the Colosseum/Roman Forum or Vatican City... Going to either is a full day experience (unless you book a skip the line tour, and even then its a half day tour). You cannot do both through a cruise, especially considering the port is an hour outside the city. For Florence, you might be able to get to Il Duomo and the Accademia (where David is) in the same day. If your goal is to really take in the experience of being in those cities, bag the cruise and stay in hotels. Its a much, much more rewarding experience. Even with Cinque Terre, you will really only have enough time to train hop a little bit between towns (forget going on one of the phenomenal walking trails) before you head back. Really, you need at least 48 hours in that place to really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfTheSeasCruiser Posted February 21, 2015 Author #78 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Anytime, and don't get the feeling that I'm telling you not to cruise. I absolutely love cruising, but I saw the amount of time people were in these cities firsthand when ships were in port and.... I'll just say this... for Rome, the Colosseum/Roman Forum or Vatican City... Going to either is a full day experience (unless you book a skip the line tour, and even then its a half day tour). You cannot do both through a cruise, especially considering the port is an hour outside the city. For Florence, you might be able to get to Il Duomo and the Accademia (where David is) in the same day. If your goal is to really take in the experience of being in those cities, bag the cruise and stay in hotels. Its a much, much more rewarding experience. Even with Cinque Terre, you will really only have enough time to train hop a little bit between towns (forget going on one of the phenomenal walking trails) before you head back. Really, you need at least 48 hours in that place to really appreciate it. I totally get your point of view here, but I think I'm going to save a land trip in Europe for a later vacation, when I have more time and can spend as much time as I want in each city. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat343 Posted February 21, 2015 #79 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) LT - RealNorwegianCruiser has a very good point. I booked my cruise last August at the last minute, and one of the reasons we held off on booking ahead of time was that there was a lot of concern about whether or not the St. Petersburg stop would be cancelled. The Baltic boards were quite active last summer with people who were really worried, since St. Petersburg could be cancelled at the last minute and all cruisers would be entitled to was a refund of their port fees. This would be quite disappointing since many people had chosen a Baltic cruise specifically because they wanted to see St. Petersburg. Since it sounds like you like both the Med and Baltic itineraries, it is probably a much less stressful choice to go to the Med and that way you won't be supporting the current government in St. Petersburg or have to worry about the stop being cancelled. Edited February 21, 2015 by kitkat343 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidygirl Posted February 21, 2015 #80 Share Posted February 21, 2015 While on a port stop we managed going to Rome on our own did the Vatican, Colosseum saw Trevi Fountain, and Spanish steps it was a busy rushed day but we saw enough to satisfy our family. @Offtheseascruisers- Have you checked out "Our families viewpoint of our Med cruise?" It has details and pictures to give you ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidygirl Posted February 21, 2015 #81 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) We did our first cruise in Sept from Barcelona the reason I chose this itinerary was it was the cheapest, flights were cheaper to Barcelona than Rome or Venice and the dates worked for us! We also wanted only 1 sea day and figured any port we stopped at was new to us and we could see more of the country! Edited February 21, 2015 by tidygirl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfTheSeasCruiser Posted February 22, 2015 Author #82 Share Posted February 22, 2015 What's everyone's opinions of Royal's 7N Greek Isles and Turkey Cruises? (Splendor is doing them in 2016, but I've been scanning the deployment thread and it seems Vision will be doing the itineraries in 2016.) Such as this itinerary... Venice Dubrovnik 11:30am-6:30pm At Sea Kusadasi 9am-7pm Santorini 7am-5pm Katakolon 10am-5pm At Sea Venice Or this one... Venice Kotor 2-8pm Corfu 9-3pm Athens 12-8:30pm Mykonos 7-4pm Argostoli 12-7pm At Sea Venice It appears the port times are very short? Are these places really must-sees? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveru621 Posted February 23, 2015 #83 Share Posted February 23, 2015 What's everyone's opinions of Royal's 7N Greek Isles and Turkey Cruises? (Splendor is doing them in 2016, but I've been scanning the deployment thread and it seems Vision will be doing the itineraries in 2016.) Such as this itinerary... Venice Dubrovnik 11:30am-6:30pm At Sea Kusadasi 9am-7pm Santorini 7am-5pm Katakolon 10am-5pm At Sea Venice Or this one... Venice Kotor 2-8pm Corfu 9-3pm Athens 12-8:30pm Mykonos 7-4pm Argostoli 12-7pm At Sea Venice It appears the port times are very short? Are these places really must-sees? Very difficult choice. I would lean towards the second option. Dubrovnik and Kusadasi are just OK and not very special. (my opinion) Santorini is great, but if the weather is bad, it is a very difficult tender port. When all is said and done the differences are not all that great. Spend time in Venice before or after your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfTheSeasCruiser Posted February 23, 2015 Author #84 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Very difficult choice. I would lean towards the second option. Dubrovnik and Kusadasi are just OK and not very special. (my opinion) Santorini is great, but if the weather is bad, it is a very difficult tender port. When all is said and done the differences are not all that great. Spend time in Venice before or after your cruise. Thanks. Choosing the perfect European itinerary is so difficult! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidygirl Posted February 23, 2015 #85 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We are booked on the second one in Oct so we shall see. I was disappointed in some of the short port days, but I guess I can't change that though I do wonder why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekzaadvakil Posted February 23, 2015 #86 Share Posted February 23, 2015 OP - I know you've asked this Q on a Royal thread, but have you considered Celebrity. Like you I love Royal and I doubt I would cruise any other cruiseline, even with these outrageous prices. But Celebrity is the same family and after our 2 cruises (both European) in the last 2 years, we honestly feel that Celebrity has better European Itineraries. There are many Celebrity itineraries which cover multiple amazing ports like Rome, Santorini, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Istanbul, Malta and more in one 11/12/13 night cruise. Their S class ships are absolutely brilliant and around the same size as the Voyager class ships (I dont think i'd sail on smaller ship than Voyager class/ S class on Celebrity) We've seen some amazing ports in the Med thanks to Celebrity and we're tentatively booked for the Baltic in 3 months time - again on Celebrity. We felt Celebrity has the same laid back atmosphere as Royal, with better food. I suggest you have a quick glance at Celebrity's European Itineraries (they are out already) and you won't be disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OfTheSeasCruiser Posted February 23, 2015 Author #87 Share Posted February 23, 2015 OP - I know you've asked this Q on a Royal thread, but have you considered Celebrity. Like you I love Royal and I doubt I would cruise any other cruiseline, even with these outrageous prices. But Celebrity is the same family and after our 2 cruises (both European) in the last 2 years, we honestly feel that Celebrity has better European Itineraries. There are many Celebrity itineraries which cover multiple amazing ports like Rome, Santorini, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Istanbul, Malta and more in one 11/12/13 night cruise. Their S class ships are absolutely brilliant and around the same size as the Voyager class ships (I dont think i'd sail on smaller ship than Voyager class/ S class on Celebrity) We've seen some amazing ports in the Med thanks to Celebrity and we're tentatively booked for the Baltic in 3 months time - again on Celebrity. We felt Celebrity has the same laid back atmosphere as Royal, with better food. I suggest you have a quick glance at Celebrity's European Itineraries (they are out already) and you won't be disappointed. Yes, I have been looking at Celebrity. In fact, there is one cruise that really interests me (7night Venice to Barcelona). The only problem is that the price is about $1000 over our budget right now. But we'll see, maybe I can swing it or maybe the price will drop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffy116 Posted February 23, 2015 #88 Share Posted February 23, 2015 We weren't interested in Kusadasi and loved it. We used a private tour company and specifically mentioned "no carpet demo" when booking. Ehphesus was amazing and our guide was the best. It was the best surprise of our trip. Everyone's opinion is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjldvlks Posted February 23, 2015 #89 Share Posted February 23, 2015 What's everyone's opinions of Royal's 7N Greek Isles and Turkey Cruises? (Splendor is doing them in 2016, but I've been scanning the deployment thread and it seems Vision will be doing the itineraries in 2016.) Such as this itinerary... Venice Dubrovnik 11:30am-6:30pm At Sea Kusadasi 9am-7pm Santorini 7am-5pm Katakolon 10am-5pm At Sea Venice Or this one... Venice Kotor 2-8pm Corfu 9-3pm Athens 12-8:30pm Mykonos 7-4pm Argostoli 12-7pm At Sea Venice It appears the port times are very short? Are these places really must-sees? It's hard to beat sailing out of Venice. Our first RCI cruise was very similar to the first itinerary you mention. The only difference is we stopped in Corfu instead of Katakolon. We thought it was great and would highly recommend it. Dubrovnik was one of those ports i never would have visited except that is was on the itinererary -- and we loved it. We spent the day in the old city -- walked the wall, ate pizza outside, had a great day. Kusadasi/Ephasis was one of the reasons we picked the itinerary, we were interested in the Biblical history, others may not be. We were not disappointed. As rookie cruisers, we took the ships tour, an 8 hour excursion that stopped at Ephesus, Didyma, and Miletus. Our guide was knowledgeable and a good speaker. We had friends with us and the other people on the excursion were good company as well. Santorini was not that special to me, but keep in mind we were later in the fall and it was a little cool and breezy. And having been lulled into overconfidence by the warmth in Turkey the day before, I left my jacket on the ship. Anyway, I highly recommend this itinereary. At the same time, have nothing negative to say about the second itinerary. We enjoyed Corfu [rented a car and drove to Paleokastritsa] but haven't been to the other ports of call. But I repeat, it's hard to beat Venice. The bottom line for any European cruise [and pretty much any cruise] is pick a few things you absolutely don't want to miss and don't fret over the other things. You can never do it all so enjoy the things you get to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoopster95 Posted February 23, 2015 #90 Share Posted February 23, 2015 What's everyone's opinions of Royal's 7N Greek Isles and Turkey Cruises? (Splendor is doing them in 2016, but I've been scanning the deployment thread and it seems Vision will be doing the itineraries in 2016.) Such as this itinerary... Venice Dubrovnik 11:30am-6:30pm At Sea Kusadasi 9am-7pm Santorini 7am-5pm Katakolon 10am-5pm At Sea Venice Or this one... Venice Kotor 2-8pm Corfu 9-3pm Athens 12-8:30pm Mykonos 7-4pm Argostoli 12-7pm At Sea Venice It appears the port times are very short? Are these places really must-sees? You're still at this thread???? :p Imo option #1 by far and away better than #2. Dubrovnik & Santorini are 2 of the top five ports of call you can visit in all of the Med, bucket list cities. An excursion to Ephesus from Khusadasi is in the top 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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