Please Help Which Mediterranean Itinerary Should I choose?

[lgmg]

I am interested in taking a 7 day Mediterranean Cruise. Since it is a shorter cruise than the 12/14 day, which are some of the "must see" ports? I am hoping this will help me decide between Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, or Croatia since these ports are in different itineraries. Any guidence would be greatly apprecited so I can make a decision and move forward with booking. If you have any comments on ship of preference please feel free to share. :confused: Thank you.

[mjldvlks]

I am interested in taking a 7 day Mediterranean Cruise. Since it is a shorter cruise than the 12/14 day, which are some of the "must see" ports? I am hoping this will help me decide between Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, or Croatia since these ports are in different itineraries. Any guidence would be greatly apprecited so I can make a decision and move forward with booking. If you have any comments on ship of preference please feel free to share. :confused: Thank you.

In my opinion, there is no wrong choice here -- just something to do next time. Decide which ports you want to see and find the cruise that fits.

 

In November 2007, we chose the eastern route for our first [and so far only Med cruise], primarily because we really wanted to see Kusadasi [and the ruins of Ephesus]. We did a 7 night on Splendour [Venice, Dubrovnik, Kusadasi, Santorini, Corfu, Venice]. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Dubrovnik was a surprise -- we would love to go back. The scenery of the Greek Islands was spectacular. Venice is not to be missed [port side for sail away from Venice].

 

We found Splendour to be a great ship with a great crew. I personally think the smaller ships are better for these itineraries, but I wouldn't avoid Voyager or Independence if they were going where I wanted to go.

[SASSYIN2]

We jsut booked the Med. 7 day on May 23rd ont he VOyager- great ports, firends have done this ittinerary int he past and loved it, plus the price is great for May. and before the summer crowds

[OrdieJ]

We did the 7 day last June and loved it. My favorite port was Rome! Barcelona was also very awesome.

[Desert Cruizers]

We would love to do a Med cruise, but since we live in So Calif and dealing with a very long flight, it would prove to be a very expenisve cruise for us. For about the same price, we could do an 18 day TA on the Ruby Princess back to FT Lauderdale out of Venice. A Med cruise is on our to do List.

[cruzgryphon]

I am interested in taking a 7 day Mediterranean Cruise. Since it is a shorter cruise than the 12/14 day, which are some of the "must see" ports? I am hoping this will help me decide between Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, or Croatia since these ports are in different itineraries. Any guidence would be greatly apprecited so I can make a decision and move forward with booking. If you have any comments on ship of preference please feel free to share. :confused: Thank you.

Here are some of the things I think about when booking Eastern Med cruises (have done 2 already, one more in Sept. 2010):

- Personal interests: scenery or museums/ culture or ruins/ ancient history

for example:

Scenery - (I tend to like a lot of scenery and ocean vistas) so places like Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos (a little overrated IMO) Dubrovnik, Monaco, Naples/ Amalfi Coast/Capri come to mind etc.

 

- Ruins/ ancient history - Athens (Port is Piraeus), Ephesus (Port is Kusadesi), Pompeii, Rhodes etc.

 

- Museums/ Culture - Rome (port is Civitavecchia), Athens, Pompeii, Naples, Rhodes, Dubrovnik, Venice etc.

 

For me i tend to have more ports in the scenery category, with a couple of the ruins/ museums category for a little balance.

 

A good way to get a feel for things initially is to look at the ship excursions for different ports and see what appeals to you.

 

As others have mentioned, think of this as part 1 - get a sample of things.

 

Ships wise - Splendour of the Seas is a pretty nice ship.

 

Happy planning.

CG

[lgmg]

Thank you for the info. I do like scenery as a primary interest , but like you mentioned, I would like a little balance with culture and history.

[mjldvlks]

Anyone interested -- "Samantha Brown's First Cruise" -- about a Medeterranean Cruise on Brilliance out of Barcelona is on the Travel Channel right now.