Eastern Mediterranean + Romantic?

[froufrou]

Hi all,

 

I'm new on this board. I've never been on a cruise before but am thinking about going for our honeymoon next September. My fiance and I are very into seeing historical sights and have toured Spain and Portugal on our own in the past couple of years. We've also both already been to Italy and France.

 

So we decided on Greece and also hopefully Istanbul (and possibly that other city that I can't think of the name of right now which everyone compares to Venice but is located in Croatia).

 

We want to take a cruise that leaves and arrives from the same port, because we don't have to deal with getting an extra flight back, since it is our honeymoon I want the least possible logistical problems to worry about.

 

We get bored just sitting by the pool or beach and relaxing.

 

I would like it to be romantic as it is our honeymoon. :-D By romantic I mean have nice 2 person seating for dinner at least some of the time, also maybe dress up a couple of times for a late dinner after walking around the city and hopefully get to do some ballroom dancing.

 

I think from looking at this a 10-12 day cruise would be best.

 

Searching for a cruise, I found a couple of Celebrity Cruises on the Galaxy - they go to Mykones, Rhodes, Santorini, Istanbul, Athens, Olympia. The Carnival Freedom is also going but the itinerary has 3 sea days (instead of 4) so seems like it is quite similar. Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas seems to have a similar itinerary. Norwegian and Princess also go there but is slightly more expensive and I don't know if the price difference is justifiable (but of course I have no idea as I have nothing to compare with).

 

Neither of us care very much about the food onboard really either. In terms of, he hates variety and will be happy if there are chicken strips or burgers every night, and i'm fine with whatever.

 

We will probably take excursions for Turkey but I think we can handle independent touring of Greece. Which lines have the best tours, which are overpriced etc? Also do the tours center around shopping? I hated that when we took a daylong tour in Tangiers Morrocco, they spent 3 hours giving us a carpet demo. I think if I do get a tour i will probably get it with the cruiseline so I do not have to worry I picked a bad tour. Basically I am trying to get the cruiseline to do all the planning for me so I don't have to be stressed out.

 

Mainly I would like to know which trip you have been on and think is great or not as good? Which one has more of a romantic/honeymoon atmosphere?

 

Is a larger ship a problem in terms of getting on and off at each port? I would like to maximize my time in the city so I don't know which would be better..

 

Which ports did you enjoy visiting the most? Which ports need a whole day and which is ok for half? Specifically Mykones is a half day on a lot of itineraries but i've heard people have thought that was their favorite...is it a bad idea to go with a tour that only has a half day there?

 

Okay, sorry if any of those questions were stupid or anything. I have no idea what really to expect or what to ask.

 

Thanks :)

[ger_77]

An Eastern Mediterranean cruise is one that is absolutely amazing. If you want to see Greek ruins, don't concentrate on Greece, look to places such as Bulgaria and Turkey for wonderful Greek ruins. We travelled on Holland America's Prinsendam (735 psgr) in June, 2004 and had an amazing time - because we were on a small ship, we could pull right into most ports and not have to tender waaaay out in the bays. We were in absolute awe in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, sat at the table where the Yalta Conference was held in Yalta, Ukraine, and strolled amind the ruins of the Temple of Apollo outside of Kusadasi, Turkey. I've never felt so insignificant in history in all my life! To be able to walk where others have been a thousand years before us, to view what they were able to create without any of our modern technology was truly amazing.

 

This time we're going on the larger Rotterdam, (about 1,300 psgrs), and will be taking in such ports as Dubrovnik, Croatia, Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt, Constanta, Romania, as well as Istanbul, and Kusadasi again. We can't wait to leave to be able to be in the midst of all the history in that part of the world. For me, the ultimate vacation photo is going to be one taken in front of the pyramids in Egypt - something I've absolutely been in awe of since I was a child in school.

 

As far as romance - is there anything more romantic than travelling in a 5 star hotel and waking up to room service in a different country every morning? Not for us! Enjoy your cruise, and have a wonderful honeymoon!

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[whyme]

Hi all,

 

I'm new on this board. I've never been on a cruise before but am thinking about going for our honeymoon next September. My fiance and I are very into seeing historical sights and have toured Spain and Portugal on our own in the past couple of years. We've also both already been to Italy and France.

 

So we decided on Greece and also hopefully Istanbul (and possibly that other city that I can't think of the name of right now which everyone compares to Venice but is located in Croatia).

 

We want to take a cruise that leaves and arrives from the same port, because we don't have to deal with getting an extra flight back, since it is our honeymoon I want the least possible logistical problems to worry about.

 

We get bored just sitting by the pool or beach and relaxing.

 

I would like it to be romantic as it is our honeymoon. :-D By romantic I mean have nice 2 person seating for dinner at least some of the time, also maybe dress up a couple of times for a late dinner after walking around the city and hopefully get to do some ballroom dancing.

 

I think from looking at this a 10-12 day cruise would be best.

 

Searching for a cruise, I found a couple of Celebrity Cruises on the Galaxy - they go to Mykones, Rhodes, Santorini, Istanbul, Athens, Olympia. The Carnival Freedom is also going but the itinerary has 3 sea days (instead of 4) so seems like it is quite similar. Royal Caribbean Legend of the Seas seems to have a similar itinerary. Norwegian and Princess also go there but is slightly more expensive and I don't know if the price difference is justifiable (but of course I have no idea as I have nothing to compare with).

 

Neither of us care very much about the food onboard really either. In terms of, he hates variety and will be happy if there are chicken strips or burgers every night, and i'm fine with whatever.

 

We will probably take excursions for Turkey but I think we can handle independent touring of Greece. Which lines have the best tours, which are overpriced etc? Also do the tours center around shopping? I hated that when we took a daylong tour in Tangiers Morrocco, they spent 3 hours giving us a carpet demo. I think if I do get a tour i will probably get it with the cruiseline so I do not have to worry I picked a bad tour. Basically I am trying to get the cruiseline to do all the planning for me so I don't have to be stressed out.

 

Mainly I would like to know which trip you have been on and think is great or not as good? Which one has more of a romantic/honeymoon atmosphere?

 

Is a larger ship a problem in terms of getting on and off at each port? I would like to maximize my time in the city so I don't know which would be better..

 

Which ports did you enjoy visiting the most? Which ports need a whole day and which is ok for half? Specifically Mykones is a half day on a lot of itineraries but i've heard people have thought that was their favorite...is it a bad idea to go with a tour that only has a half day there?

 

Okay, sorry if any of those questions were stupid or anything. I have no idea what really to expect or what to ask.

 

Thanks :)

 

You may wish to look at Oceania cruise lines,Thier ships are smaller and thier itinerary is very port intense. We just returned from Athens to Istanbul and the Black Sea.. also look at the number of days you get in each port...

The age of the ship is usually in the 60's or older, because of the lenght of the cruise..( 10-12 days )

[NancyIL]

Neither of us care very much about the food onboard really either. In terms of, he hates variety and will be happy if there are chicken strips or burgers every night, and i'm fine with whatever.

 

 

Your husband-to-be might have a hard time finding chicken strips or burgers in the dining room for dinner. They will be available on the ship, but in the buffet or by the pool area.

 

I was going to suggest Splendor of the Seas for your visit to Greece, but they sail for 7 days roundtrip from Venice: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000r8thrO1uBZwoegsSqXUYXmC:10ktmer4a?packageCode=SP07M010&date=20073&selectedCurrencyCode=&promoType= and

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000r8thrO1uBZwoegsSqXUYXmC:10ktmer4a?packageCode=SP07M009&date=20073&selectedCurrencyCode=&promoType=

[froufrou]

haha, no chicken strips or burgers? whatever will he do... :)

 

thanks for your advice everyone.

 

so if it is a smaller cruiseship it should be faster to get on shore for the ports?

[Purplepuppy]

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! :)

 

We recently took a 12 days cruise on the Norwegian Jewel from Barcelona to Istanbul. I don't think our itinerary is quite what you are looking for, but we did stop at several ports that you might be interested in (Istanbul, Athens, Dubrovnik).

 

The nice thing about Norwegian is the freestyle dining. You mentioned wanting to eat a 2 person dinner sometimes-you can do that any time on NCL as you are not assigned a specific dining table every night. With other cruise lines, you can request a table for 2 but often they are limited. You can also eat at any time unlike most other cruise lines which usually have an early or late dining time (although you can eat at the buffet at any time). We tend to like to eat early but we stayed out later when our ship stayed overnight in a couple ports (Venice and Istanbul) so we liked that we didn't have to rush back to try and make our dining time.

 

We really enjoyed Istanbul which is easily done without a ship tour-but if you don't want to do too much planning, using the ship's excursions are easier. Dubrovnik can also easily be done on your own (but only the old town-I've heard the countryside is quite beautiful too).

 

Good luck in planning your honeymoon!

[bdwyer]

They have a Greek Isles 12 day cruise that has many interesting ports. One of the reasons we choose Princess is that "Anytime Dining" allows us to have dinner at a table for two, anytime between 6 and 10 pm. We like to take our excursion for the day, head back to the room for a "nap" or glass of wine on the balcony, watch the sunset, then head to dinner at our leisure. Very romantic :D

[Broch]

Your husband-to-be might have a hard time finding chicken strips or burgers in the dining room for dinner. They will be available on the ship, but in the buffet or by the pool area.

 

I was going to suggest Splendor of the Seas for your visit to Greece, but they sail for 7 days roundtrip from Venice: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000r8thrO1uBZwoegsSqXUYXmC:10ktmer4a?packageCode=SP07M010&date=20073&selectedCurrencyCode=&promoType= and

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000r8thrO1uBZwoegsSqXUYXmC:10ktmer4a?packageCode=SP07M009&date=20073&selectedCurrencyCode=&promoType=

 

What could be more romantic than a pre cruise stay of 3 nights in Venice followed by the 7 day cruise and perhaps an extra night in Venice post cruise making in total an 11 night holiday. Just a thought and hope you have a wonderfull honeymoon wherever you spend it

[froufrou]

thanks everyone :)

 

yes the freestyle dining option sounds like it makes better sense for the ports... Are people still dressed up for dinner then and are there formal nights on ships with freestyle dining?

 

there are so many different choices...

 

Venice is very romantic...i like that the Royal Caribbean leaves from there. I got to spend one day there when I was studying abroad in college and it was awesome...i would definately love to go back. :)

[tom_uk]

The other thing to understand about Celebrity cruises (Galaxy) is that they make a thing about formality: they do the traditional 'this is your dinner sitting, these are your table companions (unless you've got a table for two), and these are you waiters, for the whole cruise'. And on a 10 or 11 night cruise there will be three 'formal' nights, when they will ask/expect gentlemen to wear a tux (or at least a dark suit with a tie), and ladies to wear gowns or cocktail dresses. This may or may fit with what you term romantic, and with what your husband-to-be will want to do!

 

Carnival, on the other hand, will be much more relaxed about this sort of thing. Perhaps not as romantic, but more relaxed.

 

The good news is that there are a wealth of options and choices, the less-good news is that you've got to work your way through them all!

[Purplepuppy]

thanks everyone :)

 

yes the freestyle dining option sounds like it makes better sense for the ports... Are people still dressed up for dinner then and are there formal nights on ships with freestyle dining?

 

Yes, there are (optional) formal nights with freestyle dining. I believe that there were 2 during our 12 night cruise. I'd say that less than half of people dressed up though (we were more than happy to leave our formal clothing at home).

[ldog]

I wouldn't worry too much about going and leaving from the same port. If you book the ship's air they will look after all of that for you. Any Travel Agent could book if for you also.

 

Last year we were on the Rotterdam from Venice to Lisbon and this year we are going again from Venice to Athens. We are using FF points and it was no problem to book the air myself.

 

You can do ship's tours at most ports or use your time to research on the boards here. After you book your cruise join the roll call and you can possibly find people to share private excursions.

 

enj

[bubbadog]

well my vote would be princess cruises,they have new ship emerald princess sailing from venice,you could 3 day venice,very romantic.as you can see in signature,me and wife are doing this too,and princess was a lil cheaper than rccl,at least last time i checked,so you have many options,hope you guys have nice cruise:):p