Which cruise company to choose for a Med cruise

[Sharratt]

We are wanting to try a med cruise but don,t know which ones have the best entertainment, anyone have any recommendations.

[Shmoo here]

5 minutes ago, Sharratt said:

We are wanting to try a med cruise but don,t know which ones have the best entertainment, anyone have any recommendations.

I'm not sure that many of use select cruises based on entertainment.  The entertainment onboard ships is pretty much vegas-style musical reviews.

 

We select cruises based on itinerary.

[lamchops]

Mediterranean cruises are port intensive and rarely have more than 1 or 2 sea days on a 7-10 day cruise. Unlike the Caribbean cruises, the ship is not the destination. Choose the itinerary that interests you the most and best suits your budget.

A typical Mediterranean day is:

wake early

have breakfast

go ashore for as long as you can

all aboard

have a snack 

get ready for dinner 

have dinner

see a show

walk around to see if anything is “happening”

chill for awhile and go to bed

 

wake up and repeat 😀

 

[Hlitner]

When it comes to Med cruises, many experienced cruisers will tell you that its all about the itinerary (and price).  Entertainment on the ship is generally not a deal breaker since most cruisers are exhausted from long port days and are often in bed pretty early to be ready for the next port.  When looking at itineraries pay attention to the times in port and which day of the week in each port.  For example, being in Civitavecchia (Rome) on a Sunday is not a good thing for many folks because the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel) are closed (except for one Sunday a month).  In other ports, various places will often be closed on a Sunday, Monday or even Tuesday.   The time to research these issues is before you book!

 

Hank

[dolittle]

Just now, lamchops said:

Mediterranean cruises are port intensive and rarely have more than 1 or 2 sea days on a 7-10 day cruise. Unlike the Caribbean cruises, the ship is not the destination. Choose the itinerary that interests you the most and best suits your budget.

A typical Mediterranean day is:

wake early

have breakfast

go ashore for as long as you can

all aboard

have a snack 

get ready for dinner 

have dinner

see a show

walk around to see if anything is “happening”

chill for awhile and go to bed

 

wake up and repeat 😀

 

Wow I was going to write the same post, This is what we do on Med. cruises.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, Sharratt said:

We are wanting to try a med cruise but don,t know which ones have the best entertainment, anyone have any recommendations.

I am not disagreeing with the posters who have said that this should not be your major reason for picking which line to sail on in the Mediterranean. However, if this is really the OP's main reason for deciding what line to cruise on for this itinerary from our experience, I would recommend the NCL Epic for Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soliel..  

[George C]

Larger rccl ships have best entertainment

[flamomo]

I have done a number cruises in the Med, and have another one booked for later this year. I cruise primarily with Princess cruises, so all of mine have been with that cruise line. The entertainment has been varied, with production shows with singers and dancers, individual singing performers, sometimes comedians, port related informational presentations, and now and then there will be a group of performers, such as flamenco dancers, brought on from a port, for a special show the evening we are in that port.

I personally like cruising with Princess because the atmosphere of the ship is rather low key, and classy but not stuffy. No "wet t-shirt" or hairy leg contests. There's a wide variety of itineraries available and varying cruise lengths.

[wheezedr]

Really entertainment as a factor should not rank at the top of the list for a Med.  I have to agree with Hank that both port stops as well as length of time in port is the key factor.  My last Med cruise was heavily driven by the desire to go to Istanbul and Ephesus.  Thank goodness we snuck into both just before a series of bombings led cruise lines to cancel their stops

[Markanddonna]

Might I recommend MSC if you want to continue more European or Italian type of entertainment onto the cruise ship?  I was very impressed with their high-quality entertainment in the Caribbean. I rate MSC with RCL overall.  They are the fastest growing cruise line in the world now.

[John Bull]

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

Might I recommend MSC if you want to continue more European or Italian type of entertainment onto the cruise ship?  I was very impressed with their high-quality entertainment in the Caribbean. I rate MSC with RCL overall.  They are the fastest growing cruise line in the world now.

 

The other main Italian line, Costa, is one I'd avoid because their ship's are far too frequently scheduled to be in port for short hours, typically half-days.

Do carefully check MSC'c hours in port.

 

MSC has the youngest fleet in the business, beautiful ship's. 

And excellent value, esp if you have kids.

But the ship's are unsurprisingly very "Italian", and that's not to everyone's taste.

I'd rate them higher than RCI, but it's a very different experience

 

JB 

[Lois R]

I agree with Hank's post...…..visiting the Med is all about the sights and the history. So much to see in Europe. Cruising to the Med (for me anyway) is more about that than the entertainment.  There are nights when I am too tired to see a show....a good night's sleep is more to my liking on a Mediterranean Cruise

[Velvetwater]

Choose a line such as NCL or Royal if you like entertainment but do not choose their huge ships as this will limit their ports.

 

See if you can get a voyage that does both sides of the Med if you are booking a longer voyage.

[kerryincork]

If you are from Europe then the ports aren't the main reason for cruising a large majority of Europeans would have been to most of the Mediterranean ports dozens of times on land based holidays since they were kids.

 

For entertainment I would choose NCL /RCCL for American style entertainment or MSC for European style entertainment. On MSC they offer entertainment in multiple languages while the other two it's predominantly English unless there is a a large contingency of Italian/French /Spanish on board too.

[ldubs]

On 2/16/2019 at 3:19 AM, ontheweb said:

 I would recommend the NCL Epic for Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soliel..  

 

Also consider the larger RCI ships.  

[Aquahound]

I totally disagree with the main response in this thread.  I think cruise line choice is a huge deal.  In fact, I think it's almost as important as the itinerary.  Maybe I just have more energy but I still wanted to take in the main shows and other entertainment in the evenings on my Med cruises.  Plus, there's usually at least 1 sea day.  Being not he wrong cruise line can spoil a vacation quickly.

 

For decent nightly entertainment, I recommend pretty much anyone but HAL.  

[Aquahound]

On 2/16/2019 at 5:19 AM, ontheweb said:

I would recommend the NCL Epic for Blue Man Group and Cirque de Soliel..  

 

NCL dropped Blue Man Group 4 years ago.  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

NCL dropped Blue Man Group 4 years ago.  

OK, it was in 2012 that we sailed on the Epic.

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

OK, it was in 2012 that we sailed on the Epic.

And there be a  big problem with CC posts.  There are many cruisers who will rate a line based on what existed several years ago.  The industry is always changing and most ratings based on anything more then a year or two ago are essentially worthless.   We have actually seen some comments based on cruises more then 10 years ago!  That is nutz!   

[ontheweb]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

And there be a  big problem with CC posts.  There are many cruisers who will rate a line based on what existed several years ago.  The industry is always changing and most ratings based on anything more then a year or two ago are essentially worthless.   We have actually seen some comments based on cruises more then 10 years ago!  That is nutz!   

Mea culpa, I plead guilty.

 

Though I will say that despite the large size which I did not like, I would have to give the Epic a high grade for entertainment venues. In addition to the two I had quoted (one of which it has now been pointed out to me has not been there for several years), we intended to spend a lot of nights in their blues club. However, the musician we wanted to see who happens to be from my home town was on his 6 months off. Instead we found an acoustic Spanish style guitar player who we really enjoyed. The point I am trying to make is that they really had an emphasis on providing entertainment, which is what the OP was asking about.

 

Of our cruises, two were on NCL, and though they do not rate anywhere near my favorite as a cruise line, the entertainment on the two was the best of any of our cruises.

 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Mea culpa, I plead guilty.

 

Though I will say that despite the large size which I did not like, I would have to give the Epic a high grade for entertainment venues. In addition to the two I had quoted (one of which it has now been pointed out to me has not been there for several years), we intended to spend a lot of nights in their blues club. However, the musician we wanted to see who happens to be from my home town was on his 6 months off. Instead we found an acoustic Spanish style guitar player who we really enjoyed. The point I am trying to make is that they really had an emphasis on providing entertainment, which is what the OP was asking about.

 

Of our cruises, two were on NCL, and though they do not rate anywhere near my favorite as a cruise line, the entertainment on the two was the best of any of our cruises.

 

One great thing (among many) about CC is the ability to exchange info with folks who have very recent experience on just about any cruise ship.  What has happened in the cruise industry in the past few years is almost revolutionary in terms of quality, new ships, itineraries, etc.  Even though we sometimes cruise over 100 days a year, we find ourselves surprised by changes on nearly every cruise.   We never get bored with cruising because each cruise is a new experience (with both good and bad changes).  

 

Its interesting that you mention NCL entertainment.  Even back in the days of NCL's Norway (we loved that old ship) the entertainment was excellent.  But we eventually moved away from NCL because of their Freestyle concept (not to our liking) and our displeasure with their cuisine.  We have some friends who went on the Epic and were very unhappy with quite a few things on the ship.  And yet we know others who love the Epic and some of the other NCL ships.  We would consider going back on NCL if we could catch a decent deal with a Haven Suite....since we would have fun comparing it with MSC's Yacht Club (which we thought was great).

 

Hank