New go European Cruising

[cruising_kelly]

Hello,

 

I am an avid cruiser and have sailed on NCL, RC and Carnival. I am now looking into European cruises from Rome and wanted to get feedback and advice on recommended cruise lines to search. I notice my 3 regulars have somewhat limited sailings, and some of the lines I am not as familiar with offer more. Any suggestions or things to think of?

[Host Jazzbeau]

The fundamental difference between cruises in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean is that Carib cruises tend to be all about the ship, plus beach time – whereas Med cruises are all about the ports, with the ship as your floating hotel and restaurant.  The three cruise lines you mention are the stars of 'all about the ship.'  The closest in the Med might be MSC [it certainly has the largest ships in the Med].  But this might be a good opportunity for you to try a different type of cruise line, such as Celebrity – and your RCL loyalty level may get you some instant status there.  [Any of your three loyalty levels will get you instant status with MSC when you join their Voyagers Club program – and no matter which MSC status you get, it will give you a 5% discount off advertised rates.]

[cruisemom42]

As said above, the ports are the real differentiator for Mediterranean and European cruises. Unless you already have a good idea of what ports you are interested in, I suggest getting hold of a copy of Rick Steves guide on Mediterranean cruising. He covers many of the most common ports and overall gives you an idea of which ones you could do on your own (or inexpensively) versus which ones might require a tour of some sort.

 

From Rome, cruises of a week or 10 days normally head either West (Italy, France, Spain) or East (Italy, Greece, Croatia, etc.) Think about which is more interesting to you.

 

Also keep in mind that it's better on a Med cruise to start and end in two different cities -- and be sure to give yourselves extra time (a few days) before and after the actual cruise to explore both. 

[Daisyloo]

I would say to look at several different lines and their itineraries, and check out what their actual time in each port is.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

You might also want to choose an itinerary that starts or ends in Venice – now, before they ban cruise ships from making the grand entrance.  [Note: I'm not taking a position for or against the proposed changes, but as long as the ships keep sailing people might as well have the experience.  It was amazing.]

[GrJ Berkshire]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

You might also want to choose an itinerary that starts or ends in Venice – now, before they ban cruise ships from making the grand entrance.  [Note: I'm not taking a position for or against the proposed changes, but as long as the ships keep sailing people might as well have the experience.  It was amazing.]

It's not amazing!!! The damage these mega ships are doing is killing tourism . Venice needs to be visited away from the cruises, any ship above 800 passengers is just making the honey pot tourism worse. The view from the ship may be good, the view from Venice is not. We stayed at the Hilton stucky on Guidecca , these mega ships are just out of proportion along the Guidecca canal plus what damage are they causing?

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

It's not amazing!!! The damage these mega ships are doing is killing tourism . Venice needs to be visited away from the cruises, any ship above 800 passengers is just making the honey pot tourism worse. The view from the ship may be good, the view from Venice is not. We stayed at the Hilton stucky on Guidecca , these mega ships are just out of proportion along the Guidecca canal plus what damage are they causing?

 

How does anything you said equal "It's not amazing!!!"  Of course it IS amazing.  You don't like the damage, which I was careful to stress that I'm not endorsing or excusing.  But until Italy does something about it, the ships WILL continue to sail.  And full or empty they do the same damage.  So why shouldn't cruisers enjoy it while it lasts?  

[GrJ Berkshire]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

How does anything you said equal "It's not amazing!!!"  Of course it IS amazing.  You don't like the damage, which I was careful to stress that I'm not endorsing or excusing.  But until Italy does something about it, the ships WILL continue to sail.  And full or empty they do the same damage.  So why shouldn't cruisers enjoy it while it lasts?  

We should not be encouraging this at all, IMHO it's only a matter of time before Venice has no choice but to close the Guidecca canal to mega ships. This is cruise critic. We should be saying go to Venice in other ways than on these ships, and push companies not to use Venice so as to stop this madness !!

 

Mt. Everest is amazing but pictures of the lines of climbers here this year and the mess, does not mean we can ignore this tourism issue.

[euro cruiser]

As you look at European itineraries, especially on MSC or Costa, be sure to carefully check the port times.  These two lines have an annoying habit of half day stops, or 8 - 10 hour port days (vs. 12 hours on other lines) that are practically useless unless you have just one thing to do in and it's in the place where you port.

Edited July 16, 2019 by euro cruiser

[Host Jazzbeau]

Also check how far the big draw city is from the port.  Rome and Florence are so far away that when you deduct the travel time there is very little left for sightseeing.  Having your cruise start or end in Rome is the best way to see that city, if you can add a few days to the cruise.

[Floridiana]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 7:12 AM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Also keep in mind that it's better on a Med cruise to start and end in two different cities

 

Why? Doesn't it make flying in and out more expensive? 

 

I agree that Rome is a good starting point if you add a few days to explore the city. And as the others said, a Med cruise is about culture. If water sports are your main focus, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and French Polynesia (Tahiti) are better choices.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Floridiana

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Floridiana said:

 

Why? Doesn't it make flying in and out more expensive? 

 

 

 Not necessarily. It's a common misconception that open-jaw tickets cost more. Sometimes they do, but often they are about the same price (give or take a few $$).

 

As for the why, often the embarkation/disembarkation ports are the larger (and more logistically challenging) cities in the Med, with more to see and do. Spending a day there as a cruise ship port is often less than satisfactory, but if you can spend several days there -- before and after cruise -- you get a much better chance to discover it.

Edited July 17, 2019 by cruisemom42

[Floridiana]

I didn't know open-jaw tickets could have the same price. 

You are right, it is easier to explore the end- and start points from a land base. We are going to do this with Rome. Did it in other ports as well.

[steamboats]

Be aware that most 7 nighters out of Rome (ahem Civitavecchia) by RCI/NCL are interporting. The main turn around port is Barcelona for both lines.

 

Be also aware that Civitavecchia is more than an hour by train from Rome.

 

Regarding Venice, no it´s not the cruise ships killing tourism there. Tourists from cruise ships are only 5 to 6 % of all tourists in Venice. The damage is still not proven. And the ships come in in the morning and leave in the evening. So it´s not all day through... Plus there are a lot of big ferries in Venice too.

 

steamboats

[chipmaster]

Host Jazzbeau got it right!!

 

Med is all about the ports and think of the ship as your moving hotel.   Every morning it ends up in a new port, no different if you were city hopping do you focus on the hotel chain you'll be staying at or the city / location / time of the hotel availibility.

 

IMHO focus on the list of port cities you are interested in.  Cruising enables you to hit 4-7 possible ports in 5-10 days, somethign any day / land would be exhausting.  Just as long as you understand you get only a day in say Venice, Rome, Athens or some other grand city, unless of course your sailing ends/starts there.

 

A few years ago we did a Princess Venice-Barcelona ( we got Naples, Athens, Rome, Florence, Mykonos, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Marsailles )  there were a few ports that we could have cared less about but that was what we got for the big5 for us.

 

As to cruising ruining cities or tourism, that reality is rich people who can fly and the got to get a selfie to share or tell my neighbors I hit the bucket list is what is killing tourism.   Everybody wants to sail in and out of venice ( have to admit did it for the second time at sunset, beautiful,  they just don't want anyone else there to spoil their experience,just like everyone wants to climb Everest or visit whatever is the latest fad place, the rich jet set is not to be denied) .   The big cruise sail there because the people want to be there, our the tour guides take the rich to Mt. Everest, those criticizing are those calling the kettle black, LOL.

 

Happy planning, you'll have a blast as long as you pick your ports/excursions and understand what a cruise port day is like and the limitations, the ship line is less important

Edited July 18, 2019 by chipmaster

[caripoo]

Look at the smaller lines, they spend more time in ports.....You have to decide when you want to go (please don't say summer).Which part of the Med, and how long. You also should go in and out of a different port....and stay and travel around pre and post cruise. Look at Azamara, Regent, Oceania, Seabourn, Viking.....Fun is in the planning!!

[ljandgb]

Agree with above and will second that it can be HOT in the summer.  Don't be scared to try a European line.  We cruised MSC, in concierge, and had a great time, for a crazy cheap price and saved enough to do a week in France before the cruise.  The itinerary that fit our schedule included stops to places I'd had no interest in going to and ended up being some of our favorite ports - Mallorca, Sardinia.  

 

Europe, and any particular port city, is impossible to see in an 8, 10, or 12 hr time frame.  Consider adding a land portion to your trip, but limiting it to 1-2 areas.  Many Americans are tempted to "see it all" since they're already across the ocean anyways.  There is LOTS of BTDT advice on the boards here, or at TripAdvisor, to help you plan.