gabbygrrl Posted June 30 #1 Share Posted June 30 We are seasoned cruisers (20+), mostly the Caribbean and Bahamas. Next year we have talked our friends in to joining us in the Med for their first cruise. We are all over 55, but very active. Early risers, not late night people. At issue-they only want to do a sailing that doesn’t go out into the middle of the ocean. They want to stay “closer to shore” due to their fear of the open water plus being sea sick. They also prefer to stay away from the mega ships, as do we. We’ve talked about doing a Greek Isles cruise. My questions: if we start in Athens but end in Rome, is the trip around the “boot” of Italy particularly rough? Any suggestions to help us pick an itinerary? Looking at Sun Princess, Celebrity, Holland Am..or RCCL as a last choice (usually too many kids for us). Having a hard time finding something to meet the parameters-help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 1 #2 Share Posted July 1 Any of the cruise lines you mentioned will not always be in eyesight of land even for the Greek Isles. Yes if there is a weather disturbance in the area the sea can be rough in Southern Italy, it is luck of the draw as it is anywhere in the world. The Athens to Venice Italy avoids the boot and you get to also see exotic places like Croatia and Montenegro. here is a map which shows the popular ports. Cruise lines offer a variety of segments though most main stream lines have Western (Rome to Barcelona) or Eastern (Athens to Venice). Then the longer cruises cover more of the other ports like Turkey and Sicily 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruisemonty Posted July 7 #3 Share Posted July 7 We cruised Venice to Venice through the Adriatic in 2019 on Crystal. We sailed from Venice to Montenegro, Croatia, and Greece (Corfu) and the back to Venice in very calm seas. This would be the perfect itinerary for you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted July 8 #4 Share Posted July 8 OP, Your use of the words "talked into" makes me wonder if taking your friends on a cruise is a good idea. We love just about all aspects of cruising, anywhere in the world, but there are people who are just not a good fit, especially as you mention that they have a fear of open water. That is our favorite kind of sailing.....but if our best friends tried to talk us into going on an RV trip with them, because they love it so much....we would be a definite No. Just wondering..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabbygrrl Posted July 8 Author #5 Share Posted July 8 1 hour ago, shipgeeks said: OP, Your use of the words "talked into" makes me wonder if taking your friends on a cruise is a good idea. We love just about all aspects of cruising, anywhere in the world, but there are people who are just not a good fit, especially as you mention that they have a fear of open water. That is our favorite kind of sailing.....but if our best friends tried to talk us into going on an RV trip with them, because they love it so much....we would be a definite No. Just wondering..... You make a good point. I should have worded it like this-when we were discussing visiting the Greek Isles and how time consuming it is moving between the islands, our friend said she would be open to taking a cruise, as long as we didn’t cross into the middle of the ocean (a transcontinental or say Athens to Barcelona). We talked more and she was up for it. We loved doing Europe by train a few times, but as you know, that doesn’t work for Greece. Trying to take our 10-12 days and make the most of it without spending every few days on a 4 hour ferry transfer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mary229 Posted July 8 #6 Share Posted July 8 40 minutes ago, gabbygrrl said: make the most of it without spending every few days on a 4 hour ferry transfer. One of the biggest pluses about cruising for me is the traveling is done at night. After years land traveling it is so refreshing not to be bogged down with the moving to the next location. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted July 15 #7 Share Posted July 15 On 7/8/2024 at 3:19 PM, Mary229 said: One of the biggest pluses about cruising for me is the traveling is done at night. After years land traveling it is so refreshing not to be bogged down with the moving to the next location. We phrase this as: "The hotel follows us around at night!" 😁 GC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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