On the fence and need honest advice

[ak1004]

On related note, personally I would do my first cruise with O on a newer ship (Marina, Riviera or Vista). Much larger cabins, more dining options, newer ships etc.

 

Here are two sample itineraries on the Marina which are actually cheaper (first one 2024, second 2025)!

The prices of the older ships (R class) just don't make sense to me. In this example, Marina itineraries have only 1 sea day (compared to 2 in the OP itinerary) include Casablanca, and are actually cheaper for veranda cabin which is 240 sqft, compared on 175 sqft on the Sirena.

[osandomir]

17 hours ago, Sibsie said:

I’m not far off your age and currently on my first O cruise. You’ll be bored out of your mind. 

If you read the post prior to yours the poster was completely satisfied with their experience. But Oceania is definitely not the cruise line for those who need to be entertained 24/7 on the cruise.

[JanDom]

Hi,

we are also in our fourty‘s and we don‘t like shows, dancing and entertainment. We love quit ships… so we prefer going with the small ships of holland America. Two years ago we had our first cruise with O and it is more quiet then we knew it from HAL.

So O is definatly the wrong choice for you.

There might be solo travelers on O, but they will be much older then you. 
 

In October the Mediterranean won’t be that warm any more. We always go in the beginning of October. But you also might have some rain.
On the Canary Islands you will have the better weather in this time of year (normally).
Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza are nice ports for cruise ships, also Funchal on Madeira is great.

Have a nice trip to Europe 

 

 

[MEFIowa]

3 hours ago, JanDom said:

... In October the Mediterranean won’t be that warm any more. We always go in the beginning of October. But you also might have some rain....

Weather is unpredictable. We had FANTASTIC weather from Istanbul to Barcelona & all points in between from 10/30-11/19/2023 on Riviera. I was wearing shorts & a t-shirt in Venice on 10/29 and in Barcelona on 11/20. Rained one morning in Split but was done by 1 pm. Glorious weather in Athens, Ephesus, Heraklion, Naples, Rome, Taormina, etc. We had much BETTER weather than what you'd have in say July's brutal heat and massive waves of sweaty tourists.

[cruisemom42]

Regarding weather, any single cruise can have wonderful weather or abysmal weather -- in other words, the weather could be typical or atypical. It's probably best to rely on the kind of long-term data available on sites like weather.com than on any single individual's reported experiences.

 

That said, I do feel that weather in the Med is generally good farther into the autumnal months than it used to be. One can quibble as to the reasons. I've taken 14 Med cruises over the last 19 years and all but two have been in October and November. For the most part weather has been good.*

 

* Discounting the cruise on which weather was so bad that we had to miss Rome (port was closed, which almost NEVER happens), Sardinia, and ship was unable to tender into Lindos as planned). Oh, and one that was unconscionably hot: 99 degrees Fahrenheit the day we sailed from Athens, though it did cool down slightly thereafter...  😱🤷‍♀️