fountain44

5 minutes ago, Markanddonna said:

You might like the Mediterranean cruises more in the off season. Keep in mind that many med locations are very hot, super crowded, and much more expensive in the summer. We were recently in northern Europe in May and it was delightful. We've been in the Med mostly in October through early December during their "rainy season" which is a minor inconvenience. Most of our days were sunny and 70. We've also been to the Med in May and it was delightful. I imagine April would be great but consider not traveling around Easter in Rome.

 

MSC is another cruise line to consider. We've been on MSC five times and it has an Italian flair and a young, international crowd. You will be in the minority as Americans in the Med. You will also see more children onboard MSC. NCL is another line to consider. We have generally had very good experiences with them.

 

If you want to avoid children, stay away from summer and spring breaks (which are anywhere from mid Feb to mid April.)  I sympathize with your desire to have fewer kids, but truly have never had a problem with any children on any cruise (and I am a former "strict" elementary teacher.)  The issue for me is that a heavy kid count makes for a much more crowded ship as more cabins will have more than two people.

 

I would avoid Holland HAL which tends to have an older population. Most other cruise lines in Europe have a pretty well balanced age group range and most of the older people are pretty fit and active (that includes my husband and myself.)  These cruisers tend to find more interesting itineraries since they are well traveled. 

 

We aren't beach people, so others will have to answer some of your queries. Generally, it seems like a more eastern route with some Greek and Cyprus ports might be great. We found Spain to be wonderful. Our interests are more in historical and ancient sites. 

 

As far as getting Euros, it never hurts to have a few beforehand, but you can easily get them at any ATM machine in Europe. I would suggest getting some Rick Steves books or go to his website Ricksteves.com to learn how to travel in a smart and savvy manner. We've been followers of his for over thirty years. Also, remember that most Europeans tend to use public transportation on a regular basis. Learning to do so has made for a much more intimate and real experience. I abhor those large bus excursions offered by cruise lines. Some people worry about missing the ship at port... We don't. Just plan well and don't get intoxicated...

 

So, in summary. I think your best plan would be May or September through Oct in the Med. This is shoulder season- a much better time to travel unless you enjoy standing in crowds all hot and sweaty.  Remember that in Europe, ice cubes are often not a normal part of a glass of water...

 

 

Thank you for the info it was helpful.   We are pretty well traveled in the states, canada, mexico and I was in the military and been overseas some, a lot of it tends to be the same gist just different area.

We dont expect to get away from kids totally usually in mexico we do the all adult to avoid that.  Just don't want to obviously hop on a Disney cruise.  And thanks for the Holland tip,  IVe heard its an older crowd.

Unfortunately due to work and our own kids(lol) we are stuck with July,  Mid FEB, or April for spring break.  Which the sounds of it FEB or April might be the least busiest.  Only problem with Feb is we are probably getting a little close in the planning cycle to make that one happen. 

We are a late 30s couple and looking for a trip for my 40th and we always wanted to do a med cruise and looked it up and was kind of shocked at the price being as good as it was and flights are easy to be had.  Started looking at information and figured would get some more info from any with experience.

We are seasoned cruisers in the Caribbean and have been with all the major carriers and understand how that all works down there.  We are fine with sticking with the big brands and not paying a fortune.   With that said here  are our questions.  We would be looking to go most likely in July of next year,  back up would be April.  Assume summer there is just the like US, busy.  But dont really see April being that much better, and not that we are looking for 90 degree weather but not interested in going when weather is potential sweatshirt weather either.

1.  Aside from Carnival, Royal Carib, Princess, any brands to consider in the same price range

2. We get along with all crowds, and something like this we figure the age group is probably a little older.  By nature would also assume kids would be sparser on these things but maybe not.  Anyways we would want avoid anything thats tremendously full of kids and older people, sorry no offense to anybody.  Any advice

3.  Ive seen some of the popular stops, Rome, Venice, santorini, barcelona, etc.  We like to  hit beach's, little shopping, food and drink, and while anything in the med would be great we do like more of the exotic locals on cruises and not overly commercialized.  Any stops that are a must or anything that's just a waste of time and don't bother.  For example for us the southern Caribbean is much better then the northern half,  places like the Bahamas is worthless and even St Thomas, st martins of the world get  long in the tooth.  But keep in mind the MED would be our first time so we would have the newness factor

4.  We would plan to fly in the day before maybe two,  assume CC is taking in lots of places,  dont know if we would need plan to get euros or the USD is take

Maybe more would come to me, but any info would be helpful.