The problem with a Celebrity Eastern Med Cruise is....

[lovestx]

that it is impossible to come up with a similarly awesome trip! We sailed on the Equinox last June to celebrate our son's high school graduation. It was our first cruise and we (DH, DS, DD and I) LOVED it. Now I am trying to figure out where we might all go to celebrate DD's h.s. graduation next year and I keep coming up short. Really hard to replicate last year's trip (and we have done some great trips as a family).

 

We are constrained by the need to travel soon after her May 30, 2014 graduation as to avoid conflicts with summer jobs. I would love to do a cruise that includes Venice and Barcelona but only RCCL ships seem to work and the Serenade and Splendour don't seem to stack up well compared to Equinox.

 

We will probably do a land tour instead. Venice, Paris and Vienna are on daughter's priority lists. But I am trying to figure out how to do one or some combo of those while also getting in some R&R (don't think the teens will want to do constant sightseeing) and just haven't found the right ideas.

 

Just thought I'd throw it out there to CC members since you are all so well-traveled. And Alaska and anything too cool is out.

[ghstudio]

We were faced with a similar "dilemma" when our kids graduated from college. We had a great family trip to Tokyo. Today, the cost of getting to the far east is sometimes less expensive than getting to Europe....and the experience is priceless. You might also investigate if Cathay Pacific still offers their "all asia" fare from the US....and visit many cities, including hong kong.

[RickT]

I've done 3 med cruises and am doing my 4th this summer. All have been completely different with only a couple ports being repeats. My favourite was probably the one that focused on the Greek Isles.

 

Look around and I'm sure you'll find a cruise that is sufficiently different from the one you already took and hopefully will hit the ports you want.

 

Another alternative is a Baltic cruise and/or one that circles the UK. Both tend to be a bit more expensive then a Med cruise but both are fantastic (IMHO).

[judatt]

Too bad it's not this year - we sail out of Barcelona in June on the Equinox and it includes an overnight in Venice! I guess they change around the itineraries from year to year.

[Dave85]

Royal's Radiance Class ships (of which Serenade is a member) are lovely ships with lots of glass and ocean views. We did a Western Med on the Brilliance (a sister ship) andhad a wonderful time. We didn't think at the time you could have picked a better ship for that route. I look forward to doing Eastern Med on Silhouette in September.

 

Serenade isn't as new as the S class ships but I wouldn't rule out the Serenade if you love the itinerary.

[EV2008]

that it is impossible to come up with a similarly awesome trip! We sailed on the Equinox last June to celebrate our son's high school graduation. It was our first cruise and we (DH, DS, DD and I) LOVED it. Now I am trying to figure out where we might all go to celebrate DD's h.s. graduation next year and I keep coming up short. Really hard to replicate last year's trip (and we have done some great trips as a family).

 

We are constrained by the need to travel soon after her May 30, 2014 graduation as to avoid conflicts with summer jobs. I would love to do a cruise that includes Venice and Barcelona but only RCCL ships seem to work and the Serenade and Splendour don't seem to stack up well compared to Equinox.

 

We will probably do a land tour instead. Venice, Paris and Vienna are on daughter's priority lists. But I am trying to figure out how to do one or some combo of those while also getting in some R&R (don't think the teens will want to do constant sightseeing) and just haven't found the right ideas.

 

Just thought I'd throw it out there to CC members since you are all so well-traveled. And Alaska and anything too cool is out.

 

Since she would like those 3 places I would do a Land Tour, that is easy to do in Europe, fly into Vienna stay a few days take the IC Train to Venice for a few days, and then the IC Train to Paris, you can also take the overnight train between town if you want, and if you want to see something in between these City's you can make changes, no cruise line will hit Paris or Vienna unless you take a River Cruise but I don't think your teenagers would enjoy that much

[ghstudio]

Ask your daughter what's really on her priority list....WORLDWIDE! You might be very surprised. She may have that list only because she only thinks of Europe. There are so many other places, exotic or not that are wonderful to visit and can be done easily on one's own. I'd include China/Beijing, singapore, hong kong, Bangkok on that list. If you want relaxation, take a cruise, but if your daughter wants to see those cities, just go to those cities and enjoy them. If you are going to Venice, then it's almost a "must" to visit Florence.

 

Keep in mind that on most cruises, you see sights by day and you miss evenings/nights....and that's when some of the sites are most beautiful and interesting.

[ladylemondrop]

The Adriatic itinerary is wonderful too, my favourite ports were split, dubrovnik, kotor and koper...

[We're The Groupnors]

My vote would be for the Baltics. We did the Med in 2008 and absolutely adored it, but I have to say our 2011 Baltics cruise gave the Med serious competition! We did the Eclipse out of Southampton, and that itinerary would be easy for you to add on a couple days in Paris on the front or tail end.

[lovestx]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

GHStudio, that All Asia pass is really interesting and even if we don't go that far this time around, we will be there someday so the info is really helpful.

 

Good to know that the Radiance class ships on RC compare favorably to the S class ships. We've also been on the Connie and liked it and I'm guessing the Radiance are more like the M class Ships on X.

 

We will probably end up doing a Land trip. Just would like to find a way to incorporate some relaxation during our time in Paris/Vienna/Venice (or whatever combo of that we end up doing. I have been reading pretty horrible reviews of the overnight train from Paris to Venice so think we would fly.

 

And GHStudio, we are definitely deferring to DD's interests as we plan this. Hawaii came up last night and she just isn't feeling it (though her brother is disappointed as he'd love to go). And she was a very lucky girl and spent two weeks in South Africa this past March on a school trip and LOVED it there. So her tastes are quite diverse. She has always wanted to visit Chile so I may revisit that idea. Had seriously considered doing a holiday 2013 trip on the Infinity around the Cape but the comments about hordes of large families taking over that ship during the holidays made me less than excited about it.

[ghstudio]

Thanks for all the great suggestions!

 

GHStudio, that All Asia pass is really interesting and even if we don't go that far this time around, we will be there someday so the info is really helpful.

 

Good to know that the Radiance class ships on RC compare favorably to the S class ships. We've also been on the Connie and liked it and I'm guessing the Radiance are more like the M class Ships on X.

 

We will probably end up doing a Land trip. Just would like to find a way to incorporate some relaxation during our time in Paris/Vienna/Venice (or whatever combo of that we end up doing. I have been reading pretty horrible reviews of the overnight train from Paris to Venice so think we would fly.

 

And GHStudio, we are definitely deferring to DD's interests as we plan this. Hawaii came up last night and she just isn't feeling it (though her brother is disappointed as he'd love to go). And she was a very lucky girl and spent two weeks in South Africa this past March on a school trip and LOVED it there. So her tastes are quite diverse. She has always wanted to visit Chile so I may revisit that idea. Had seriously considered doing a holiday 2013 trip on the Infinity around the Cape but the comments about hordes of large families taking over that ship during the holidays made me less than excited about it.

 

Definitely fly from paris to venice. I can't help much with down time...I'm pretty much a get up and go traveller unless we rent a house somwhere which is an ideal combination of relax and do. That's a possibilty you might not have thought about.....rent a house in Bordeaux, Tuscany or elsewhere for a week....buy food at the local markets and grill outside with some wine....ultimate relaxation (and I do the grilling).

 

I suppose a visit to Disney in Paris could be a fun, sort of campy, albeit expensive day. There are some day cruises, perhaps even some overnight cruises on the Seine that would qualify as down time. In Vienna, just sit in a coffee shop/bakery and eat all day. No real down time thing in Venice other than just walking and getting lost in a wonderful old city.

[Cpamomma]

We also did the Eastern Med on the Equinox last year. It was our first cruise in 15 years. We absolutely loved it! We will be leaving in two weeks for a northbound cruise to Alaska (Celebrity Millenium) followed by 8 days on land with a rental car. Prior to the Equinox cruise, we always did land trips. About three years ago we (dh, dd and I) spent a week in Paris and four days each in Venice, Florence and Rome. I think we traveled on every type of transportation except bicycles and roller skates! We had a fabulous time. We rented apartments in all of the stops. That really made it nice. We all had a little more space and it was nice to have a kitchen if we wanted a snack. Also, most of the places had washing machines. We found reviews of the rentals on TripAdvisor and VRBO. We bought metro passes and museum passes in Paris. They saved us a lot of money and time (shorter lines with passes). Have a great trip whatever you do :)

[Keith1010]

Sorry you couldn't find a cruise that works this year but hopefully you will find one that works next time around.

 

Keith

[librarylady19]

equinox has several 7 day cruises next summer that could be combined with a land tour. We are doing 2 nights pre cruise in Venice then cruise that stops in Dubrovnik, Santorini, Corfu, Olympia ,Ephesus, ends with overnight in Istanbul. Sounds amazing.

[GigemAggies]

Well, it's definitely not cruising but our family has traveled all over the world and the only place everyone has wanted to go back to over and over again is South Africa. My 3 "kids" are now all in their 20's and as long as we're footing the bill :), they all still want to return there. In Cape Town their favorites were shark cage "diving" in Gansbaai (actually very safe), and hiking from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope (breathtaking)! And then heading to the Sabi Sands region of S. Africa for "safaris" at various private game reserves. Nothing can compare to the wildlife in S.A. Just my 2 cents.

[lovestx]

All great thoughts and very helpful.

 

cpamomma, I spent a bit of time yesterday afternoon looking at Paris apartments and fiddling around on TripAdvisor for some Florence and Venice ideas. While I personally would rather go to Italy, Paris is high on DD's list and I think combining it with time in Normandy would make it interesting for DS, too. Still would love to do Venice and then Ravello or Positano for some relaxation and luxury (loved Ravello when we visited there off the Equinox last year).

 

Librarylady, I am going to back and look at the Equinox 7 days again. May be that they overlapped too much with where we went last year but it's worth another look!A

 

And gigemaggies, I think DD is hoping to study abroad in South Africa (Stellenbosch) when she's in college so we may hold on that one for now. But perhaps I should take a look at an African safari as an option. VERY expensive though, I know!

[jacketwatch]

My vote would be for the Baltics. We did the Med in 2008 and absolutely adored it' date=' but I have to say our 2011 Baltics cruise gave the Med serious competition! We did the Eclipse out of Southampton, and that itinerary would be easy for you to add on a couple days in Paris on the front or tail end.[/quote']

 

I agree 100%. This is a great cruise too and if they go in June it'll be white night time which make it even better.

 

I do not know if there is a Solstice class ship there at this time as the OP seems to wnat that ship WOW! factor but if so this would bea great selection. :)

[mcrcruiser]

FWIW Avalon Water Ways (River Cruise Line out of Colorado) does a taste of the Danube ;which is a short 4 day river cruise .Perhaps the dating might & ports work for you & your DD . You can then add a land trip portion on to it .;):)

 

Avalon Water Ways is a very good river cruise line:)

We sailed them on a 7 night Rhine river cruise & would use them again in a heart beat:D

[pris993]

We solved that problem many years ago, we simply keep going back. We have done both eastern and western Mediterranean cruises, along with a number of TAs that included wonderful ports in Europe or the Mediterranean. Actually have lost count on how many we have done... on different lines including: Royal Cruise Line, Princess, Crystal, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard and NCL... just got of the NCL Jade, and we have booked the Celebrity Silhoutte for a similar itinerary in October 2014. Just booked HAL to do a TA in March 2014 that will include a few Spainish port we have not been to previously. Each cruise and ship has something new to offer, we are addicted to this wonderful experience.

[lovestx]

I am not opposed to returning to some of the same ports on the Equinox so the June 1, 2014 cruise might work..

 

I had considered the Baltics as it's a trip my parents have done and loved. Question about the weather.....is it ever warm enough in early to mid-June to enjoy laying by the pool on Sea Days. Remember, I have teenagers who love pool people watching :) We sailed on the Connie back in December and, while the experience wasn't great due to bad service/staff turnover (many felt the same way for a couple of Connie's first cruises of the Caribbean this past season) and we missed having access to Blu, the retrofitting of Connie with AQ class makes her a more attractive option. Let me know about the possible weather if you don't mind.