Need information about the Mediterranean

[Schmellody]

My husband and I want to cruise the Mediterranean for our 20th anniversary in 2007 (I want to book early). What time of the year is best? Any ideas for getting good airfare prices from California? What itineraries would you recommend? We want to visit at least one Greek island :) Any experts out there? We would like to cruise with RCI or Celebrity because we are Platinum Members of C&A. Any info will help. THANKS!

[cruisintwinsmom]

We LOVED our med cruise. We were on the Millie in early June 2004 and the weather was great. The itinerary worked well for us. We did the Barcelona-Venice route. Am not an expert, but had a great time. We flew from the Midwest using X air, as we couldn't find it any cheaper on our own. Good luck with your decision.

 

Happy Sailing!!

[StephenJohnson]

My husband and I want to cruise the Mediterranean for our 20th anniversary in 2007 (I want to book early). What time of the year is best? Any ideas for getting good airfare prices from California? What itineraries would you recommend? We want to visit at least one Greek island :) Any experts out there? We would like to cruise with RCI or Celebrity because we are Platinum Members of C&A. Any info will help. THANKS!

 

Hi Melody! You're not alonein your addiction, and congrats on your (upcoming) anniversary.

 

Med cruises usually run May-October, and weather is a crapshoot - it's less likely to be cool and rainy in the full summer, but more likely to be searingly hot, and the destinations of interest tend to be even more crowded. Personally, I would tend to a late spring/early fall time frame, but that's a matter of personal taste.

 

Airfare can probably best be addressed on the Air deals message board, but won't be available untill 2006 in any case.

 

If you want to visit the Greek isles, you're pretty much constrained to Eastern med itineraries, but to provide you meaningful input we'd need to know what's best for you...i.e. what things interst you? Are you looking for a Greece-heavy itinerray, Eastern sampler, what? Also, do you plan to do any pre- or post- cruise land activities? Help us help you...

[Schmellody]

Thanks so much for the quick replies! MORE MORE MORE info :) My husband and I like to do outdoor things. We are scuba certified and love to dive. We also like to hike and see anything unusual. Of course... I am a shopper too so we MUST find time for that as well. We've never been to the Mediterranean so all ports interest us.

[Texed]

We did exactly the same as "Cruisintwinsmom". It was a fabulous cruise. We got a lot of info off of the "Europe" Ports of Call Board. I would recommend booking some of the excursions independent.

 

We booked way ahead and was able to upgrade to business class using points. I would highly recommend that if you can. We got to Barcelona rested. Also, try to have at LEAST one day in a hotel prior to your cruise.

[susancruzs]

I'm looking at the Med for 2007, too! Decisions, decisions! A biggie to celebrate my 60th birthday. I'm thinking RCI or Celebrity, only because they have a few sea days, Princess has only 1 on one of their itineraries.

 

At first I was thinking Sept., but now I'm thinking May, only because Sept. can bring a little more chance of rainy weather.

 

I'm trying to do 2 cruises but planning that is tricky, I know I'd repeat some ports but it would give me Venice, Croatia, Ephesus, lots of planning and I will book very early. My TA says they all tend to go up in price, best to book as soon as pricing comes out.

 

Susie

[Cruise Junky]

We just returned from Millennium Barcelona to Venice....I cannot recommend this itinerary enough...it was absolutely amazing. RCI's doesn't hold a candle to it. Also you shouldn't see much rain in September. We cruised mid October and had a few hours in Barcelona and a couple in Dubrovnik, other than that, the weather was perfect for touring.

[AZ Travelers]

We recently returned from Celebrity's western Med cruise. It was the last sailing for the year before repositioning and the weather couldn't have been milder. We sailed from Rome to Naples, sea day, Mykonos, Santorini, sea day, Sicily, sea day, Nice, Genoa and back to Rome. All of the ports were great although Genoa was the least-liked (dirty city and shops are closed on a Sunday).

 

I agree that you must arrive in the port city at least a day before boarding the ship. Touring the port city will take some time as well as getting used to several hours time difference (9 hours AZ - Italy).

 

Michelle

[caviargal]

I have cruised the Med 4 times and also spent quite a bit of time in Italy. I did not care for my Greek isles cruise personally and would not care to repeat that. I found the Italian Riveriera to be much more beautiful and interesting and also enjoyed my three visits to Genoa. So these opinions are all pretty much subjective!

 

I would cruise in May or October as the weather is best then IME and there are few kids aboard. July and August can be brutal and are extremely crowded. ALso, you are more likely to get better air fares.

 

I prefer an itinerary that includes Sicily and the Italian Riveria personally. Rome and FLorence are both cities that are better suited to a land vacation. Venice is very pretty to sail into, however, and I prefer cruising there to staying there.

 

Barcelona is a nice city but I can do without Marseilles, Monaco, Nice.

 

If you really enjoy the water, the smaller ships do a much better job of providing water oriented activities. Radisson put down a water sports platform most days and provided all types of recreational optons for us. It was wonderful! And I personally prefer the small ships to larger ones in the Med.

[Susan-M]

We did Millennium's Barcelona-Venice cruise during the last two weeks of Sept. and highly recommend it! The weather was beautiful...mid 70's and lots of sunshine (a brief rainfall late in the afternoon of two port days.) The itinerary is very interesting - Barcelona, French Riviera, Florence, Rome, Naples, Santorini, Athens, Dubrovnik (Croatia) and ending in Venice. (Mykonos was on the itinerary but has been dropped for next year.) All ports were really interesting and I wouldn't have wanted to miss any. The nice thing about travelling in Sept (at least for us) is that there were very few children on board (I think we had 6 in total.)

 

We like to do our own excursions and it was very easy to do on this trip (took lots of planning...but that was part of the fun.) We did lots of walking in every port, and some hiking on Santorini, and a hike up Mt. Lykatettus in Athens http://www.chem.uoa.gr/Location/AthensMap/AM_Lecabettus.htm. There are other options for hiking (Mt. Versuvius in Naples, Tuscany area, and a trail that leads from Eze to the coast in France...a farily steep climb up, or down.) I'm not sure about scuba diving -but there may be a place on Santorini?

I wrote a review which is based on doing most of the ports on our own: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=240792

 

One criteria that we had when choosing the med cruise was to have as few sea days as possible...we had two, but next year the Barcelona to Venice cruise on Millennium will have 3, and the Venice to Barcelona one has two.

 

Have fun planning!

[AFT_LOVER]

the most romantic locals that outweigh Paris any day in our book. We book air with X as their price was 3/8 cheaper than anything on the Net. Plus it is 2 one way tix since we did Venice & Barcelona for airports.

 

What a great way to celebrate an anniversary & you may luck out as we did getting remarried for free onboard, great way to use an extra sea day with weather cancelling ports. The whole ship is ready to party afterwards...

[Host Karen]

We sailed Brilliance this past June on the Greek Isles itinerary and loved it. (Click here to read my review.) Brilliance is a beautiful ship and the itinerary took us everywhere we wanted to go except Venice (we're saving that for next time). The weather was perfect -- mid 70s to low 80s and sunny every day except one, and that was the morning of a sea day. The cities and museums were not very crowded. As you'll read in the review, we arrived two days early in Barcelona and really enjoyed our time there. It's a beautiful, clean, easy to navigate city and the food is delicious!

 

I would recommend doing some reading over on the Europe board for additional suggestions and advice.

[Desertbelle]

We were on the Millennium in June, 2005 and it was the most wonderful cruise, EVER! The itinerary was near perfect, as was the ship and the ports. The weather was very hot, but Europe was in the middle of a record breaking heat wave. The day we were in Rome the temperture was the highest high ever recorded in Rome on that day. Having said that, the heat was OK. For the most part the heat didn't affect us.

 

As far as airfare, I had no trouble at all finding airfare hundreds of dollars cheaper than what the cruise line was charging. We also fly from the West Coast, Las Vegas, and it was so nice being able to book and manage it myself. We had 4 people and the $1000 I saved on the airfare over what Celebrity charged for airfare more than paid for our extra days in Venice and Barcelona. Don't be intimidated by the flying into Venice and flying home from Barcelona.....the rates were nearly identical to a round trip ticket.

 

Going in June seemed to have a couple of advantages. Apparently Europeans and their families don't cruise in June, so there were not a lot of kids on our cruise. As a side note about kids: This cruise is so port intensive that we barely saw children until the last night....it's probably like the old saying: If you want to keep your kids out of trouble keep them so busy they don't have time to get into trouble!! :D The ports were not over crowded so early in the season. It might have been better in May, but I have no experience of cruising the Med in May, so I can't say.

 

One thing I can't stress enough....Book your own excursions using the sage advice on the Cruise Critic boards. We had private drivers in nearly every port and without an exception, we saw more, we were more relaxed and we spent less money on excursions, than anyone we talked to. You can't imagine how wonderful it was to walk off the ship and be greeted by a smiling, English speaking guide, driving a clean, comfortable vehicle, who knows all the ins and outs of getting you where you want to go. You just sit back and take it all in. I don't know how we would have survived the trip in such good shape without those drivers.

 

If I never get back to Europe again, and I surely hope I do get back again many times, I will have felt we saw all we could and experienced it in the best possible way.

 

Have fun planning your Med Cruise....it will be your best cruise ever!!

[Bruin Steve]

We did the Med in August 2003 on the Millennium...and I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND you to go with that ship...

 

Best cruise we've ever done...

 

It's also a pretty good route for a first time Med visitor...You get a nice variety of ports--big cities, small islands...You get ports in both the Adriatic and Aegean...You can do distinctly different pre- and post-cruise stays in Venice and Barcelona...

 

As far as Greek Islands go, Santorini is incredible...

 

My recommendation is this: Book the cruise NOW...and book air through Celebrity...Then follow the air prices over the next few months...If you find something that beats Celebrity Air, then you can always cancel the air portion right up until final payment day...But, be very wary you are comparing Apples-to-apples...Make sure you consider all of the fees and taxes along with the air price...Airlines seldom run really good deals on LAX to Europe in the high-volume summer months...And it's even harder finding deals LA to Venice and Barcelona to LA...

 

We went with Celebrity Air, finding it actually cheaper than anything we could come up with on our own...

 

You will either want to do an air deviation (No charge as a Captains Club member) or else book hotels through Celebrity...as you simply MUST tack on extra days in Venice and Barcelona...(We just opted to do 2-night hotel stays in each through Celebrity as, when you consider the cost of "transfers" or on-your-own transportation, especially in Venice, the hotel packages were reasonable--Yes, there was a slight premium over what we might have done it on our own for, but it was worth it to have them handle all of the logistics)...

 

As to time of year, remember that most of the Mediterranean is in the same exact CLIMACTIC ZONE as Southern California...Expect the weather to be pretty much EXACTLY what you would expect HERE...IOW, very little chance of rain any time from May to September...May and June are a little more temperate, July and August can be very hot...but, remember, it's a "dry heat" with little humidity...July and August are also traditionally the vacation months for most European countries...Crowds at some attractions might be a little larger in those months, but, seriously, I've been to Europe many times, often in July or August, and I've never found it to be a problem...

 

If you have a choice of when to go, I'd say, go around Memorial Day through mid-June...But, there really is no bad time to go...Just that if you go in late summer, dress coolly and bring water with you on excursions...Florence in August is like being in Temecula in August--(climatewise, of course...everything else in Florence is whole lot better--no offense to my friends in Temecula!)

 

Have fun...

[gprentice]

Our family of 5 were also on the Millenium - Venice to Barcelona - May 2004 and have to agree - it was our favorite cruise of the bunch.

The itinerary can't be beat - required a lot of reading these forums and getting tips about tours, etc.

Some of the best pictures were along the Amalfi coast, Oia cliffs in Santorini Greece, Dubrovnic, & in Athens.

 

It qualifies for the vacation of a lifetime.

 

Graham

[Buckeye Geo]

This is a great thread. My wife and I are planning a Med Cruise for our 50th Wedding Anniversary 12/29/07. Keep the good info coming. I hope the late '07 cruise dates are posted by the time we are aboard our April cruise, I just love that extra Ship Board Credit.

[Liat]

We did the Med on Millennium in May 2003. Our sail date from Barcelona was May 11, and we HIGHLY recommend an early start, or one after the middle of September. This avoids some of the crowds and heat; and we had no bad weather. Our stops were Villefranche, Livorno (for Florence) Civatavecchia (for Rome), Naples, Athens, Santorini, Dubrovnik and debarking in Venice. So this cruise invited going early to Barcelona and staying over at least a couple of days in Venice. I would recommend spending at least two or better yet, three days in each city at each end. If you are going that far, and this is a major anniversary - live it up.

We have a detailed review of our cruise on http://www.cruisereviews.com. Click on Celebrity under Premium Lines; then scroll down to Millennium. My review under my name; Philip M. Haggerty, should be easy to find. It also has some good advice for new cruisers. You will see that the only ship's tour we did was in Livorno because we liked the idea of a half day guided tour in Florence with the rest of the day on our own. It was a good choice.

We also did a half-Med tour on Galaxy in 2004. This was a Transatlantic cruise and we stopped in Villefranche and Livorno again, and ended up in Rome. That review is also on http://www.cruisereviews.com under Celebrity and Galaxy.

There was good advice from another poster on airfares; that is; to shop around for a while. You can always get the cruiseline fare [at least up to a couple of months before you leave - have your TA check on this]. As my review mentions we did just that and settled for Celbrity's fares. Some of your decision will be based on where you live and the airports and carrriers available to you.

I would definitely choose Celebrity over RCCL. It is a very classy cruise line, with great food and beautiful ships that are not crammed to the gills. For popular cruises like the Med, this is important. And booking early is a very good idea. We just booked an April Hawaiian round trip on Infinity.

Bon Voyage!

[cathi]

I vote for Millie in the Med!!! Hands down THE BEST cruise itinerary we've found. Did it in June this year and will go back in a couple of years and do it again - just to hit all the places we didn't get to this time!! Book early - at least a year in advance for the best price and the best cabin selection. I just checked Celebrity's site and you can only search up to April 2007 so keep a close watch and as soon as they release May/June of 2007 run don't walk to your nearest travel agent and get it booked!!

As to airfare, watch and wait. I started to get nervous 4 months before our cruise and bought the cheapest tickets I could find. A month later there was a seat sale that would have saved us about $300. Flying into one city and out of another is not out of the ordinary for trans-atlantic flights and usually doesn't change the price.

As to what to see & do in each ports, haunt the Europe board!! You won't believe all the good stuff you can find on that board. After 15 cruises all over the place we finally did most of ports on our own and it was just great thanks to all the info on these boards.

Have fun planning and enjoy your anniversary cruise!

[KruzinAl]

We took the Galaxy 09/26 from Rome. Read my review just published yesterday under new member reviews.

Galaxy or Millie are great the 2007 sailings are not available yet. Grand Princess is also nice but we found their prices were a lot higher than Celebrity for a similar itinerary. We saw the new Carnival Liberty in Venice. Also a nice itinerary, but we're not big fans of Carnival.

Costa, a smaller line has many cruises in Europe. Scuba activities would be best around the Greek Islands of Mykonos, Rhodes etc. We loved Santorini. There is a great hike from Thira to Oia, along the rim in Santorini. We didn't have time to do it though this trip. Most Europeans are on vacation in August, so it is really busy on the ships and the coastal ports. Galaxy had 21 kids in Sept and 500 in August. July/August are the hottest months, so if you are doing a lot of walking, avoid these months. LIke others say May June and Sept/Oct are great. If you want a lot of party action go to Mykonos in July/Aug. The Amalfi coast is fantastic, the water was so clear there, another good scuba spot.

Have fun

Al

[Buckeye Geo]

Thanks to all for some great insight. I will definately stick with Celebrity. My April cruise on the Mercury will make #5 with X. I think we will be looking at October '07. Thanks again.

[reader5]

Our family of 5 were also on the Millenium - Venice to Barcelona - May 2004 and have to agree - it was our favorite cruise of the bunch.

The itinerary can't be beat - required a lot of reading these forums and getting tips about tours, etc.

Some of the best pictures were along the Amalfi coast, Oia cliffs in Santorini Greece, Dubrovnic, & in Athens.

 

It qualifies for the vacation of a lifetime.

 

Graham

 

I am doing the same itinerary in May 2006 (May 14th). How was the weather? Lots of sunshine? Any rain? Temperatures?

[gprentice]

Sorry for the late reply.

 

Our trip was in late May/June 2004 and the weather was perfect for us. Santorini was the warmest of the stops (80F or so). I don't remember the weather being a problem at all. (Hardly any rain...)

 

Farther into July and August is warmer, but also a lot more tourists and crowds. When visiting major tourist attractions like the Vatican, you don't want to be in large lineups, especially when you'd like to see many things in a day. (We booked http://www.driverinrome.com/ for our Rome stop - it was a full day tour in a minivan going from place to place - was excellent)

 

Enjoy your trip (I'd love to do it all over again).

 

Graham

[floridakeith]

We did Galaxy's 10 night Eastern Med cruise this last June and we wrote a review that is on the members cruise reviews section. If you want to experience Greek Islands then this is the cruise. Mykonos and Santorini were our favourite ports of the entire cruise. They are breathtakingly beautiful. We went 3 June and the weather was ideal. Greece can get very hot in the summer months. Equally there were very few children on the ship as it was long before the start of European school holidays. Let me know if you have any specific questions or if you can't find the review so I can e-mail you a copy.

[TourDeCruise]

We have done 2.5 Celebrity Mediterranean cruises -- Classic Mediterranean (September 2003), Eastern Mediterranean (May 2005), and Transatlantic (1/2 one, same cruise as Liat/Phil in May 2004). We absolutely love the Mediterranean cruises and have booked another for 2006. Our favorite was definitely the Eastern Mediterranean because of our passion for archaeology & ancient history, but many people prefer the Classic Mediterranean as their first Mediterranean cruise because it covers more countries. The Eastern Mediterranean has less countries but has more Greek Islands.

 

If your main interest is the Greek Islands, I would recommend the Eastern Mediterranean (Italy, Turkey, Greece). If your main interest is ancient history and archaeology, I would also recommend the Eastern Mediterranean -- although the Classic Mediterranean still has a lot to offer in this regard. If you want to get the most diversity as far as different countries, I would recommend the Classic Mediterranean (Barcelona to Venice or reverse with Spain, Italy, France, Greece & Croatia).

 

All three of our cruises were in May and September as you can see above. 2006 will be in September once again. Our weather in the Mediterranean countries was fantastic -- around 80s. Besides the best weather, our preference is to cruise when there are less children as well.

 

Whichever Mediterranean itinerary you choose will be a wonderful one.

[Liat]

One for the Eastern and one for the West-Central Mediterranean. There are so many interesting stops that you really can't do the Mediterranean justice in one cruise. Even then, you will find yourself rushed in ports like Livorno, if you want to see Florence and/or Pisa and Civitavecchia when you go to Rome. All roads lead to Rome so you will go there. And Naples offers Pompeii; the Amalfi/Sorrento coast and Capri! Not to mention Monaco, Cannes and Nice on the French Riviera stop. Getting weary already!

You have probably noted some consistent advice on when to go - either May or September. Both these offer some relief from crowds, and you may even get lucky with "shoulder" air fares lower than the summer high season fares.

Some advice. Ignore what the cruise line says and take the train to Rome. Italian trains are reliable, fairly fast and clean. Pick out one or two things to see in Rome, but don't expect to see the Vatican Museum or Sistine Chapel unless you hire a guide with a car on your own in advance with a guaranteed itinerary and pay a lot for it. Take a half day tour of Florence. Celebrity has one, and it is pretty good. You really can't do Pisa and Florence in one day with any comfort, and the half day tour will let you wander around a little on your own. Make a choice in Naples, you can't do everything. We loved Capri and saw a lot there in one day. If you start in Barcelona; go there three days before the ship leaves and enjoy a great (and reasonably priced) city. If you end up in Venice; stay for two more days (at some expense - it is a very costly city) in addition to the overnight on board ship, if that is part of your cruise as it was with ours on Millennium in 2003.

All in all, it may be a bit hectic, but it will be a memorable cruise.