Cruising in Europe

[melgray13]

Hello!

 

We just booked a cruise for the fall in Europe.

 

Is there anything that we need to know about cruising Europe vs the caribbean? We've got passports and are trying to save $$ - let me know if we're missing anything.

[suec12]

You need to do alot of homework! Shore excursions will be very expensive - try to do some on your own. Read the port / shore excursions part of cruise critic. The food will be much better in Europe (on shore that is). A European cruise can be exhausting! too much to do on the land, ships will be quiet in the evening IMO. Have a wonderful trip!

[cruisenfever]

Hello!

 

We just booked a cruise for the fall in Europe.

 

Is there anything that we need to know about cruising Europe vs the caribbean? We've got passports and are trying to save $$ - let me know if we're missing anything.

Here's the link to the Europe boards http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

You should find a lot of useful information in your planning.

[BettyCruiser]

A MED cruise is very different than a Caribbean cruise. A lot more port time and early mornings to start tours. I would recommend flying to Barcelona early to get acclimated to the time change. My Voyager review from November 2007 is in the review section. This link should work http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=35204.

 

Have a great time!

 

Beth

[BaumD]

Everyone in the Caribbean takes US dollars. Not so in Europe. Most countires use the Euro now, but check based on your itinerary. Best to be familiar with conversion between the $$ and local currency.

[Minnesota_Nice]

Hello!

 

We just booked a cruise for the fall in Europe.

 

Is there anything that we need to know about cruising Europe vs the caribbean? We've got passports and are trying to save $$ - let me know if we're missing anything.

 

When are you going in November we are on the November 1st sailing?

 

Jen

[tomko2]

We loved our Med. cruise and plan to go again soon. Definitely read as much as you can ahead of time, e.g. reviews from other CCers, library books, maps, Frommer's and Fodor's on-line etc. RCI had a wonderful professor onboard the Legend last summer and we attended all his lectures which really added to our appreciation of the various sites.

On the budget side, decide on what you want to buy as souvenirs and stick with your plan. We bought little glasses dishes in Rhodes, tiny spoons in Rome and bookmarks in other locations.

Check on your Roll Call for what others are doing and see what options you may have for joining in on some independent tours.

Wear very, very comfortable shoes, e.g. tennis shoes; you will likely be doing lots of walking.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Kathy:)

[sea-cruise]

Bring a shawl to cover your shoulders and head if you are planning any visits to religious sites.

I would recommend late seating at dinner so that you leave plenty of time for excursions. You'll want to see as much as possible. This is one time you will really want to take excursions through the ship due to language differences and sites that are far from ports.

Have fun! :)

[sea-cruise]

On the budget side, decide on what you want to buy as souvenirs and stick with your plan. We bought little glasses dishes in Rhodes, tiny

We LOVED Rhodes! I'll never forget it.

[pcur]

As stated above, the Europe boards on CC are the BEST!! I spent tons of time on them getting info and asking questions.

 

We've cruised 3 times in Europe, and loved, loved, loved them!

 

A few suggestions:

 

Get your Euros at an ATM; saves money. The exchange desk on the ship IS a good back-up, and their rate isn't that bad (about 3%).

 

Do a lot of online research for your ports.

 

Use hop on/off buses to get a great tour of the city. They are a terrific way to get around, have someone tell you about the sites and the history, and they are cheap. Even Paris was only $35 pp, and that's for all day.

 

Yes, go in a day ahead. We stayed in London twice and lovede it. If you decide to do this, check British Airways flight and free 2 nights hotel deal they run several times a year.

 

IMO, getting a balcony is a waste of money because you are in port all day, and back on the ship at night. Unless you HAVE to have a balcony, spend the money on shore excursions.

 

The ship has a shuttle to/from the nearest city or ground transpo, and it's usually $10 pp for all day rides.

 

multimap.com is a great way to check out the locations of everything in Europe, and web sites always have addresses of the sites.

 

Buy tour tickets online ahead of time; they are cheaper.

 

Buy a laminated fold-up map at Barnes & Noble or Borders of the big tourist cities. They come in very handy, have a lot of detail, and cost about $8.

 

If the sites are a long way from the ship, take the "XXX on Your Own" tour from the ship. Then you don't have to fret over transpo snafus getting back to the ship.

 

There's more, but that comes to mind right now.

[CAT GIRL]

We did the E. Med. and had a great time. What are your ports?

We did all private tours and really had good experiences with all

our tour guides. I haven't don'e a ship's tour in years but if you feel

more comfortable with that then I understand. But I can say that we saw much more in the short amount of time and got much more personalized tours. In fact, I'm still in contact with our tour guide from Cairo. We didn't have any issues with language barriers. You've probably feeling very overwhelmed right now but just do your research and it will all come together. There's a wealth of information on the Europe board.

[pcur]

Ship's tours vs private tours:

 

Our rule of thumb is to use the ship's tours as transpo (as I've said above), OR use them if it's a really, really important port/city to you, and it's your first time.

 

Our first trip we spent $750 on tours. Second trip only one or two. Third trip only the transpo to Paris for $99 each.

[Nodakboiler]

We went on the VOS last Oct. and had a great time. I agree you need to research your ports on what you want to do. Med. cruises are very good bargains right now with the declining dollar in Europe. You are locking in your lodging, meals, and entertainment in the shift. I have our review listed below. We enjoyed it so much we are going back this Nov.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=34021

[melgray13]

When are you going in November we are on the November 1st sailing?

 

Jen

 

We're Thanksiving week - I think Nov 22

I'll be waiting to read your review for last min tips :)

[melgray13]

We did the E. Med. and had a great time. What are your ports?

We did all private tours and really had good experiences with all

our tour guides. I haven't don'e a ship's tour in years but if you feel

more comfortable with that then I understand. But I can say that we saw much more in the short amount of time and got much more personalized tours. In fact, I'm still in contact with our tour guide from Cairo. We didn't have any issues with language barriers. You've probably feeling very overwhelmed right now but just do your research and it will all come together. There's a wealth of information on the Europe board.

 

We leave from Barcelona then - Nice, Florence, Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, and Palermo

[pcur]

Oh, boy, Naples is a toughie to decide on. Amalfi Coast, Pompei, Herculean, Capri???

 

However, I think the weather will decide it for you. Check the averages for November in Naples, and then decide. If it's a bit on the cool side for you, then I'd vote for a drive on the Amalfi Coast (which I probably would vote for in ANY weather!).

 

We took the Taste of Florence that included 3 hours on your own. Loved it.

 

Nice: I'd take the bus to Monaco and St. Paul de Vence. If you do, email me at pcurri at that yahoo place. I have a great map of the bus routes, and one of Monaco, too.

[Minnesota_Nice]

A MED cruise is very different than a Caribbean cruise. A lot more port time and early mornings to start tours. I would recommend flying to Barcelona early to get acclimated to the time change. My Voyager review from November 2007 is in the review section. This link should work http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=35204.

 

Have a great time!

 

Beth

 

Hey Bettycruiser

 

Sorry I keep asking you questions but I was wondering how the weather was when you left on Halloween last year? We are leaving on Halloween this year and we are flying from MSP-ATL then ATL-BCN currently we only have an 1hr and 10 minute layover in ATL and I am a little stressed that it isn't long enough. I called Delta and the agent said that it would be sufficient time. But from what I've heard they change schedules often so right now I am just riding it out to see if it changes. We can't miss our connection in ATL because the cruise leaves the same day as our arrival we weren't able to go a day early.

 

Thanks Jen

[Cruiser42]

HI! We, too, are experienced Caribbean cruisers who have booked our first Med cruise Sept 14th out of Barcelona. It was overwhelming to me

at first, so I just took it port by port and read a LOT of posts on the Europe boards. Here's what I've gleaned from about 10 hours of research:

Don't do the ships tours because they are crowded and you don't get to see as much - a lot of wasted time. Get a roll call going (we have one),

and try and coordinate private tours - The tour operators know to get you back in time and all of the private tours I researched came off of these boards. With a private tour you economize and get better rates and because you are smaller, its easier into some sites, and the guides will make adjustments based on what they see (take you to one site first instead of 2nd because 2nd site just had 4 tour buses arrive) - and they know the area intimately. Get Euros out of the ATM and make sure you tell your bank exactly what your itinerary is - so your card will work where you are but if your card shows up in a place you werent supposed to be it wont work for whomever has it then. Take great walking shoes and pace yourself ! I'm going with my 74 year old mother and I CANT WAIT !!!

Its not the Caribbean pace, tho -- altho we do a lot of snorkeling so we arent laying around too much ---

Whatever --- have a wonderful time !!!! :D

Lisa

[BettyCruiser]

Hey Bettycruiser

 

Sorry I keep asking you questions but I was wondering how the weather was when you left on Halloween last year? We are leaving on Halloween this year and we are flying from MSP-ATL then ATL-BCN currently we only have an 1hr and 10 minute layover in ATL and I am a little stressed that it isn't long enough. I called Delta and the agent said that it would be sufficient time. But from what I've heard they change schedules often so right now I am just riding it out to see if it changes. We can't miss our connection in ATL because the cruise leaves the same day as our arrival we weren't able to go a day early.

 

Thanks Jen

 

 

Hi Jen,

 

Sorry it took so long to get back here. We had very good weather last year. As far as your flights, if you can at least get to ATL earlier that would be safer. If eveything runs smoothly I'm sure 70 minutes is enough time. But not only weather but mechanichal failures can effect your time into ATL. ATL is a very big airport and one of the busiest in the US. Last time we went thru there I think we had to take a train from one terminal to another.

 

When we flew over we took NW and went from MSP to Amsterdam, then we had probably 2.5 hours until our flight to BCN. On the way home we only had about an hour between flights and that was tight because of mulitple check points and customs that I thought we wouldn't have to deal with until we were back in the US.

 

Beth

[snowmouse]

We did our first European trip last summer, eastern med on celebrity galaxy. We had a fabulous time. One recommendation I would add to the other great advice you've already gotten would be to get active on the roll call thread for your sailing. I got tons of info from fellow cruisers and as we compared notes, we also grouped together for some private excursions. Two of the best tours we had were in Athens and Ephesus, both were mini tours (less than 20 on each) of fellow CC'ers. The small group made the tours more personal and also flexible. Oh yes, also much cheaper!