Atmosphere in the Med

[Northern wanderlust]

We are booked for a Mediterranean itinerary next October.  Now, of course, it's October so school will be in session and there will likely be fewer kids on board.  I am curious though will the ship still have the "party" vibe common on Caribbean itineraries or will it likely be a bit quieter?

[Budget Queen]

24 minutes ago, Northern wanderlust said:

We are booked for a Mediterranean itinerary next October.  Now, of course, it's October so school will be in session and there will likely be fewer kids on board.  I am curious though will the ship still have the "party" vibe common on Caribbean itineraries or will it likely be a bit quieter?

Don't expect any party atmosphere.    🙂     Even if it's Carnival.    Middle aged and above is the bulk of demographics.    Not- spring breakers.   🙂   

[Northern wanderlust]

8 minutes ago, Budget Queen said:

Don't expect any party atmosphere.    🙂     Even if it's Carnival.    Middle aged and above is the bulk of demographics.    Not- spring breakers.   🙂   

 

Excellent.  We are used to HAL.  We have never been on NCL but the itinerary was about the best we have found so went with it.  I wasn't really worried since it is easy enough to avoid the party if we want especially considering it is an 11 day cruise with all of 1 sea day but still, nice to know we shouldn't have trouble relaxing.

[Trimone]

Book the Epic from Barcelona, it has a good European party atmosphere. Recommended 

[Tapi]

We did the Med on MSC in November during our kids Thanksgiving Break. It was pretty lively but a completely different atmosphere than the Caribbean. On MSC, we were one of a handful of American families onboard (we literally met one family from Tampa and a couple from Atlanta. Everybody else was either from Europe or Asia). 
 

It was a port intensive itinerary with passengers beginning or ending their cruise at each port of call, so during the day the ship was fairly quiet with most people ashore, but at night the ship came alive with tons of activities late into the night. 
 

Temperatures were mild (just cool enough for most people to avoid the pool decks although there were still some outdoor activities like exercise classes but nothing like you’d find on Caribbean cruises). 

 

5 hours ago, Northern wanderlust said:

Excellent.  We are used to HAL. 

We’ve done HAL in Alaska and the Caribbean and these were definitely more sedate than what we encountered in the Mediterranean on MSC. Our last cruise was on HAL (Nieuw Statendam) in the Caribbean and that was far quieter than what we experienced on MSC. It was more of a Royal Caribbean atmosphere with the type of activities offered and more energetic passengers that enjoyed staying up late, but still very different than in the Caribbean since the clientele was overwhelmingly European.

 

It was truly one of our favorite cruises. We loved every minute of it, and it was the perfect way to give our kids their first glimpse of Europe. 

[farmersfight]

10 hours ago, Northern wanderlust said:

We are booked for a Mediterranean itinerary next October.  Now, of course, it's October so school will be in session and there will likely be fewer kids on board.  I am curious though will the ship still have the "party" vibe common on Caribbean itineraries or will it likely be a bit quieter?

 

A few or so years ago, I did a 12 day cruise in the Med on the then brand new Carnival Dream (to/from Civitavecchia, Italy). It was also October, as I recall. I don't remember seeing a single kid on that cruise. Also, even though Carnival is notorious for the "party" vibe, this cruise was definitely calmer especially from a Caribbean itinerary.

 

I would describe that cruise as more cultural and historical enrichment. Definitely was still a fantastic cruise but just in a much different way. I'm sure, like me, you will also have a fantastic cruise in the Med next October. Bon Voyage!

[4774Papa]

We have done one Caribbean cruise, on Celebrity and four cruises that were all or partly in the Mediterranen.  Three on NCL and one on Celebrity.  The Epic cruise had the youngest average passenger age, since it was a 7 day cruise.   The other cruises were from 9-14 days and had fewer young people.

 

However, there were a fair number of Europeans on each cruise (fewer on the Epic) and that does change to tempo of the cruise somewhat, but not in a negative way.

 

Caribbean cruises have a different focus than Med cruises.   Med cruises are more about exploring history, since so many ports have that.   We didn't find any of the Med cruises to have excessive drinking, etc.

[Fun4Us2013]

We are also scheduled for October cruise leaving London. Hope for smooth sailing at a lot of new ports. On the Escape. 

[hamrag]

19 hours ago, Northern wanderlust said:

We are booked for a Mediterranean itinerary next October.  Now, of course, it's October so school will be in session and there will likely be fewer kids on board....

 

I have news for you....in the UK, and much of Europe, schools have at least one weeks holiday in October. Certainly many UK families cruise at that time, enjoying the more moderate temps in the Med at that time of year. We have done this, as a family, numerous times with many kids on board from most of the Med countries. 😉 

Edited September 21, 2020 by hamrag

[KarimaJ]

We sailed the Med on Celebrity in July. Totally different, not many kids and we were pretty tired every day from the port intensive cruise. But we still had a couple drinks with new friends in the evening, but certainly didn’t last all night. It was really nice!


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[zdcatc12]

On 9/21/2020 at 3:00 AM, Trimone said:

Book the Epic from Barcelona, it has a good European party atmosphere. Recommended 

Doing the Epic from Cevitavecchia in September with a stop in Barcelona. We can't wait. We are leaving out of Cevitavecchia because I figure it will be less crowded in the terminal than Barcelona, plus we have never been to Rome, so we can get a few days in there before the cruise.

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, zdcatc12 said:

Doing the Epic from Cevitavecchia in September with a stop in Barcelona. We can't wait. We are leaving out of Cevitavecchia because I figure it will be less crowded in the terminal than Barcelona, plus we have never been to Rome, so we can get a few days in there before the cruise.

While Civitavecchia is not as convenient as Barcelona Port you have the advantage to see all the sights in Rome. My advice is to please, please take a car service to the port the day of the cruise, nothing of consequence to see at the Port. While you'll see many people take the train it's a hassle and then you still need to take a taxi or some kind of bus to the port.

 

[farmersfight]

12 hours ago, zdcatc12 said:

Doing the Epic from Cevitavecchia in September with a stop in Barcelona. We can't wait. We are leaving out of Cevitavecchia because I figure it will be less crowded in the terminal than Barcelona, plus we have never been to Rome, so we can get a few days in there before the cruise.

 

On our 12 day Med cruise (on Carnival Dream) we flew in to Rome (of course) and took a car service directly to Civitavecchia. Spent 1 night in Civitavecchia and boarded the ship the next morning. Getting to and moving in/around the port was easy peasy with very little congestion. My impression of the port was that it was kind of remote and "smallish" but I guess that in this case, it was a positive as it made embarking very painless.

 

After the cruise and the ship returning back to Civitavecchia, we had prearranged for a car service to take us to Rome where we were to spend 3 nights. I had communicated with the car company numerous times (especially as we got closer to the pick up day) and received confirmation that "everything was o.k.". We got off the ship and...no driver! We waited a bit and looked around for our driver but, no luck. They had blown us off. Fortunately, I spotted some taxi's standing by at the port so I approached one and inquired about a ride to Rome. No problem, taxi driver would take us. I'm sure the taxi was more expensive than the car service we had arranged for but at that point, we were more than willing to absorb the extra cost (just to ensure we got a ride to Rome). For this entire cruise, I had arranged for all excursions, tours and rides privately (did not use the cruise line - I'm sure we saved $$ there). The prearranged ride from the ship in Civitavecchia to Rome was the only "glitch" (where the driver failed to show) of all the ones in Italy, arranged all the way from our home in the U.S. The internet is a great thing, isn't it?

 

Wrt to Rome, what an experience! Definitely a "bucket list" item. SO much culture & history. The 3 days/nights we stayed there after the cruise was no where near enough time to see everything Rome had to offer. As a side note, during this cruise around Italy, I have never eaten so much pizza in my life! All pizza was excellent and was of different varieties depending on the region of Italy.

Edited September 23, 2020 by farmersfight

[pe4all]

We have taken 3 non-caribbean NCL cruises - one embarked in Barcelona (beautiful city), 1 in Venice (wow!) and another in Stockholm (another great city to walk).  These all were taken Aug/Sept.  People are so tired at the end of the day from touring that they have no energy to party!  Ship was pretty quiet in the evenings.

[zdcatc12]

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

While Civitavecchia is not as convenient as Barcelona Port you have the advantage to see all the sights in Rome. My advice is to please, please take a car service to the port the day of the cruise, nothing of consequence to see at the Port. While you'll see many people take the train it's a hassle and then you still need to take a taxi or some kind of bus to the port.

 

 Thanks, I was interested in the train, but had not done much research yet since it still a year away. I will look into a private car.

We have done Barcelona before, but never Rome. And yes, Barcelona was super easy.

8 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

On our 12 day Med cruise (on Carnival Dream) we flew in to Rome (of course) and took a car service directly to Civitavecchia. Spent 1 night in Civitavecchia and boarded the ship the next morning. Getting to and moving in/around the port was easy peasy with very little congestion. My impression of the port was that it was kind of remote and "smallish" but I guess that in this case, it was a positive as it made embarking very painless.

 

After the cruise and the ship returning back to Civitavecchia, we had prearranged for a car service to take us to Rome where we were to spend 3 nights. I had communicated with the car company numerous times (especially as we got closer to the pick up day) and received confirmation that "everything was o.k.". We got off the ship and...no driver! We waited a bit and looked around for our driver but, no luck. They had blown us off. Fortunately, I spotted some taxi's standing by at the port so I approached one and inquired about a ride to Rome. No problem, taxi driver would take us. I'm sure the taxi was more expensive than the car service we had arranged for but at that point, we were more than willing to absorb the extra cost (just to ensure we got a ride to Rome). For this entire cruise, I had arranged for all excursions, tours and rides privately (did not use the cruise line - I'm sure we saved $$ there). The prearranged ride from the ship in Civitavecchia to Rome was the only "glitch" (where the driver failed to show) of all the ones in Italy, arranged all the way from our home in the U.S. The internet is a great thing, isn't it?

 

Wrt to Rome, what an experience! Definitely a "bucket list" item. SO much culture & history. The 3 days/nights we stayed there after the cruise was no where near enough time to see everything Rome had to offer. As a side note, during this cruise around Italy, I have never eaten so much pizza in my life! All pizza was excellent and was of different varieties depending on the region of Italy.

Thanks for all of the info. I am looking to do private excursions as well.

[hamrag]

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

While Civitavecchia is not as convenient as Barcelona Port you have the advantage to see all the sights in Rome. My advice is to please, please take a car service to the port the day of the cruise, nothing of consequence to see at the Port. While you'll see many people take the train it's a hassle and then you still need to take a taxi or some kind of bus to the port.

 

 

I would somewhat disagree about the train being a hassle. It is quite straightforward, and I would definitely say (in good health) perfectly manageable up to age mid to late 60's. We did this a couple of times in our mid 50's and it was absolutely fine. We are now mid 60's, and would probably on balance now take a car service (for my DWs sake) but personally I still feel fit enough to use the train.

[kwokpot]

43 minutes ago, hamrag said:

 

I would somewhat disagree about the train being a hassle. It is quite straightforward, and I would definitely say (in good health) perfectly manageable up to age mid to late 60's. We did this a couple of times in our mid 50's and it was absolutely fine. We are now mid 60's, and would probably on balance now take a car service (for my DWs sake) but personally I still feel fit enough to use the train.

Since this is a public forum to share information, I will give my thoughts on what you wrote so that others can make informed decisions. 

 

Many times it's not just about the cost but about making to easier to travel. One of the options from Rome to the Civitavecchia Cruise Port is to use a shared shuttle service.  This is the best cost effective solution if there's only two people in your traveling party.  If you have a party of four or more than it definitely pays to get a private car.

 

The general cost of a shared shuttle service is around 65 Euros for two people combined. This is a door to door service. They pick you up from your hotel in Rome and then transport you directly to your ship at the Civitavecchia port. Depending on the size of the van the service is using there may be two or four other people. 

 

If you're using the train service first you must GET to the train from the hotel. Then once you reach Civitavecchia you need to get from the train station to your ship pier. That's alot of up and down and all around with your luggage. And if you're traveling in the summer you'll have to contend with the summer heat.  Using a shared or private car service is a much more civilized way to start and end your cruise vacation.

 

And now during Covid one has to think about sharing spaces with lots and lots of strangers. Just for that fact I would go with a shared or private transfer. With a shared transfer I would inquire about the van capacity and seating arrangements so that there's proper spacing.

 

On my last cruise from Civitavecchia there were some people that stayed in a hotel outside of Rome. They would take the train 

into Central Rome and back every day to sightsee on their precruise touring. Then they took the train to Civitavecchia for the cruise. There are plenty of inexpensive but nice hotels right in the center of Rome. I pay $80/nt which included breakfast for an immaculate room in the center of Rome. No need to stay on the outskirts and waste time and money to sightsee Rome.   

 

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by kwokpot

[Travelling2Some]

21 hours ago, kwokpot said:

While Civitavecchia is not as convenient as Barcelona Port you have the advantage to see all the sights in Rome. My advice is to please, please take a car service to the port the day of the cruise, nothing of consequence to see at the Port. While you'll see many people take the train it's a hassle and then you still need to take a taxi or some kind of bus to the port.

 

I second this even though we usually use trains whenever possible in Europe.    We use Stefano's Rome Cabs both from the airport and to Civi - always wonderful service.  The first time we were in Rome the driver gave us an impromptu tour of the city on the way in.  Well worth it given the jet lag and distance of the city from the airport.  The second time their driver persisted when picking us up even though a cleaning lady at our Airb&b kept trying to send him away claiming that we were not staying there.  Above and beyond service both times.   https://www.romecabs.com

[Northern wanderlust]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

I second this even though we usually use trains whenever possible in Europe.    We use Stefano's Rome Cabs both from the airport and to Civi - always wonderful service.  The first time we were in Rome the driver gave us an impromptu tour of the city on the way in.  Well worth it given the jet lag and distance of the city from the airport.  The second time their driver persisted when picking us up even though a cleaning lady at our Airb&b kept trying to send him away claiming that we were not staying there.  Above and beyond service both times.   https://www.romecabs.com

 

Thanks for the recomendation.  Can you give me a general idea of the price to get from the cruise port to Rome proper?

[Tapi]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

We use Stefano's Rome Cabs both from the airport and to Civi - always wonderful service.  Above and beyond service both times.   https://www.romecabs.com

I also recommend them. We used them for our transportation from the airport to our hotel in Rome, hotel to the port, and port to the airport.

 

They made our trip so, SO easy, that I would use them again in a heartbeat. Sure, we could’ve spent less in transportation, but they were worth every single extra penny. 

[em-sk]

On 9/22/2020 at 5:29 PM, zdcatc12 said:

Doing the Epic from Cevitavecchia in September with a stop in Barcelona. We can't wait. We are leaving out of Cevitavecchia because I figure it will be less crowded in the terminal than Barcelona, plus we have never been to Rome, so we can get a few days in there before the cruise.

 

I have done the EPIC for Cevitavecchia.  Great choice.  Most of the passengers are getting on/off in Barcelona, so the lineups are small to non existent.  The state rooms are normally ready very early relative to other ports.    There is a bit of weird vibe with this cruise.  Usually everyone gets on you meet people and then you have that last night.  In this case that is true for half the passenger and not for the other half.  

 

Finding an old small hotel within walking distance of everything in the center of Rome is the best bet. 

 

As for taking the train or shuttle/car.  I have done both and they are both fairly straightforward.  If you have luggage you should do the car; generally speaking the car is the better option. 

 

If you do the train it is a short walk from the station to the gates entering the port facility.  It is a massive port and your not permitted to just walk in.  To the side of the gate there will be shuttle buses for each ship in port and they will take to the ship itself.   

 

The vide on ship is quite different to the Caribbean.  The passengers are more multi-lingual and that is reflected in the entertainment.  I would say more reserved and calmer.  I was on the EPIC in both the Caribbean and Med when they featured the Blue Man Group.  The med reaction was more along on the lines of "what was that?" It did not go over well.

 

Partially due to preferences of the passenger mix and partially due to these being very port intensive cruises and after a day in port exploring most people are tired and not overly interested in partying until early in the morning. 

 

The Caribbean is more likely to have guest spend the day sun bathing while the med is more walking tours.  

[Von & John]

I offer yet another transportation option for Rome to Civitavecchia...

We rented a car & enjoyed a number of day trips touring outside of Rome and then drove to Civitavecchia.

I dropped Johnny at the ship with the luggage and then returned the car.

I had the option of walking back to the ship or waiting for a shuttle.

I opted to walk - it was a nice walk.

The rental was fairly inexpensive and we had no problem picking up @ FCO and returning in Civitavecchia.

[Travelling2Some]

11 hours ago, Northern wanderlust said:

 

Thanks for the recomendation.  Can you give me a general idea of the price to get from the cruise port to Rome proper?

Sorry but memory fails.  Their rates might be on their website.  Knowing me, it couldn't have been too exorbitant or I would have taken the train.