Help needed: First time cruise in Europe

[shobs]

Hi,

 

I am looking for some guidance, please 🙂.

 

I am considering a cruise in Europe with my family in the month of July.  Cruise duration about 7-11 days.  We have cruised with Royal Caribbean (4 or 5 night cruises) in Asia many times (we are based in Singapore).   

 

My daughter has severe food allergies (Nuts & Eggs), so we will need a cruise operator who are good at managing food allergies and are flexible in providing her with meal options and also have medical facilities available in case of a medical emergency.

 

I don't have any knowledge of cruise operators in Europe. I notice cruises by Norwegian cruise line, Celebrity cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, Princess Cruises, Costa etc.   Could you pl. give me some information on how these cruise operators compare to Royal Caribbean in terms of service, room size, food options etc.

 

Any specific cruises you would recommend?   Ideally some Islands in Greece, Turkey (Istanbul), Italy and Spain (Barcelona).  Ideally it would be better from a flight connection pov for the cruise to start/end in Athens/Istanbul/Rome/Barcelona.   I can see many cruises when i run a search, but are there any cruises that are better than others?

 

Any help would be most appreciated.  Thanks 🙂.

 

[Essiesmom]

First, all of the cruise lines work well with food allergies and other dietary requirements (vegetarian,  vegan, etc.).  On the cruise line websites there is always  a link to the special needs section where you should alert them to her needs.  Once on the ship, speak with the maitre ‘d in your dining room.  In the buffet, ask to speak with the cook. 
   As far as choosing a cruise, I like to use cruisetimetables.com.  You can research cruises by departure port (cruises from…), or a port you want to visit (cruise to…).  It will show you the ships and their itineraries.  
It’s a great site to wander around in.  EM

[CruiserBruce]

To add to what @Essiesmom said, all cruise ships have medical staff capable of handling an allergic reaction.

 

Comparing with RCI, any of what are called "mainstream" cruise lines will do well...Princess, Holland America, Celebrity (remember, Celebrity is part of RCI), etc.

[jsn55]

Once you have an idea of which lines/ships would work for you, read the reviews on each here on CC.  Read both the 'editor's overall review' and the member reviews ... you'll form a clear idea if it's a good choice for your family.  When reading member reviews, discard the ones who obviously had one big problem so are blaming the ship for ruining their lives.  Same with the gushy ones which read like they were written by the Captain's wife.  They're pretty easy to pick out.

[hallasm]

When you have good experiences with Royal Caribbean, I would suggest that you look at what they can offer in Europe  - the Norwegian coast or East/West Mediterranean.

I have only used Royal Caribbean on my European cruises.

[buckeye7]

I can’t compare different lines, because we have mostly done Princess, but just wanted to suggest checking out the Princess itineraries. They have one that seems to match your wishes. We loved our Princess Mediterranean cruise and we saw the ports you are hoping to see! (Heading back in a few weeks, as a matter of fact!)

[SPacificbound]

We have cruised many times in Europe on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

[shobs]

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

First, all of the cruise lines work well with food allergies and other dietary requirements (vegetarian,  vegan, etc.).  On the cruise line websites there is always  a link to the special needs section where you should alert them to her needs.  Once on the ship, speak with the maitre ‘d in your dining room.  In the buffet, ask to speak with the cook. 
   As far as choosing a cruise, I like to use cruisetimetables.com.  You can research cruises by departure port (cruises from…), or a port you want to visit (cruise to…).  It will show you the ships and their itineraries.  
It’s a great site to wander around in.  EM

Thanks a ton Essiesmom 🙂.   Let me have a look at cruisetimetables.com.. much appreciated!!

[shobs]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

To add to what @Essiesmom said, all cruise ships have medical staff capable of handling an allergic reaction.

 

Comparing with RCI, any of what are called "mainstream" cruise lines will do well...Princess, Holland America, Celebrity (remember, Celebrity is part of RCI), etc.

Thanks 🙂 

[shobs]

8 hours ago, jsn55 said:

Once you have an idea of which lines/ships would work for you, read the reviews on each here on CC.  Read both the 'editor's overall review' and the member reviews ... you'll form a clear idea if it's a good choice for your family.  When reading member reviews, discard the ones who obviously had one big problem so are blaming the ship for ruining their lives.  Same with the gushy ones which read like they were written by the Captain's wife.  They're pretty easy to pick out.

Thanks for the guidance 🙂.

[shobs]

7 hours ago, hallasm said:

When you have good experiences with Royal Caribbean, I would suggest that you look at what they can offer in Europe  - the Norwegian coast or East/West Mediterranean.

I have only used Royal Caribbean on my European cruises.

thanks.. i will certainly consider Royal Caribbean.. but was also looking at other operators because RCI rates seemed quite a bit higher compared to the other operators 🙂.

[shobs]

3 hours ago, buckeye7 said:

I can’t compare different lines, because we have mostly done Princess, but just wanted to suggest checking out the Princess itineraries. They have one that seems to match your wishes. We loved our Princess Mediterranean cruise and we saw the ports you are hoping to see! (Heading back in a few weeks, as a matter of fact!)

 

Thanks 🙂  i will certainly have a look at Princess itineraries.

[shobs]

2 hours ago, SPacificbound said:

We have cruised many times in Europe on both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

Thanks!

[ldubs]

For the MED, we have used Princess, RCI, and Celebrity.  RCI is a good choice, but I would not exclude the others.  I think you would do well with any of the three.  And of course there are other options but not having used those cruise lines I can't recommend. 

[Lois R]

Hi, my suggestion is to ask your specific questions on the forums to those lines you are looking at........You will get cruisers on each forum who sail with those lines on a regular basis and can give you insights to each one.  All the lines you mentioned have their own forum......Princess, Royal, Celebrity, Viking, etc....etc.....every major cruise line has their own forum. But I do agree, most (if not all of them) realize there are MANY allergies out there and can assist you with your concerns.

[shobs]

24 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi, my suggestion is to ask your specific questions on the forums to those lines you are looking at........You will get cruisers on each forum who sail with those lines on a regular basis and can give you insights to each one.  All the lines you mentioned have their own forum......Princess, Royal, Celebrity, Viking, etc....etc.....every major cruise line has their own forum. But I do agree, most (if not all of them) realize there are MANY allergies out there and can assist you with your concerns.

Thanks Lois 🙂  let me decide on my cruise and then check on the cruise line forum. 

[shobs]

50 minutes ago, ldubs said:

For the MED, we have used Princess, RCI, and Celebrity.  RCI is a good choice, but I would not exclude the others.  I think you would do well with any of the three.  And of course there are other options but not having used those cruise lines I can't recommend. 

Thanks 🙂

 

[YourWorldWithBill]

On 4/30/2023 at 10:59 AM, shobs said:

I am considering a cruise in Europe with my family in the month of July.  Cruise duration about 7-11 days.  We have cruised with Royal Caribbean (4 or 5 night cruises) in Asia many times (we are based in Singapore).   

 

Any specific cruises you would recommend?   Ideally some Islands in Greece, Turkey (Istanbul), Italy and Spain (Barcelona).  Ideally it would be better from a flight connection pov for the cruise to start/end in Athens/Istanbul/Rome/Barcelona.   I can see many cruises when i run a search, but are there any cruises that are better than others?

We've done Viking in the Adriatic, Holland America in Alaska, and are doing a 10-day on Oceania next November from Barcelona to Istanbul. Viking and Oceania are considered "luxury" lines, but because we bought a package on Oceania that included airfare and some credits that we used for excursions, it ended up being a good deal. Oceania has a reputation as the best food, so we'll find out. I've resisted promoting my videos here, but if you're interested, I have a YouTube video comparing the suite on HAL with the regular verandah on Viking (similar prices). I'm really looking forward to Oceania, however!