European Cruise - where to start?

[lmmason428]

We've cruised a few times in the Caribbean and Bahamas, but would like to plan a European cruise. I feel so overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start. Any pointers to lead me in the right direction? Thank you!

[LHT28]

Decide what ports you would like to see

Med, Baltic, Norway, British Isles, then look for a ship that goes where you want to go & in your budget

You may want to talk to a cruise specialist in your area to help narrow down your options

European cruise are usually more port intensive

[easyboy]

When we first planned for a European cruise, what came to our mind first were historical sites that we first knew from school. Baltic and British Isles cruises were our initial consideration. We took off from there.

 

 

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[Velvetwater]

Med cruises tend to be the most popular over here so if you want a warmish one I would start with those...just make sure its a 'grand' Med. Meaning that it goes to the East and West of the Med sea.

 

If you want to tick off quite a few European countries and want a different climate then a Baltic is your best bet. It isn't cold but it is often a Spring type of weather in Baltic summer season. The Med is the cheaper part of Europe to travel in but the Baltics are awesome.

 

I wouldn't recommend doing a British Isles cruise purely because it is so easy to get around here on high speed trains and quick ferries or an easy rent a car. Also I would opt out of Norway as its one country and it can get quite samey and expensive.

 

I see you sail Carnival...they tend to do longish Med cruises when they are over here after a new ship build. If you are quick the Horizon has a East/West Med Inaugural in April. Failing that, Royal and NCL have given us some lovely cruises in Europe.

[Essiesmom]

Decide what it is that you want from a European trip. It will be very different from the Caribbean and Bahamas. You won't find white sand beaches, zip lines and other attractions created for tourists, and not a Diamonds International in sight. You don't get a rudimentary map of the port because there are no recommended shops. The Med and Baltic are all about history, culture, architecture. Norway is about scenery. Decide what you want to see, where you want to go, then go to http://www.cruisetimetables and find cruises that go there. EM

[lmmason428]

Thank you everyone! This information is all very helpful! We are looking for a cultural and historical experience this round. I will start digging in to researching Mediterranean and Baltic routes.

[jocap]

I'd start by looking at what flights are like from your nearest airport, and the prices... then think about ships which sail from nearby ports. Lots of ships go from Barcelona in Spain, and from Venice or near to Rome in Italy; ships from the UK take in the west side of Spain and France. Choose the sort of ship which appeals to you and yours, and an itinerary which makes sense.

I cannot recommend any particular ones, as we're all so different; I've been on several to different parts of the Med, and would go back to each, but the ones we'd always repeat are Norway and the British Isles.

[John Bull]

 

I wouldn't recommend doing a British Isles cruise purely because it is so easy to get around here on high speed trains and quick ferries or an easy rent a car..

 

Agreed.

And I think the same with most countries around the Med.

Altho we've done a couple of Med cruises we prefer to travel Spain, France, Italy by car.

Easy too by train, or a few short-haul flights.

 

Whereas for the Baltic, cruising is the way to go, because travel between its cities is easy ovenite by ship but tortuous & time-consuming by land.

To a lesser extent, the same applies to the Adriatic countries + Greek islands + Turkish ports.

 

But if you've never been to Europe, you want to cruise, and you may not have the chance to return - then the Med has more iconic cities than other cruise itineraries, although a port-of-call day only allows you a flavour of each.

But give yourselves a few days shore-based, ideally a one-way cruise between, say, Rome & Venice and with a few days pre and post cruise.

 

JB :)

[Coffeeluvr05]

We've cruised a few times in the Caribbean and Bahamas, but would like to plan a European cruise. I feel so overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start. Any pointers to lead me in the right direction? Thank you!

 

 

 

We loved the 11-day European Capitals itinerary on the Caribbean Princess last April. It went to Guernsey, two Ireland ports (Cobh/cork and Dublin), Hamburg, Germany (for Berlin), Rotterdam, Belgium, and Le Havre, France.

 

Missed France die to worker strike so be aware that France strikes and it could impact you getting to see it.

 

 

 

 

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[LHT28]

We did a British Isles cruise

we did not want to travel by train & DH is not comfortable driving on the other side of the road

We love the scenery in Norway & would do that cruise again in a heart beat

Med cruise ..timing is everything ...summer is hot & crowded

Baltic was good weather in June not sure if it gets hot in the summer

These are things to consider ..if it is hot it can be tiring touring in the heat

Everyone has their preferences & comfort levels

Choose what works best for you

JMO

[teriandgunny]

We've cruised a few times in the Caribbean and Bahamas, but would like to plan a European cruise. I feel so overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start. Any pointers to lead me in the right direction? Thank you!

 

I am going to give you a little something different and I would suggest depending on where you want to go and what you want to see a river cruise may be a better option. My husband and I love it. It can't be beat. For pricing it includes everything like tours and even wine and beer with dinner and an evening cocktail hour. When you cruise on a regular ocean liner everything else is a fee but for river cruising it is included. Sometimes you can even get airfare for as low as 395.00 per person.

[cmdchiefthom]

Thank you everyone! This information is all very helpful! We are looking for a cultural and historical experience this round. I will start digging in to researching Mediterranean and Baltic routes.

 

I used to live on the Greek Island of Crete, and I am partial to the Easter Med for cruising. For our retirement, my wife and I decided to do 3 B2B's starting in Rome, to Venice via Naples, Messina Sicily, Kotor Montenegro, Dubrovnik and returned to Venice. Spent a whole day in Venice while the ship debarked one load of PAX and embarked a new Group. The next week included Corfu, Olympia, Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and back again to another day in Venice. The final week took us to Kusadasi Turkey, Dubrovnik again, Split, Koper and back to Venice for disembarkation and the flight home. It was an exceptional adventure, and I certainly would do it again!

[Bizmark'sMom]

What do you want to see? And where do you want to go? Some areas are better done via river cruises. Some are better via ocean liners.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We've cruised a few times in the Caribbean and Bahamas, but would like to plan a European cruise. I feel so overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start. Any pointers to lead me in the right direction? Thank you!

 

 

 

To get you the most from that airfare (learn to use "ITA Matrix" for price comparisons (no ticket sales), start and end in different ports. NEVER have Rome (Civitavecchia) as a one day stop in the middle of an itinerary. Book a few land days in those start/end ports.

 

IMO, a great 18 day itinerary for a first time Med cruise would go between Lisbon and Rome with at least one Sicily stop. Even though this would be port intensive (2 -3 spaced out sea days would be nice if possible),

 

I suggest that you don't listen to those who would say the ship doesn't matter (since it's port intensive). After all, the ship is where you'll sleep and eat. And, if you're used to even half decent hotels and restaurants, the last thing you'll want is some megaship with thundering herds of passengers and food akin to Appleby's or Golden Corral (at best).

 

 

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[flamomo]

I very much like cruises that begin and/or end in Venice. Once one arrives at the airport in Venice, it's just a 20 or so minute ride via bus to the transportation hub of the city, the Piazzale Roma. From there hotels, etc, can be accessed either by walking or by water taxi. It's strictly a walking city (no motorized vehicles, only water transport) with tons of history everywhere.

Once aboard one's ship, ports in the eastern med are pretty close together, and you can visit other Italian ports, Greek island ports, ports in Croatioa, Montenegro, Slovenia, etc, etc , etc. There's SO much to see!

It's one of my favorite places in the entire world.

[kawagama]

I very much like cruises that begin and/or end in Venice. Once one arrives at the airport in Venice, it's just a 20 or so minute ride via bus to the transportation hub of the city, the Piazzale Roma. From there hotels, etc, can be accessed either by walking or by water taxi. It's strictly a walking city (no motorized vehicles, only water transport) with tons of history everywhere.

Once aboard one's ship, ports in the eastern med are pretty close together, and you can visit other Italian ports, Greek island ports, ports in Croatioa, Montenegro, Slovenia, etc, etc , etc. There's SO much to see!

It's one of my favorite places in the entire world.

 

Agree on the ease of reaching the port and Venice as a beautiful city to visit. Be wary of time of year, however. We recently booked a cruise out of Venice in October and were delayed by almost a full day due to fog and the port being closed. The consequence of this was that our itinerary was drastically changed and we did not get to see the Greek Islands that were on the original itinerary (and the reason why we booked this cruise). Also be aware that Venetians are not pleased with the big cruise ships coming through their canal and will sometimes stage small boat regattas in the canal to prevent the ships coming and going. This also happened for this particular cruise and delayed it even longer. Personally, I would never book a cruise out of Venice again.

[lamchops]

I just returned from my 6th European cruise. This one was different in that I was tasked with choosing an itinerary for a group of 10 that have never cruised Europe.

 

I narrowed it down to a choice between the RCI Rhapsody from Venice and the NCL Spirit from Rome. I ended up choosing the Spirit because of cost, freestyle, Rome and the port of Valletta Malta.

 

The itinerary was Rome-Civitavecchia, Cagliari, Heraklion, Athens, Olympia, Santorini, Valletta, Messina, Naples, and back to Rome with only 1 sea day.

 

Everyone enjoyed it as the itinerary was a good mix of ancient history, iconic sites, culture, dining and shopping.

There’s many airline choices as the group used 3 different airlines arriving on different days. Have fun choosing

[donaldsc]

Try your public library.

 

DON

[flamomo]

Agree on the ease of reaching the port and Venice as a beautiful city to visit. Be wary of time of year, however. We recently booked a cruise out of Venice in October and were delayed by almost a full day due to fog and the port being closed. The consequence of this was that our itinerary was drastically changed and we did not get to see the Greek Islands that were on the original itinerary (and the reason why we booked this cruise). Also be aware that Venetians are not pleased with the big cruise ships coming through their canal and will sometimes stage small boat regattas in the canal to prevent the ships coming and going. This also happened for this particular cruise and delayed it even longer. Personally, I would never book a cruise out of Venice again.

 

Your fog story sounds similar to what we encountered on the Pacific Princess on October 17th of this year!! We were aboard her, at the end of a 23 day cruise, and the morning of the 17th we were unable to get into the port of Venice due to heavy fog, We sat at anchor about 6 miles offshore until mid-afternoon, when the fog finally cleared enough that the harbormaster able to re-open the port and we were the first cruise ship permitted to dock. Of course, due the lateness of our arrival they cancelled all of the ship's excursions, and it also severely reduced the amount of time we had for exploring the city. We did take the People Mover from the port over into the city itself, and did a self-guided walk-about for a couple of hours.

We were disembarking and flying back to the US at noon on the 18th, so doing any touring that day was out of the question.

 

I still would not hesitate to book a cruise starting a cruise in Venice. A situation like that is far from an everyday occurrence, and the opportunity to spend a few days in a unique historically significant place like Venice is much too important. This was my 4th time visiting Venice as part of a cruise, and the first time I have been delayed there for either weather conditions or anything else.

[Roz]

Have you considered a European river cruise? They're a bit pricey, but you get more touring time in small groups, and many lines include things ocean cruises don't, such as tours, tips, alcohol, transfers, etc.

 

Roz

[pris993]

We've cruised a few times in the Caribbean and Bahamas, but would like to plan a European cruise. I feel so overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start. Any pointers to lead me in the right direction? Thank you!

 

Europe is a big place, any idea of where? If not, I will give you a place to start... look at cruises going out of Barcelona... one of the easiest port to go in and out of... we have cruised from Rome, Istanbul, Athens, Venice, Southampton, Dover.... Barcelona is the easiest.

[Hflors]

One other thing you can consider (if you have the time) is an European cruise that begins here in the US. We did one last year. 42 days beginning and ending in Ft. Lauderdale. We stopped at like 25 ports through the MED. It was an awesome cruise and we would do it again in a heart beat. We are actually planning another European cruise, this time to the Baltic, but unfortunately the ship is going one way and we will need to fly home. Good luck and Happy planning!!!!

[Markanddonna]

Where do you really want to go and how much time do you have?

 

This may not be for you, but we get to Europe by booking a Transatlantic cruise and then fly to where we REALLY want to go. For ex,, we are taking the ship to Southampton, England and staying for a few days in London and then will fly to Poland. We have relatives there to visit. I found them through my work in genealogy. We will enjoy our third time to Poland this May.

 

You will find many inexpensive direct flights within Europe. Last year we found one $64 from Barcelona to Warsaw and then $25 from Warsaw to Rzeszow. That last one saved us a car rental and about 8 hours.

 

BTW- the weather was just as good in England, Sweden and Copenhagen (warm and sunny) as it was in the Mediterranean. You just can't predict the weather. It was gloomy and rainy half the time the Med.

[lynncarol]

River cruises in Europe can be impacted by water levels. Folks we knew ended up spending more time than they wanted on a bus as water was too high to get under bridges.

[kitty allen]

Consider logistics and how comfortable you are with getting yourself around. In some departure cities the international airport and cruise port are actually in the same city (Barcelona), in others (Southampton, Rome, Athens) they are at a distance - sometimes hours away. This is not a problem for us, but it is something to consider. The Mediterranean would be my recommendation for 1st time in Europe - you'll get Italy/Greece/France highlights and maybe Spain, Turkey and even north Africa is everybody is getting along. The Baltic is wonderful for northern Europe - Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc and usually hits Germany and St Petersburg Russia - although the Russia stop is a big hassle, so be prepared.