1st time trip to Europe - Cruise or Land Vacation?

[petlover]

I think a cruise for your family might be perfect with a pre and post stay in each city thus giving you more of a combination vacation. I think your kids are still a bit too young to really appreciate Europe the way adults do. I took my 2 daughters there at the same age as your kids. They really enjoyed it but still longed to do more things kids like to do....this is where the ship comes in great since there really is something for everyone with lots of together time, but things for individual interests as well plus no packing and unpacking. Like your kids, mine just love to cruise!

 

I think the itinerary your TA recommended is way too ambitious. I think a combination of both cruise and land is your best bet.

[Bruin Steve]

A travel agent we've used in the past suggested this land itinerary, although it looks a little ambitious: Madrid, Barcelona, Cannes/Nice, Loire Valley, Paris, Zurich, Venice, Florence, Rome. I'd love to find lodging for 4 like Jane describes above!

I agree with Jane...that looks INCREDIBLY agressive...We just did 4 nights pre-cruise in Madrid, and if you're in Madrid, you really should also visit nearby Toledo, Avila and Segovia plus devote a day to the Prado and touring Madrid itself...add in some logistics and you're at 4 of your 21 days...Barcelona merits 2 days, at least, if not three...Giving Cannes and Nice one day leaves out Monte Carlo, Eze, St. Paul and other nearby sites...The Loire Valley and Paris? Now you're zigging pretty far north...but, 5 or 6 days MAY be sufficient if you're buzzing through (rember, the Loire Valley itself is fairly far-flung...it's not like Chambord and Chenonceau and Tours and Chartes and Orleans are all a few minutes walk from each other...and Paris? I don't suggest EVER just seeing it in a day--when our cruise stopped in LeHavre, I refused to do a Paris excursion since the tours had no time to take in any of the Louvre or to go up the Eiffel Tower or go into Notre Dame...This is NOT a one-day city...Say you want a day in Zurich and two days each in Florence, Venice and Rome...

 

Well, now you need to add in "travel" days...Whether you go by train, plane or rental car, you are simply going to have to figure a day in between each of these stops just to get from one to the next, check into a hotel and get your bearings...You will need to cut this itinerary back drastically or you're going to have LESS actual touring time than if you had taken a cruise...

 

But now my daughter has thrown a wrench into the planning by asking if we can go to Wales to see a friend she met on our cruise last month! Now I'm starting to research a 2nd, slightly more Northern itinerary as an alternative!! The nanny we used for several years lives in England... so we could visit her too, if we do this scenario. But what 3 or so countries would you recommend if we select this alternative? Any suggestions?

 

When we did the Baltic (with our teenaged daughters) back in 2001, we appended an eight day tour of Britain, Wales and Scotland on the end...You might consider trying the same...Go on a Baltic cruise (I'd recommend the Celebrity Constellation, but the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas would be another viable choice)...These ships sail in and out of Dover and Harwich, respectively...So you fly in and out of London...I'd just go a week prior, rent a car at Heathrow, drive up to Wales, stopping at Stonehenge and in Bath on the way up and going through Stratford-Upon-Avon and Oxford on the way back... a night or two in London, take in a Musical...and then to the ship...

 

It's a little different experience than the Mediterranean, but there are some great ports (notably St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Copenhagen)...Not quite as much history and antiquity as the Med , but still some great stuff--especially the look into Czarist Russia...

 

If I were doing ONLY a land trip to Britain and had 3 weeks, I'd probably split my time in half between Britain and the Continent--perhaps flying into Amsterdam, renting a car, spend a couple of nights in Amsterdam (make sure to take in the Rijksmuseum), then continue down to Bruges, Belgium...then to Paris, Versailles, the Loire Valley (Visit Chambord and Chenonceau), back through Paris, Giverny (Monet's estate) and Rouen, through the Chunnel and on to London...Stobnehenge, Bath, Wales, up to Edinborough, York, Stratford, Oxford snd back to London and Fly home...

 

But, trust, me, even THAT itinerary will be exhausting...

[cawhite]

Thanks everyone... well, I've been studying various cruise / land options this weekend. We may still do a complete land vacation, but it all comes down to which is more affordable. So, here's what I've come up with on the cruise / land combo option (given the fact that DD wants to visit Britain). Please let me know what you think!

 

Bruin Steve, you really are a wealth of information, by the way. I don't have Celebrity on my list of ships even though I really like their itineraries, as I think there might be more kids for my kids to meet on RCI, Princess or Carnival (correct me if I'm incorrect)... my kids will be 15 and 11 next summer.

 

Here is what I'm considering now:

 

1) Fly into Paris for 3-4 days / Britain 6-7 days pre-cruise. Take Golden Princess (end of July): 10-day Western Europe/British Isles cruise sailing (roundtrip) from London to Dublin, Glasgow/Edinburgh, Bergen, Rotterdam/Amsterdam, Brussels/Bruges Paris/Normandy, and back to London. Fly home from London. [The "pro" is that the weather would be cooler than in the Med., and the whole itinerary seems less exhausting that the 2 options below; the "con" is that I'm not sure the kids would like this cruise itinerary as well... and no Med. (which would certainly be a shame to miss).]

 

2) Fly into Rome 2 days pre-cruise. Take Carnival Liberty (probably early July): 12-day Mediterranean roundtrip cruise to Civitavecchia, Italy; Naples, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Venice, Italy (overnight stay); Messina, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; Cannes, France; Livorno, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy. Take a train to Paris / London (if that's the least expensive mode of transportation) for a few days (5-6 days?), post-cruise. Fly home. [The "pro" is that the Carnival price really would help our budget out A LOT; the "con" is that we'd prefer a 1-way cruise that ended some place different.]

 

3) Fly into Rome 2 days pre-cruise. Take Golden Princess (end of June): 14-day European Explorer cruise sailing from Rome to London featuring Rome, Florence/Pisa, Cannes/Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Gibraltar, Casablanca, Seville, Lisbon, Vigo, Paris/Normandy, Rotterdam, Brussels/Bruges, and London. Stay in Britain for 4-5 days post-cruise. Fly home. [The "pro" is all the ports; the "con" is that with a 14 day cruise, there isn't much land time... most likely the cruise stop in Paris would be the only time we get there on the trip and we would like to spend more than 1 day there.]

 

We also considered Brilliance of the Seas, and the Grand Princess, but they have more Greece / Turkey ports that we aren't as interested in (this time around)... also, BOS does not stop in Venice.

 

How do these 3 options sound? Which would you pick

 

We want happy kids and memorable experiences, and we don't want tp break the bank.

 

Also, would we expect to spend a lot more $$, if we did a 3 week land (only)vacation, flying into one city, touring via train, then flying out of another city?

 

Thank you, again, for your help!!

[DonLou]

cawhite, I would opt for number 3. But then, again, I'm partial to that because we will be taking the reverse itinerary in September.

 

The one glitch with number 3 is that the Paris excursion will really only be 1/2 day. The other 1/2 will be spent on a bus getting from Le Havre to Paris and back. And honestly, Paris in half a day is woefully too short. We've already been to Paris for about a couple of weeks so it is not in our cruise shore excursion plans (I think we'll do Rouen or Honfleur).

 

You might consider splitting your London stay with Paris at the end. It's about a three hour TGV train trip to Paris from London. The airfare from Paris to home should be about the same as from London.

 

Also, the 14 day cruise has many ports of call. Therefore, there is in fact a lot of land time. Unfortunately, not in the evenings.

 

Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the choices. But my preference is number 3. Happy traveling!:)

[cawhite]

Oh, I forgot... there is a 4th option I was looking at:

 

This is similar to the #1 above. Fly into Paris and stay in France for 1 week / Britain for 1 week pre-cruise. Take Sea Princess on a 7-day Scandinavia cruise sailing roundtrip from London to Oslo and Copenhagen. Also includes Amsterdam and Helsingborg, Sweden, returning to London. [same "pro" and "con" as #1 option above.]

 

Carole

[cawhite]

Thanks DonLou: I didn't realize there would be sufficient time to do both Paris and London post-cruise with option #3... so that is good to know!