Mediterranean cruise..... question

[inaina]

I'm planing a 9 days cruise to the Mediterranean, trough the Greek islands ,Turkey etc...

Question: what cruise line should I choose? that offer good food ,comfy bed ,and more...

I'm in Toronto ,so what port in Europe is easier to go from airport or hotel? Is Citavechia port far from Rome? is transport ,like bus or train available?

Any suggestion or advise will be appreciated !:confused:

[kitty9]

I think anything that leaves from Copenhagen, Southampton, Barcelona or Athens have the easiest ports to get to from the local airports or the center of town. Rome's port is Civitivecchia, which is a 90 minute ride from the center of Rome. There are a lot of choices for what you want, so I would advise getting brochures for the cruise lines that cruise that area and find one that suits you. Most mass market lines are pretty much alike so it's like we say, it's 6 of one and half dozen of another.

[cruiser429]

Rome's port (Citivecchia) was only a 45 minute drive from our hotel in the center of Rome. We arranged a car service that stopped at our friend's hotel and then ours. Did this all online by googling car service Rome to cruiseport. We traveled on Celebrity. Good food, good ports. Perfect cruise. The Galaxy was doing this cruise in 2006 when we went.

[chipmaster]

I'm planing a 9 days cruise to the Mediterranean, trough the Greek islands ,Turkey etc...

Question: what cruise line should I choose? that offer good food ,comfy bed ,and more...

I'm in Toronto ,so what port in Europe is easier to go from airport or hotel? Is Citavechia port far from Rome? is transport ,like bus or train available?

Any suggestion or advise will be appreciated !:confused:

 

9 days is an odd window, you are likely to find 7 day, 10 day and 12 days from what I remembered. The 7 day may work with you with a day added on at both ends, adding in travel ends up being another day if you are flying a ways.

 

For Greece, Turkey, and Italy the most likely ports for embarkation / disembarkation is Rome and Athens. You can go to any of the major lines web page and search cruise destinations or try any of the many web cruise sites, some advertise here to help with your search. There is one that I used last year but requires you to log in and sign up. It was a convenient site for searching and planning less so for pricing.

 

For such a short cruise I wouldn't suggest starting in western Med or northen Europe but focus on Eastern Med ports.

 

Good luck with your planning

[chasetf]

I'm planing a 9 days cruise to the Mediterranean, trough the Greek islands ,Turkey etc...

Question: what cruise line should I choose? that offer good food ,comfy bed ,and more...

I'm in Toronto ,so what port in Europe is easier to go from airport or hotel? Is Citavechia port far from Rome? is transport ,like bus or train available?

Any suggestion or advise will be appreciated !:confused:

I donot not know how constraining your time is.... but given you are going to fly that far my recommendation would be to pick the departure and arrival ports as ones you would want to visit and allow some extra time to visit them.

 

I would recommend Princess... that is what we did for our Med cruise. We left from Rome and arrived in Venice with pre and post cruise stays. It is a great way to see those cities that really cannot be appreciated in a "port call" timeframe.

[alcpa1]

If you only wish to cruise for 7-10 days and you want to include Turkey and the Greek Islands your first choice of embarkation ports should be Athens. There are a few sailings that also embark from Istanbul. In addition to the mainstream lines you are familiar with in North America, look at some of the European based lines like Costa, MSC, and MV Discovery. Oceania, Regent, Seaborn and Windstar are primo lines that also sail from Athens and/or Istanbul.

If Greece and Turkey are your main focus you will waste a lot of time leaving from Barcelona or Rome. Venice could also be another embarkation option, but Athens and Istanbul are your best bets. Look at a Mediterranean map and I think you will get an idea of where you wish to travel and the cruise time/distances between ports. For example, there is a sea day needed if you are sailing from Civitavecchia to the Greek Islands.

I have not traveled from pier to airport in Istanbul so I cannot help there.

The airport in Athens is east of the city. The port is in Piraeus which is to the west of the city. There may be an alternate route but the drive time we encountered was not quite two hours in city traffic.

Civitavecchia is also west of Rome. The airport is also west of the city. The drive between pier and airport is about an hour. There is a limited access highway and you do not go through Rome.

The easiest port to pier city is Barcelona. The second might be Venice.

These are all large cities with multitudes of hotel options for every budget. The most expensive cities for hotels would be Rome, Venice and Athens, possibly in that order.

If you wish to see everything on your wish list your best bet would be a longer cruise.

If we can help again please do not hesitate to ask. And find a travel agent you can sit down with who knows something about the European lines. Food is subjective. Most of the mainstream North American carriers have all upgraded their bedding so that should not really affect your choice.

[tomko2]

You can get direct flights from TO to Rome on Air Canada. We went on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas from Rome in August 2007 (used Aeroplan points so went through Washington, DC on United). It was a 12 night cruise which included Egypt, Turkey, Rhodes, Athens, Naples, Mykonos, Cyprus; the cruise started and ended in Civitavecchia. The cost for a private limo between our hotel in Rome and the port and return was 220 Euros. (Photos in the link below).

 

This year we are flying direct to Frankfurt on AirCanada then to Barcelona on Lufthansa. Sailing on the Brilliance of the Seas - 12 nights to Venice, Cannes, Corfu, Croatia, Rome, Naples. The cost of transportation from our hotel in Barcelona to the port is expected to be about 12 Euros.

 

Whatever cruise you decide on it is really worth getting to the Port City a day in advance. We spent 6 nights in Rome (pre and post cruise) because the city is so beautiful with so many historic sites.

 

We have always enjoyed our cruises on Royal Caribbean; wonderful staff, lovely bedding, good food, enjoyable entertainment and interesting itineraries. You might find it useful to read some of the reviews in the Review section to help you narrow down your choices.

 

Happy Sailing.

Kathy:)

[inaina]

:) Thanks you all,for the invaluable tips and suggestions, I really appreciated!!!

I have all the time in the world, and a budget that needs to stretch.. a 12 days cruise will be great! This will be my second cruise and I'm already addicted!!

So ,Barcelona seems a good port to leave $12 euros taxi? not too bad! Thanks for this tip! How about hotel? any suggestion? under a $100 euros would be good!

Rome : I have to find a hotel for under $100 euros? any suggestion?

how about train from Rome to Cittavechia? any idea of price? and how long? as I said I have to stretch my Canadian dollar

[agabbymama]

Hotel in Rome under a 100 EUR is going to be tough. I searched for about 6 months before another poster on these boards gave me the solution.

 

http://www.domusaurelia.com/ This is a hotel run by nuns, not far from the Vatican. We got a triple for 95 EUR per night. We were going to walk, but took taxi's some too. We used the Ho Ho bus as our main transport around Rome, and it stops right in San Pietro Piazza.

 

Have fun planning, then taking your trip.

[paulred]

Azamara has an advertised special 10 days for about $2500US. that includes return air from most North American hubs including toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Calgary.

 

Were I not already booked on a TA, I would be on it in a flash.

 

Paul

[misspupule]

:) Thanks you all,for the invaluable tips and suggestions, I really appreciated!!!

I have all the time in the world, and a budget that needs to stretch.. a 12 days cruise will be great! This will be my second cruise and I'm already addicted!!

So ,Barcelona seems a good port to leave $12 euros taxi? not too bad! Thanks for this tip! How about hotel? any suggestion? under a $100 euros would be good!

Rome : I have to find a hotel for under $100 euros? any suggestion?

how about train from Rome to Cittavechia? any idea of price? and how long? as I said I have to stretch my Canadian dollar

hi inaina

we did the transatlantic on oct 29 2008. stayed in center of rome at piazza navona for 5 days for 321 euros. it was a private apartment which was really nice but no elevator and 2 flights of stairs. found it on freereservation.com which has a lot of rooms, hotels and b&b's. the train is cheap but i didn't want to worry about my 2 pieces of luggage to carry so we took a taxi from rome since there was a student protest and all streets were closed to traffic and there cops and swat teams at all corners of the streets not allowing anyone in.:eek: we laugh now but not then. the taxi ride was 140 euros! so be sure no protests happening and you have an "emergency fund":p the train station in civitavecchia is a long long walk to pier and don't really know if you can get thru since you go through security at gates. if you can find someone to share cost of taxi,:confused: would be a lot easier, about an hour away from rome. good luck and have a wonderful trip. planning another trip europe cruise 2010. post it on the boards of your roll calls and see if anyone wants to share cost.

[chipmaster]

:) Thanks you all,for the invaluable tips and suggestions, I really appreciated!!!

I have all the time in the world, and a budget that needs to stretch.. a 12 days cruise will be great! This will be my second cruise and I'm already addicted!!

So ,Barcelona seems a good port to leave $12 euros taxi? not too bad! Thanks for this tip! How about hotel? any suggestion? under a $100 euros would be good!

Rome : I have to find a hotel for under $100 euros? any suggestion?

how about train from Rome to Cittavechia? any idea of price? and how long? as I said I have to stretch my Canadian dollar

 

If you got the time you might want to consider the Princess Grand Med cruise: Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi, Athena and Venice. We looked at many cruise and ports but none could come close to hitting such a varied and desired set of big stops for us.

[rman738]

If you are considering a hotel in any city, go to venere.com, which will not only give you the hotels, prices, and review, but also you can direct your queries to various parts of the city. When in Rome, stay away from the areas behind Termini Station, the train station. You can get to the port of Civitvecchia from Rome by train, 2 stops, or by bus. We have stayed in Rome for our last two European cruises. One one cruise we arranged for a large bus of about 45 people to take us. The next time, we had a "limo" service take us at about 2X the price. My sister, who is frugal wanted to take the train, however, there was a train strike scheduled (yes, they do that in Italy), so she took the bus. She beat us to the cruise port, despite us having a "limo" service, at about 1/10 the price.

 

We loved the Celebrity Galaxy and its stops. Make sure any stop includes Santorini, Greece. Some ships do not stop there. Our only disappointed with Celebrity was with dining. Many people on our ship complained about the hours, lack of alternative dining, and food choices. "Pave of Conger" (eel) was on the menu for our last evening.

[inaina]

If you got the time you might want to consider the Princess Grand Med cruise: Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples, Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi, Athena and Venice. We looked at many cruise and ports but none could come close to hitting such a varied and desired set of big stops for us.[/

 

I will investigate this, it really sounds good, I would like Santorine to be included...... thanks for the tip! I'm so excited already !!! yeep

[California Native]

Hi!

 

We are planning an extensive land travel to Greece and Turkey this April and May...

 

Some of the stops along the way are ports you would visit...

 

Athens, Ephesus, and Istanbul.

 

I've posted some very informative videos and all of the website links

we have used in researching this trip on our personal travel website

I think you will find it very helpful!

Just click on the link below and then go into Our 2009 Adventure

http://www.ourpassportstamps.com/

I have also been to Santorini in the past and it's truly one of my favorite islands...try to visit Oia while you are there as MANY of the photos you see of Santorini are taken there.

If you go Mykonos, Delos is a MUST!

Regarding Venice, we found the Rick Steves book AND DK Top Ten Venice book to be excellent as we have spent a total of 8 days in Venice

Bon Voyage