MSC World Europa in Mediterranean - Which port is better to sail out from?

[GetMeToTheSpa]

It looks like there are options in Barcelona, Genoa, Marseille?  which is best or most practical?   This will be my first Mediterranean/European cruise ever, and I'm very intimidated by all this.  I'm used to U.S. cruises where everyone embarks on the same day and I am unfamiliar with this inter-port process. 

 

Any info you can provide will be helpful.  We want to travel in 2 days early from Florida.

 

Thank you! 

 

[defbref]

Probably better to consider which is easier for you to get to from the US rather than the best one to leave from.

 

Barcelona would be my choice, if your flying in a few days earlier and spend time exploring the city. I would expect direct flights should be available and if not there will be plenty of connecting flights Genoa and Marseille I suspect would be more difficult for direct flights from the USA and less options for connecting flights.

[Nikita4]

Genoa is the main port in the med with a lot of embarking guests. But the next international airport is Milano Malpensa with a 2-3 hour drive to Genoa.

[deweytrader]

Barcelona would be the most user friendly as the airport is not far from the port, also downtown Barcelona itself is right by the port.  Plenty to explore in Barcelona for 2 days prior as well.

[Morgsmom]

34 minutes ago, GetMeToTheSpa said:

Any info you can provide will be helpful.  We want to travel in 2 days early from Florida.

 

BCN is likely the easiest if you are coming from Florida

[cruising.mark.uk]

16 minutes ago, defbref said:

Probably better to consider which is easier for you to get to from the US rather than the best one to leave from.

 

Barcelona would be my choice, if your flying in a few days earlier and spend time exploring the city. I would expect direct flights should be available and if not there will be plenty of connecting flights Genoa and Marseille I suspect would be more difficult for direct flights from the USA and less options for connecting flights.

I endorse this good advice.   Intra-Europe flights to Genoa, in particular, are very limited.

 

I would add, though, that cabin availability might be affected by where you join.  We have found previously with MSC that where Genoa is the homeport, more people join there for the 7 day rotation than at subsequent ports on the itinerary.  That means, certainly for the more popular cabin types, that availability of cabins may be more restricted at the subsequent ports like Barcelona and Marseille because people joining at Genoa will have 'blocked' the cabin, preventing those who join later from booking it.

[Nunagoras]

Both Barcelona and Genoa have their cruise ports inside the city center. Marseilles is served by a huge cargo port with cruise facilities far out of the city center. That said, and as "defbref" said; it ultimately resumes to embark from where you have better chances on having direct flights or at least cheaper flights from the US. Barcelona is a major international European airport, both Marseilles and Genoa are not. So, count me on one more to the count of those supporting Barcelona as your best bet. And you gain one or 2 days to enjoy the wonderful city. Both Marseilles and Genoa for what tourism is about can easily to be done on a nice cruise day. Barcelona is larger and you'll need time to run between the main attractions, making a 2 days stop a far more desirable experience. Have a nice day and a nice sailing!...

[Essiesmom]

Also, as has been mentioned in other threads, with guests boarding at different ports, there will not be the mad crowd on boarding day.  With most boarding in Genoa, Barcelona would not be as busy.  EM

[MaverickF]

We booked the World Europa for the Med cruise recently. I also looked at all the ports, and echoed that Barcelona is the most convenient port for embarkation. Please keep in mind that unlike other MSC routes where you can book 1, 2 or any days and get off at a different port, World Europa will only allow booking as a seven day cruise. That means once a room is booked regardless the embarkation port, that room will not be available for all other ports within that loop. So the room availability can be limited, given the popular demand on this new MSC ship. Two days after I booked my trip, all the interior and balcony rooms were sold out on that route. If you decide where you'd to book, you need to act quicky to secure a booking.

[Tierun]

I booked WE out of Barcelona. As in your case, this will be our first med cruise and getting to BCN was by far the easiest option.

[doones2]

We booked our flights to Barcelona for our cruise on the World Europa.  We are booked on TAP.  One stop in Lisbon.  We are flying in a day early and staying a day later after the cruise.

[ssmea03]

We’re embarking from Genoa, as Milan seems to be the easiest city to get to from Toronto, second choice would be Nice. We looked at Barcelona and Naples, but couldn’t get flights that worked both ways.

It will come down to flights, best value and easiest connections. Also easiest transfers, Milan has great train links to Genoa, and the railroad station is steps from the cruise terminal.

[BelleEpoque]

I’m cruising the Med on WE in late July and we opted to embark in Genoa. Partly because we’ve never been in Northern Italy, we chose Milan/Genoa. The other embarkation ports were familiar to us. 
 

We live in NYC but we’ll be in London before the cruise, so we will fly from London to Milan and then we plan to spend two days in Milan before we board the ship in Genoa. There is a train from the center of Milan to central Genoa, then a taxi ride to the cruise port is recommended.
 

MSC also has an excursion on debarkation day from the ship to one of the airports in Milan, though the train might be more efficient. We will fly home via Milan. Lots of direct flight options to NYC, including on our preferred airline. 
 

I’m terrible at packing light but I’ll do my best since we’ll be moving around a bit. 

 

 

[perakcruiser]

17 hours ago, GetMeToTheSpa said:

It looks like there are options in Barcelona, Genoa, Marseille?  which is best or most practical?   This will be my first Mediterranean/European cruise ever, and I'm very intimidated by all this.

I think I can find good reasons for all three equally. And bad reasons also. At the end it depends on what flights you can get for what price. TAP is a preferable choice, highly recommended to make a stopover in Lisbon what maybe could be called a better destination than all ports on your cruise 🙂

[Stockjock]

Start off by pricing flights.  Genoa is usually expensive from the USA with a limited flight schedule.  Marseilles a bit better, but somewhat the same deal.

You could fly into Barcelona, which has cheap flights, many airlines servicing Barcelona, is near the port, and easy to get in and out of, so that would be my first choice.  If it stops at Rome, that's another option.  Rome is far from the port, but flights aren't too expensive and you could spend time seeing Rome, which is one of the world's great cities.

From what you've told us so far, I'd go with Barcelona, but if you have any other questions, just ask.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Stockjock

[Morgsmom]

7 hours ago, Stockjock said:

Start off by pricing flights.  Genoa is usually expensive from the USA with a limited flight schedule.  Marseilles a bit better, but somewhat the same deal.

You could fly into Barcelona, which has cheap flights, many airlines servicing Barcelona, is near the port, and easy to get in and out of, so that would be my first choice.  If it stops at Rome, that's another option.  Rome is far from the port, but flights aren't too expensive and you could spend time seeing Rome, which is one of the world's great cities.

From what you've told us so far, I'd go with Barcelona, but if you have any other questions, just ask.

Agree - I'd also recommend checking the FARES from the origination city as they can vary on the same sailing based on occupancy.  On an upcoming Grandiosa it would have been more expensive to board in Rome than BCN.  In addition, there were no YIN cabins available from Rome but there was from BCN a few days before.    I can't even imagine the background logistics of these cruises as I am more accustomed to getting on for a Caribbean and being "stuck with" 🙂 the same folks for 7 days which has go to make it easier for everyone!  (Plus it allows me to people watch - oh, there's the pajama family, here's bloody mary man, etc..)