Mediterranean cruise

[tinykygal]

Sounds as though we might book a Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona  in 2020.

i have searched the threads, but I would appreciate your input for those who have taken these cruises.

Which cruise line do you recommend for this itinerary.

Secondly, is a balcony a must have?

We normally book inside stateroom due to cost.

 

Thank you.

[jocap]

We always used to have a balcony, but now we're happy with an inside or outside cabin, as our use of a balcony wasn't worth the extra money. Important if you're a sun worshipper, perhaps, but we just use the cabin as a hotel room and spend a lot of time on deck.

Plus, in the Med, you'll probably be ashore most of each day, so you'll just need somewhere to wash and sleep. 🙂

[George C]

We enjoyed our rccl out of Barcelona, balcony would be nice need to spend s couple of days in Barcelona which has was great and not expensive.

[CruiserBruce]

What cruise lines have you sailed before, and which ones are you happy with? Most mainstream, and many of the other cruise lines all cruise the Med. There is no one "best" cruise line for the Med (or anywhere else).

[scarey1165]

We did the Carnival Vista out of Barcelona in 2016 and we are doing the NCL Epic out of Barcelona this May.  These cruises are so port intensive that i don't think you need a balcony. We have cruised both of these lines before and knew we liked them so we stuck with ones we know we like. Barcelona is a great place. Try to spend a few days there!

[tinykygal]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

What cruise lines have you sailed before, and which ones are you happy with? Most mainstream, and many of the other cruise lines all cruise the Med. There is no one "best" cruise line for the Med (or anywhere else).

RCCL several times. CArnival, Celebrity, NCL, HAL, Princess.  FavoritenHAL due to health scores and music venues.  Thank you.

[tinykygal]

1 hour ago, scarey1165 said:

We did the Carnival Vista out of Barcelona in 2016 and we are doing the NCL Epic out of Barcelona this May.  These cruises are so port intensive that i don't think you need a balcony. We have cruised both of these lines before and knew we liked them so we stuck with ones we know we like. Barcelona is a great place. Try to spend a few days there!

Our daughter cruised Celebrity.  She loved Barcelona, they stayed 3 days.

 

[CruiserBruce]

26 minutes ago, tinykygal said:

RCCL several times. CArnival, Celebrity, NCL, HAL, Princess.  FavoritenHAL due to health scores and music venues.  Thank you.

 

HAL runs cruises out of BCN. I believe the others do as well. Start your research there. Again, there is no one "best" for everyone, but if you like HAL, there is no reason not to start there.

[OzKiwiJJ]

A balcony is nice but not necessary as Med cruises tend to be very port intensive. We did have a balcony on the Med cruise we did on Royal Princess as we were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary so wanted to be able to have the special Balcony Dinner that Princess does so well. However if you don't have a balcony make sure you are on deck for sailaway if you go to Kotor.

 

There is plenty of choice as to cruise lines. Choose by itinerary, and take note of the times the ship will be in port. Some lines have shorter port stops than others. We enjoyed our Princess cruise. We did a 21 night cruise and the deciding factor between the Princess cruise and a similar Celebrity cruise came down to Princess having launderettes for guest use.

 

Barcelona is a lovely port to embark at. Do try to spend a few days there before/after your cruise to see the sights. La Sagrada Famiglia is stunning.

 

 

[Satelliteforall]

You can start with checking cruise timetables to see which ships are in Barcelona in your preferred time frame. Then you can check the cruise line for more info.

[paul929207]

We have done several Princess cruises in and/or out of BCN and loved them. 

 

We love a balcony, but it is not a must. Get what you are comfortable with.

[Essiesmom]

The above mentioned cruisetimetables:  https://www.cruisetimetables.com/cruises-from-barcelona-spain.html

 

Why do you want to go to the Med?  If it is to visit particular places, then find cruises that visit those places, scrutinize the time in port, and make your choice.  What you see/do in port is more important that the ship you are eating and sleeping on.  When you spend every day doing an 8 hour tour all you want to do when you get back to the ship is shower and eat, then relax.  Whether the ship has a water park, climbing wall, etc. is unimportant.  

Edited January 21, 2019 by Essiesmom

[tinykygal]

We are making progress.

12N in 2020. 

Cruises are similar except for a stop in Monte Carlo.

Anyone taken a similar one?

Going to go to the other threads as well.

Thank you.

[lamchops]

On 1/20/2019 at 2:06 PM, tinykygal said:

Sounds as though we might book a Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona  in 2020.

i have searched the threads, but I would appreciate your input for those who have taken these cruises.

Which cruise line do you recommend for this itinerary.

Secondly, is a balcony a must have?

We normally book inside stateroom due to cost.

 

Thank you.

I prefer the eastern Mediterranean over the western Mediterranean but you will get mostly western Mediterranean out of Barcelona. To me, the cruise line is not that important as I choose cruises with few sea days. Same goes with the cabin as we only use it to sleep. Typically a 7 day Mediterranean cruise will only have 1 sea day and a 10-11 day cruise will have 2-3.

 

My suggestion is to pick a cruise line based on the ports of call and value/price. My favorite Mediterranean cruise ports are Valletta, Dubrovnik, Venice, and Barcelona for ease of doing it yourself as well as the beauty of the city.

[Hlitner]

A balcony is always nice if it is within your budget.  As to the cruise line, we would suggest choosing the best itinerary and going with the cruise line that offers the best itinerary/price.  When looking at itineraries in Europe you should pay close attention to the times and day of the week in each port.  Certain popular tourist sites/museums can be closed one day a week so you need to pay attention to what you want to see...and if it is open on your port day.  For example, the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel) is generally closed on Sunday's.   or.....The famous Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.    As to the times in port, look for long port days..keeping in mind that some desired tourist destinations can be 1-2 hours from the port.  Good examples would be Civatavecchia to Rome (about 1:30  each way) or Livorno to Florence (about 1:20 each way). 

 

Also consider a cruise that beings in one port (such as Barcelona) and ends in a different port (like Civitavecchia).  In those cases one can often add a few days at either end....which maximizes your vacation with some valuable land time.  One can usually find "open jaw" airline deals that handle flying in and out of different airports...without paying much more then a regular round trip.

 

Hank

[tinykygal]

Thank you for your suggestions and comments.

DH never wants to splurge on a balcony.

We use our stateroom for napping, changing clothes and sleeping.

It would be nice once in awhile to have a chair outside asmour last cruise had the worst chair hogs EVER.

[cheeseclan]

Another thing to remember is that it gets extremely hot in the med.  We went on a med cruise from Barcelona to Venice the end of May beginning of June.  It was on Princess cruise line. It was so hot in Istanbul that people were passing out.  I would go earlier than later.

 

As far as the cabin goes we always get a balcony cabin.  I like being able to sit out there while DH is getting ready in the early am and vice verse.  Also on sea days it is nice to relax where it is quiet.

 

 

[lamchops]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:41 AM, tinykygal said:

Thank you for your suggestions and comments.

DH never wants to splurge on a balcony.

We use our stateroom for napping, changing clothes and sleeping.

It would be nice once in awhile to have a chair outside asmour last cruise had the worst chair hogs EVER.

 

Your husband and I would get along great.

 

We were upgraded to a balcony once and we basically just used it once for breakfast because we thought we should. European cruises are so port intensive that we use the time onboard for dining, ship’s amenities, and sleeping. Lounge chairs were plentiful on all our European cruises though you may not be next to the pool.

The savings of the inside cabin has allowed us to travel and cruise in Europe multiple times in the last few years. We’ve even started booking sail away cabins as we don’t drink and just buy the specialty dining. As a DIYer I feel the need to see/taste as much of Europe while I’m able.

 

My BIL is doing a cruise with us next month and his balcony cabin, perks, and premium economy flight would allow us two trips to Europe and cruise. Different strokes for different folks I guess. 

 

[iancal]

Pay attention to time in port.   You want the longest port times possible.  Sailing at 3 or 4PM is not great.

 

if your cruise is port intensive the cruise line might not make a big difference.  Last time we booked there was a thirty point spread between HAL, Princess,  and  Celebrity.  We went with the least expensive balcony cabin of the three.

 

Understand where the ship docks vis a vis the attractions you want to visit.  Especially Rome, Florence, and Sicily (Civitavecchia and Livorno, various in Sicily)

Edited January 26, 2019 by iancal

[wheezedr]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:47 AM, Hlitner said:

Also consider a cruise that beings in one port (such as Barcelona) and ends in a different port (like Civitavecchia).  In those cases one can often add a few days at either end....which maximizes your vacation with some valuable land time.  One can usually find "open jaw" airline deals that handle flying in and out of different airports...without paying much more then a regular round trip.

 

Hank

As he often does, Hank makes a very good point which needs to be emphasized with respect to Med cruises and which would have made my initial planning simpler had I learned it earlier. Unlike closed loop cruises in the US, Mediterranean cruises embark and debark on a continuing basis. On our Princess Cruise the Saturday stops were Athens, Rome(Civitavecchia) and Barcelona.  Cruisers got on and off at all of them. Some people were on a week or 2 beforehand and left midway in our cruise, others joined with us and more came aboard in the weeks that followed.  As Hank notes, that can allow you to maximize your ground time by starting and ending at different ports to add days at each end.  A good example would be embarking Barcelona and end in Rome with time to spend there or even train elsewhere in Italy.  Going the opposite way you could start in Rome and debark in Barcelona, spend a few days there and hop the rails to Madrid. Even Venice becomes a potential player in some of these scenarios. The main point is to decide what you want to see and find a cruise that fits to you.  In our case Istanbul was a high point and we were able to see it before many lines dropped going there.

[Ashland]

We've done the Western Med with RCI on Liberty and are booked for the Med/Greece on Vision this May...both have/will be out of Barcelona. The option of a quiet personal outdoor space the balcony provides is a must for us.

Edited January 26, 2019 by Ashland

[tinykygal]

On 1/25/2019 at 11:39 AM, lamchops said:

 

Your husband and I would get along great.

 

We were upgraded to a balcony once and we basically just used it once for breakfast because we thought we should. European cruises are so port intensive that we use the time onboard for dining, ship’s amenities, and sleeping. Lounge chairs were plentiful on all our European cruises though you may not be next to the pool.

The savings of the inside cabin has allowed us to travel and cruise in Europe multiple times in the last few years. We’ve even started booking sail away cabins as we don’t drink and just buy the specialty dining. As a DIYer I feel the need to see/taste as much of Europe while I’m able.

 

My BIL is doing a cruise with us next month and his balcony cabin, perks, and premium economy flight would allow us two trips to Europe and cruise. Different strokes for different folks I guess. 

 

Same here.

I have friends who refuse to cruise without a balcony.

I appreciate all the positive comments.

[DOJO1]

 

 

 

 

 

3

On 1/21/2019 at 9:06 AM, tinykygal said:

Sounds as though we might book a Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona  in 2020.

i have searched the threads, but I would appreciate your input for those who have taken these cruises.

Which cruise line do you recommend for this itinerary.

 

 

 me too? Any suggestions although we are looking at Sept-Oct 2019.

Cheers