Med cruise at beginning or end of vacation?

[firstimer2009]

We are booked on the NCL Star Sept 2019 for the Venice-Venice cruise. My plan was to fly into Venice for a few days before cruise, then when ship returns to Venice, take the train to Rome for 4 days and fly home from Rome. I've been to most countries in Europe, but not Italy so am very excited.

 

Today I was thinking of doing the Rome leg first, then train to Venice for 4 days, then cruise. That way the cruise is at the end and would give us a bit more relax time before taking the long flight home. It would feel like a real vacation!

 

Does anyone have thoughts on this?? I will probably need to toss a coin but right now I'm thinking Rome first, cruise at the end. Although I would LOVE to be flying over Venice and landing at that airport at the beginning of our trip. Help!

[flexsmom]

I do! The past two years I have planned 3-4 days of other touring after our family cruises, and my kids (teens) have told me "no more, please". They said they love to do stuff before the cruise, but afterwards, they are pretty much tired and ready to head home. We just did the Venice cruise earlier this month, and I heeded their advice. We took the train to Milan, toured for the afternoon, and then flew home the next day. Even with just that, and as much as we loved what we saw, we were all a bit cranky and ready to go - but since we were using miles to fly free, I took whatever route I could get, and that meant going to Milan.

 

I vote for flying into Rome, doing your thing there, which can intensive (and hot), and then taking the train to Venice. You'll definitely get awesome sights of the city on the sail out and the sail in, compared to flying in (especially if you end up sitting on the wrong side of the plane when you land there, like I did!) I'll also add that the train to Milan was lovely. While we did pass some industrial areas, we also went through some beautiful countryside with little villages. I'd bet you'll get the same on the train from Rome.

 

PS - we docked in Venice very early, so even if you do add a day on the backend, you'll have the better part of the day to visit the highlights.

[marktwothousand]

Cruise post-vacation. Cruise too busy and you'll just want to go home after.

[Alegeeter]

I say cruise post-vacation too but my reasoning is opposite. I think the land portion of the travel can be so busy that it can be nice to relax on the cruise once you're on board.

[marktwothousand]

Ya, if you’re ok with mostly staying on the ship, it’s a good opportunity to relax after a vacation but I find that because the ports are such big draws on Med cruises, people end up feeling an imperative to explore them as not to “waste” being there or “miss out”.

 

And unfortunately Med ports are labour intensive. Nothing worth seeing is within walking distance.

[firstimer2009]

Thanks to everyone's view points on this. The reason I was thinking of cruise at the end because it might be nice after touring Italy for a week to hear English voices again and just to be able to order off the menu and order a drink without thinking. I always try to learn a little of the local language before a trip, but sometimes it's always nice to take a breath and relax. Also thought if the cruise was in the beginning I might forget all the ports we've been to, which might likely happen after a 2.5 week trip!

 

Thank you again everyone. I think we are going to Rome first, few days in Venice next, cruise last!

[Lucinarei]

I agree with everyone who says do the cruise post-vacation! When we did our Med. cruise a few years ago, we planned for three days in Rome pre-cruise and three days in Barcelona post-cruise. While we loved Barcelona, we definitely didn't get the most out of our time there because we were so exhausted after the port-intensive cruise. I would try to maximize your pre-cruise time so that you can relax a bit on and after the cruise. Have fun!!

[sunnykat]

I'm on the side of cruising post land travel. We had moved around so much from hotel to hotel that it was so nice to get on the ship and stay put. We had been doing hand laundry everywhere, so it was really great to finally get it all done at once on the ship and not have clothes hanging all over the place. Either order you choose to do it, I'm sure you will have a wonderful vacation.

[buggins0402]

You might also post this on the Italy ports boards for thoughts...many of the posters have done numerous cruises to Italy and have some unique insights.

 

My own take...I would do Rome, cruise and then Venice. Rome takes energy and so does a busy cruise...but Venice, none of the sites are huge, it’s compact, and much of it’s draw is just soaking in the ambience. You can then choose to deal with the Venice airport on your own terms rather than an off the ship shuffle and mad rush.

[snow1]

We’re doing the Star also in September. But we are going to Venice for 2 nites before the cruise to help get acclimated to the time change. Plus the flight is a red eye which makes me tired just thinking of it. Want to be awake for the cruise After the cruise we are taking the high speed train to Rome for 3 nites and flying home from there. Whatever you choose I’m sure you will have a wonderful trip!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Sauer-kraut]

You have a port intensive cruise which will be all go go go everyday, I think you either do the land portion afterwards, but do not go and see much and just relax, or do it all in the beginning and just go home after the cruise to decompress when you get home.

[4774Papa]

We have done land tours both before and after the cruise. My advice is to do most of your land touring prior to the cruise. Still, it is nice to have a couple of days after the cruise sometimes.

[4774Papa]

Also, we have found that when we want to do a lengthy land tour in Europe and do a TransAtlantic cruise, it is better to do the cruise after the land tour.

[firstimer2009]

Because I am very adaptable and have Pisces rising (the fish easily change directions), I also like Rome first, cruise second, Venice last suggestion. We would easily be able to make the ship from Rome to Venice on cruise day via high speed rail. Do I even have to worry about things like the Italians going on strike and the trains not running? Hopefully not in September. It seems they like to do that at the height of tourist season.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I do recommend doing the most physically exhausting part of the touring before the cruise. Even with long touring days on the cruise, it’s still more relaxing than the land portion IMO.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[BirdTravels]

We do pre-cruise vacations. Especially for you traveling from the west coast, a few days to sync with the local time (rather than being zombies on the first days of the cruise)

[fabnfortysomething]

Venice airport has a well deserved reputation for being chaotic!

 

if you can avoid it and use train instead so fly in/out of another do so!

[firstimer2009]

Venice airport has a well deserved reputation for being chaotic!

 

if you can avoid it and use train instead so fly in/out of another do so!

 

Thank you. That's a good point. I didn't know that about the Venice airport. I have 3 more months to think about this because then we will be locked into our flights! Better figure this out soon.

[Paul S]

OP, which is the bigger deal for you, cruise or Rome? You should do the main attraction last, otherwise if you do it first the rest could be a bit of an anticlimax.

 

Flying into Marco Polo then transferring to the hotel by water bus or water taxi, watching Venice coming into view for the first time is a very special moment you will miss out on if you do Rome first.

 

Which ports are you visiting on the cruise?