Seeking advice on Mediterranean cruise, new to the forums.

[whodack]

First time poster here.

 

My wife and I are looking to take a 6-9 day cruise in June. Trying to find a cruise line for us. We've cruised several times before, but it's always been Caribbean. We're at a different stage in our life looking for advice on which cruise line to choose.

 

What we're looking for:

• Mediterranean cruise.
  
• Our budget is under 12k.
  
• Age - Late 30s
  
• Adults only. We have three children and are trying to have a "Get away" vacation.
  
• Large ship.
  
• Not too crowded.
  

 

I'm cross-posting this to a handful of the cruise lines we've heard about. Can any provide info for this cruise line, or suggest a better one given our criteria above?

 

Thanks!

[Sauer-kraut]

Epic will be doing European cruises during the summer until October. Newer ship...large. Vibrant and very diverse dining and entertainment venues. Freestyle cruising, casual dress code and no assigned dining.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Sauer-kraut

[PorkChopKid]

All I can do is point you towards the web pages we assembled to describe what we did.

We spent 2 days before and 2 days after the cruise in (click-->) VENICE

We cruised on (click-->) NCL JADE to Greece.

I will say one thing, your 12K budget is far and away much more than we've EVER spent on a vacation. I'm sure you'll be able to put together an amazing vacation.

[AF-1]

Welcome to the cruise critic boards. I have sailed the Med twice. First cruise was 7 nights out of Venice on Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas, and Second cruise was 12 nights out of Southhampton UK, on Voyager of the Seas. Cruised to Croatia, Greece, Turkey on first cruise; second went to Portugual, Spain, three stops in Italy, and France, and Ended up in Barcelona. The Med cruises are a mix of Americans and Europeans, we've done both cruises in May; the weather is perfect, so should June, and the seas are very calm. You get to see so much culture and history through the Mediterranean. Both ships we sailed on had about 1900-2300 passengers; we never felt crowded. The entertainment, food, and staff on both ships were great. We are doing a 14night cruise out of Venice May 2015. We chose NCL Jade for our ship. We picked the best itinerary for us; going to cities we haven't seen on prior cruises. We chose NCL to try out Freestyle dining. If you have anymore specific questions please ask.

[Seanote]

Wow. That's an opened ended question that only you know the answer to. For me, it's about the ports, schedule, embarkation port and then the ship, but that's me.

 

The cruise lines are more alike than different (excepting Disney, perhaps). They all charge you too much for a cabin that is too small and take you to exotic ports to charge you too much for shore excursions that are too short.

 

Princess and Celebrity tend to focus on the adult crowd, NCL, RCL and Carnival try to be everything to everyone. So e ships have ropes courses, some wave riders. Disney is well Disney.

 

People will argue that one line has better food or entertainment, but this seems subjective.

 

Find out what ports, cabin type, embarkation port and dates you want, then see what lines are doing what, when you want from where. Then compare your options.

[AF-1]

All I can do is point you towards the web pages we assembled to describe what we did.

We spent 2 days before and 2 days after the cruise in (click-->) VENICE

We cruised on (click-->) NCL JADE to Greece.

I will say one thing, your 12K budget is far and away much more than we've EVER spent on a vacation. I'm sure you'll be able to put together an amazing vacation.

PorkChopKid,

 

Great pictures and review of your Jade trip. We did almost same itinerary on RCI Splendour of the Seas. Your pictures came out better than ours

[mp8shnt]

With a budget of $12k for two - take a look at Silversea and Regent.

[jertom]

First time poster here.

 

My wife and I are looking to take a 6-9 day cruise in June. Trying to find a cruise line for us. We've cruised several times before, but it's always been Caribbean. We're at a different stage in our life looking for advice on which cruise line to choose.

 

What we're looking for:

• Mediterranean cruise.
  
• Our budget is under 12k.
  
• Age - Late 30s
  
• Adults only. We have three children and are trying to have a "Get away" vacation.
  
• Large ship.
  
• Not too crowded.
  

 

I'm cross-posting this to a handful of the cruise lines we've heard about. Can any provide info for this cruise line, or suggest a better one given our criteria above?

 

Thanks!

 

It would help if you could be more specific on:

- what "Large ship" means to you. There is a very broad range of sizes. Are you interested in sheer size, stability, number of dining rooms, number of activities, what?

- what "Not too crowded" means to you. Is it not bumping into people, big open spaces, quiet places, what?

[Colorado Buffalo]

Oceania has a 2 for 1 special with free airfare out of many US cities -

I'd check them out -

[WouterC]

There are a huge number of options. Especially with your budget. You could easily take 3-4 cruises on that budget, but I suppose it's also because airfare can be pretty expensive.

 

I think that the most important thing to ask yourself is:

Are there any cities or sites that you want to visit in the Mediterranean?

 

I'd suggest you talk to your partner and make a list of "must-see" places. That will narrow it down quite a bit already.

Also, do you like the "classic" cruising with the gala night, fixed dining, ... or do you like a more casual approach?

 

If you are going in June, I'd definitely also check out some of the more "luxury" cruiselines (Oceania, Celebrity, Princess, Silver Sea, ...).

Not because of the luxury, but because they do very interesting routes (which they're able to do because they have smaller ships). And in June, their prices are a lot lower then in Summer season.

 

First, if you want to visit Venice, this year is the year to do it. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the last year you'll be able to sail in and get the best view sailing into Venice. From next year on, ships have to follow another (and less scenic) route.

 

If you want to explore and sample as many ports as possible, Oceania has this extremely interesting itinerary with - in my opinion - some of the nicest cities in the Med:

Civitavecchia (Rome), Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Monte Carlo (Nice), Marseille, Barcelona, Cartagena, Lissabon

 

Great itinerary, but visiting will probably tire you out near the end of the cruise (unless you decide to take it more easy in Nice and/or Marseille and/or Cartagena.

 

If you want a megaship, you could indeed take the Norwegian Epic.

It does a very interesting route Barcelona - Sea - Naples - Civitavecchia (Rome) - Livorno (Florence/Pisa) - Cannes - Palma de Mallorca (Mallorca) - Barcelona.

With Cannes and Palma de Mallorca being more 'relaxed' ports.

 

Next year, the Allure of the Seas (sister ship to Oasis of the Seas) will also do (almost?) exactly the same itinerary if you're interested in sailing that ship.

 

Also, different cruise lines attract different age groups. The more luxury cruise lines will attract an older age group and have entertainment more catered to that group. Other cruiselines like RC, NCL, MSC, Costa, ... have a more mixed group of passengers.

 

Last point: I recommend flying in one day (or more) early for an extended stay. Especially if you're departing in cities like Venice, Rome, Barcelona, ... with lots and lots of things to see. The last day of your cruise you won't have a lot of time exploring the port (unless you're prolonging your stay).

Edited April 22, 2014 by WouterC

[Froggitt]

With a budget of $12k for two - take a look at Silversea and Regent.

Or Haven suite on Epic.

[TheCaveman]

P&O Cruises do adults only cruises...

[agabbymama]

I'D start a graph chart. Putting the cruiselines/ships across the top. Down the side would be the things of importance (ports, times in port, cabin type, cost, size of ship, etc.). Then as you research (go to your library and check out Frommer's, Fodor's or Rick Steve's Europe travel guides). Put an "X" in the conjoining box. As you near the end of your research, one should have more x's than the other others. Google "Europe for Visitors" or "Tom's Port Guides". There is even a Ports section here on CC. Lots of info out there waiting for you.

 

We did a 12 night Med cruise out of Rome on Grand Princess, to Monte Carlo, to Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Naples, Santorini, Kusadasi Turkey, Mykonos (cancelled because of high winds), Athens, Katakolon (Olympia), Corfu and ending in Venice. Added 1 day pre-cruise in Paris, 3 days pre-cruise in Rome then 3 days post-cruise in Venice and 2 days post-cruise in Paris. We were gone from home for 21 days. The ship was larger than we like (the opposite of what you want). I will say NCL Jade was in port with us many times, and NCL was better at offering shuttles. Princess had no shuttles until Venice, then charged us $24 pp for a 5 minute ride to Piazzale Roma.

 

We had budgeted $4500 pp but it ended up costing us $6000 pp. So that's right about your budget. Hotels, food and excursions are very costly in Europe.

 

Have a Plan "A", then a Plan "B" for when Plan A falls apart. It happened to us numerous times (even though I had been before and planned for months). Once you get there, and things don't go well, be prepared to go with the flow. Don't let disappointments or problems ruin your whole cruise.

 

Take half the clothes you think you need and twice the money. Have fun planning, then taking your cruise.

[lvcrzn]

First time poster here.

 

My wife and I are looking to take a 6-9 day cruise in June. Trying to find a cruise line for us. We've cruised several times before, but it's always been Caribbean. We're at a different stage in our life looking for advice on which cruise line to choose.

 

What we're looking for:

• Mediterranean cruise.
  
• Our budget is under 12k.
  
• Age - Late 30s
  
• Adults only. We have three children and are trying to have a "Get away" vacation.
  
• Large ship.
  
• Not too crowded.
  

 

I'm cross-posting this to a handful of the cruise lines we've heard about. Can any provide info for this cruise line, or suggest a better one given our criteria above?

 

Thanks!

All posted is great advice. My opinion: Epic is large but crowded. And while 12K allows for a very nice itinerary, remember to take into account the cost of excursions as you will probably want to experience the local culture of each port. Private excursions with a Guide can be expensive (but well worth it).

[SpringBreakMom]

All posted is great advice. My opinion: Epic is large but crowded. And while 12K allows for a very nice itinerary, remember to take into account the cost of excursions as you will probably want to experience the local culture of each port. Private excursions with a Guide can be expensive (but well worth it).

12K doesn't go quite was far as one would think on a Med cruise. It depends if this is total budget, cruise only, or cruise and airfare.

 

As for private excursions, almost without exception, they are LESS expensive and a better experience than ship's tours if you put together a small group (8) from your roll call. Even so, the average expense is probably $100+ pp/per port. That can add up quickly :eek: Well worth every penny though!!

[bassmaster150]

If you can extend your time just a little bit, a Grand Mediterranean would let you hit most of the really "important" places to go and see.