A cruise out of Venice or Barcelona

[misand]

Opinions wanted:

 

Never been to the Europe/Med so here is my dilemma. Take a cruise out of Venice or Barcelona?

 

We like some history but love beautiful waters and beaches. What ports are your favorite? Seen pictures of Nice and Santorini and they both look gorgeous!

 

HELP

[Clarea]

I would favor Venice, as there may be limited time to sail from there.

[misand]

I would favor Venice, as there may be limited time to sail from there.

 

Why? Limited? This would be June of this year?

[Clarea]

Why? Limited? This would be June of this year?

Some locals don't like cruise ships visiting, so I suspect as some point there will be a ban or some limitation on cruise ship visits.

Edited November 18, 2016 by clarea

[tonkie]

Without the politics of what the locals think? I've sailed out of both and the sail away from Venice is stunning no matter where you are sailing to, so if what Bob is saying is correct? Go for Venice

[Hoopster95]

Opinions wanted:

 

Never been to the Europe/Med so here is my dilemma. Take a cruise out of Venice or Barcelona?

 

We like some history but love beautiful waters and beaches. What ports are your favorite? Seen pictures of Nice and Santorini and they both look gorgeous!

 

HELP

 

Any help I can give for you would depend on specific itineraries. Do you have a specific ship/itinerary planned?

 

 

Locals don't like cruise ships visiting, so I suspect as some point there will be a ban or some limitation on cruise ship visits.

 

The "indication" of what could happen is a south entry channel being dredged which would in effect delete the very best sail-in/sail-away on the planet which passes by the grand canal and St Mark's Square. I suspect the ships will still go but probably enter the port from a different direction. I don;pt think it's close to happening but who knows

Edited November 18, 2016 by Hoopster95

[Crazy planning mom]

I have seen cruises depart from Venice and and then end in Barcelona or vice versa. I dont know if Norwegian has them but I have seen them for other lines. They are usually longer 10 days or more. Then, arrive in Venice a couple days earlier and stay a couple days after in Barcelona.

[misand]

Barcelona-

 

Sunday, June 4

Barcelona, Spain

 

6:00pm

 

Monday, June 5

At Sea

 

 

 

Tuesday, June 6

Naples (Capri), Italy

7:00am

7:00pm

 

Wednesday, June 7

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

6:00am

7:00pm

 

Thursday, June 8

Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy

7:00am

7:00pm

 

Friday, June 9

Cannes, France

8:00am

6:00pm

 

Saturday, June 10

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

1:00pm

8:00pm

 

Sunday, June 11

Barcelona, Spain

 

OR

 

Venice-

Sunday, June 4

Venice, Italy

 

6:00pm

 

Monday, June 5

Dubrovnik, Croatia

1:00pm

9:00pm

 

Tuesday, June 6

At Sea

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 7

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

7:00am

5:00pm

 

Thursday, June 8

Santorini, Greece

7:00am

4:00pm

 

Friday, June 9

At Sea

 

 

 

Saturday, June 10

Ravenna, Italy

11:00am

8:00pm

 

Sunday, June 11

Venice, Italy

[crosby99]

Are you tied to dates?

The 18th June on Brilliance(the next cruise) goes from Barcelona and has a overnight stop in Venice. Best of both worlds?

I'm hoping to book the July version of this

[leongcpa]

Venice hands-down. Barcelona is nice , but Venice is amazing!

 

On top of St. Mark's Square; there's Murano and Burano. You could wander the back alleyways for days and be plenty entertained.

 

Lastly, Venice's port is a cinch to get to. Take a vaporetto to Piazzale Roma, and then take the 1.5 euro Peoplemover to the Port. It's probably less than a kilometer walk from there on flat land.

[KiwiGal117]

Both are port intensive with many historic sites to see, but also some beaches. I agree Venice hands down unless you can do that cruise which overnights there. Best of both worlds. We found Greek islands a bit more relaxing - wander around, find a beach and enjoy. Depends what your focus is.

 

 

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[SC_Floaters]

Opinions wanted:

 

Never been to the Europe/Med so here is my dilemma. Take a cruise out of Venice or Barcelona?

 

We like some history but love beautiful waters and beaches. What ports are your favorite? Seen pictures of Nice and Santorini and they both look gorgeous!

 

HELP

 

DO BOTH....

 

Sue & I cruised out of Barcelona on the Voyager of the Seas October 2010 visited Naples/Capri, Italy; Rome(Civitavecchia), Italy; Florence/Pisa(Livorno), Italy; Nice(Villefranche), France and Provence (Toulon), France and then out of Venice on the Splendour of the Seas November 2012 visited Bari, Italy; Corfu, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey and Katakolon, Greece.

 

Enjoyed each one equally...

[Hoopster95]

Barcelona-

 

Barcelona, Spain

At Sea

Naples (Capri), Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy

Cannes, France

Palma de Mallorca, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

 

OR

 

Venice

Dubrovnik, Croatia

At Sea

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Santorini, Greece

Ravenna, Italy

Venice, Italy

 

 

In my humble opinion, Very tough call here.... you're from the states and making your way to Europe for your first cruise, I really think you should pick a longer cruise rather than just 7 days. However out of the two choices:

 

Option #1 pros - Great ports, bigger ship

cons - getting to Rome and back to the port (1 hour each way) will be tough on your own and excursions are HUGE $$$ for Rome. Same with Livorno, very high excursion costs as both Pisa and Florence are relatively far (Pisa is closer and best option)

 

Option #2 pros - Superb ports again, I assume smaller ship. Dubrovnik is world class stop and one of my favorite days ever in Europe... as is Santorini. Oh... and of course sailing in/out of Venice is my #1 cruising experience ever. Ravenna I've been to on land, great stop.

 

Cost wise, excursions/days in port will be much less expensive with option #2 imo. Now... what about your flights to Barcelona or Venice? Have you looked at approx costs there?

 

May I make a suggestion? As Crosby99 mentioned, you should look really really hard at Brilliance 12 day cruises out of Barcelona which include an overnight stay in Venice. You also get Livorno, Rome, Naples and outstanding Kotor, Montenegro on those sailings. Or do a back to back on the Jewel as I am doing (see my signature below)... starts and ends in Rome, visits Barcelona, you get a taste of Greece/Italy/Spain all in one shot however Jewel does not visit Venice.

 

So... if Venice is a true "must" for you, my #1 pick by a landslide is the 12-day Brilliance cruise.

 

Whatever you choose, have a great trip! :D

[George C]

WE did a 12 day cruise out of Barcelona 2 months ago with a stop in Venice, agree Venice seemed more interesting food and drink in Barcelona was a bargain, Barcelona seems less crowded also. Spent 2 days in Barcelona before cruise would spend at least 3 if we did it again.

[trajan]

In my humble opinion, Very tough call here.... you're from the states and making your way to Europe for your first cruise, I really think you should pick a longer cruise rather than just 7 days. However out of the two choices:

 

Option #1 pros - Great ports, bigger ship

cons - getting to Rome and back to the port (1 hour each way) will be tough on your own and excursions are HUGE $$$ for Rome. Same with Livorno, very high excursion costs as both Pisa and Florence are relatively far (Pisa is closer and best option)

 

Option #2 pros - Superb ports again, I assume smaller ship. Dubrovnik is world class stop and one of my favorite days ever in Europe... as is Santorini. Oh... and of course sailing in/out of Venice is my #1 cruising experience ever. Ravenna I've been to on land, great stop.

 

Cost wise, excursions/days in port will be much less expensive with option #2 imo. Now... what about your flights to Barcelona or Venice? Have you looked at approx costs there?

 

May I make a suggestion? As Crosby99 mentioned, you should look really really hard at Brilliance 12 day cruises out of Barcelona which include an overnight stay in Venice. You also get Livorno, Rome, Naples and outstanding Kotor, Montenegro on those sailings. Or do a back to back on the Jewel as I am doing (see my signature below)... starts and ends in Rome, visits Barcelona, you get a taste of Greece/Italy/Spain all in one shot however Jewel does not visit Venice.

 

So... if Venice is a true "must" for you, my #1 pick by a landslide is the 12-day Brilliance cruise.

 

Whatever you choose, have a great trip! :D

 

Hi, we are looking at doing a Med cruise in May 2018 with our then 2 and 7 year olds. Just thinking ahead, which of those would be more kid friendly? Ie easier getting on and off, ports with close activities, bigger or smaller ship best for kids? Ty for any feedback!

[misand]

Thanks everyone for your help. I ended up going with Barcelona and the big reason ended up being I got and awesome deal on airfare. Not quite $500 out of Florida to Barcelona, almost half of what it was the other day! It is for my daughters senior trip so unfortunately we have a time constraint. Otherwise I would have loved to do the 12 day.