2024 European and Med Cruises

[laudergayle]

Wow, NCL execs weren’t kidding when they said that in 2024 they would be looking at longer, more immersive itineraries.  We’re looking at European and Mediterranean cruises for 2024.  Out of 114 cruise itineraries (with multiple sailings) the only ship that offers a cruise of 6-8 days is the Escape, which has a total of 5 sailings in all of 2024. That’s crazy IMO.  For us, coming from the US, we have to add 3-4 days just to allow for acceptable travel.  Unfortunately, due to elder care, we’re not able to do long cruises.  We try to keep our time away to 10-11 days at best.  NCL’s 10+ night itineraries plus our 3-4 travel days makes NCL a no-go for us.  As a shareholder I say 👎

[SpainAlien]

I agree but I live in Spain so I can get to Barcelona in a few hours by train or car.  A 7 day cruise is easy, you can get time off work without much problem and the kennel costs for 2 dogs is more affordable. Given that the itineraries that are really upsetting me are the ones that start and finish in different ports. Obviously a repositioning cruise is an exception but it looks like they are just doing one way cruises instead of round trip ones now out of preference.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, laudergayle said:

Wow, NCL execs weren’t kidding when they said that in 2024 they would be looking at longer, more immersive itineraries.  We’re looking at European and Mediterranean cruises for 2024.  Out of 114 cruise itineraries (with multiple sailings) the only ship that offers a cruise of 6-8 days is the Escape, which has a total of 5 sailings in all of 2024. That’s crazy IMO.  For us, coming from the US, we have to add 3-4 days just to allow for acceptable travel.  Unfortunately, due to elder care, we’re not able to do long cruises.  We try to keep our time away to 10-11 days at best.  NCL’s 10+ night itineraries plus our 3-4 travel days makes NCL a no-go for us.  As a shareholder I say 👎

Longer cruises aren't for everyone.  Many passengers face time constraints which make week long or even shorter cruises appropriate for them.  OTOH, many other cruise passengers definitely prefer longer cruises.  They have the time available to spend longer stretches away from home.  For some, they must fly 10 to 12 hours to another country, spend another day trying to overcome jet lag, and face a similar experience on their return trip home.  Rather than taking a couple of short vacations, it may make more economic sense to travel across the ocean just once per year, then spend an extended vacation, seeing many different locales, before returning home.  NCL evidently believes that most passengers wishing to cruise in Europe fall into this category.

 

Longer cruises work out better for my wife and me.  When we have to fly a dozen or so hours to reach our destination, we usually plan on at least a month away from home.  That usually includes two or three cruises, perhaps back to back, or perhaps with a few days in between to explore on our own with a land vacation.  Personally I am happy that NCL has begun offering longer, more intensive European cruises.  Our next scheduled trip includes two nine-day cruises back-to-back, then several days in Provence, followed by a Seine River cruise and a stay in a chateau in Normandy.

 

I understand and appreciate your circumstances.  Many of NCL's upcoming cruises in Europe are longer than a week, but it is possible that they may offer some shorter trips in the future, as well.  I would recommend keeping your options open, checking back with the NCL website periodically, and perhaps you may find a journey which fits your needs.

[laudergayle]

@The Traveling Man Happy that longer and B2B itineraries work great for you…that certainly sounds ideal.  And, that is what NCL is counting on.  They factored in a 2% occupancy drop for ‘24.  I have to believe there are many more people who can’t travel longer than those who can.  Time will tell how this goes for NCL.

[The Traveling Man]

6 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

@The Traveling Man Happy that longer and B2B itineraries work great for you…that certainly sounds ideal.  And, that is what NCL is counting on.  They factored in a 2% occupancy drop for ‘24.  I have to believe there are many more people who can’t travel longer than those who can.  Time will tell how this goes for NCL.

I wonder if the drop in occupancy may be the result of fewer children as third or fourth passengers in the room on longer voyages.  It would seem to make sense that large families might be less inclined to take longer cruises than couples would.  That might account for the expected drop.  Since third and fourth passengers frequently travel at a reduced fare, I wonder if NCL might actually come out ahead financially with a slightly lower occupancy rate on longer itineraries.

[laudergayle]

2 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Since third and fourth passengers frequently travel at a reduced fare, I wonder if NCL might actually come out ahead financially with a slightly lower occupancy rate on longer itineraries

Only if they can find enough couples that can cruise longer to make up for the displacement of those not able to travel longer.

[debenson0723]

17 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Longer cruises aren't for everyone.  Many passengers face time constraints which make week long or even shorter cruises appropriate for them.  OTOH, many other cruise passengers definitely prefer longer cruises.  They have the time available to spend longer stretches away from home.  For some, they must fly 10 to 12 hours to another country, spend another day trying to overcome jet lag, and face a similar experience on their return trip home.  Rather than taking a couple of short vacations, it may make more economic sense to travel across the ocean just once per year, then spend an extended vacation, seeing many different locales, before returning home.  NCL evidently believes that most passengers wishing to cruise in Europe fall into this category.

 

Longer cruises work out better for my wife and me.  When we have to fly a dozen or so hours to reach our destination, we usually plan on at least a month away from home.  That usually includes two or three cruises, perhaps back to back, or perhaps with a few days in between to explore on our own with a land vacation.  Personally I am happy that NCL has begun offering longer, more intensive European cruises.  Our next scheduled trip includes two nine-day cruises back-to-back, then several days in Provence, followed by a Seine River cruise and a stay in a chateau in Normandy.

 

I understand and appreciate your circumstances.  Many of NCL's upcoming cruises in Europe are longer than a week, but it is possible that they may offer some shorter trips in the future, as well.  I would recommend keeping your options open, checking back with the NCL website periodically, and perhaps you may find a journey which fits your needs.

This is exactly how I feel. When I travel to Europe or Asia, I need to make the most of my time, since the travel time is so long. I have started to do somewhere around 15-20 days total so I can spend a few days in a city acclimating to the time difference prior to the cruise (and sometimes more than one city since it's so easy to fly between countries) and then 5-7 days after a cruise to see more. 

 

One of my coworkers just did their first family European cruise on the Epic and while they saw a lot in the 7 days, she said they felt so rushed and didn't get to appreciate what they were seeing. The next time they would definitely add on more time before, after or take a longer cruise with a few sea days. I know not everyone has that ability but, as a stockholder, I think it could be the way of the future.

 

[The Traveling Man]

8 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Only if they can find enough couples that can cruise longer to make up for the displacement of those not able to travel longer.

It seems that is exactly what their crystal ball is telling them.  I understand that it works a hardship on some, but apparently NCL believes that there are lots of folks who prefer to get their money's worth out of their expensive airfare by staying longer on fewer trips than making multiple short journeys.

[debenson0723]

4 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Only if they can find enough couples that can cruise longer to make up for the displacement of those not able to travel longer.

Or enough solos. With remote work and extended PTO, I have been traveling with 2-6 solo people on extended cruises. We meet up in a city (say Berlin or Athens) do a few days there, a 10 day cruise and then another few days post cruise in another city. None of us share a cabin either and don't mind paying the solo supplement (more revenue for the cruise line). All of us are in the 40-60 year age range and work full time. Just another demographic that the travel industry is starting to cater to more.

[The Traveling Man]

9 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

This is exactly how I feel. When I travel to Europe or Asia, I need to make the most of my time, since the travel time is so long. I have started to do somewhere around 15-20 days total so I can spend a few days in a city acclimating to the time difference prior to the cruise (and sometimes more than one city since it's so easy to fly between countries) and then 5-7 days after a cruise to see more. 

 

One of my coworkers just did their first family European cruise on the Epic and while they saw a lot in the 7 days, she said they felt so rushed and didn't get to appreciate what they were seeing. The next time they would definitely add on more time before, after or take a longer cruise with a few sea days. I know not everyone has that ability but, as a stockholder, I think it could be the way of the future.

 

I agree.  I think NCL will be able to find a large number of potential passengers who have both the financial ability and the available time to take longer, relaxing vacations.  A second advantage of longer cruises is that they frequently visit ports which otherwise would be bypassed by shorter cruises.  That adds variety to the cruise and added incentive to choose the longer itinerary.

[schmoopie17]

We're doing a 10 day Mediterranean cruise in September, 2024. We never even considered anything with fewer than 10 days. I hate to fly...and once I've flown over to Europe, I dread flying back a week later. With jet lag and ridiculous airfares, it's hardly worth it. Plus, the longer you stay, the more for your airfare buck.

 

We're retired, with no time constraints so we say the longer the cruise, the better the cruise. Plus, at our age, a week goes by in the blink of an eye...so cruises of seven days or less just aren't worth it for us.

 

We've done a transatlantic, which only requires a flight one way. Will probably do another one at some point.

Edited August 12, 2023 by schmoopie17

[laudergayle]

34 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

Or enough solos. With remote work and extended PTO, I have been traveling with 2-6 solo people on extended cruises. We meet up in a city (say Berlin or Athens) do a few days there, a 10 day cruise and then another few days post cruise in another city. None of us share a cabin either and don't mind paying the solo supplement (more revenue for the cruise line). All of us are in the 40-60 year age range and work full time. Just another demographic that the travel industry is starting to cater to more.

Valid point with the “new” cruiser.  And, I also agree that a longer cruise is ideal. There was a reason your co-worker chose a 7-day cruise and it was likely a time/cost equation.  
 

I guess my point in my original post is that all of the ‘24 are long.  114 itineraries with multiple sailing dates, all but 5 sailings are greater than 8 days.  That’s a lot of cabins to fill with people who can travel more freely. 

[eileeshb]

They may be planning a drive to get more European guests as we tend to have more PTO and a good spattering of public holidays during their main European season. 
Of the 5 cruises I’ve done so far , 4 sailed from Miami and 1 was European. On only 1 cruise from Miami was there a noticeable contingent of non Americans, something like 500 french speakers from France or Quebec as it happened to be their spring break. On the one european cruise there were far far more European guests aboard, particularly from Ireland and the UK. That particular cruise was shortly after the international travel restrictions were eased after covid so the ship was well below capacity which made it easier to hear the various accents and languages in use.

[yakcruiser]

I definitely am in the longer cruise camp flying from the west coast but at the same time I don't understand why they can't sprinkle in a few shorter cruises for those who don't have the time? When NCL decides to go in a different direction they go 100%. When they decide shorter cruises are the way to go they will all be 7 day cruises.

[Rob_H]

4 hours ago, laudergayle said:

 We’re looking at European and Mediterranean cruises for 2024.  Out of 114 cruise itineraries (with multiple sailings) the only ship that offers a cruise of 6-8 days is the Escape, which has a total of 5 sailings in all of 2024. 

 

The Getaway has some seven day cruises out of Athens, to the Greek Islands and Turkey, in July and August 2024.

 

We're very much fans of the longer cruises as well, don't normally look at 7 days, even b2b, but I agree there is room in the market for both.

 

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

We're doing a 10 day Mediterranean cruise in September, 2024. We never even considered anything with fewer than 10 days. I hate to fly...and once I've flown over to Europe, I dread flying back a week later. With jet lag and ridiculous airfares, it's hardly worth it. Plus, the longer you stay, the more for your airfare buck.

 

We're retired, with no time constraints so we say the longer the cruise, the better the cruise. Plus, at our age, a week goes by in the blink of an eye...so cruises of seven days or less just aren't worth it for us.

 

We've done a transatlantic, which only requires a flight one way. Will probably do another one at some point.

We hesitated for years before taking our first Transatlantic cruise.  We figured that we would be bored to tears by the third sea day.  As it turns out, we really enjoy the relaxed pace.  The advantage of simply losing one hour of sleep a night for six or seven nights sure beats trying to sleep on a plane and then experiencing jet lag.  We've taken three TAs now, and always try to find one anytime we're going to Europe.  Unfortunately, they usually run eastbound only in the Spring, so we'll be flying over in a couple of months for our next European adventure.  We may do another in 2024 or 2025, though.

[laudergayle]

7 minutes ago, Rob_H said:

 

The Getaway has some seven day cruises out of Athens, to the Greek Islands and Turkey, in July and August 2024.

 

We're very much fans of the longer cruises as well, don't normally look at 7 days, even b2b, but I agree there is room in the market for both.

 

Hey thanks for that. When I use NCL sort feature for 6-8 day duration, the only European or Med cruises that come up are for the Escape’s 5 sailings.  Maybe I need to search ship by ship. Unfortunately we did the Greek Islands in 2021.  

[The Traveling Man]

36 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Hey thanks for that. When I use NCL sort feature for 6-8 day duration, the only European or Med cruises that come up are for the Escape’s 5 sailings.  Maybe I need to search ship by ship. Unfortunately we did the Greek Islands in 2021.  

When I checked for cruises of eight days or fewer, departing from European ports in 2024, the search returned eight entries.  Six of them were seven day cruises, one was for eight days, and one was a four day trip.  The ships include the Escape and the Getaway.  All of the itineraries will are in the Mediterranean.  There are a variety of departure days, including Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  Departure ports are Athens, Barcelona, and Civitavecchia (Rome).  Most are round trips, but the four day cruise sails from Barcelona to Civitavecchia while three of the week long journeys go from Civitavecchia to Trieste (Venice).  Admittedly those cruises represent only a small percentage of the total number of European cruises which NCL offers for 2024, but they do include several interesting options, especially the ones from Civitavecchia to Trieste.

[laudergayle]

16 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

When I checked for cruises of eight days or fewer, departing from European ports in 2024, the search returned eight entries.  Six of them were seven day cruises, one was for eight days, and one was a four day trip.  The ships include the Escape and the Getaway.  All of the itineraries will are in the Mediterranean.  There are a variety of departure days, including Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  Departure ports are Athens, Barcelona, and Civitavecchia (Rome).  Most are round trips, but the four day cruise sails from Barcelona to Civitavecchia while three of the week long journeys go from Civitavecchia to Trieste (Venice).  Admittedly those cruises represent only a small percentage of the total number of European cruises which NCL offers for 2024, but they do include several interesting options, especially the ones from Civitavecchia to Trieste.

Yeah, of the 120 itineraries there are 9 that are 4-8 nights…so about 6%.  The Rome to Venice looks decent until you get to the cost.  They are pricing a balcony at $2399-$3349 pp for a 7/8 day cruise…yikes. Either demand is high or they are purposely dissuading people from booking.  But thanks for doing that research for me.

[debenson0723]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

When I checked for cruises of eight days or fewer, departing from European ports in 2024, the search returned eight entries.  Six of them were seven day cruises, one was for eight days, and one was a four day trip.  The ships include the Escape and the Getaway.  All of the itineraries will are in the Mediterranean.  There are a variety of departure days, including Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday.  Departure ports are Athens, Barcelona, and Civitavecchia (Rome).  Most are round trips, but the four day cruise sails from Barcelona to Civitavecchia while three of the week long journeys go from Civitavecchia to Trieste (Venice).  Admittedly those cruises represent only a small percentage of the total number of European cruises which NCL offers for 2024, but they do include several interesting options, especially the ones from Civitavecchia to Trieste.

We are looking at that 4 day from Barcelona to Rome.  I like that it has an overnight in Florence (Livorno)...would skip coming back to the ship that night and get a hotel instead. Now we are just trying to decide if we want to continue onto Trieste via ship or take our time visiting more of Italy via train and ending up in Switzerland. I need to get thru the 2 trips I have left this year and then I will start thinking about next year.

[laudergayle]

6 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

take our time visiting more of Italy via train and ending up in Switzerland

Sounds amazing.  ☝️That would be my vote!! I don’t know where you’re going in Switzerland, but if you have the chance, Lauterbrunnen Valley is the most beautiful place in spring and summer.  We went there in winter for snow skiing and it was beautiful…but the pictures we have seen of spring/summer are breathtaking. 

[debenson0723]

3 minutes ago, laudergayle said:

Sounds amazing.  ☝️That would be my vote!! I don’t know where you’re going in Switzerland, but if you have the chance, Lauterbrunnen Valley is the most beautiful place in spring and summer.  We went there in winter for snow skiing and it was beautiful…but the pictures we have seen of spring/summer are breathtaking. 

That's the way I am leaning also but it means more work for me (the planner of the group) finding train schedules, tours and places to stay. One of the things I love about cruising is unpacking once and waking up in a new place every day. Going to add Lauterbrunnen Valley to my 'must-see places' list. Thanks for the suggestion.

[The Traveling Man]

4 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

That's the way I am leaning also but it means more work for me (the planner of the group) finding train schedules.

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

[laudergayle]

1 hour ago, debenson0723 said:

That's the way I am leaning also but it means more work for me (the planner of the group) finding train schedules, tours and places to stay. One of the things I love about cruising is unpacking once and waking up in a new place every day. Going to add Lauterbrunnen Valley to my 'must-see places' list. Thanks for the suggestion.

If you do consider Lauterbrunnen, the connecting train station is Interlachen.  The train stops in the center of Lauterbrunnen, right at the co-op market.  There was…and probably still is, a free shuttle that takes you to almost anywhere you need to go in the village.  We stayed in an AirBnB on Luterbach and the shuttle stopped right in front of the complex.  There is a tram from the center of town up to Murren, a ski resort, and then cable access up to Schiltornbahn and Piz Gloria…where the 007 film,  On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was filmed.  Train access from the center of town allows for quick easy access to other beautiful areas around Interlachen. Just thought I would give you more context for your travel planning.

[debenson0723]

2 hours ago, laudergayle said:

If you do consider Lauterbrunnen, the connecting train station is Interlachen.  The train stops in the center of Lauterbrunnen, right at the co-op market.  There was…and probably still is, a free shuttle that takes you to almost anywhere you need to go in the village.  We stayed in an AirBnB on Luterbach and the shuttle stopped right in front of the complex.  There is a tram from the center of town up to Murren, a ski resort, and then cable access up to Schiltornbahn and Piz Gloria…where the 007 film,  On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was filmed.  Train access from the center of town allows for quick easy access to other beautiful areas around Interlachen. Just thought I would give you more context for your travel planning.

Thank you so much. I am clipping this to my travel notes.  I really appreciate it.