Best Cruise Line for Mediterranean???

[JBCall]

Hi there,

 

i was hoping to take my wife on a quick cruise to the Eastern Med this year but it is looking that the timing won't work out. As a result I thought I should get a jump on planning for 2013.

 

I have often heard that Princess and HAL are the best lines for Alaska due to their experience in the region combined with their itineraries. Similarly, is there any line that is considered better for the Eastern mediterranean?

 

I ask because for our previous 4 cruises we have had 4 different lines and had good experiences on each.

 

Thanks.

[loubetti]

I've always enjoyed Celebrity. Did Med with them twice.

[Azulann]

I too have cruised Celebrity both in the Western and Eastern Med.

 

There will be also many other ships in each port.

 

One thing I would consider is the length of time in a port. The longer the better. Most sites are not close by and you want to leave the ship as early as possible and arrive back about one hour before sailaway.

 

Enjoy your cruise to a great part of the world.

[GORDONCHICK]

Which line should be fairly down on your list of criteria when choosing a Med cruise. The itinerary should be #1, #2, #3, etc! The experience is more off the ship than on. Decide what ports (and you may need to rank them) you want to visit and narrow your selections. Then look at the amount of time in each port. Most US based lines all have flexible dining options, but honestly, I'd rather be eating in port for the most part. Cruiseline and ship should be wayyyyy down on the list IMO.

[Essiesmom]

The Med. is all about the ports. There are few sea days, and you have long days in port. Therefore, the ship/line is less important than the itinerary. EM

[Donray]

I enjoyed the two Carnival cruises in the Med.

[boulders]

HAL has some great itineraries.

[LHT28]

I would choose a line that has the itinerary that suits you best, then look at the port times & see what one fits your budget

 

Everyone has their favourite line but that may not be the best one for you

Most European cruise are very port intensive

 

Shop around

[Eileen G]

We have done Princess(3), Holland America, Disney, Carnival, and Azamara(2) in the Med and we loved everyone of them. Itenerary is very important but so is the port times. Some ships will have several Greek islands but they may visit two of them in one day. We prefer less sea days so we stay away from the itineraries with 12 days that have three sea days. Our next Med cruise is on Azamara. It's 10 days with no sea days although two of the days are short so we will have a break. We have never done RCCL or Celebrity only because they tend to have more sea days.

[jocap]

NCL Jade does back to back cruises out of Venice, each 7 days having a different itinerary. A relaxed line, which comes in handy if you're too tired to want to dine formally.

The lines I would choose for the Eastern Med (Louis, Thomson, Voyages of Discovery) would not be of the standards of your previous cruise ships, but I'm itinerary led. ;)

Enjoy searching! :)

Jo.

[maryann ns]

Definitely go by itinerary. Check port times carefully and be sure to check if your day in a port such is a day most museums are closed. You may also want to look at how many ships will be in port along with the one you are considering. Some ports can be very congested.

[marco]

Absolutely agree....for this type of trip, WHERE you're going is more important than WHAT you are going on. Choose by itinerary. If your ports include several "tender" rather than "dock" ports, consider Louis, not as well know as they do not sail out of the US and they pretty much stay in the Med. Lots of Greek Island ports, sometimes more than one a day. Ships are smaller, but when tendering, everyone is off the ship in 15 minutes. We did a cruise a few years ago on a larger ship and we waiting in the lounge for well over an hour for our number to be called to start the long trek down to the tender station. So if your ports include several "tender" ports, I think the most advantageous use of time is a smaller ship.

[msfly]

Is being on a smaller ship better for tendering?

[kazu]

Is being on a smaller ship better for tendering?

 

For tendering, it really doesn't make much difference - HOWEVER, a small ship will sometimes dock even though the itinerary says tender as they can.;)

 

I loved it last year when it was announced....welcome to Agadir - unfortunately we will not be operating any tenders today - you will have to walk off the ship:)

 

I've seen the HAL Prinsendam dock at two ports that were clearly marked tender on the itinenary - yup, we were really heartbroken:rolleyes: - there is never a guarantee what will happen. The biggest fear with tenders is that if it is too rough - you don't get there of course. If you can dock - you get off:)

[msfly]

Did the captain change his mind? :D If it's clearly listed as docking then that may be more attractive.

[jocap]

Did the captain change his mind? :D If it's clearly listed as docking then that may be more attractive.

We were due to tender in Monte Carlo once, when the captain announced that it looked as though a berth might be available- and it was, so we all could walk off at our own leisure. It's been the same in Dubrovnik, too, twice, where we were told that it would be a tender then suddenly a place is found in the dock by the bridge....it means shuttle buses, but it's not far into the city.

The small ships can sometimes nip into a small berth, whilst the big ships have to anchor.

Jo.

[pris993]

We have done 6-7 cruises in the Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean. Have gone on Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Crystal and Cunard, have another booked on NCL. Enjoyed them all.

 

We always pick the itinerary first, then which line/ship.

 

Anyone who is doing their first cruise will find the Mediterranean a very port intensive cruise, which has been mentioned here.

 

We loved it so much the first few times, that we keep going. We have learned to not try to do it all, since we are sure we will be back again.

[Steve_Red_Dog]

We cruised the Eastern Med aboard the MS Noordam (HAL) last fall. Great itinerary, wonderful ship & crew, and an unforgettable vacation. :)

[gotitright]

I just happened upon this thread. We are planning a 7 day Eastern Med cruise in 2014. My wife is HEAVILY leaning to using RCI, and that is my only cruise experience (5 day Western Caribbean). This was an eye-opening thread for me.

[Steve_Red_Dog]

I just happened upon this thread. We are planning a 7 day Eastern Med cruise in 2014. My wife is HEAVILY leaning to using RCI, and that is my only cruise experience (5 day Western Caribbean). This was an eye-opening thread for me.

 

 

I suggest you buy or borrow a copy of Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports. We used it to plan our trip as well as a guide during the trip. Invaluable IMO.

 

As noted in several threads above, many of the larger ships (3000+ passengers) tender in many ports. Only time we tendered on our cruise with HAL as Santorini. :)

 

We cruised East and West (Back to Back / Rome to Rome to Rome) on the Noordam and found the Eastern Med much more enjoyable. Planning a repeat after we clear a few more places off the bucket list.

[J & G]

I think your choice of cruise lines for the Med depends on the ports you are interested in. We chose Princess, since it went to "big" places that we wanted to see.....Rome, Egypt, Athens, Istanbul, Venice (and Mykonos and Kusadasi/Ephesus).

 

If we were interested in smaller ports, we would have made a different choice. We loved Princess but we are pretty "loyal to Royal".....

[marco]

I think smaller ships are better, at least when you have to tender. One trip we waited well over an hour for our tender # to be called. One year we did a cruise on "Louis" and the ship was the "Crystal". It's the former NCL "Leeward". Nice size, we were on and off in ports in 10 minutes, max. We were happy with the food, service, ship, etc. As I posted earlier, for this trip, itinerary was the most important factor over line/ship. We have sailed on them in the Caribbean, but I would NOT go on Costa again on any European or Med itinerary.