Cruising the Mediteranean to see Europe- Not the best way

I travel a lot and live in an over 55 community. I get asked for a lot of advice about cruises and trips in general. Sometimes I feel like I should charge for it.:)

Several friends have gone on Mediterranean cruises, some of them very expensive and have been unhappy. If you really want to see Europe, a cruise is not the way to go. You'll get just a little taste of the cities and no local flavor at all. You may get six hours in Rome and most of that on the bus. No local food.

It's fine for elderly people maybe but if you can handle walking and really want to see Europe, find a good land based tour. Or go by yourself. We've gone to Italy several times. We get an AIRBNB apartment, use the excellent bus system, book tours thru Viatour and research great places to eat. And we're almost 70.

Now, for China, India, Peru and Southeast Asia we have used good tour companies; it's much easier. But Europe is a cinch to get around.

I do realize that a cruise can be cheaper; I'm just would hate for someone to think you actully see Europe from an American based cruise ship.

I travel a lot and live in an over 55 community. I get asked for a lot of advice about cruises and trips in general. Sometimes I feel like I should charge for it.:)

 

Several friends have gone on Mediterranean cruises, some of them very expensive and have been unhappy. If you really want to see Europe, a cruise is not the way to go. You'll get just a little taste of the cities and no local flavor at all. You may get six hours in Rome and most of that on the bus. No local food.

 

It's fine for elderly people maybe but if you can handle walking and really want to see Europe, find a good land based tour. Or go by yourself. We've gone to Italy several times. We get an AIRBNB apartment, use the excellent bus system, book tours thru Viatour and research great places to eat. And we're almost 70.

 

Now, for China, India, Peru and Southeast Asia we have used good tour companies; it's much easier. But Europe is a cinch to get around.

 

I do realize that a cruise can be cheaper; I'm just would hate for someone to think you actully see Europe from an American based cruise ship.

Kind of short sighted.

Apart from relaxing sea days, we cruise to gain a brief introduction to new places we may later travel to for an extended stay.

Where Med cruises are most helpful is when the start/end ports are locations we want to stay longer.

For example, several days in Lisbon pre-cruise and

Rome post-cruise gets the best of land and sea at a reasonable cost making best use of only one international multi-city airfare. Another factor involves choosing lines that feature more overnights (e.g., Azamara) or longer port days with focused excursions (e.g., Oceania's culinary workshops)

As for Rome specifically, it is best done as a start/end port and never mid-cruise (unless unavoidable per you other itinerary preferences).

Of course, there are some regions of the world (serviced by cruise lines) where a land vacation will almost always be a better choice. First one that comes to mind is Hawaii.

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I would never say a cruise is the best way to see Europe. Rather, I would say a cruise is the best way to get an introduction to an area, to encourage follow up, more detailed land visits. We have certainly used cruises all over the world for that purpose.

I agree with the above! I even feel that way about the US ports we've visited. You won't get a full experience in the limited time you're in port. Really, the ports are more a chance to do something fun that's not offered on the ship.

I found river cruising to be a great way to see Europe. There are places best visited by land and others by sea. It would be very difficult and expensive to visit the Mediterranean cruise ports on a land tour.

Roz

I would never say a cruise is the best way to see Europe. Rather, I would say a cruise is the best way to get an introduction to an area, to encourage follow up, more detailed land visits. We have certainly used cruises all over the world for that purpose.

Even as an introduction, cruising is not a particularly good way to do it. So much of your time is on a bus, you get no flavor of evenings or mornings, just a short, typically 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM snapshot between bus or taxi rides. Far better to book hotels (2 or 3 nights per city) and travel by train one to another.

Cruise to cruise - think about seeing ports as a break from the ship, but don't kid yourself that you are "seeing Europe".

I do agree with the OP,,,,but with a major caveat. We are avid cruisers and have cruised to/from and around Europe on numerous cruises over more then thirty years. Our normal preference is to combine cruising with significant land time...and we do have the luxury of time. So we might take a 25 day back to back repositioning cruise from the US to Europe and then spend another month (after the cruise) driving around Europe. We strongly dislike tours so avoid bus tours or most trains travel....in favor of having our own rental car (unless we are renting an apartment in a major city).

While we do love cruising in Europe (especially the Med) we must agree that port days are not the way to see Europe. Going to Paris on a day trip from Le Havre...is just not the same as having an apartment in Paris for at least 1 week. A big highlight, when we drive around Europe, are where we eat dinner...and what we do after dinner. With a car we are not stuck on long bus rides, and are free to stop and explore at our own pace. Countries like France, Italy and Spain all have wonderful cuisine which is a major part of the culture of those countries. Cruisers miss much of this culture...and those that take cruise line excursions seldom get an opportunity to interact with Europeans (which can be a lot of fun). Many of the best experiences we have had in a lifetime of extensive travel has been meeting locals...which has led to further adventure. It is one thing to visit a winery on a bus tour....but a totally different experience when you happen to meet the owner of a top winery....and get invited for a private vertical tasting (of some of the best white wines in the world). While in one Vietnam city (where we were just wandering around on our own) we finally hired a local to drive us around....and he later took us to his home so we could see his standard of living (his floor tiles were amazing).

Independent travel on land does give one the potential for lots of adventure. But, we still love our time on ships. For us, the perfect solution is to do both.

Hank

Even as an introduction, cruising is not a particularly good way to do it. So much of your time is on a bus, you get no flavor of evenings or mornings, just a short, typically 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM snapshot between bus or taxi rides. Far better to book hotels (2 or 3 nights per city) and travel by train one to another.

 

 

 

Cruise to cruise - think about seeing ports as a break from the ship, but don't kid yourself that you are "seeing Europe".

A lot of this really depends on where you are cruising. We did a Greek island trip and a cruise ship is a great way to do that. There's a lot of logistics in trying to ferry/fly island to island and virtually no transportation time in port. Agree, Italy and France are not ideal places to see on a cruise; but we've done land tours there before.

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I travel a lot and live in an over 55 community. I get asked for a lot of advice about cruises and trips in general. Sometimes I feel like I should charge for it.:)

Several friends have gone on Mediterranean cruises, some of them very expensive and have been unhappy. If you really want to see Europe, a cruise is not the way to go. You'll get just a little taste of the cities and no local flavor at all. You may get six hours in Rome and most of that on the bus. No local food.

It's fine for elderly people maybe but if you can handle walking and really want to see Europe, find a good land based tour. Or go by yourself. We've gone to Italy several times. We get an AIRBNB apartment, use the excellent bus system, book tours thru Viatour and research great places to eat. And we're almost 70.

Now, for China, India, Peru and Southeast Asia we have used good tour companies; it's much easier. But Europe is a cinch to get around.

I do realize that a cruise can be cheaper; I'm just would hate for someone to think you actully see Europe from an American based cruise ship.

Totally agree. Even worse than the 1 day in port is the 1 day in port tendered where you lose 30 - 45 minutes at the front end of your 1 day in port and 30 - 45 minutes at the back end of your one day in port.

Even worse than tat are the stops where you get in at noon or 1 PM and depart at 6 PM. Some cruises even have port visits where you have a half day in port and you are tendered. Hardly worth even getting off the ship.

I am doing a Mediterranean cruise where 3 of the 9 ports are half day visits and one of the half day visits is tendered. So why am I taking this ridiculous cruise. My wife picked it - ask her.

DON

A lot of this really depends on where you are cruising. We did a Greek island trip and a cruise ship is a great way to do that. There's a lot of logistics in trying to ferry/fly island to island and virtually no transportation time in port. Agree, Italy and France are not ideal places to see on a cruise; but we've done land tours there before.

 

 

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I would strongly disagree here - for the most part the Aegean islands are small and tend to get over- run when a couple of thousand (five thousand+/- when more than one ship is in) cruisers swarm ashore. The evenings are when they are at their most magical. Also there are so many ferry options that working your own progression is not that difficult.

On a cruise port call you simply do not see places like Mykonos or Santorini - you see crowds of "off-islanders".

I travel a lot and live in an over 55 community. I get asked for a lot of advice about cruises and trips in general. Sometimes I feel like I should charge for it.:)

Several friends have gone on Mediterranean cruises, some of them very expensive and have been unhappy. If you really want to see Europe, a cruise is not the way to go. You'll get just a little taste of the cities and no local flavor at all. You may get six hours in Rome and most of that on the bus. No local food.

It's fine for elderly people maybe but if you can handle walking and really want to see Europe, find a good land based tour. Or go by yourself. We've gone to Italy several times. We get an AIRBNB apartment, use the excellent bus system, book tours thru Viatour and research great places to eat. And we're almost 70.

Now, for China, India, Peru and Southeast Asia we have used good tour companies; it's much easier. But Europe is a cinch to get around.

I do realize that a cruise can be cheaper; I'm just would hate for someone to think you actully see Europe from an American based cruise ship.

I guess the same can be said about an Alaska cruise. (If that's the way you want to take it. Personally, I enjoyed my 4 years in the US Army in Germany and I loved my 11 night cruise from Venice)

A day in Juneau is not spending time in Bethel, playing golf at midnight in Barrow, seeing the northern lights outside of Fairbanks at 25 below zero.

Cruises give you but a "taste" of different places. I agree, if you really want to experience another country/culture, you must go and stay for a bit...at least, more than 8 hours!

Of course you'll see more of any place if you spend several days there. But, cruising is an excellent way to see the world because you stop at a half dozen countries without the stress of packing and unpacking over and over.

Jonathan

I don't have the time or money to spend weeks in each place I would like to visit in the world, so cruising provides a good sampler.

Roz

The same could be said about cruising anywhere - you rarely get to see real life at your ports of call, but it does give people a brief view of cultures they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. We love cruising because it affords us a snapshot of different countries, different cultures, and different foods - yes, we tend to eat local when we are in port. That being said, it also opens our eyes to places we would choose not to return to in the future. We love going to sleep in our floating hotel and waking up in a different country - you never know what you'll discover!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

A cruise can be seen as something of a hybrid vacation experience - we cruise to enjoy the ship, and see the ports as possible changes of pace for variety; just as when we stay on an island we may charter a boat for a day or two - again for a change of pace.

We are fortunate in a having the free time to be able to do both - without having to cram two somewhat incompatible experiences into one vacation.

Cruising the Mediteranean to see Europe- Not the best way

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I do realize that a cruise can be cheaper; I'm just would hate for someone to think you actully see Europe from an American based cruise ship.

Why just Europe and the Mediterannean? :confused: So are you saying other parts of the World are better traveled by cruise ships?

And that last sentence is rather specific. Are you saying it's ok to cruise Europe on a line that's not American based?

I do agree with what you said but it shouldn't even need to be said. Your argument is more against the whole idea of cruising in general. One should know that a cruise is not a way to immerse into the culture and nightlife of any particular place, the same way one should know that a vacation to Rome is not a way to spend time at sea. They're different animals. A cruise is a sea going vacation that merely visits places. That's what a cruise is.

I guess the same can be said about an Alaska cruise. (If that's the way you want to take it. Personally, I enjoyed my 4 years in the US Army in Germany and I loved my 11 night cruise from Venice)

 

A day in Juneau is not spending time in Bethel, playing golf at midnight in Barrow, seeing the northern lights outside of Fairbanks at 25 below zero.

Or else staying overnight in a tent B&B in Wiseman on the Haul Road. Try to find that town on the map.

BTW - when I went to Fairbanks in the winter to see the aurora, I went to Chena Hot Springs. It might have been hot in the hot springs but it was colder than -25 up on the mountain not counting the wind chill. I was wearing a down coat as a liner under my down coat. I looked like the Pillsbury dough boy although I was warm.

DON

I agree with the OP.

Before we started cruising, we many European land tours -- buses, cars, planes, trains -- and we stayed as long as we wanted to in various cities and really got so see way more than when we cruised ships to those areas.

The same thing can be said of Hawaii, Japan, China, etc.

I would never say a cruise is the best way to see Europe. Rather, I would say a cruise is the best way to get an introduction to an area, to encourage follow up, more detailed land visits. We have certainly used cruises all over the world for that purpose.

100% agree! Means you don't have to go back to places you don't like either...

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The same could be said about cruising anywhere - you rarely get to see real life at your ports of call, but it does give people a brief view of cultures they might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience. We love cruising because it affords us a snapshot of different countries, different cultures, and different foods - yes, we tend to eat local when we are in port. That being said, it also opens our eyes to places we would choose not to return to in the future. We love going to sleep in our floating hotel and waking up in a different country - you never know what you'll discover!

 

 

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

Completely agree with this. Either OP hates cruising in general or just thinks the Caribbean is the only place you should cruise. We enjoy a variety of vacations. Over the last 10 years I've taken land trips to Australia, New Zealand, Amsterdam, Mexico, and Tanzania; along with US trips plus cruises to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. We enjoy all of them. Agree that a med cruise isn't 'seeing europe' but that doesn't take away from the fact that we enjoyed our med cruise. I've still seen the colleseum, the acropolis, Capri, oia, and the Netherlands, and had many wonderful local experiences along the way - pasta in Italy, tasting plates in Greece, and pancakes in Amsterdam.

We currently have a Hawaii cruise and Asia land trip planned and are looking forwards to both.

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