Canceling Caribbean cruise for Mediterranean cruise?

[Thisguylikestocruise]

I’m booked on Harmony 12/20, got a good deal on a balcony during 4th of July sale. I love the Eastern Caribbean.  But, my wife and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2021 and always talked about going back to Europe.  Seriously considering the Greek Islands itinerary from Rome on the new Odyssey of the Seas ship instead.  I understand it’s port heavy and not much time is spent relaxing on the ship.  Plus a cruise is not the best way to see certain places like Santorini.  Is a Mediterranean cruise worth it or should I stick with what’s booked already?

[Clarea]

In order to determine "worth it", it would be useful to have some numbers.

 

For example, if the Med cruise will cost $50K, I'd say it's not worth it.  If it's the same cost as the Harmony cruise, I'd say it's worth it.

 

[blackshirt]

We’ve done a Western Med and a Greek Island cruise, loved them both. I thought a day in Santorini was plenty, my only complaint was crowds but that likely happens year round regardless of how you visit.

[kruzerci]

We do Mediterranean sailings occasionally to switch things up and explore European cities which we haven’t been to on land based trips. 
 

If it is a special occasion and you can afford it, I would 100% do it. It is a completely different experience (and substantially more expensive) than the Caribbean since you will be doing a lot of touring and all day excursions. It is a jam packed but amazing experience. We most recently did the 7 night Western Med itinerary last summer with five days added in Barcelona. We went to almost no shows and ate few meals on the ship- so we essentially used it as a hotel, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. 

[Thisguylikestocruise]

It’s $2,700  vs.  $5,000 for the cruise.  $200 to drive to FL vs. $2,000 to fly to Europe.

[Thisguylikestocruise]

We spent 2 weeks in Rome on our honeymoon, and said back then we’d come back on our 10th. 

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

It’s $2,700  vs.  $5,000 for the cruise.  $200 to drive to FL vs. $2,000 to fly to Europe.

 

So $2300 extra for the Med cruise and you get a new ship too.  I'd do it just for the special occasion.

[Tapi]

We sailed the Western Mediterranean over Thanksgiving 2018. A big reason why was because it was actually cheaper than cruising in the Caribbean during the same dates. Long story short, it was an absolutely fantastic decision. Easily one of my best cruises to date. 
 

Our itinerary was port intensive (just one sea day sailing between Valletta and Barcelona) but it wasn’t overwhelming. We just pre-selected a few places of interest at each port of call and accepted that there was no way that we’d be able to see everything in the limited amount of time at each port. 

 

About airfare, do you have credit card points? We had enough points to get three round trips between Atlanta (where we live) and Rome on Delta for free. We just had to pay for a 4th family member. 
 

The last thing that I’ll recommend is that you look beyond Royal Caribbean. Other cruise lines may offer better pricing, specially if you have flexibility with your dates. We chose the (then) brand new MSC Meraviglia over Thanksgiving precisely because it was ridiculously cheap. It was so cheap that we decided to splurge on an Aurea Duplex Suite (their version of Royal’s Crown Loft Suite). Even then, it was STILL cheaper than our previous Caribbean cruise in a standard balcony stateroom.  That made our Cruise extra memorable. 
 

 

[Turangi!]

 

Do some research on the ports on the itinerary through Cruise Critic and pick up a copy of Rick Steves Mediterrenean Cruise Ports.  We like to start in one European city and end in another so we can spend some time exploring further.  A Med cruise is different from a Caribbean cruise, but it will be much more memorable!

 

[grapau27]

21 minutes ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

We spent 2 weeks in Rome on our honeymoon, and said back then we’d come back on our 10th. 

Personally I would pick the Mediterranean every time.

You could add on days in Rome pre-cruise and you sail on a new ship too.

Happy 10th anniversary regardless what you decide.

 

[taglovestocruise]

59 minutes ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

It’s $2,700  vs.  $5,000 for the cruise.  $200 to drive to FL vs. $2,000 to fly to Europe.

Be sure to checkout Royals Air2Sea program.  As a example, oneway Lax to Rome would run under $400 pp non stop on several airlines.  

[Septemberbride07]

We did our Med cruise for our 10th. Yes, port intensive. Yes, not much time in each port. But, the memories are priceless. We loved every moment. We also learned where we would and wouldn't want to go back to. You have plenty of time to watch for airfare deals. 

[grapau27]

52 minutes ago, Turangi! said:

 

Do some research on the ports on the itinerary through Cruise Critic and pick up a copy of Rick Steves Mediterrenean Cruise Ports.  We like to start in one European city and end in another so we can spend some time exploring further.  A Med cruise is different from a Caribbean cruise, but it will be much more memorable!

 

Good advice.

Several of us on here have been to most Mediterranean ports and happy to help through personal experiences.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

 

So $2300 extra for the Med cruise and you get a new ship too.  I'd do it just for the special occasion.

 

Plus $1600 more for airfare😉

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

We spent 2 weeks in Rome on our honeymoon, and said back then we’d come back on our 10th. 

 

You have your answer🤵👰

 

In my opinion

[Esilef]

We did the Mediterranean from Barcelona and it took 3 flights over 30 hours to get there. Was it worth it? Yes.

 

we were on the vision of the seas from Barcelona. 14 nights. The smaller ships get into the smaller ports. No we didn’t miss the royal WOW factor on the ship as we got that from our port stood.

 

i would love to do the Greek side of this cruise.

 

if you get the chance grad it as you never know what is in the future.

 

 

[alfaeric]

2 hours ago, Thisguylikestocruise said:

It’s $2,700  vs.  $5,000 for the cruise.  $200 to drive to FL vs. $2,000 to fly to Europe.

Like you, we honeymooned in Italy- and have been back to Europe every 5 years.  Much of that was having an airlines card and wracking up points to cover the flight.  You have some time to bank miles before you can get flights....  OR get an RCI card to get points to cover some of the cost of the cruise.  The big flight "issue" will be what part of the year- summer can be very expensive, even for award tickets.

 

Also, we did a Eastern Med from Rome for our 20th, and LOVED it.  We did a hike in Santorini, and was pretty spent by the time we got back to the ship.  Yea, there's more to see, but it's fine. 

 

You'll have a great time.

[vettegal99]

We did our first Med cruise Sept/Oct. on a 14 night Explorer of the Seas out of Southampton.  Yes it is port intensive, we did an excursion in every port.  We came back tired - that said we  had a fantastic time - so much so that we are going in June on a Greek Isles cruise - celebrating an anniversary and a special birthday.  We are going to pace ourselves better on this cruise and do some shorter excursions.  Crew was outstanding on this cruise.  Even a change in itinerary due to a hurricane didn't bother us.  Instead of Lisbon we got an overnight in Le Harve and spent time in Paris and Rouen.  

[rimmit]

2 hours ago, Esilef said:

We did the Mediterranean from Barcelona and it took 3 flights over 30 hours to get there. Was it worth it? Yes.

Just out of curiosity where were you flying from that room you 30 hours to get to BCN?  Were you coming from down under?  That is quite a trek to get to Barcelona, which is much more centralized compared to Sydney or Johannesburg which are a real adventure to get too.  We live in a rural area and drive 2.5 hours to get to major airport that still only has few direct flights,  so we end up having very long journeys that come out to 36-40 hours from door to door sometimes so I feel your pain.

 

In regards to the OP,  I think you just got to ask yourself what you want.  Do you want to relax, sightsee or a little bit of both (albeit very little relaxation as you have mentioned as well)?  We find Med cruises to be what we call “jack of all trades cruises”.  As in very capable and enjoyable in many aspects,  but the cruise is a master of none.  It’s not the best way to relax, nor is it truly the best way to sightsee.  They are a ton of fun though.  It just comes down to what you want your anniversary to be.  There is no right or wrong answer here.

Edited January 5, 2020 by rimmit

[Norwich Cruiser]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

So $2300 extra for the Med cruise and you get a new ship too.  I'd do it just for the special occasion.

$4100,00 with airfare

[Jax129]

I'm doing Greek Isles on Odyssey in 2021 & with this ship the 7 nighter has just 4 ports with late stays in Mykonos & Santorini.. I too was worried about being able to relax & enjoy & I really think this itinerary lets you do that. 

[mkam2821]

We did the Med on Carnival when the Magic was new. It was substantially cheaper than RCC. We took an inside spa cabin (unlimited use of their thermal suite) and saved our $ for the excursions, most of which we booked independently together with people we met on our role call.  It was a FABULOUS trip. As we had a price guarantee from CCL so every time there was a price drop our TA put in for and we got OBC which paid for our tips, drinks and those excursions we booked through the cruise line and we used points to pay our airfare.  We did add 2 nights pre-cruise and 1 post in Barcelona. 

 

Best trip ever!

[3monkeys4me]

I'd do it if you can afford it. For us, a long day in a European city is more desirable than a day in the beach in the Caribbean but that is high subjective. 

 

I'd also shop around for airfare. If you have a bit of wiggle room on your time off it helps. We can be a bit flexible so for our cruise out of Barcelona next fall we are actually flying into Paris since flights run about a 1/3 of the price from our home airport compared to flying into Barcelona directly. We haven't planned the land portion of the trip yet, but we will then either fly or take the train into Barcelona, depending on timing. 

[dani negreanu]

Happy 10th anniversary!!

If you can afford it, do it. A day in Santorini is quite enough, amazing place.

[mariefisher]

The recommendation for rccl air to sea program for the air portion is great. They saved us a lot of money and I did a lot of research before booking with them.