Mediterranean/Transatlantic Itinerary Help

[Oca]

DH and I have been going back and forth for over a month now trying to decide which of the following Mediterranean/Transatlantic itineraries we should do. It will be a cruise in celebration of his retirement. We would really appreciate whatever input all you CC travelers could give us to help us make up our minds. One itinerary is for 30 days on HAL’s Westerdam; the other is scheduled for 32 days on HAL’s new Nieuw Amsterdam.

Westerdam: Piraeus, Katakolon, Venice (overnight), Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Valetta, Tarpani, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon (overnight), Funchal followed by 7 at sea days before docking in Ft. Lauderdale.

Nieuw Amsterdam: Venice (overnight), Dubrovnik, Corfu, Argostoli, Santorini, Catania, Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Barcelona (overnight), Monte Carlo, Livorno (a second full day visit), Civitavecchia (a second full day visit), Valencia, Cartagena, Almeria, Portimao, Lisbon, Half Moon Cay with 8 at sea days between Lisbon and HMC. We would then dock the day after HMC in Ft. Lauderdale.

Some of the stops on both ships would be repeat visits for us but we are fine with that as there is always something new to see or some favorite place to return to.

We feel the strong points of the Westerdam’s itinerary for us are the stops in Kotor (which looks lovely), Valetta where we have never been and Funchal, Madeira where we have never been.

We feel the strong points of the Nieuw Amsterdam’s itinerary for us is that it originates in Venice (where we have never been), Santorini where we have never been, and having more time in Rome and Florence with 2 full day stops in each port.

Both trips look wonderful and we are sure that we cannot lose booking either. I know this is a lot of information to chew but it would really help us if we could have some of your experienced input and some personal preferences on any and/or all of the above ports. Thank you in advance.

[lisiamc]

You could flip a coin and not go wrong on either itinerary! Both sound very easy to enjoy. I like the sound of all of these ports, too.

 

I haven't been to Valetta, but would love to go. I have been to Funchal and would go again in a heartbeat. So these two ports might tip the balance for me to choose Westerdam.

 

Good luck - happy choosing and happy cruising!

 

Lisa

[Captain Canuck]

its a special place...would tip the balance for me...but the other would be fine too...nice dilemna

[carolcb523]

go to santorini visit the town of IO