Mediterrean 2011

[Sailaway John]

Hi all, have just about decided to do the Mediterrean next year - time fly you know - wanting to do it on the Ruby or Star Princess. Anyone done that cruise and if you have what was it like.

Failing doing that cruise we have a tenative booking to NZ on Princess in March. What is the weather like doing a NZ cruise at that time of the year and if not a Princess ship what ship would you recommend.:)

[rkmw]

Hi all, have just about decided to do the Mediterrean next year - time fly you know - wanting to do it on the Ruby or Star Princess. Anyone done that cruise and if you have what was it like.

Failing doing that cruise we have a tenative booking to NZ on Princess in March. What is the weather like doing a NZ cruise at that time of the year and if not a Princess ship what ship would you recommend.:)

 

hi John, i cant help out with the mediterrean but NZ is very nice but when you cruise in the South Island it can get very cold so rug up but in the North Island the weather gets a bit better

 

bob

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Failing doing that cruise we have a tenative booking to NZ on Princess in March. What is the weather like doing a NZ cruise at that time of the year

 

Depending on the weather conditions, it should be quite nice, maybe a bit cool in the south island in the evenings.

 

and if not a Princess ship what ship would you recommend.:)

 

If you want to do a cruise around NZ, you got plenty of ships to choose from e.g.:

 

For Princess you got: Dawn Princess, Sun Princess, Diamond Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess (2011-2012 seasion)

 

For Holland America: Volendam & Zaandam

 

For Royal Caribbean: Rhapsody of the Seas & Radiance Of The Seas

[Mothballs]

I was going to suggest that you do the Mediterraean Cruise but I enjoy history.

The opportunity to see Michelangelo's David in Florence or the Colosseum in Rome.I also loved visiting Ephesus in Turkey.Good times:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

My suggestion for a cruise in the Med is to try and book a back to back one.

Its a long way to fly over there so best to make the most of it.

Many cruise lines offer 12 day Eastern followed by a 12 day Western Med cruise.

That way you get to see it all.

 

You must also realise the the Med cruises are very port intensive, but thats what you are going for.

It is always best to do a lot of research on the ports you will visit, as most will be very crowded, so you need to plan well in advance what you want to see and how you are going to see it.

 

If possible , it would be great to include a pre or post cruise stay, in the City you fly into, and in that way you can absorb some of the atmosphere of life in the Med, rather than just the fleeting one day, and sometimes only half a day , in each port.

[rugbypopsie]

I was going to suggest that you do the Mediterraean Cruise but I enjoy history.

The opportunity to see Michelangelo's David in Florence or the Colosseum in Rome.I also loved visiting Ephesus in Turkey.Good times:)

 

If you enjoy history google "voyages to antiquity" specialists historical cruises in the Med...on my list for next year.:)

[Mothballs]

A big thankyou to Rugbypopsie for telling me about the voyages to antiquity specialist cruise line.I just googled them and those cruises look wonderful, especially the Northern African one.

My husband doesn't share my love of history but he does like to cruise so hopefully I will be able to talk him into going otherwise I noted they have no single supplement on some of the cruises so if I have to do it alone,so be it.As my Father used to say "you're a long time dead" and I don't want to miss out on too much.

[rugbypopsie]

No problem Mothballs...our problem is going to be deciding which one...they all look good..our travel agent is pretty up on the founder of the company who is known for these "niche"cruises. My DH is the history buff but this beats the heck out of sitting on Hadrians Wall in the UK freezing my whatsernames off!

 

There was a fly/cruise special on the August one for $5000 AUD! Totally rebuilt ship and only 360 pax sounds great.

[dougo in oz]

We've done two Med cruises - a B2B in 2006 with MSC and a B2B with Princess in 2008.

 

Both cruises have been around October / November and when we were there, the weather was fine - take a lightweight jacket and dress in layers but also be prepared for some hot weather and some rain.

 

On our first cruise, we did a number of shore excursions with the ship as we were visiting ports where we had no knowledge of the language and thought it may be too difficult to roam around by ourselves - the exception being Istanbul which we've been to twice and have never had any difficultly communicating with the local people and seeing the main sights by ourselves.

 

On our second Med cruise, we did some shore excursions with the ship, some with private groups and some by ourselves.

 

I agree that if you do decide on the Med cruise, a B2B will provide a diverse range of ports and a really memorable cruise. In fact we enjoyed our ports of call so much the first time around when we were looking for our second cruise, we really enjoyed going back to some of the ports and doing something different.

 

Certainly choose a cruise based on your "must see ports", but also choose a cruise line that suits your budget and your expectations. Be also certain to find out what "currency" is used to pay for your account because regardless of whether you pay for your cruise in AUD$, on board expenses may be charged in Euro, GBP or US$ for example and this can put quite a hole in your pocket. Make sure you check out what you get for you $$$ before committing to a cruise line.

 

The other thing to remember about cruise lines is that with say Cunard, P&O or Princess, English is the main language spoken on board whereas with other lines, everything may be translated into about 5 different languages to cater to the majority of their passengers. This may not bother you at all, but it does make for rather long announcements !

 

Do join the roll call and join up early so that you can hook into any private excursions that are being arranged if you want to which may save you some $$ or give you better sightseeing options etc.

[SerendipityLulu]

I'd also like to do a Med cruise in 2011 with 3 old school friends.

 

Very interested in any suggestions!