Europen Cruises

[mrobstad]

Sue is spot on!

[t_car]

And lot of great information on here for you.

Here's my input.

 

You say European cruises, so you have a choice of eastern (Greece - Turkey), or western (Italy,France,Spain primarily) Med cruises, a Baltic cruise (northern Europe, including England, Scandinavian countries all the way to Russia), and lastly a selection of river cruises. These are all different, and really depends on what appeals to you.

 

Med cruises are much more about the ports and not the ship. In my opinion you do not get much use of a balcony for late evening and early morning and possibly only one sea day. Personal choice, but we opted for an Oceanview cabin. Most of your days are spending touring around in ports.

 

As someone mentioned, Med cruises require a lot of research on your part, to learn about the ports and what is offered.

 

When we went, we only booked one excursion in Cannes, visiting the towns of Grasse and St. Paul, very nice tour.

The rest we researched and planned on our own. For Barcelona, a walk exploring Las Ramblas, a taxi to the Sagrada familia, then a taxi to dinner for tapas and a flamenco show. In Palma, a taxi to Palma Nova beach and some local shopping. In Genoa, we hopped on the train (10 min walk from the ship) to Milan and a hop on hop off tour to see the sights. You get the idea, some research goes a long way to a memorable vacation.

 

Lastly, do plan to spend some time in your embarkation city. For us it was 5 days in Rome before our cruise. Purchased tickets for vatican and colosseum on line from home, avoided the lines. For the rest it was public transportation. Trains and subway systems are incredibly efficient in Europe, never more than a few minutes off schedule.

 

Cruising anywhere in Europe is definitely worth it. Enjoy your cruise.

[Velvetwater]

 

Med cruises are much more about the ports and not the ship.

 

 

 

It depends which side of the Atlantic you are on. For a lot of frequent European cruisers (esp Italians) seeing Florence for the 6th time will make some stay on the ship and then the ship becomes important. We would love more bigger ships floating about over here.

 

If I were cruising the Caribbean it would be all about the ports as they are exotic to me and my fellow countrymen. :)

 

On European cruises I think it is important to sail with a line that provides lots to do as the weather can be quite unpredictable in these parts...even in the South Med.

[sail7seas]

OP lists NY as home. :)

 

[Velvetwater]

OP lists NY as home. :)

 

 

Yeah I saw that

 

Just illustrating some Med ports are not as interesting when you've been there lots of times.

 

When my ship docks in Toulon this year I know that instead of being in port for as long as possible I will float about for a few hours then hop back on....unless wine has its say.

[sail7seas]

That's how I feel about Caribbean...... :)

Actually, we visited some of the major cities of Europe 7-8 times and never tired of them and always found new things to see/eat/drink. :D

Rome, Madrid, Venice, London, Copenhagen....... never saw too much of those wonderful cities. :)

 

[Hlitner]

Yeah I saw that

 

Just illustrating some Med ports are not as interesting when you've been there lots of times.

 

When my ship docks in Toulon this year I know that instead of being in port for as long as possible I will float about for a few hours then hop back on....unless wine has its say.

 

The thing about many European ports is that they are "gateways" to some fascinating places. While Toulon is not my favorite port, it is within easy range (for a day trip) to quite a few nice places in Provence. For example, one can drive to Aix en Provence in an hour or Arles in about 1 1/2 hours. And then there is the entire nearby Le Sayne-Sur-Mer area (popular with many French but not so well known by tourists). Personally, we would not even spend an hour near the port :). But this is not any different then a port like Livorno where most passengers head off in different directions to see everything that is not Livorno.

 

Hank

[Velvetwater]

The thing about many European ports is that they are "gateways" to some fascinating places. While Toulon is not my favorite port, it is within easy range (for a day trip) to quite a few nice places in Provence. For example, one can drive to Aix en Provence in an hour or Arles in about 1 1/2 hours. And then there is the entire nearby Le Sayne-Sur-Mer area (popular with many French but not so well known by tourists). Personally, we would not even spend an hour near the port :). But this is not any different then a port like Livorno where most passengers head off in different directions to see everything that is not Livorno.

 

Hank

 

Thats my point though, through quite a few Eurostar and cheap getaways I am not particularly as amazed with that area of France as I once was although I do remember my first visit as a child. I know I sound like a spoilt European but I guess location and distance affect how exotic you see something as I always stand amazed when Floridians talk of being bored with the Caribbean. Europe is a beautiful mixed bag and I am proud to live here but us pasty lot do often long for more tropical climates as spectacular holidays.

 

Horses for courses :)

Edited June 15, 2015 by Velvetwater