Looking at Mediterranean in 2015: Princess, Norwegian, or someone else?

[Vexorg]

Me and some friends have been looking into the possibility of doing one of the 12 night Barcelona-to-Venice Mediterranean itineraries sometime next Summer, and I have been doing some research on these to see what's available. As you might see from my signature I've cruised quite a bit on Princess and if it was up to me I'd most likely just stick with them and call it good. Unfortunately, the 12-day Barcelona to Venice itinerary on Island Princess is also significantly more expensive (somewhere around $800 per passenger for an inside cabin) than virtually the same itinerary on the Norwegian Spirit. I don't know how many people are going to end up going, but since this is already looking like a pretty expensive proposition in the first place (in particular, it's looking like there's a good chance the airfare is going to cost as much as the cruise itself) I'm thinking it's going to be a tough sell to convince my friends to sail Princess in this case.

 

So, for people that have done this before, a few questions:

 

-Is the difference between Norwegian and Princess really worth $800 on a 12-night itinerary? I don't know much about Norwegian, but I have seen a lot of complaints about the food if you aren't buying the dining package.

 

-Are there other lines that might be worth considering for this itinerary? To be honest, I think Carnival might be a better fit for my friends (who thought Princess was a little too geared toward old people on the last trip we took) but they don't sail in Europe in 2015. Then again, with as port intensive as the Mediterranean itineraries are, I suspect the ship doesn't matter nearly as much as it would on a Caribbean cruise with more sea days. It looks like RCCL does somewhat similar itineraries too, but haven't looked too closely at them.

[nolatravelgirl]

Most Med cruises are very port intensive where folks get back on board completely exhausted and not really in to evening activities. Is there something so intriguing on Princess that happens in the evening that would sway your decision?

[CruiserBruce]

Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam- a nice, pretty new ship- does this route. And, no it doesn't mean the cruise will all be old people. Plus, yes, the ports are pretty busy, so most people are pretty tired each night.

[pris993]

We have done Princess, Celebrity, HAL, Cunard and NCL recently.

 

There is a big difference between NCL and Princess to answer your question.

 

When we cruise NCL, we simply skip the MDR, enjoy the buffet... the food in the MDR and service did not motivate us to spend more in the speciality restrauants when we were on an 11 day Mediterranean Jade. Dress is very casual, boarding on sloppy IMHO on NCL. The cabin, we had a mini suite was very nice, just as nice as Princess. We would do the Jade or a sister ship again for the right price and itinerary... recognizing we will simply do the buffet.

 

Mediterranean cruises are very port intensive... so it up to you, how much the ship matters.

 

To be fair, we do the buffet on Celebrity too, b ecause we are fussy and don't feel Celebrity does as good a job with passenger requests off menu, Princess, Holland American, and Cunard are much more responsive.

 

We have not b een on RCCL in years, had a 10 year grandson on a recent Carribean cruise, he told us the menu in the MDR was the same every day, so it seems they are pushing speciality restrauants.

[celebrity]

I've sailed Princess but never to the Med. We sailed Equinox on our Med cruise and it was beyond my wildest dreams.

Of the lines you mentioned, I would choose Princess.

[bearette]

I like NCL for med cruises as you can be more flexible. I sailed the Spirit and while older I thought it was pretty. I think RCCL is similar to Princess so I would recommend them or Celebrity. Freestyle is not for everyone but I like it for port intensive trips. If you are worried about food buy their dinning package with money you save. Honestly any cruise is a good cruise but you know what you like so use the things you heard to guide you.

 

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[blueblock]

I've done the Eastern Med several times on Royal Caribbean and had a great time. The prices are good, the itineraries are comparable to the other lines, and there's plenty to do on the ships. Expect lots of families in the summertime.

[Vexorg]

It looks like me and my friends will end up putting down a deposit on a Norwegian sailing next June. There should still be plenty of time to keep an eye on the prices if something else comes up.

[Amerryscot]

We did the Adriatic last year and the Western Med this year with Thomson. Loved both cruises.

[kirian]

My mom and I did a R/T out of Barcelona, 12nts with an overnight stop in Venice halfway through the voyage, last October on RCCL's Serenade. We positively LOVED it! Very port intensive, so (as others have mentioned) people were pretty exhausted at night, but there were still activities going on (especially on our 3 sea days). The cost was excellent as well! (Although, like you mentioned, I think we actually paid the same for airfare as we did for the cruise itself).

 

I'm sure you will have a great time whatever you decide to do or whatever line you choose!!!

 

Melissa

[paul929207]

A couple of things to consider with Princess:

Princess allows a TA to discount fares. We usually get a 10 to 20 percent discount.

If you have an FCC, you would get a $100 OBC from Princess.

If you qualify for the military OBC, that would be another $100 OBC

If you own 100 shares of Carnival Corp., that is another $100 OBC

[Icomefromthelanddownunder]

I'm also looking into doing the Mediterranean sector from Venice to Barcelona and Barcelona back to Venice with Holland America wondering if that's too much (back to back) ? Is it best to buy as fly/cruise or buy separately ?

 

 

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[need2cruisesoon]

I'm also looking into doing the Mediterranean sector from Venice to Barcelona and Barcelona back to Venice with Holland America wondering if that's too much (back to back) ? Is it best to buy as fly/cruise or buy separately ?

 

 

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Yes to much cruising.

Do the venice to barcelona leg, then fly to Rome for 3 days then take some time in Lake Como Italy you will not want to leave.

[CruiserBruce]

Totally disagree. Our best (of 17) cruise was a 20 day East/West Med on Holland America. Totally awesome cruise. Would, and will, do it again. And there were several hundred Aussies on the cruise.

 

Only you can decide if it is "too much". We don't know you.

Edited October 31, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[VMax1700]

Totally disagree. Our best (of 17) cruise was a 20 day East/West Med on Holland America. Totally awesome cruise. Would, and will, do it again. And there were several hundred Aussies on the cruise.

 

Only you can decide if it is "too much". We don't know you.

 

But its not an East/West Med cruise. Its Barcelona - Venice- Venice - Barcelona, so will probably hit the same ports on the way out as the way back.

My itinerary would be fly to Barcelona (or Madrid for a few days then train to Barça) take the cruise to Venice, then train to Florence, Milan and then Rome (depending of course on which you visited on your cruise). Fly back out of Rome.

[Cruisa Loosa]

But its not an East/West Med cruise. Its Barcelona - Venice- Venice - Barcelona, so will probably hit the same ports on the way out as the way back.

My itinerary would be fly to Barcelona (or Madrid for a few days then train to Barça) take the cruise to Venice, then train to Florence, Milan and then Rome (depending of course on which you visited on your cruise). Fly back out of Rome.

 

We've booked a 22 day on HAL for next July. It is two 11 day back to backs, Venice to Rome, Rome to Barcelona with different ports on each route. We got a very good price on it plus some great OBC deals made it even better. Well worth it to shop around. You might want to check this one.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Cruisa Loosa

[SuiteTraveler]

NCL discounts their inside cabins on this route so much that they are often as low as $699 per person on Med cruises. Princess does have better food in the MDR, but not $800 worth of better food and remember, you can buy the NCL dining package for 12 day cruises for $199 to eat at any restaurant on the ship. I suspect that even with the dining package, NCL at $699+$199 is a lot cheaper than the Princess cruise you are considering. The NCL cabins are very nice and the food in the MDR is fine. It is simply hotel banquet type food. They have good prime rib and good curries. The buffet is fine as well. They have wonderful pretzel rolls and put out some very high quality cheeses in the late afternoon. The advantage of NCL in Europe is that the ships are not huge and you can have dinner whenever you want and never have to dress up because the cruise is Freestyle. This makes packing a whole lot lighter as you will never need a suit or formalwear. On Med cruises you will be off the ship from early in the morning until 5 or 6pm on port days - and that is most days. Most people have dinner and then go to bed.

 

The other thing to consider is that shore excursions in Europe are very costly, so if you are budget conscious, I think that NCL is an ideal line for you to sail on and I believe you will appreciate not having to do formal nights when you are exhausted from touring all day and just want to eat and rest up for the next day.

 

In your situation, I'd save my money by cruising on NCL and maybe buy the dining package.

Edited October 31, 2014 by SuiteTraveler

[Icomefromthelanddownunder]

Thanks everyone some good advice worth looking into, we are not into the formal nights hadn't considered NCL will check them out. The back to back was visiting different ports with HAL. I welcome all your imput :-)

[lamchops]

It looks like me and my friends will end up putting down a deposit on a Norwegian sailing next June. There should still be plenty of time to keep an eye on the prices if something else comes up.

 

I don't think you'll regret it. It's all about the ports on this type of cruise and the extra money is better spent on seeing the sites. If all goes well, you'll be pooped after a day on shore.

 

IMHO, NCL's staff is more "hospitable" than Princess's.

[marco]

For this type of cruise, my primary focus would be on the itinerary and how many hours you are in any of the specific ports.

[SuiteTraveler]

I'm also looking into doing the Mediterranean sector from Venice to Barcelona and Barcelona back to Venice with Holland America wondering if that's too much (back to back) ? Is it best to buy as fly/cruise or buy separately ?

 

 

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I think this is a good idea and you might check into doing a b2b on NCL. We've been on HAL - we found it a bit stuffy and crowded with a lot of folks significantly older than ourselves. Now understand the daily all day tours ARE exhausting, but with doing a back to back, you can do shorter tours at some duplicate ports or stay onboard for a day here and there to get some much needed rest. I learned from my first Med cruise to pace myself. Don't try to see absolutely everything the first time you go there. Find the stuff you want to see and most importantly, hire a private tour guide to take you to those places. Using Private tour guides will increase how much you can see in the time you have and can actually be cheaper than the ship's tours if you join up with others on your cruise via the roll calls here. Since you are not into formal nights, I think you will love NCL.

 

Here's a recommendation for Rome - Rome is a city best seen by walking and then taking taxis as needed. You can take the train from Civitavecchia to Rome and have a tour guide meet you at the train station. We used a company called Through Eternity for this tour and the guide was WONDERFUL! She really maximized what we could see in a day, which included, the Spanish Steps, Fountain of 4 Rivers, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, The Forum and The Colosseum. She was a historian and told us so many fascinating facts. Then she made sure we got on the right train to get back to Civitavecchia in time to catch the port bus and get back on the ship. I definitely recommend that company for touring Rome - and it was not very expensive either as we shared the tour with two other couples.

Edited November 1, 2014 by SuiteTraveler

[searoses]

Several months ago I priced princess and ncl...about twice asmuch for a balcony so I assumed we would book ncl....knew the food was soso but wecould enjoy eating off the ship in amazing places....looked again about 3 weeks ago and with the obc they came out only dollars apart with princess being the lower....I jumped on it and booked for sept....do not know if that special is still running but it might be as I think I saw it yesterday still...whichever....you won't starve and will have a memorable trip...