Please help me choose a cruise!

[HCruisers]

There will be 4 of us on the trip - myself, my husband and our two daughters aged 21 and 20. We are likely booking 2 inside cabins, or perhaps one inside for the girls and one outside or balcony for us.

 

The flights have been booked and we will be leaving Venice for Toronto, Canada, on Sunday May 10/15 at 12:25pm.

 

We will arriving in Venice on May 1/15. This means we will either have one day in Venice pre-cruise and one day in Venice post-cruise (if we take a cruise on May 2) OR we will have two days in Venice pre-cruise if we take on cruise on May 3. (my biggest concern with that is catching the flight to get home at 12:25... the ship is supposed to dock at 8:30am)

 

I have narrowed it down to 3 choices, all are MSC -

 

#1 - Lirica (least expensive option, smaller ship) Sails May 2.

Itinerary includes Split, sea day, Santorini, Mykonos (late night port from 8pm to 3am), Dubrovnik and Ancona.

 

#2 - Poesia - Sails May 2. (same price as Magnifica)

Itinerary includes Bari, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul, sea day and Dubrovnik.

 

#3 - Magnifica - Sails May 3. (same price as Poesia, newer ship)

Itinerary almost identical to Poesia - includes Brindisi, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul, sea day and Dubrovnik.

 

First off - will we be able to make our 12:25 flight if we choose the May 3- May 10 Magnifica cruise? I would be willing to book a private transfer to make things easier if needed. Two nights in Venice pre-cruise would likely be a bit more useful and less hectic than one night pre-cruise and one night post-cruise, but not if I am worrying too much about missing our flight!

 

The Lirica itinerary is slightly less appealing because it does not go to Turkey, and Dh and I have been to both Split and Dubrovnik. (but it is also less expensive!) It is also a smaller ship, so it might be easier to keep track of our daughters if we take it!;)

 

This will be our first MSC cruise - their offerings worked best with our dates. (The NCL Jade also leaves Venice May 2 but it only goes to 4 Greek islands and the girls really want more variety in ports and specifically asked for Dubrovnik)

 

Any and all opinions and suggestions for planning are welcome!

 

I know that we will enjoy any of those selections, but is there any reason to choose one over the other that I haven't thought of?

 

Which one would you pick? (given our flight restrictions!)

 

Thanks!

[joybaby]

I have narrowed it down to 3 choices, all are MSC -

 

I would give myself the 2 days pre cruise in Venice. You will need that time to adjust. I loved the Poesia, however the May 3 cruise ship sounds similar. You can't go wrong on MSC, it is really an outstanding line. I leave on the Divina in 3 days. YIPPEE.

 

#1 - Lirica (least expensive option, smaller ship) Sails May 2.

Itinerary includes Split, sea day, Santorini, Mykonos (late night port from 8pm to 3am), Dubrovnik and Ancona.

 

#2 - Poesia - Sails May 2. (same price as Magnifica)

Itinerary includes Bari, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul, sea day and Dubrovnik.

 

#3 - Magnifica - Sails May 3. (same price as Poesia, newer ship)

Itinerary almost identical to Poesia - includes Brindisi, Katakolon, Izmir, Istanbul, sea day and Dubrovnik.

 

First off - will we be able to make our 12:25 flight if we choose the May 3- May 10 Magnifica cruise? I would be willing to book a private transfer to make things easier if needed. Two nights in Venice pre-cruise would likely be a bit more useful and less hectic than one night pre-cruise and one night post-cruise, but not if I am worrying too much about missing our flight!

 

The Lirica itinerary is slightly less appealing because it does not go to Turkey, and Dh and I have been to both Split and Dubrovnik. (but it is also less expensive!) It is also a smaller ship, so it might be easier to keep track of our daughters if we take it!;)

 

This will be our first MSC cruise - their offerings worked best with our dates. (The NCL Jade also leaves Venice May 2 but it only goes to 4 Greek islands and the girls really want more variety in ports and specifically asked for Dubrovnik)

 

Any and all opinions and suggestions for planning are welcome!

 

I know that we will enjoy any of those selections, but is there any reason to choose one over the other that I haven't thought of?

 

Which one would you pick? (given our flight restrictions!)

 

Thanks!

[AmoMondo]

Well I personally prefer the Musica class ships to the Lirica class so ship wise I'd go for Poesia or Magnifica. Lirica is a pretty little ship though and may have been through her stretching by then so could be all glammed up. Not sure what her dates are for being stretched.

 

Venice is a bit of a nightmare for disembarking in. It is busy and difficult to get anywhere quickly with usually several if not 4or 5 ships in and thousands of oassengers trying to get somewhere in a hurry. Delays docking due to fog or protests happen from time to time. I personally never book a flight before 13.30 and I'm only looking for a flight to Edinburgh.

 

If you get off by 9.30 and don't faff around with people movers and buses or worst still water buses, and are able to grab a land taxi more or less right away, you'll be fine as it takes 20-30 minutes to the airport. Any later than that and you could start running into problems. This April I got there earlier than expected and queues to drop off baggage and go through security was light. Completely differnt story last October when it took the best part of 90 minutes to check in my bag and clear security. Queues for security were enormous and slow moving.

 

I don't know what the penalties are if you miss that flight home and whether it would be fairly easy to secure seats on a later flight or not. I'd prefer to take all the risk and stress of that away and give myself plenty wiggle room. So in your shoes, I'd go with the Poesia.

[Skier52]

I'd agree with Amomondo have a day after the cruise in Venice and be relaxed about getting to the airport, I assume you are flying into Marco Polo not Treviso.

the only down side would be Bari instead of Brindisi.

 

 

Pete