Differences between a Caribbean and European cruise?

[CruiseMelissa]

We've done Grandeur out of Baltimore twice down to Bermuda/Bahamas and we're heading to the Jewel out of Rome in June.  I was wondering what kind of differences we can expect.  Are the menus the same?  Are the activities generally the same?  Do people tend to dress more or less formal in the dining room?  I assume the general vibe isn't pina coladas and steel drum bands.  I'd love answers to these and any other general commentary on differences.  🙂

 

Thanks so much!

[Clarea]

Med cruises tend to be port intensive and you can spend much more time traveling to the city from the port.  Rome is about an hour from the port.    Florence is also a good distance from Livorno.

[twangster]

Similar on-board experiences.

 

The hotel director I had last year on Adventure claims that when ships are in Europe they are still replenished from Florida.  Ships place orders for supplies such as food, beer, wine, etc and they are fulfilled from Royal's stock warehouse in Florida.   When ships are in Europe it is a 4 week order cycle, when a ship is in the Caribbean it's a 2 week order cycle.  

 

I don't know if that is true, but if not Bill the HD is an excellent story teller, he was quite detailed in this explanation in a Q&A session.

 

Bartenders tell me they do much better in the Caribbean because American's tip.    European's have a different norm for tipping and don't tend to tip like Americans do.  Don't mean to start a tipping war, just different cultural norms for different regions.  If you tip on the ship in Europe I think the bartenders will remember you.  

 

There was a time when Caribbean cruises were less formal compared to European cruises but that is changing over the past couple of years.  Other cruise lines that are based in Europe do tend to run more formal what I've observed.  On non-formal nights in the Caribbean you can get away with nice shorts in the MDR on most ships, not sure I'd go that far in Europe but I'd stop short of saying you must have a suit and tie on a formal night in Europe (on an RCI ship).

[StanleyandGus]

I did the Jewel out of Rome in September. Menus were pretty much the same. One son is a foodie, and he had no complaints about the the main dining room. Dress was slightly more formal, but even on formal nights, it wasn’t over the top. I don’t recall shorts in the dining room at dinner. Short dresses and long pants/ button up shirts with or without jackets is what I remember.  As for activities, we were with family, and I realized that we hadn’t gone to a single event! As Bob said, it’s pretty port intensive.

 

it you haven’t been to Rome, it’s a wonderful city! It was the best family holiday we have ever taken. Enjoy!

[John&LaLa]

Go a few days early to see Rome

[Sailing Smooth]

As for weather, it's amazing in the summer.  We went in June one year.  Warm, calm.  No current.  Amazing history at all ports.  Get off the boat. 

[klfrodo]

The Caribbean is reggae, umbrella drinks, and beaches

Med cruises are historical, cultural, and fascinating.

Summers are HOT. Go a couple of days early if at all possible to acclimate and adjust to the new time zone.

Download Google Translate. Not the best, it is free, and it will get the job done. It will even use your camera phone to translate a menu.

[tonyweir]

We were on Jewel last Oct in Europe. Great atmosphere. A little more laid back in terms of action. Only 2 sea days on a 9 day cruise. You get up early to get out in port, spend the whole day walking or touring and back on the ship in time for dinner. Only to repeat it the following day! Sea days were precious! Other than that, it's the same Royal Caribbean atmosphere.

 

We also sailed Princess in Europe Oct 2017. Princess was very laid back. Royal Caribbean was definitely more lively and upbeat. We had a great time! 

[rimmit]

Med Cruises are all about the port.  There is little waking time spent on the boat.  The boat is more of a moving hotel and home base.  

 

I love port intensive cruises.  Just be prepared that there is not much downtime.

 

Europeans tend to stay up later and eat later, as such the night clubs tend to be a little busier in the late night than most Caribbean cruises.  

 

The MDR has the same food.   The milk will be a local European brand.  Other than that it is the same as the US.   

[vickiw0318]

Let me define port intensive.  You are up early and back late - for days!  I can remember getting back to the ship one day and there was a very exuberant member of the cruise director's staff greeting the returnees at the pier with a cry of "party tonight at eleven o'clock".  My then twenty-seven year old daughter's reaction was "you have to be kidding'.    You'll find the same sorts of activities, but you may find that your level of enthusiasm for them diminished.

[forgotmyCCname]

Depsite being port -intensive we found our Med cruise last summer to be just as filled with night-life as our Caribbean cruises. We stayed up late , got up early and saw everything.

We also avoided ship sponsored excursions and hired our own drivers for Florence/Pisa/Tuscany and Barcelona aas well as  in Rome for a few days ahead of the cruise. We are a family of five. Get your tickets to the Coliseum and the Vatican and Florence museums early online.

Many Americans were surprised that there were no "Duty free" deals aboard.

We  traveled the second week of June and the weather was perfect.

[dutchclogs]

13 hours ago, twangster said:

Similar on-board experiences.

 

The hotel director I had last year on Adventure claims that when ships are in Europe they are still replenished from Florida.  Ships place orders for supplies such as food, beer, wine, etc and they are fulfilled from Royal's stock warehouse in Florida.   When ships are in Europe it is a 4 week order cycle, when a ship is in the Caribbean it's a 2 week order cycle.  

 

I can well believe this. A couple of years ago on a Celebrity (sister line) cruise in the Med  we had major shortages of soft drinks and other items which I was told was held up at customs coming from US. I was surprised this was not sourced locally. That said, you may get some local dishes in the buffet or as MDR entrees.  Do not expect lobster though... unless that's changed recently.

 

[Guest]

I have done a mixture of both, and they are both great experiences. Europe is very full on, with lots of long days of sightseeing and walking! We found that by 10pm we were shattered!!! I’m hoping my Navigator sailing in the Caribbean in April will be more laid back. We sailed the Symphony last May and did not get to explore the ship as much as we would have liked! Only one sea day!!!! 

 

Although people are saying the Med is more formal on a night, I wore a long dress and my boyfriend wore a tux, and we felt way overdressed. 

[birdie16]

I agree about the port intensive Europe cruises, by the end of the cruise we were exhausted!  It is the first time I ever had to pack to go home on a port day.  While we really enjoy seeing so much, we really do prefer more sea days.

[CruiseMelissa]

On 2/16/2019 at 8:55 PM, twangster said:

Similar on-board experiences.

 

The hotel director I had last year on Adventure claims that when ships are in Europe they are still replenished from Florida.  Ships place orders for supplies such as food, beer, wine, etc and they are fulfilled from Royal's stock warehouse in Florida.   When ships are in Europe it is a 4 week order cycle, when a ship is in the Caribbean it's a 2 week order cycle.  

 

I don't know if that is true, but if not Bill the HD is an excellent story teller, he was quite detailed in this explanation in a Q&A session.

 

This is really interesting.  What are the logistics involved?  How do they get the inventory from Florida on a regular basis?

 

Thanks for the reply!

[cpshaye]

Following. We are doing our first European cruise this fall and another in 2020.

[davelinde]

One thing to be aware on Med cruises...  The EU likes to tax you.

We did a transAtlantic with b2b Med cruise and once we were departing an  EU port the VAT kicked in and prices on board went up by 24%...

[FionaMG]

Avoid August like the plague! Every tourist destination is packed and temperatures in the Med can be scorching, making long days of sightseeing a nightmare. May-June and mid-September to mid-October are usually good times.

[londongal796]

So just a few more comments about the differences...

 

While the food is generally the same, there are sometimes substitutions -- the big one is no lobster night in Europe, or at least on most cruises there is no lobster night. They also often have some food to cater to the UK market because they (we?) are notorious for wanting 'fish and chips' while abroad (not my stereotype, it's what I've been told!). The occasional 'cottage pie' and 'sausage and mash' crop up here and there on the MDR. Also, at breakfast, they'll have the odd tureen of baked beans for British guests etc. (And I'm sure other specialty dishes for other European preferences, I just noticed the UK ones a bit more.)

 

As mentioned, tipping has a HUGE impact on the crew. We have often found the crew in Europe to be, quite frankly, more surly, because a lot of Europeans aren't used to tipping, and those who do generally tip 10% as a max. Obviously a Caribbean cruise with most guests tipping 20% are going to make the crew much much happier than one where they make half or less than half as much. I hate to say it but it really has made a difference on the cruises we've been on in terms of crew happiness / engagement.

 

Another thing that really does differ is the entertainment, and I don't just mean the actual entertainment -- I mean the entire experience of it. In Europe, it just doesn't seem to be standard practice for the crowd to get engaged with the entertainers. Whereas in the Caribbean, you can hardly keep people in their seats -- everyone wants to sing along, dance along, clap their hands, cheer, etc. It's MUCH more lively and I can tell when these same entertainers get to the European markets they are a bit flummoxed as to why their song or joke worked before but now no one even seems to crack a smile. (We find it amusing ourselves, I must admit!) 

 

There will be other cultural differences here and there, the odd language barrier, but overall European cruises are just so fantastic. As already stated, they are port intensive, but they are so worth it. We have done several Mediterranean cruises and I have so many memories of the gorgeous cities and ports we visited. Highly recommend!!

[Alter Ego]

My comments are based solely on my Rhapsody cruise out of Venice last September.

 

The OP asked how people dressed and I would say they were more dressed up.  First formal night had a lot of tuxedos.  A shocking number actually. You would probably be okay if you don’t want to bring a suit, but I would still recommend dressing a little better than dress shorts and a polo.

 

Not all of the ships in Europe still have the Quest or Love and Marriage shows.  We did.  In fact, we had one L&M show in English and they had another in a different location in Spanish. And, we still had a band around the ship doing the Caribbean reggae-type music! Still had sexiest man contest by the pool (can’t recall if we had belly flop, but we also had some bad weather.) So, in other words, many of the activities on my cruise were the same, but it likely depends on who’s the Cruise Director.

 

 

[ibonexheadi]

53 minutes ago, londongal796 said:

So just a few more comments about the differences...

 

While the food is generally the same, there are sometimes substitutions -- the big one is no lobster night in Europe, or at least on most cruises there is no lobster night. They also often have some food to cater to the UK market because they (we?) are notorious for wanting 'fish and chips' while abroad (not my stereotype, it's what I've been told!). The occasional 'cottage pie' and 'sausage and mash' crop up here and there on the MDR. Also, at breakfast, they'll have the odd tureen of baked beans for British guests etc. (And I'm sure other specialty dishes for other European preferences, I just noticed the UK ones a bit more.)

 

As mentioned, tipping has a HUGE impact on the crew. We have often found the crew in Europe to be, quite frankly, more surly, because a lot of Europeans aren't used to tipping, and those who do generally tip 10% as a max. Obviously a Caribbean cruise with most guests tipping 20% are going to make the crew much much happier than one where they make half or less than half as much. I hate to say it but it really has made a difference on the cruises we've been on in terms of crew happiness / engagement.

  

Another thing that really does differ is the entertainment, and I don't just mean the actual entertainment -- I mean the entire experience of it. In Europe, it just doesn't seem to be standard practice for the crowd to get engaged with the entertainers. Whereas in the Caribbean, you can hardly keep people in their seats -- everyone wants to sing along, dance along, clap their hands, cheer, etc. It's MUCH more lively and I can tell when these same entertainers get to the European markets they are a bit flummoxed as to why their song or joke worked before but now no one even seems to crack a smile. (We find it amusing ourselves, I must admit!) 

 

There will be other cultural differences here and there, the odd language barrier, but overall European cruises are just so fantastic. As already stated, they are port intensive, but they are so worth it. We have done several Mediterranean cruises and I have so many memories of the gorgeous cities and ports we visited. Highly recommend!!

do they not automatically charge the gratuities on european cruises, or are the crews just used to people actually tipping on top of that? 

[little britain]

18 minutes ago, ibonexheadi said:

do they not automatically charge the gratuities on european cruises, or are the crews just used to people actually tipping on top of that? 

No it is exactly the same as usual: you either prepay or the tips are added daily to your on board account.

 

Many Americans were surprised that there were no "Duty free" deals aboard.

-that is because it was an intra-EU sailing and there is no Duty Free within Europe.  The cruise needs to call at a non EU port like Gibraltar (or England come the end of March LOL!) to be able to sell Duty Free.

[accio_7]

On 2/16/2019 at 11:55 PM, Sailing Smooth said:

As for weather, it's amazing in the summer.  We went in June one year.  Warm, calm.  No current.  Amazing history at all ports.  Get off the boat. 

 

We're booked on a 7 night Western Mediterranean out of Barcelona in early June with a different cruise line. All of the adults have travelled to Europe before, but this will be our first non-Caribbean cruise. Starting to plan my itinerary in the various ports (Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Villefranche) and getting excited :D Almost 90 days to go! 

 

Thanks for your feedback on the weather :) 

[londongal796]

45 minutes ago, ibonexheadi said:

do they not automatically charge the gratuities on european cruises, or are the crews just used to people actually tipping on top of that? 

They do the auto gratuities but you still have the option to cancel these for whatever reason. I can't swear that people do this, but it's an option.

 

It's mostly the gratuities everywhere else, including the extras that the crew really rely on. The auto-gratuities basically fund their salaries, that is sort of the 'baseline' of their earnings. They really rely on the extra tips and if none are forthcoming, I'm sure it makes things very tough. Staff will be doing the same amount of work but for a lot less money. 

 

It's also worth noting that $USD does not go anywhere near as far around Europe as it does in the Caribbean, where most islands and items are priced as $USD. With the foreign currency conversion, anything they do want to buy while in port will come at an extra premium. 

 

Edit: I forgot to say, one of the best parts about cruising in the Med is that if you ARE that person who tips 20% everywhere, you will become well loved by the crew. We literally had two different waiters in one of the specialty restaurants greeting us all over the ship begging us to sit in their section the next time we came. We had the specialty dining package, which is inclusive of gratuities, but we tipped on top of that. They absolutely loved having us and we had the best service possible because of it!

Edited February 19, 2019 by londongal796

[Espn]

29 minutes ago, londongal796 said:

It's also worth noting that $USD does not go anywhere near as far around Europe as it does in the Caribbean, where most islands and items are priced as $USD. With the foreign currency conversion, anything they do want to buy while in port will come at an extra premium. 

 

So is your on-board account in $USD or in Euros? Also, would it be best to carry Euros for tips rather than $USD if tipping in cash?