Just Booked Our First Med Cruise On Spirit!

[PaulInPGH]

Took advantage of reduced deposits and booked a Western Med cruise on Spirit out of Rome for this October! We've only ever cruised the Caribbean, so we're pretty excited, and overwhelmed, if the truth must be told. I'm extra excited because I found a TA with a group rate, which saved us $400 off the price of the cruise.

 

If anyone has any tips or advice for a first time Med cruiser I'd love to hear them. Anything especially that we should expect to be different than the Caribbean cruise experience. I know the trip will be port-intensive, with much longer days off the ship, but anything else you think I should know as we start to prep would be appreciated!

 

Cheers.

[tmackel]

Hope you have a great time. We were on a med cruise in 2014, here's the link to our review. Maybe you'll find something that might help you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2129883&highlight=spirit

 

Have FUN!

[elvisdaredevil]

We are leaving from Barcelona 11 days we will be in rome. Check out my roll call pages to see some tour ideas. We got great off the ship tours for half the price.

[Jldevlin]

You picked a great ship to do the Med!!! Start with your roll call... we did most tours independently with people we hooked up from there. Half the cost of ships tours and much easier with smaller vehicles than buses. I love the Spirit ...like really love her ...would do this trip again in a heartbeat!!!!

[fabnfortysomething]

there are links to 2 Spirit reviews at the bottom of my post including details of the private tours we did

 

I love the Spirit-its is a really pretty older ship and for a port intensive itinery like the Med there is enough to do on board without the water slides etc on the larger ships

 

You do need to plan ahead with shore excursions as unlike in the Caribbean it is unusual to walk off the pier and find tour operators unless you go for HOHO buses

On the other hand public transport is usually good if you have no mobility issues

[PaulInPGH]

Thank you all. There's definitely a lot to take in, much more so than just finding which beach you want to visit for the day, lol. I think we'll likely start with some guide books to narrow down what exactly we'd like to visit, then try to plan tours from there. I really appreciate you sharing your previous experiences, that's very helpful. Luckily I have ten months to figure it out.

 

Cheers.

[SeahawkSiren]

We too are doing a Mediterranean cruise on the Spirit in May (only 120 more days, not that I'm counting ;)).

 

I definitely recommend getting some guide books as a starter for the major cities you are going to. I got the Rick Steves pocket guides for Rome and Barcelona and they are very handy with tons of information. I have already flagged several sections in the books of the areas and sights we are interested in visiting. There is also a color foldout map in the back of each book. That will be very handy to carry around.

 

I agree with the comment about planning ahead with the shore excursions (we book our excursions through the ship, I know a lot of people book independently). Either way, book early to make sure you get a spot. Just yesterday I booked all of our shore excursions. And there will be ports where we just do our own thing. I have also already booked our after cruise tours in Rome to see Vatican City and the Colosseum.

 

Have fun planning! I have had so much fun planning, and for me it really builds the anticipation! I have spent many, many hours researching things. It can be overwhelming at first. And yes, Med cruises are very port intensive but so worth it! Enjoy.

[Eleteace]

I don't particularly have any tips for the med cruise part but I just wanted to sing the phrases of the spirit!

 

Absolutely gorgeous ship, my favourite of NCLs by a mile. It's so spacious and grand.

 

I've got lots of photos of the spirit and why I love her so much here: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/10/15/ncls-norwegian-spirit-my-favourite-cruise-ship/

 

Have a fabulous time I'm very very envious!!!

 

 

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[PaulInPGH]

I don't particularly have any tips for the med cruise part but I just wanted to sing the phrases of the spirit!

 

Absolutely gorgeous ship, my favourite of NCLs by a mile. It's so spacious and grand.

 

I've got lots of photos of the spirit and why I love her so much here: http://cruisingisntjustforoldpeople.co.uk/2016/10/15/ncls-norwegian-spirit-my-favourite-cruise-ship/

 

Have a fabulous time I'm very very envious!!!

 

 

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This is really nice to hear. I know she's an older ship, but a lot of people really seem very happy with their experiences.

[luvtheships]

Open up a separate travel only checking acct and fund it with x amount of dollars. Get debit cards for it and designate 2 credit cards for travel only.

 

Do not use your regular daily checking and debit cards or your regular use credit card

 

Keep travel stuff separate from regular life stuff

 

Also bring euro from home. Enough to get you by if you are doing private cash only tours

 

Pay everything you can by credit card including the pre and post cruise hotels. Just pay at check in not in advance

 

Everyone will now say just use ATMs but if you get hacked you have no access to your travel checking and if you notice it and report it they will block your acct and debit card

 

Plus the bad guys will drain the acct. and you don't want them draining your regular life checking acct do you? Having significant euro brought from home will be a lifesaver in this case

 

been there btw

 

Buy travel insurance

 

Get great walking shoes

 

Get a great across the chest travel bag and use a safety pin to attach the zippers shut

 

If you are male pin your pocket shut where you hold valuables and if using a travel belt pin that to your pants waist

 

Make sure your cell has international use capacity and if it doesn't it's time to upgrade

 

Research each and every port extensively as it's part of the fun

 

Pack light

 

Go with the flow and don't be demanding of the Europeans

 

Enjoy the trip and savor every minute if it and don't expect to sleep much. Lol

 

 

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Edited January 4, 2017 by luvtheships

[Ottawamomof2]

So exciting! We went on our first Med Cruise last summer, after having sailed the Caribbean twice and it was AMAZING. If I could, I would sail the Med every year. We left from Civitavecchia and sailed west to Barcelona. There is so much to do and it really depends what kind of vacation you want to have. Ours was very port intensive (6 ports, 7 days, one overnight) and we took full advantage. We had also never been to Europe and we are mid 30s and 40s. Here are some of my tips and advice:

 

- Stay in Rome for two nights pre-cruise. Or three if you can afford it. We did everything we wanted to in the two days, the third day would have been just to eat and drink more of the delicious food and drinks lol.

- Stay in a hotel near the Trevi fountain or Parthenon. The location is pretty central to the Colosseum and to the Vatican. We walked EVERYWHERE because our hotel was located in between all the main sites. It was amazing.

- Don't overspend on the hotel because you won't be in your room much.

- Drink a Spritz...or two...or three...

- Don't eat at places that are right on a main street. We did and we spent WAY more than we should have. Find places on quieter streets.

- Take the local train to the port from Rome. It was super easy and cheap. It's just a bit of a walk from the train station to the port.

- book your own excursions and research what you want to do. I did soooooooo much research in advance and it really helped because I knew what to expect and what all of our options were at each location. We booked two through the ship (we had a lot of OBC)and two on our own and we left two ports just as free ports.

- Buy tickets for things online in advance. I did this for the Vatican, Colosseum, and The Accademia museum in Florence)

- if you are in Barcelona overnight, take a wine and tapas tour. We had an AWESOME time. Message me if you want a recommendation.

- Research the train schedules...and be flexible or have a back up plan if there is a strike! That happened to us in Florence. We split a cab with a family but it cost a lot and we hadn't planned on it.

- South of France is amazing! Eat croissant and baguette and go to Monte Carlo if you can.

- Bring lots of Euros and don't feel badly about spending them! We overspent on certain things (drinking in Monte Carlo, clubbing in Ibiza) but we really wanted to do them and didn't want to regret not doing anything and missing our chance.

- Have fun!!!!! :)

[PaulInPGH]

So exciting! We went on our first Med Cruise last summer, after having sailed the Caribbean twice and it was AMAZING. If I could, I would sail the Med every year. We left from Civitavecchia and sailed west to Barcelona. There is so much to do and it really depends what kind of vacation you want to have. Ours was very port intensive (6 ports, 7 days, one overnight) and we took full advantage. We had also never been to Europe and we are mid 30s and 40s. Here are some of my tips and advice:

 

- Stay in Rome for two nights pre-cruise. Or three if you can afford it. We did everything we wanted to in the two days, the third day would have been just to eat and drink more of the delicious food and drinks lol.

- Stay in a hotel near the Trevi fountain or Parthenon. The location is pretty central to the Colosseum and to the Vatican. We walked EVERYWHERE because our hotel was located in between all the main sites. It was amazing.

- Don't overspend on the hotel because you won't be in your room much.

- Drink a Spritz...or two...or three...

- Don't eat at places that are right on a main street. We did and we spent WAY more than we should have. Find places on quieter streets.

- Take the local train to the port from Rome. It was super easy and cheap. It's just a bit of a walk from the train station to the port.

- book your own excursions and research what you want to do. I did soooooooo much research in advance and it really helped because I knew what to expect and what all of our options were at each location. We booked two through the ship (we had a lot of OBC)and two on our own and we left two ports just as free ports.

- Buy tickets for things online in advance. I did this for the Vatican, Colosseum, and The Accademia museum in Florence)

- if you are in Barcelona overnight, take a wine and tapas tour. We had an AWESOME time. Message me if you want a recommendation.

- Research the train schedules...and be flexible or have a back up plan if there is a strike! That happened to us in Florence. We split a cab with a family but it cost a lot and we hadn't planned on it.

- South of France is amazing! Eat croissant and baguette and go to Monte Carlo if you can.

- Bring lots of Euros and don't feel badly about spending them! We overspent on certain things (drinking in Monte Carlo, clubbing in Ibiza) but we really wanted to do them and didn't want to regret not doing anything and missing our chance.

- Have fun!!!!! :)

 

This is great info, thank you! If you remember, can you tell me the name of the centrally located hotel in Rome where you stayed? It would definitely be nice to be able to walk around a bit.

 

We're definitely doing two or three nights before the cruise, and possibly one night after depending on our available vacation days. We may actually fly to Venice and do a night or two there, since for some reason it's currently about $700 for us to fly there versus flying to Rome, and I've read getting to Rome from Venice is pretty easy on the high-speed train. Still mulling it over, but since our cruise doesn't hit Venice it might be a cool option.

[Ottawamomof2]

Would have loved to do Venice but we couldn't make it happen. I heard one night in Venice is enough. The hotel in Rome we stayed at was called Albergo Cesari. We paid 150 Euro per night but the location was worth it! There was also breakfast included which was delicious and a really nice roof top terrace we visited to relax and have drinks every night. I highly recommend it :)

[PaulInPGH]

Would have loved to do Venice but we couldn't make it happen. I heard one night in Venice is enough. The hotel in Rome we stayed at was called Albergo Cesari. We paid 150 Euro per night but the location was worth it! There was also breakfast included which was delicious and a really nice roof top terrace we visited to relax and have drinks every night. I highly recommend it :)

 

Thanks so much for the recommendation!

 

Yes, I think we might end up doing one night in Venice, then two days in Rome before the cruise, then one day in Rome post-cruise, then back to Venice the day we fly home--assuming we can make the flights/trains all work together, and assuming the price of the Venice flights doesn't go up prohibitively.

[luvtheships]

Thanks so much for the recommendation!

 

 

 

Yes, I think we might end up doing one night in Venice, then two days in Rome before the cruise, then one day in Rome post-cruise, then back to Venice the day we fly home--assuming we can make the flights/trains all work together, and assuming the price of the Venice flights doesn't go up prohibitively.

 

 

It's very risky to go from Rome to Venice on the 4 hour high speed train on the same day you want to fly out of Venice.

 

Fwiw you might be getting better airfare but all the hoops you need to jump thru for this airfare are eroding that savings

 

Play around with the airfares and see what happens and do look into departing from say Milan instead

 

Case in point....JFK/Paris. Paris/Rome. Naples/JFK. When booked as one trip...$1700

 

When I booked JFK/Paris. Naples/JFK it was $693

 

I then booked Paris/Rome on its own for $75 including checked luggage

 

Big difference and guess what it's the same airline and flight times as the $1700 ticket.

 

 

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[PaulInPGH]

It's very risky to go from Rome to Venice on the 4 hour high speed train on the same day you want to fly out of Venice.

 

Fwiw you might be getting better airfare but all the hoops you need to jump thru for this airfare are eroding that savings

 

Play around with the airfares and see what happens and do look into departing from say Milan instead

 

Case in point....JFK/Paris. Paris/Rome. Naples/JFK. When booked as one trip...$1700

 

When I booked JFK/Paris. Naples/JFK it was $693

 

I then booked Paris/Rome on its own for $75 including checked luggage

 

Big difference and guess what it's the same airline and flight times as the $1700 ticket.

 

 

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Definitely some excellent thoughts, thank you. I'll definitely be spending some time playing with different flight options, for sure.

[Cassicruiser]

So exciting! We went on our first Med Cruise last summer, after having sailed the Caribbean twice and it was AMAZING. If I could, I would sail the Med every year. We left from Civitavecchia and sailed west to Barcelona. There is so much to do and it really depends what kind of vacation you want to have. Ours was very port intensive (6 ports, 7 days, one overnight) and we took full advantage. We had also never been to Europe and we are mid 30s and 40s. Here are some of my tips and advice:

 

- Stay in Rome for two nights pre-cruise. Or three if you can afford it. We did everything we wanted to in the two days, the third day would have been just to eat and drink more of the delicious food and drinks lol.

- Stay in a hotel near the Trevi fountain or Parthenon. The location is pretty central to the Colosseum and to the Vatican. We walked EVERYWHERE because our hotel was located in between all the main sites. It was amazing.

- Don't overspend on the hotel because you won't be in your room much.

- Drink a Spritz...or two...or three...

- Don't eat at places that are right on a main street. We did and we spent WAY more than we should have. Find places on quieter streets.

- Take the local train to the port from Rome. It was super easy and cheap. It's just a bit of a walk from the train station to the port.

- book your own excursions and research what you want to do. I did soooooooo much research in advance and it really helped because I knew what to expect and what all of our options were at each location. We booked two through the ship (we had a lot of OBC)and two on our own and we left two ports just as free ports.

- Buy tickets for things online in advance. I did this for the Vatican, Colosseum, and The Accademia museum in Florence)

- if you are in Barcelona overnight, take a wine and tapas tour. We had an AWESOME time. Message me if you want a recommendation.

- Research the train schedules...and be flexible or have a back up plan if there is a strike! That happened to us in Florence. We split a cab with a family but it cost a lot and we hadn't planned on it.

- South of France is amazing! Eat croissant and baguette and go to Monte Carlo if you can.

- Bring lots of Euros and don't feel badly about spending them! We overspent on certain things (drinking in Monte Carlo, clubbing in Ibiza) but we really wanted to do them and didn't want to regret not doing anything and missing our chance.

- Have fun!!!!! :)

 

Sounds like you had the best time! Please could you share the Tapas tour you did. We have one night in Barcelona at the end of our cruise in a few months, and that's exactly what we'd like to do. Thanks :)

[Samstress]

Sounds like you had the best time! Please could you share the Tapas tour you did. We have one night in Barcelona at the end of our cruise in a few months, and that's exactly what we'd like to do. Thanks :)

 

I would also appreciate info on the Tapas tour. We start our cruise in Barcelona on March 22nd & are doing 2 nights pre cruise.

Cheers,

Sandy (also from Ottawa:-))

[b_cruise]

Get started on your roll call. Maybe organize three tours and get group of 8 together in each. U will get a discount. I've used italytoursharing.com which are awesome.

 

I was on the spirit in 2015 and have another booked on the spirit for 2018. This year I'm trying the epic. I've booked all my tours again and have posted on my roll call.

 

I met some great people on the spirit. To date, it was one of the best yet. I did a food tour in Barcelona. It was 100 euro each but great. I believe it was called foodsofbcn...I will double check and repost. We also went to a flamingo ( spelling?) which was okay.