Help with Mediterranean Cruise

[shellysh]

Here is my dilemma. We are planning a med cruise for next Aug,2006. I know it will be hot. We are a young 60ish couple who will be celebrating our 40th weding anniv. This is really the only time we can go. We are very interested in the ports and excursions. I seem to like the itinerary on the Liberty, but I am a little hesitant about Carnival. I know we will be off the ship alot but I don't want it to be too loud and boisterous. I like all age groups and don't want to be with just old fuddy duddies We have only been on 2 Princess Cruises, the last one was on the Diamond to the Mex. Riviera. We loved the ship! I am not that interested in a Greek intensive cruise so I don't know which other cruises to consider. We would like a 12 day cruise. Any suggestions?

Also, I hear it is better to do private tours instead of the ship's tours but how would I hook up with some others to do this. We are just the two of us and we want to be economical. We might want to stay a day or so in port before the cruise depending on the time. Is it better to make arrangements directly with the cruiseline or with a cruise agent. Do you recommend doing this on the internet?

Thanks for any info.

Shelly

[SPI_Rick]

Shellysh, I think your primary consideration should be the itinerary. Decide which ports you want to visit and then choose the cruise line that has the itinerary that matches best. I think you will be happy with any of the major cruise lines.

 

 

Last year we did a 12-day Mediterranean cruise with Princess Cruise Line on the Star Princess which started at Venice and ended at Rome.....11 ports in 12 days....it was outstanding. But there were 5 (I think) Greek ports of call, and you mentioned that you didn't want your cruise to be 'Greek intensive' so that might not be for you.

 

Yes, August will be very hot....but you said that you didn't have any flexibility in the timing....so that's not a consideration.

 

Many people do like to book their own independent tours....it is generally less expensive, gives you more flexibility as to what you see and lets you set your own schedule. The only downside is that you need to be sure you are booking a reliable company.....you do not want to be 40 miles from the dock when your vehicle breaksdown and your ship sails in an hour.

 

Personally, I generally book the ship's tour. It costs more, I lose the flexibility of where I go and most painful of all, I have to wait on the stragglers that seem to come on half the tours and can't ever seem to get back to the departure point on time. What I get is the security of knowing that Princess has vetted the tour company and that if something goes wrong it is the cruise line that has to get me back to the ship.

 

.....but I'm not against independent tours. I have one scheduled on my next cruise later this month and if that goes well, I'll schedule more on my March 2006 cruise.

 

One way to hook up with others to share an independent tour is on the "Roll Call" for your cruise. If you can't find an existing roll call, then start one and keep posting to it and checking it. You will often find people who have booked tours before and who may be willing to be the coordinator for booking tours on your cruise.

 

As far as pre or post cruise stays in the port city, again, I generally book this through the cruise line. That way they are responsible for getting me between the airport, the hotel and the ship. You can certainly do it yourself, but if you are not familiar with the city, why deal with the aggravation.....the cruise line knows the hotels and has representatives in the embarkation/disembarkation ports to help you.

 

You should have a great time in the Med.

[Andee]

We like Oceania cruise line--smaller ships, lovely atmosphere, open seating dining, great staff.

 

We don't care for the ship's shore excursions--they never seem to spend the time we want at the places we like, they're expensive, and I don't like feeling herded around, waiting for lots of people to get on/off the bus, use the restroom, etc.

 

Some cities are very easy to do on your own--read some guidebooks, select what interests you, get a map, and off you go.

 

In some cities, you can negotiate with a cab driver/guide at the port to take you where you want to go.

 

I don't find researching hotels to be an aggravation, but rather an adventure. The cruise line hotels seem expensive to me. We've always arranged our own way between the airport, hotel and ship, with no difficulty.

[Queenk2]

Why not try celerity. We did a Med cruise with them,,,although it did do Turkey and Greece, they have other itineraries. Also Golden Princesss is doing a Western cruise June 27th...14 days and GREAT trip. Check it out!

[DEL67]

Shelly:

 

I may get flamed for this, but since a Med cruise is very port intensive, I do not believe that the choice of cruise line or ship is as important as for most other cruises. I would decide based on itinerary and price.

 

My husband is disabled and can not board a bus so we had to use private tour vendors. Even though it cost us more since I could not find anyone to share most of the tours ahead of time, it was well worth it. No, we did not have an official guide, but our drivers were very informative and interesting. They took us where we wanted to go and we stayed as long (or short) as we wanted. They also took us right to each site. The ship tour buses often had to park 1/4 mile or more away. As a result, we saw more with less effort. There are many private, reputable vendors. if you are looking for one, I would post your questions on the Europe board in the Ports of Call section. The one thing I would caution you on though is that many of the sights you would want to see are a distance from the pier. Therefore, if you use a private tour vendor, I would plan to be back at the ship at least an hour befiore sailing.

 

We went round trip from Barcelona and spent two nights in Barcelona pre-cruise. Booking air and hotel through the cruiseline is the easiest way to go, but it usually also is the most expensive. I did a little research and saved over $500 by myself and was very pleased with the hotel we choose. Again the Europe board is a good source of information.

[shellysh]

Dale,

Thanks for your very helpful information. It will definitely help in making our decision.

Shelly