Which cruiseline from Italy?

[Santyclaws]

My dad would like to surprise my mother with a trip to Italy for their 50th anniversary. I think they would be best flying in to Rome, spending a few days there, then cruise for 2 weeks around Greece, Turkey, etc. as opposed to doing the whole 'motorcoach guided tours' for the entirety of their time in Europe.

 

In your experience, which cruiseline would you prefer for a trip like this? I just don't want their first cruise to be on an old tanker. At the same time, they won't be crusing the higher end cruiselines either.

 

They will be travelling in May 2010. Any suggestions?

 

Many thanks,

Santy:)

[moyaroo]

I would suggest Princess or Royal Caribbean or Celebrity. MSC has great rates and "Italian" flavor, but they have incredibly short port times Costa is a better choice IMHO for Italian.

[Mysticks1]

I compared Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess originally - based first on the itinerary and then pricing and the ships themselves. When booking 18 months out the prices for Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Celebrity were fairly close - Princess was much higher.

I had always thought Celebrity would be much higher but was surprised when I compared the pricing and the Celebrity cruise was not much more than Carnival. Celebrity also has two new ships sailing in the Med. - Solstice and Equinox that are getting wonderful reviews. We chose the 11 night cruise on Solstice in an AquaClass cabin which is new for this class of ship.

Our first step was to stop by a travel agency and pick up brochures on the various lines to help you see what is available.

[texancruzer]

We have cruised Royal Caribbean and Celebrity out of Rome. Both entirely different cruises and experiences.

 

But for Greece and Turkey......pick Celebrity Solstice. We did the 11 night to the following:

 

Rome - Santorini - Mykonos - Istanbul (overnight) - Kusadasi(Ephesus) - Athens - Naples - Rome. 3 sea days in there too. Was a truly amazing trip. They May prices will be slightly cheaper than summer too. Nice weather time too.

[euro cruiser]

In addition to the ports covered, consider the ship itself. Talk with your parents about the kind of experience they want and will be comfortable with, then try and find a cruise line and ship that best fits them.

 

I've done Med cruises with MSC (Opera) and NCL (Gem). An earlier poster mentioned shorter port days with MSC, I don't remember that. However, that cruise was five years ago and I've forgotten specific details like that.

 

Smaller ships can get into smaller ports, so that will have an impact on itinerary.

 

Personally, I look for interesting ports because the time is short and I don't like wasting a lot of it on buses or trains trying to get somewhere else. Cruise lines somewhat obfuscate this in their marketing, selling a cruise as Rome when it's really Civitavecchia (an hour away), or Florence when it's really Livorno (an hour and a half away), etc. Needing to travel a distance from the port also adds to the cost of tours.

[AmoMondo]

What about starting in venice rather than Rome. It is such a beautiful, almost magical place and the port is less hassle to get to than getting to Citavecchio(sp?) from Rome

[Santyclaws]

Thank you for all of your replies!

 

My parents won't be able to travel until Oct.2010.

 

I have quite a few brochures to go through, stopped off at a couple of travel agencies.

 

Starting in Venice is a great idea.....now I'm starting to look at one way trips, and they can fly out of another country.

 

Wow, this is all very overwhelming, BUT FUN! Good thing they have a year to make all these decisions! Now I want to go too! (c'mon lotto 649!):D

 

Santy

[CintiPam]

Thank you for all of your replies!

 

My parents won't be able to travel until Oct.2010.

 

I have quite a few brochures to go through, stopped off at a couple of travel agencies.

 

Starting in Venice is a great idea.....now I'm starting to look at one way trips, and they can fly out of another country.

 

Wow, this is all very overwhelming, BUT FUN! Good thing they have a year to make all these decisions! Now I want to go too! (c'mon lotto 649!):D

 

Santy

 

Our last land trip to Italy was in October a few years ago, and we also started in Venice (and ended in Rome). We found it to be a wonderful time to travel in terms of both weather and crowds.

 

We just started our cruise life, with our first cruise last September, Istanbul to Athens, our second in June, Athens to Rome and our third planned for next May, Venice to Barcelona. (We seem to be working our way west across the Mediterranean; my spouse is afraid I will be seasick if we venture north across the Bay of Biscay.)

 

Both cruises (as well as our planned third cruise) have been on Oceania, which has spoiled me: small ships (684 passengers max), port-intensive itineraries, "country casual" dress (no formal nights), no set dinner times, specialty restaurants at no additional charge, great food, great beds and very nice fellow passengers. The size permits great itineraries as well, such as a day in Sorrento and a day in Amalfi, rather than docking in Naples, anchoring at the base of Taormina rather than Messina, etc.

 

Anyway, enjoy your research!

[Santyclaws]

I know they want to go to the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Positano. Where would the ship stop if they wanted to go here?

[texancruzer]

Depends on what cruiseline they are on.

 

Most of the larger ones dock in Naples.

Some of the smaller in Sorrento.

 

I don't blame them for wanting to go there. It is one of the most stunning places I have been. Dh and I plan to go back to just Italy for a land visit in the future and just explore this wonderful country. We loved what we have seen so far !

[maryann ns]

Check out Azamara cruises which have small ships which can dock in places like Sorrento.

[KCcruisin07]

I found it easier to find my way around Rome than Venice because of the canals. And Rome is so romantic and has so much history and culture.