Cruising in Europe vs Caribbean

[villauk]

As previously stated, only 2 traditional MDR times plus MTD.

 

We are actually doing the opposite of what you intend to do i.e. our first Caribbean cruise this year on Oasis. Usually, we do lots of sightseeing and enjoy full days on excursions. This time I know it's going to be different, but we've decided to go and experience a 'mega ship' and the ports have taken second place ;).

[Moonlitherial]

Okay the website let me in, Traditional dining times on the May 5th Navigator sailing are 6pm and 8:30. MTD is available at anytime between 6pm and 9:30 so she may have been planning to use MTD to set up a regular dining time for you.

[crafty sue]

Hi I am in the middle of reading a review on here by KansCocoa also known as Middle Aged Drama queen, she did the Europe trip and did a fantastic review with photo's and very very funny writing, worth reading it will give you an idea about Med Cruising, even though we have cruised twice in the med, I have learnt all sorts of things from her she is brilliant, look it up and enjoy

[poncho1973]

I can basically only re-hash/confirm several things based on my experience.

 

 

Drinks: a bit more expensive

Port-heavy: this was tiring and wonderful

My Time Dining: to us it is the normal route... in Europe, it was insanely beneficial

Many languages around the ship: this was great to us

Dress: a lot more casual, but a lot dressier than US casual if that makes sense

 

US dressy is DRESSY (and UK as well)

US casual is CASUAL

 

This was in the middle without shorts, tank tops, jeans, ball caps, flip-flops... more like lots of men in linen pants, loose/flowing shirts and sunglasses and women in scarves, hats, flowy skirts & very open/high cleavage shirts.

 

 

Our cruise out of Italy was roughly 50% American, 10% UK, 10% Canadian, 5% Aussie and the remaining 25% was pretty diverse. The announcements were made in several languages, but the shows were in English.

[poncho1973]

Hi I am in the middle of reading a review on here by KansCocoa also known as Middle Aged Drama queen, she did the Europe trip and did a fantastic review with photo's and very very funny writing, worth reading it will give you an idea about Med Cruising, even though we have cruised twice in the med, I have learnt all sorts of things from her she is brilliant, look it up and enjoy

 

Don't get me wrong before I start, that is a wonderful review. It is funny, interesting, and a great review to spend hours looking through. I enjoyed it a lot!

 

However, that reviewer's perspective on that cruise is so far from the average Joe's trip experience that it's not even comparable. Not even in the same hemisphere. Royal suite and the lap of luxury all the way.

 

It is still a great read.

[critterchick]

beer prices are same in us and europe all in dollars, spanish tax only applies when you are in port:) also if you sail from the uk, no 15% on bar prices:D.

 

But other drinks and wine are quite a bit more expensive on some ships - we paid about a 15% premium on Vision and Brilliance out of Copenhagen, and they still added 15% on top of it.

 

As for dinner times, some ships do indeed have 4 seatings, at least they used to.

[momphoto]

We did our first Med. cruise on the Navigator last April/May. I have to say the only difference we experienced that was notable was there was 2 cruise directors....one spoke english and the other would speak in Italian. Other then that just hearing the different languages around the ship which was interesting. As well I found you saw land more.....at least the route we were on. You could sit on your balcony and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

[Newcruiserholly]

Hi, I have done both the carribbean and the med. the food is slightly different - we sailed the med out of 'Rome' and for this reason the ship had plenty of Italian travellers - whilst there was English food, compared to the carribbean trips there was more Italian type of food. Also in the med the announcements continue for much longer as they are repeated in various languages. Drinks seemed the same. Movies in the med tended not to be in English but had English subtitles.

[bridge&golf]

No answer re dinner. Alsays the same 3 dining times PLUS mtd.

 

We have only done 2 med and 1 baltic . However, joining the roll call let us travel

both to and from the ship with others on the roll call. Plus, an organized tour of

St Petersburg (sp). We have enjoyed meeting epople from other countries.

ENJOY

joann

[bridge&golf]

2 dining times as already stated

[hcviana]

Thanks crafty sue for referring me to Kanscocoa's review. She is truly funny and a great reviewer.

 

Can I make a confession here, knowing that I may very well be executed by a firing squad for sounding (actually being) ignorant??

 

Ok here it goes. I've been researching the various ports of call we are going to and when I got to Barcelona, I could not find anything specific to get excited about.......I am the kind that mostly enjoys rural scenery and/or small, pictoresque villages, as opposed to large/crowded cities full of statues, museums, cathedrals, etc. But how can everyone talk so nicely about Barcelona (except about "pickpockets")?. Well looking at Kansascocoa photos of her stay in Barcelona, I am now starting to realize that it is the the whole city and not specific places that make it one of people's favorite stops.

 

I'll keep an open mind. So many people cannot be wrong. I guess it's sometimes hard to appreciate some things unless they are experienced first hand.

[Deebs2]

We are sailing the Liberty this summer and there are 4 seating times along with MTD.

There was 6:30/7:00 and then I believe 9:00/9:30

We have 7:00

[hazeleyez3]

Thanks crafty sue for referring me to Kanscocoa's review. She is truly funny and a great reviewer.

 

Can I make a confession here, knowing that I may very well be executed by a firing squad for sounding (actually being) ignorant??

 

Ok here it goes. I've been researching the various ports of call we are going to and when I got to Barcelona, I could not find anything specific to get excited about.......I am the kind that mostly enjoys rural scenery and/or small, pictoresque villages, as opposed to large/crowded cities full of statues, museums, cathedrals, etc. But how can everyone talk so nicely about Barcelona (except about "pickpockets")?. Well looking at Kansascocoa photos of her stay in Barcelona, I am now starting to realize that it is the the whole city and not specific places that make it one of people's favorite stops.

 

I'll keep an open mind. So many people cannot be wrong. I guess it's sometimes hard to appreciate some things unless they are experienced first hand.

 

I've always wanted to go to Barcelona, my husband had no desire in visiting any part of Spain. Told me nothing seemed interesting to him. So, I bribed him...

 

"Honey, I know you want to take a cruise, and were pretty much set on Allure, but how about we switch to this one. I know you want to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and since it stops in Livorno we can spend some time there...that way we don't have to worry about taking a day away from Rome or Venice (our land trip this year). Plus, you'll be getting on a cruise ship on your birthday. Since its a shorter cruise how about we go a few days earlier...get used to the time change, and just relax a bit"

 

He was sold on the cruise, but still wasn't excited about the Barcelona part. I found some reviews on CC that had pics of Barcelona and showed them to him. Didn't tell him where they were though. Once he said he liked the pictures, and "maybe we should go there", I told him it was Barcelona. NOW he's excited, has been doing research and showing me different places.

[sandravb79]

Disclaimer: My replies only reflect MY opinion and are in no way the general truth.

 

 

Imho, European cruises are more toned-down onboard, since everyone is tired from visiting all day. So there is less partying etc going on at night.

 

Population on board tends to be older and (don't know how to say this in a PC way) more cultivated people. You will almost not find people whose main goal it is to go to Margharitaville, but people who like to visit museums, churches etc.

 

Population onboard is also a broad mix of nationalities and cultures. Dress seems to differ a bit (and you can tell based on how someone is dressed which country they are from :) White tennis shoes + socks during the day or "Christmas tree" sparkly tops at nights, are the Americans :D

 

On the cruises I was on that left Spain, almost all entertainment was bilingual English/ Spanish, with the Spanish being the main focus. Announcements were made in about 6 languages.

Trivia etc were either geared towards the Spanish or the Brits. In English-spoken trivia-sessions, they didn't ask which country you were from, but which UK city you were from (can't say I felt welcome, didn't return after first trivia session)

 

Food is mainly the same.

Service is the same.

 

In most ports, it's easy to go off on your own instead of going on a tour. Even if trains (Rome) or metro (Athens) is involved, it's very easy and there are plenty of threads here on CC that will tell you how to get to the different sites. Time tables etc are easy to find online. And there is always plan B: Take a taxi to get back to the ship.

 

The airlines are not yet charging for the weight gained on a cruise on the return leg of one's trip, or are they???

 

Thank God they don't, and don't give them any ideas!!! :eek:

 

Lots of useful tips, thank you.

 

Spoke to my TA today to have the dinner seating changed, since I was assigned 6PM, which I thought was too early after looking at ship departure times.

 

She said that while cruising in Europe the dinner times are every hour (6 PM, 7 PM, 8PM and 9 PM).

 

Can anyone please confirm?

I think that is wrong. Two dining times + my time dining.

[Bobal]

Having sailed on many Med cruises I agree with a lot of what is said above (particularly both posts by Poncho 1973) but think some of the posts could be misleading.

 

The Spanish tax only applies on ships sailing from Spain which do not leave the EU - so does not apply to your cruise, therefore ignore the fact that there will be 15% added to your bill.

 

The generalisations about older passengers and more formal dress are not necessarily true. In particular this would depend on the month you are travelling. Cruising is very popular in Europe and if you are travelling at any time during school holidays there may well be a younger demographic than some of the above posts refer to (including a lot of kids). Although passengers from the US may be older, there could well be younger people from the UK and other parts of Europe. Having said that the smaller ships lend themselves to an older group, since they have less 'bells and whistles' for the young.

 

Likewise with formal dress. Having sailed in both Europe and the Caribbean I would say the least formal cruise we ever went on was a cruise in Europe a couple of years ago. Sometimes they are dressier, sometimes not - it all depends on the people on any particular sailing.

 

Med cruises are very port intensive and don't tend to have as much of a party atmosphere as Med cruises due to the long days in port and the distance from the ship to some attractions. Don't be afraid to branch out on your own - all the ports are very doable without having to take a ship's tour and you will find English widely spoken.

 

I would concur that MTD is the way to go. We have been on a number of Med cruises where the advertised late dining was 8.30 but this does change as the summer progresses and we've know it to be as late as 9.30. We always do MTD and usually eat around 8-8.30, by the time we are leaving the dining room on a Med cruise there is usually a line out the door waiting to eat.

 

In general the menu is the same throughout the fleet, but we have noticed some tweaks when we've been on Med cruises, not very significant though.

 

Entertainment is usually good on Med cruises, they seem to have a lot of 'tribute' acts doing the rounds in the Med - we've seen The Beatles (3 different acts), Elton John, Celine Dion, The Four Seasons (2 different acts) and Abba - not on the same sailing ;)

 

The Legend is currently being refurbished so you should get the benefit of new restaurants as well as a number of other extras. We sailed on the refurbished Grandeur in the Med last summer and loved it. The Legend is very similar to the Grandeur, with similar enhancements and I'm sure you'll love it too :)

[hcviana]

Deebs2, so were you also told that there were 4 seating times?

[Deebs2]

Deebs2, so were you also told that there were 4 seating times?

 

Yes.... They gave us 4 times to choose from or MTD