Europen Cruises

[Salem615]

Hi

 

Not sure where to ask these questions so I thought i would start here.

 

We are thinking of doing a European Cruise next year. It will be with either NCL or Carnival. It will be either Greece or Italy.

 

I have a few of questions and hope somebody can help.

 

Being the ship is large will it tender or dock? Is where the ship stops close to highlights or do we need to do an excursion to see the highlights of a specific area? (Ex - Rome)

 

I was looking at some of NCL's excursions and they very costly. Is there other ways to see the sights or other tours outside of the cruise tours?

 

Lastly - is it worth doing a cruise to Europe?

[marco]

It pretty much depends how much you want to see. We've done a couple of European ""ocean liner" cruises and we've done 1/2 dozen European river cruises. The ocean liner cruises, you see only cities on or close to the coast. Excursions can cost more then the cruise. With few exceptions, you don't spend evenings or nights in ports. Some ports are over an hour from the city the itinerary says the ship is at. For instance, Rome. The port is Chavittiavecchia, over an hour from Rome, your're there say from 8AM to 6PM. So...pick one or two things to see in Rome. For Europe we far prefer the river cruises or a land tour if your primary reason for going is to "see and do". If your primary reason is to take a cruise, and see a little of this or that...fine.

[busmech]

Pick up Rick Steve's Med. Cruise ports lots of info. A lot of ports are docked but some like Santorini are tender. Some ports are very close to the highlights but others are a good trip to get to. Love Europe, lots to see. Enjoy

[Velvetwater]

We are going to our 3rd Carnival cruise in Europe next year and whole heartedly recommend them. We have not been on NCL but they really seem to have odd food rules and lots of pressure to part with your wallet onboard (even more so than Carnival). The brand spanking new Vista is sure to be amazing...we are booked for a 12 day that hits Greece and Italy.

 

Independent operated European tours are reliable and easy to find (use good rated ones). Just like in the Caribbean, they will be cheaper than the cruise line and will have the same aims to make sure you do not miss the ship.

 

With Rome/Naples/Provence/Athens (cant think of any others right now) as exceptions on the Vista Itineraries, most ports are near to the terminal so unless you are desperate for a tour/experience you could easily do them on your own.

 

I know NCL has a lot of Greek ports and these are likely a few tenders.

 

Also, ship wise the Vista will be a good size and new with lots of bells and whistles whereas if you book NCL the Epic will be even bigger (less new) but the other European bound ships will be small/medium and much older if that helps some.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Velvetwater

[indigosails]

Hi

 

Not sure where to ask these questions so I thought i would start here.

 

We are thinking of doing a European Cruise next year. It will be with either NCL or Carnival. It will be either Greece or Italy.

 

I have a few of questions and hope somebody can help.

 

Being the ship is large will it tender or dock? Is where the ship stops close to highlights or do we need to do an excursion to see the highlights of a specific area? (Ex - Rome)

 

I was looking at some of NCL's excursions and they very costly. Is there other ways to see the sights or other tours outside of the cruise tours?

 

Lastly - is it worth doing a cruise to Europe?

 

It is totally worth it. Ship's excursions are notoriously pricey, so do private ones. You'll find plenty of recommendations right here in this forum in the ports section.

 

The ship will tender at some locations, dock at others. You can look up each port to find out. Some ports are close (e.g. Portofino), others you have to go far afield (e.g. Rome).

 

Cruising Europe is a little different than a Caribbean cruise. There is a fair amount of pre-planning needed for Europe. But it's part of the whole experience.

[kasi1979]

Cruising in Europe will give you a taste of the cities and islands. It´s bound to be pretty intensive, not much downtime and many new impressions.

As we are lucky to have most Med ports at short flight distance, I can totally recommend cruising the Med.

It´s up to you how much historic sights you want to visit, there is so much to see and do, that you can easily return year after year without it getting boring.

 

Rome is a fair way from the port of Civitavecchia, as is Florence from Livorno, however most ports are a really short drive from the "to-be" places.

e.g.

Kusadasi to Ephesus is a taxi ride that last less than 20 min, a port I would always to with a private driver.

I agree that cruising the Med needs some prep time but if you are open to many different cultures and historical sites, as well as stunnig nature, go for it.

[paul929207]

Without knowing the ports you will visit, I can only give a vague answer.

 

Tendering will depend on the port. Most are docked.

 

Distance to attractions will also depend on the ports visited. Some like Dubrovnik and Santorini can be seen on your own and are close to the port. Rome is about 1 1/2 hour from the port. Athens 30 minutes. Florence 2 hours.

[SPacificbound]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

Click on the link above, it will take you to the European ports of call.

You will be able to get quite a bit of info there.

 

You might want to go on the sections for the two cruise lines you are considering and ask questions at each of them.

 

Here is Norwegian

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

 

Carnival

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

Have fun!

[Flatbush Flyer]

Hi

 

Not sure where to ask these questions so I thought i would start here.

 

We are thinking of doing a European Cruise next year. It will be with either NCL or Carnival. It will be either Greece or Italy.

 

I have a few of questions and hope somebody can help.

 

Being the ship is large will it tender or dock? Is where the ship stops close to highlights or do we need to do an excursion to see the highlights of a specific area? (Ex - Rome)

 

I was looking at some of NCL's excursions and they very costly. Is there other ways to see the sights or other tours outside of the cruise tours?

 

Lastly - is it worth doing a cruise to Europe?

 

 

We use cruises to scout new locations for future extended land journeys. So, we seldom cruise the same or similar itineraries. Med cruises can be mixed and matched time and again with sufficient port changes to justify another cruise to that region.

 

In looking at prices, remember that international airfare can be quite expensive the closer you get in to travel dates. So, consider premium lines, like Oceania, which include airfare and all sorts of other things you'll be charged for in the lines you've picked. Plus, it's just a better all around quality experience.

 

Because of the air component, you want more bang for your buck. So pick cruises that start (in one) and end (in another) destination city like Rome and Lisbon so you can extend your pre and post cruise visit.

 

Do get the Rick Steves Med Ports guide And find a top TA on the Conde Nast Traveler "best of..." lists.

 

Lastly, if you want to see the best Greek ruins in the world, go to Sicily.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Flatbush Flyer

[Hlitner]

We could answer all your questions if you listed the ports. Otherwise, it would be a shot in the dark. There are an awful lot of European ports (we have probably been to more then 50) and each is different. And it is the same with port locations versus where most want to go. It can be over and hour away (such as Livorno to Florence) or the port can be right in the city.

 

Hank

[Dayenu]

Hi

 

Lastly - is it worth doing a cruise to Europe?

 

ABSOLUTELY!

 

We took Greek Islands out of Venice on NCL, and Norway Fjords out of Copenhagen on RCI. Some ports were docked, some tendered. We just went off on our own adventures after doing a thorough research. In some places, local tours, in some we just walked around with a map and visited interesting museums, or saw beautiful nature.

 

There is a "ports of call" section on Cruise Critic that is very helpful, also other travel websites and tour guides that we borrowed from the library.

[sail7seas]

Italy - - - Greece

 

Both fabulous destinations for cruising and yes,,,,,, very worth it.

We did many land trips to Venice, Rome, Florence, Sorrento etc and loved every moment. Then we cruised to those cities and loved that as well.

 

Greece. IMO, grab any chance you can to visit that amazing country. Fabulous. You will dock to board in Pireaus which is the port for Athens but you could tender at Mykonos or other Greek islands. Without more information from you, we cannot give full answers.

 

[navybankerteacher]

Do a lot of homework - first to select ship and itinerary. Only you know what you want to see and what amenities on board ship are important to you. Then do detailed study on ports - what to see, and how to do it. Join the roll call for your cruise to swap ideas and possibly arrange joint independent tours.

 

Relying on ship cruises may be easier - but very expensive, and doing the research to do it on your own will really add to the learning experience.

[Wayfairers]

Hi

Being the ship is large will it tender or dock? Is where the ship stops close to highlights or do we need to do an excursion to see the highlights of a specific area? (Ex - Rome)

 

I was looking at some of NCL's excursions and they very costly. Is there other ways to see the sights or other tours outside of the cruise tours?

 

Lastly - is it worth doing a cruise to Europe?

 

 

As others have said it will depend upon the port of the ship docks or uses tenders. You can find the detailed itinerary on the cruise ship website that lists the ports and tells you if it is dock or tender.

 

All ship excursions are expensive compared to other options, and after researching the port and private tour options and considering doing something on your own (on your roll call and ports of call on cruise critic and your own research) you will be able to make the decision of whether or not the extra cost of a ship excursion is worth it to you. Even though we are very experienced independent travelers there are times we still pay the extra for the cruise ship excursion due to potential timing issues or safety concerns.

 

In my opinion it is worth doing a cruise in Europe, in fact that is true everywhere. We typically get a sampling of an overseas area by cruise ship and return later by land if we want to do more exploring. Or, in the case of this years cruises we are using them instead of flying to and from Europe and are traveling on land between the cruises.

[mrobstad]

Once again, lots of great replies to your original question, so here's my two cents. Excursions are expensive because as OP mentioned, they are often far from port. In most Italy ports, you can save a bundle for a top rated day by setting up a group using Rome in Limo. Check the port boards....RIL gets top ratings. Greece is high on my bucket list, not to see piles of ancient rocks, per se, but for the beauty of the country. And as OP mentioned, cruising is a "scouting" trip for me to see where I'd like to return. One final note, European cruises, unlike Caribbean, take enormous pre-planning, but that's part of the fun, right?

[breeze123]

I've done 3 Med cruises and it's definitely worth it. Like most people said, you'll end up with a taste for each location rather than a full on experience. This is due to travel times to sites once in port and the lack of time in any location. It's a great experience though and I would highly recommend it.

[Hlitner]

We would just give this message to the OP. DW and I have taken dozens of cruises in the Med (over a lot of years) and also done quite a few driving trips throughout Europe. We rarely (I cannot even remember the last time) take any kind of excursion and seldom even bother with private tours (although some of these can be decent). We prefer to simply do our own thing whether we are in cruise ports or simply just traveling in Europe. A half decent guide book (we like the Rick Steves books) and some time doing research on the internet makes planning fun and relatively easy. To be honest, the thought of being stuck on a large tour bus with 50+ souls is enough to make me stay home :). One huge benefit to doing your own thing is that you can save lots of money (often hundreds of dollars per day) over the cost of excursions and actually do more (or what you prefer as opposed to what some guide thinks is best).

 

Hank

[SuiteTraveler]

Here is NCL's current list of Tender Ports:

http://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising#taps

 

In regards to excursions in the Med, YES, that ARE more expensive. This is because everything costs more in Europe. It is best to plan your own shore excursions with a private tour operator and share your private excursions with others on your cruise. For some ports you can DIY and Rick Steve's guides are a great starting point for figuring out what to do.

 

MOST of the time, you will need to travel some in order to see things. From the port for Rome, Civitavecchia, you can either hire a driver to take you into Rome or you can take the train from Civitavecchia to Rome Termini and have a walking guide meet you there. Either way it is more than 1 hour to get into Rome. The walking guide is cheaper. But you have to do a ton of walking. If you don't want to walk for 3 - 5 miles in a day, then you are better off hiring a car service such as Rome in Limo. If you want to do the walking (and Rome is made for walking) then consider hiring a guide from Through Eternity.

 

For Rome, I would suggest either doing a major sites tour:

Piazza Navone/Spanish steps

Fountain of 4 Rivers

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Forum

Colosseum

 

or if you prefer the Vatican Museums tour.

 

You would have the time to do one or the other but not both.

[mrobstad]

And you can use RIL in Florence/Tuscanny and Naples/Amalfi coast. Just as a quick explanation, RIL uses Mercedes minivans that hold 8 passengers. So if the fare is 800€, you divide it by 8 and add tip. They're not quite tours, kind of between a tour and driver, but since port time is so limited, it's advisable to hire a livery that can keep you on schedule.

[ontheweb]

Here is NCL's current list of Tender Ports:

http://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising#taps[/url

 

 

I did not see Corfu listed. It has two piers, but we ended up with needing to tender when sailing on the HAL Noordam because there were 3 ships in port that day.

 

The sea was actually fairly rough when boarding the tender for our return. A man in fact fell when boarding, landing on his elbow and drawing blood. I remember cringing as I sat there with DW thinking what if that had been her. She had previously broken an elbow and had metal in it. I cannot even imagine how painful a fall like that would have been for her.

[SuiteTraveler]

As the previous poster said, RIL is NOT a tour. They drive you to the specific locations and let you out and then meet you later and drive to the next location. They can answer general questions but are not tour guides - they are mainly drivers. So, if you are good at doing your own research, then RIL would work fine for you. But if you want someone to tell you about the sights, then you really need to hire a real tour guide.

[celebrity]

As the previous poster said, RIL is NOT a tour. They drive you to the specific locations and let you out and then meet you later and drive to the next location. They can answer general questions but are not tour guides - they are mainly drivers. So, if you are good at doing your own research, then RIL would work fine for you. But if you want someone to tell you about the sights, then you really need to hire a real tour guide.

 

I would like to share that our experience with RIL was everything I hoped for and more.

Our driver in Rome, Francesco, stopped at the various sites and fully explained what we were looking at before we jumped out of the car. Yes, we did have a guide in the Colisseum and the Vatican( money well spent) but at the other sites, Francesco was extremely knowledgeable and more than willing to educate us about anything we asked.

We'll be utilizing their services again when we return next year.

[agabbymama]

I like to start a graph chart for any cruise I'm thinking of taking. List the different cruiselines/ships across the top. Down the side list the things of importance to you (ship size, cabin type, cost, ports, times in port, excursions/sites, etc.).

 

As you research put an "X" in the conjoining box. As you near the end of your research, one should have more x's than the others.

 

I prefer smaller ships, but found Grand Princess cruise went to the ports I wanted to go to, so we opted for the HUGE ship. NEVER again.

 

Only you know what you want out of the cruise, but YES, Europe/Med is definitely worth cruising to. Try to go for as long as you can (ours was a 12 day cruise, but we had a day in Paris Pre-cruise, then 3 days pre-cruise in Rome and 3 days post cruise in Venice and another 2 days Post cruise in Paris) for a total of 21 total days. With the cost of airfare, I wanted to get the most for my buck.

 

Have a Plan "A" and a Plan "B" for when A falls apart, then still be prepared to go with the flow when both fall apart. It happened frequently to us. Take half the clothes you think you need and twice the money.

 

Have fun planning, then taking your cruise!

[mrobstad]

I like this and agree: take half the clothes and 2x the money![emoji1]

[Sue Do-Over]

Totally recommend private tours, especially in places like Rome.

 

We booked in advance for a van for 8 (RomeInLimo.com) you pay the same for the van full or empty, so visit your cruise roll call to find people to share the cost.

 

When you book, you'll be advised to pre-purchase tickets for the Vatican, Coliseum, and other big attractions. Do it. Our group ended up with just 4 who wanted to see the Vatican, and we alerted the agency up front.

 

We met our driver at the pier, right on time (early!). They have a planned loop through the city that hits the most sites with the least back-tracking. We went first to the Coliseum... driver parked at the curb with flashers on, and we fast-walked around the long queue, directly to the entrance. Driver shook hands with the guard, handed over our tickets, and we walked right in. 90 minutes later, we paged the driver and he appeared at the curb where he'd dropped us off.

 

At the Vatican, our driver pulled up to the curb at the front of the loooooong line. He took our 4 seniors directly to the guard at the front, shook his hand, and they went directly into the museum.

 

Back at the van, took the rest of us to the Spanish Steps and Treavi Fountain, then back to the Vatican to pick up the seniors who were just coming out into St. Peter's Square. We spent a little time there, and then on to the Pantheon -- again, right to the front of the line. On the way back to port, we stopped on a high point over the city for one last round of photographs and gelato.

 

The Carnival excursion, which costs MORE, drove by the Coliseum, rushed people thru the Vatican museum, and skipped half the other places we got to see. 6 hours on a tour bus, and they never even got gelato.