Advice Welcomed!

[Dreamz2cruise]

Hello - my daughter and I want to cruise the Western Med, but I am completely uneducated as to WHICH cruiseline is best?... Which ship is good... etc!!

 

We want to go from Barcelona to Italy and do the western route... We are thinking September 2017 - is that a good time to travel?? How far out do they book? Do you include airfare (from US) or would you buy that separately?...

 

ANY advice on a Europe cruise would be appreciated! We've only cruised the Caribbean.

 

Thanks in advance!! :)

[paul929207]

September is a great time to cruise the Med. Temperatures are not as high and most people are done with their vacations.

 

I would suggest a TA to help you find the best cruise for you.

[kitty9]

The term "best" is all relative. What's best for you might not be the best for others. What you have to do is look at all the ships and their itineraries and see which one you like. For the Med, it's the itinerary that's the key, rather than the ship. So, determine what itinerary you like best, and take it from there.

 

I don't ever take the cruise line's air as they aren't especially the most convenient. Plus, I find I get better prices on air when booking on my own. Once, I did allow the cruise line to handle my air, and they had me flying all over the place to get to the port of embarkation. After that experience, I've always booked my own air.

[Clarea]

I agree, September should be significantly less crowded than mid-summer.

[4x4bob]

You have picked an outstanding Cruise. A few years ago we sailed out of Barcelona on the Emerald Princess. If you can arrive a few days early so you can explore Barcelona. The Hop on/Hop off bus system is outstanding.

 

We used a Travel Agent (TA) to set up every thing for us. Flight there and back home.

 

If you do not have a TA shop around and ask lots of questions and compare the answers you get back. Play what if with your questions. Ask if the TA has taken this cruise or not. TA with personal experience do a better job

 

Consider getting trip insurance and Medical Evacuation Insurance also.

 

As for recommendations for best cruise line. Check out prices, Ports that will be visited, and the tours offered by that cruise line. You will be traveling through an area loaded with history so you do want to get good tours. We like Princess, but others will like another line.

 

I am sure others will soon be posting more information for you

 

Bob

[Keith1010]

I like April, early May, September and October.

 

As mentioned, it is far less hot and humid that the summer months and also less tourists.

 

For itinerary I would get with a travel agent to figure this out.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

As we do not know what you would like to do, excursions, shop, etc., it is hard for us to suggest a cruise line for you.

You are best to talk to a travel agent. Have your friends and co-workers suggest a travel agent.

Also you both need to decide what ports you want to see. And check the times that you are in the ports. Some cruise lines don't stay as long in a port as others do.

[cb at sea]

When you do a trip like that..it's all about the ports and not so much the ship! Pick the cruise line that goes to the ports YOU want to see. All will suffice!

[villauk]

As others have mentioned, pick the itinerary for the places you most want to visit. If you start in Barcelona and finish in Rome, you could possibly add a few days at either end of your cruise to enjoy these wonderful cities. September is ideal for sightseeing as it's not so busy as peak season (June to August), and it's also not as hot.

 

Many of the lines all do the same ports, so once you've found a couple of ideal itineraries, check out the reviews on the ships to see which would suit you best. A good TA should also point you in the right direction as to which would be your best 'fit' ;).

[SuiteTraveler]

I agree with others who have stated that a Med cruise is all about the ports. It is the shore excursions that will be VERY expensive, so you are best advised to find the itinerary you want for the least cost (unless money is no object.) Pretty much any cruise line is good enough for this situation as your ship will be more of a floating hotel - a place to sleep, shower and get dressed, eat breakfast and dinner and that's about it. If you can afford a more expensive cruise, then consider some of the small ship cruises like Silversea or Crystal Yacht cruises. It really depends on what you want to spend and what you want to see as to which cruise itinerary is best for you.

 

Once you find the cruise you want, logon here and look under Roll Calls and then the cruise line and the name of your ship and the date of your sailing to connect with others on your sailing and schedule private tours - these are cheaper and much better than ship's tours which are huge groups and tend to go at the pace of the slowest person in the group - often someone on a walker. You will get to see much more on private tours and the tours can be customized to what you specifically want to see as opposed to being set to see things you might not care about. Also the small private tour buses can get into areas that you would have to walk a long distance to see if you were on the large buses used on cruise ship tours. These tours can be found by researching on the internet. Generally, you make a reservation and pay the tour guide on the day of the tour after it is over. The tour guide will pick you up right at the dock!

 

The other important piece of advice is to fly into your cruise embarkation port at least 1 day in advance of your cruise. If you do a cruise out of Barcelona, there are many nice hotels to stay in such as Hotel 1898 - our favorite.

 

For now, make sure you both have passports that are good for at least 6 months after your cruise would end. IF not, apply for new ones now. Some here use travel agents, but I've never had good luck doing that so my advice is to compare online travel websites, find the best deal and go with that. Look for things like free onboard credit, free gratuities and free drinks packages.

[Bankshot]

Do plan to spend a few days in Barcelona. You can stay in the heart of activity along Las Ramblaus at Hotel Continental or at the Las Ramblaus. Like mentioned, hop on hop off is great and don't miss the Market. Also always travel insured. I just had a $28,000 insured health /evacuation experience in Jamaica. Have fun.

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. Read up on the Mediterranean ports and see which one are of most interest to you. Then search for a cruise that offers as many of them as possible. Go to http://www.cruisetimetables.com and start with cruises from Barcelona. It will tell you who is sailing and their itineraries. Rick Steves will also tell you what there is to do in each port in the time you have, and how to do it on your own, if you are so inclined. On his website he has free audio tours to download to ipod/mp3 and maps tp print out to go along. For places like Rome, Florence, Pompeii, Venice...You have lots of time to plan. EM

[tidygirl]

I did a review on Royal Caribbean forum of "Our families viewpoint of our Mediterranean cruise) We were there in Sept 2014.

We did most ports on our own using public transportation (did a couple tours with groups.)

I was paying for 5 adults (2 girls and son-in-law ) and the prices to go on tours were outrageous in my opinion. An example for transportation into Rome would've cost $500 not counting any admissions into The Vatican ,Coliseum etc.

I think we paid $100 for public transportation.

If you can find the review it will give you ideas and see pictures.

I was surprised my family all enjoyed it even though it is different than the Caribbean!

Any questions I'll try to answer if I have it in my journal.

Another tip buy tickets online to major sites ahead of time or you just may not get into the sites!

We saw people waiting for tickets at the Sagrada Familia and they couldn't even get in that day! We walked in with very little wait! Family was more impressed with it than the Vatican! !!