Considering a European Cruise

[txagfan]

I guess what I want to know is what are some things someone considering a cruise in Europe should know, maybe something you were surprised by when you cruised for example.

 

As far as a little about me, I'm in my early 30's and considering a European cruise (likely a studio on the Epic for 10+ days). I enjoy traveling having taken several cruises and also done a lot of travel around Europe. Most of my travel has been in the Northern and Eastern regions of Europe (London in UK, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, etc). Usually I'll travel from city to city via train and spend 2-3 days.

 

It seems like a Mediterranean cruise may be a good way to see some parts of Italy, Spain and/or Greece, but I'm a little apprehensive. Here are my specific concerns I guess:

1) When the itinerary says the boat will arrive at 8am and depart at 6pm, how much time do you really get in the port city?

2) Related to the above, are you usually docked in ports or do you have to tender? Tendering seems like a nightmare based on what I read periodically, but it's not something I've done personally.

3) Is it possible to tour on your own or do you have to join an NCL excursion due to the time constraints? I ran into a lot of very big tour groups in Stockholm and St Petersburg last year (obviously the cruise line organized ones) and that's just not really my scene being herded around like cattle. I'd rather see less and enjoy doing it on my own or with a smaller group. I'm definitely not against using a tour guide and my visits to a city almost always include a walking tour. Also, I'll be honest, most of the people I ran into could be my parents or grandparents. Hope that doesn't come off as rude, but you can imagine it would be nice to find some people I had a little more in common with at this stage of life.

 

Any info would be appreciated. I did some searches, but only seemed to find a lot of reviews and trip reports. While those are interesting and I read several they don't necessarily seem to address some of my questions. If I missed a good thread that would be awesome if you post a link.

 

Thanks so much!

Edited October 18, 2015 by txagfan

[Laszlo]

Following

[KeithJenner]

Almost all of the med ports are able to do on your own, but they do need some planning. Quite a few of the ports are a distance away from the cities (Rome for example), so you will need to use public transport. As long as you are confident with this then you can do them fairly easily by yourself.

 

It does mean that you may not be able to fit quite as much in, but personally I would rather do a smaller amount my way than be herded around everywhere.

 

Be prepared to do your research, and make some decisions about what your priorities are and you can have a great time without using tours.

[dijid]

1) When the itinerary says the boat will arrive at 8am and depart at 6pm, how much time do you really get in the port city?

2) Related to the above, are you usually docked in ports or do you have to tender? Tendering seems like a nightmare based on what I read periodically, but it's not something I've done personally.

3) Is it possible to tour on your own or do you have to join an NCL excursion due to the time constraints?

 

1) & 2) are going to depend on the port. I've done two different Med cruises (one out of Barcelona, another out of Rome/Civitavecchia). Neither of those had tendered ports.

 

Some ports - like Naples - you are within walking distance of the city and everything. Some cities - like Athens - you are a short train ride away from the city center. On other ports - like Rome - you are a further train ride away. Other ports - like Izmir - will depend on where you want to go in the port. (ie stay in Izmir and you're right there, have a long trip to get to Ephesus.) So you have to subtract the transportation time from your destination to determine how much time you have some place.

 

3) You can most certainly DIY every port. We never took a ship tour on either cruise. We did arrange one private tour, arranged our own group tour and got people on the Roll Call to join in, signed up for pre-scheduled (ie show up and take them) tours we found via TripAdvisor and had total DIY days using public transportation and/or our feet on all the others. IME, Rick Steves Guidebooks and the Ports of Call section of CC are the best resources for these.

 

As for just general comments - I was surprised how tiring a Med cruise can be when you try DIY it and maximize your time in each port. But I definitely would recommend it.

[hamrag]

I guess what I want to know is what are some things someone considering a cruise in Europe should know.....As far as a little about me, I'm in my early 30's and considering a European cruise...It seems like a Mediterranean cruise may be a good way to see some parts of Italy, Spain and/or Greece, but I'm a little apprehensive. Here are my specific concerns I guess:

1) When the itinerary says the boat will arrive at 8am and depart at 6pm, how much time do you really get in the port city?

2) Related to the above, are you usually docked in ports or do you have to tender? Tendering seems like a nightmare based on what I read periodically, but it's not something I've done personally.

3) Is it possible to tour on your own or do you have to join an NCL excursion due to the time constraints? I ran into a lot of very big tour groups in Stockholm and St Petersburg last year (obviously the cruise line organized ones) and that's just not really my scene being herded around like cattle. I'd rather see less and enjoy doing it on my own or with a smaller group. I'm definitely not against using a tour guide and my visits to a city almost always include a walking tour. Also, I'll be honest, most of the people I ran into could be my parents or grandparents. Hope that doesn't come off as rude, but you can imagine it would be nice to find some people I had a little more in common with at this stage of life.

 

Any info would be appreciated. I did some searches, but only seemed to find a lot of reviews and trip reports. While those are interesting and I read several they don't necessarily seem to address some of my questions. If I missed a good thread that would be awesome if you post a link.

 

Thanks so much!

 

If you commence or end the cruise in Barcelona or Venice, I highly recommend a couple of days in each although often for Venice there is an overnight on the ship which will give a good overview of this not to be missed port. Both ports you are right in the city and DIY is incredibly simple.

 

For the other "big hitters" i.e. Livorno for Florence, Civitavecchia for Rome you will get only about 5 hours in port so you need to plan well. Rome is easy to DIY by train, and less travelling time than organised tours...Florence less so, and probably not recommended on an 8am to 6pm schedule. For Naples you will have 7/8 hours available if you do Pompeii or Capri.

 

Most ports are docked, a very few smaller ports do tender. Join the roll call for the cruise you book, and you will get great advice and team up for small group independent tours. The only port I can think of which is problematical (with time constraints) is Livorno so 90% of ports can easily be DIY'd.

 

You are the same age as our eldest son, who has cruised both with us and latterly his wife....they both love cruising the Med and these days the demographic is much younger certainly on NCL.

[Cloudyrain]

Most ports the Epic goes to are docked, the only tender on the West Med route is Cannes: if you are doing any of the other routes you can check which are tenders and which aren't.

 

You need to judge your visiting port-by-port. For example, Naples, Barcelona, Cannes, Marseille can all be done by walking (or using a port transfer bus in the case of Marseille and Barcelona) and you will have plenty of time with relatively long docking times (around 8am until 5pm - give or take an hour). Some places needed more intricate planning or reliance of organised groups. At Livorno we wanted to see Pisa and Florence and didn't feel brave enough doing it ourself so we chose a Cruising Excursions transfer - we were taken to the places and dropped off/picked up, with only minimal herding, we could do what we wanted whilst at the places. Having said that in Venice (not with NCL) we were a pair of sheep on a ships tour and it wasnt too bad, we managed to see more than if we were trying to navigate ourself! The same went with Rome, just dropped off and picked up, although if we went again we would just get the train ourselves. If I wanted to do Capri we probably would have considered the ships tour, just because I am a worrier and would panic about the ferry transfer. Some ports probably warrant a ships tour: we went to Casablanca with the NCL tour (on the Spirit) and wouldn't have gotten the benefit out of the place if we had tried it on our own.

 

Just to add we are early 30s and generally some of the youngest on tours/transfers, but not always the youngest, and being young doesn't do us any harm. The demographic of the ship itself is fine and it's always relatively lively in the nightclub and some of the bars, and things go on relatively late at night - considering it's such a port intensive trip with so many early starts I am surprised people aren't all in bed by 8pm every night :D

 

Following our first cruise we haven't looked back and I can't imagine holidaying any other way now :)

[MeHeartCruising]

My thinking is that with your existing experience enjoying European cities and rail travel, you are a PERFECT candidate for doing Med cruises in DIY mode. It doesn't really get more complicated than you have probably already experienced. Read about your ports, make a transportation plan that hits the sites you want to see and go for it. It's a lot of fun and quite easy to do. I routinely do my own thing in most ports. There are a few exceptions where I will pay for a tour or excursion, typically when it involves complicated or long transit to the site. But in most cases, I do it myself.

Edited October 18, 2015 by MeHeartCruising

[txagfan]

Thanks for the replies, this confirms what I thought.

 

I would definitely spend a few days in Barcelona before leaving on the cruise and maybe hit up another city a few days. I ordered the Rick Steves book mentioned above and looking forward to a cruise this Spring (work permitting) I hope!

[QuattroRomeo]

Cruising can be a wonderful way to see the Med. As others have said- join the Roll Call for your sailing, where you can post private tours or join others already set up. Plan it out port by port. Some cities are fairly close to the port, in which case you can shuttle in to town and use public transit to get where you want to go. Other places, you need to have a plan. Livorno for example, is a huge port and not close to anything most want to see.

 

We have found that hiring private companies for either transportation, tours, or both, save a lot of time and are stress-free ways to enjoy the sights. And you customize them-you will email them and tell them what you want to see. When you get off the ship, the van is there waiting for you. We have used them frequently, and had great success with the roll calls to have enough people join us to make it affordable. I'm talking 6-10 people, not a bus load.

If you want to get an idea of what private tours are like, read my West Med Review (link in my signature line). All of our tours were private. Many others post similar info; you can get some great ideas reading them. I know we have!

 

Also go to the Ports of Call forum on CruiseCritic, where you will find lots of Q&A regarding companies to use. Planning is part of the fun!

[clarkg]

We did a twelve day on the Spirit and loved it. Here is a link to my blog about it.

 

http://clarkanddeb.blogspot.com/2014/09/grand-mediterranean-cruise-part-one.html

[insidecabin]

Once you narrow down you choice check the pricing in US,UK and EU, they can be quite different.

 

The Spirit BCN venice run is a good one.

 

Unless you like the heat and crowds avoid the summer.

(handy as the off season prices are better)

 

 

There are some good rates(not checked solo) on the 11n med runs 13Jan & 3 Feb through ncl.co.uk(no UBP on Studio/inside UK)

[HACKT]

Of our 20 cruises, the 3 in Europe were definitely the best (even better than Tahiti which was good) so I encourage you to go! We did Baltic on NCL and Med twice on RCI.

The eastern Med cruise out of Venice to Greece fits your interest in that destinations, except Athens, are small cities and fairly easy to DIY. Mostly Greek islands which are best by cruise ship. One tender stop, Mykonos. And the departure from Venice thru Grand Canal was the best!

Western Med out of Barcelona was larger cities like Marseilles, Rome, Naples, which are hard to DIY without planning. Rome, for ex, we booked the ship's shuttle/train transfer to get into Rome so we could walk around and take HOHO bus.

Baltic was great, esp St Petersburg, but hard to DIY in places due to distance or visa requirement (Russia).

IMO cruise line or ship is less important in Europe as it's all about the destinations. Ship is just for eating and sleeping anyhow. [emoji41]

[jason3695]

I have literally seen Europe cruising. I'm taking my 3rd next year. While you are only in each city for 8 hours or so, the excursions really give you the must see highlights. There is no way I could've seen all the countries in Europe I have seen on the 2 cruises I've taken and done it cheaper...unless maybe hostels. I highly recommend cruising as the best way to see Europe specifically. My wife can't stand cruising the Carribean but she can't wait to cruise Europe because you see so many countries in such a short time. Our last cruise, 4 countries in 10 days. Our one prior to that, 6 countries in 10 days and our one next year, 7 countries in 10 days. While you do sacrifice a bit on time in some places, you gain back so much in the ability to see so many places so affordably and quickly.

[nolatravelgirl]

I think there is a happy medium between doing a ship's excursion with 100 of your "closest" friends and going totally DIY. The ship's excursion fall into two categories. 1.) you are ultra paranoid about going out on your own and have read entirely too much about the possibility of the ship leaving without you. 2.) The excursion you wish to do is only available if you book via the ship. An example of number 2 was when we went to Komodo Island in the Java Sea. All guests needed to be booked on a tour or you were not allowed off the boat. This was due to safety.

 

Ship's tours are slow moving and are hindered by large lumbering tour busses and the slowest person in the group, which the likelihood of a slow poke with buses that hold 75+ people is high.

 

The happy medium is a small group organized private tour. For your stops in Italy there are tour shares via the company Rome in Limo. We did 3 tour shares and were paired up in groups of 8. It was highly efficient and nice to not worry about whether we needed to turn right or left or where the metro/train stops may be. We were able to quickly move from attraction to attraction and didn't have to wait on bus loads of people. It was also nice to just be able to fall asleep in the van for the ride back to the port and not have to worry about sleeping through the train stop. If you want to read about some of our tours you can check out the link below.

[FreestyleNovice]

Going with all posters above me.

 

Adding to the solo part and an European cruise; Epic will be your only fit for the Studio's. Spirit or Jade hmneh.

 

Not talking from personal experience as I never travel solo but from others here on CC and seeing lot of solo groups onboard Epic.