Recommendation for European Cruise 2020

[Fil486]

Hello, 

 

Me and my husband just returned from our first cruise ever and are already trying to book a new one for next year (either May/June or late September/October but we are totally flexible). We are feeling overwhelmed and need a recommendation from experts so that we can proceed. 

 

We cruised on symphony of the seas out of Miami and are now looking for a cruise for next year out of Europe (Barcelona, Rome, Lisbon, Venice,...), for 8 days or more. 

 

We LOVED symphony and are struggling to find something to the same standards. We loved spending the day on the Solarium sipping virgin piña coladas, having freshly squeezed juices and smoothies every day, going to the dinning room for dinner, watching a different and AMAZING free show everyday and my husband really enjoyed the daily poker games in the evenings. What do you recommend out of Europe? Anything that compares to symphony in terms of activities, entertainment and amenities?

 

We are opened to all the cruise lines, RCL, NCL, MSC, Celebrity,... It would actually be great to compare options from different companies. As long as the ship has amazing activities, entertainment, great food and poker, we'll be happy  (we don't care about the ports, as long as it departs from Europe. However, the Greek Islands would be a good plus but the actual cruise ship is our number one priority).

 

Sorry for the long question! Hope we can count on your help! :)

 

Thanks,

Filipa Almeida 

[crystalspin]

Hi Filipa, and welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

If you go to the very top of any CC page, next to the LOGO, you can click 'Find a Cruise'. Click Advanced Search. Choose Mediterranean-Eastern. Choose departing from Barcelona (and plan to get there a few days early, you'll thank me). You can restrict it to one month at a time and limit it to 10-14 days. Then just scroll through the cruises, getting an idea of what's out there and what it might cost. When you find one or more that interest you, Cruise Critic has sub-forums for most of the lines, and you can go there and ask about the ship(s) you found.

[clo]

12 hours ago, Fil486 said:

(we don't care about the ports,

You don't mention where you live but if it's not Europe then why bother cruising from there since you're not interested in ports.  Or maybe a transatlantic. @crystalspin I'd not looked at that site.  Thanks.

[Aquahound]

If on-board activities and entertainment are your #1 priority, you kinda shot yourself in the foot by cruising Symphony as your first cruise.  Nothing compares to Oasis Class in that regard.  

 

That said, I would also recommend RCI's Quantum, Freedom, and Voyager Class ships.  NCL's ships starting with Breakaway and newer would also be a good choice.  

[Fil486]

9 hours ago, clo said:

You don't mention where you live but if it's not Europe then why bother cruising from there since you're not interested in ports.  Or maybe a transatlantic. @crystalspin I'd not looked at that site.  Thanks.

I live in Lisbon (Portugal), that's why we are looking to book something in Europe for next year. Any recommendations? 😊

[Fil486]

8 hours ago, Aquahound said:

If on-board activities and entertainment are your #1 priority, you kinda shot yourself in the foot by cruising Symphony as your first cruise.  Nothing compares to Oasis Class in that regard.  

 

That said, I would also recommend RCI's Quantum, Freedom, and Voyager Class ships.  NCL's ships starting with Breakaway and newer would also be a good choice.  

That's what I was afraid of 😔. Symphony will be a tough act to follow.... 

From those NCL ships which do you recommend (departing from Europe)? 

 

Thanks 😊

[Tapi]

I agree that Symphony will be a very tough act to follow, but we sailed last November on MSC aboard the Meraviglia in the Mediterranean and were very impressed. We hadn’t been this impressed since sailing on Symphony’s sister ship, the Allure of the Seas. 
 

The MSC Meraviglia isn’t quite as impressive as the Oasis class ships, but she’s impressive nonetheless, and a close second in my opinion. She’s big, bold, modern, technologically advanced, and is packed with tons of activities. She has several restaurants, bars, lounges, a large casino, indoor sports plex, as well as outdoor activities including heated pools, and a water park with big water slides. She also has an entertainment district with formula race car, flight and roller coaster simulators, as well as a 4D cinema and a bowling alley, if that’s something that may interest you. 
 

As far as stage entertainment goes, once again you will never see entertainment at sea like on an Oasis ship,  but we enjoyed what Meraviglia had to offer. The main theater offers nightly shows that can be reserved either using the MSC for Me app on your phone, from the interactive system in your cabin, or from touch screens throughout the ship. They also offer Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows specially created for MSC at another dedicated theater, and which we considered to be greatly entertaining and more at par with Oasis shows. But MSC does charge extra to attend these shows. I believe we paid 15 euros. Yes, not free, but we considered it money well spent.

 

We sailed round trip from Civitavecchia / Rome to Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa. It was a very easy itinerary and a great introduction to the Mediterranean for our young family. MSC does allow you to board at any port of call, so you can decide which city works best for you and choose to start and end your cruise there. Since all the port of call in this itinerary are within the Schengen Area, there are no Customs / Immigration requirements, even at the completion of your cruise. It makes for a very easy cruise experience. 
 

MSC is a decidedly European cruise line, so do expect the atmosphere to be different and fellow cruisers to be much more diverse than on Royal Caribbean which tends to attract a large percentage of Americans and, as a result, offer a more American-centric experience. On MSC, everything is conducted in 7 different languages, reflecting the passenger composition onboard. Entertainment and cuisine also take into account the diversity of fellow passengers. 

 

Lastly, we sailed in the Mediterranean in November; which meant cooler temperatures but it also meant less crowds at tourist destinations, but more importantly it meant cheaper prices! We sailed on MSC very inexpensively. In fact, the fares for our sailing were so low that we decided to splurge a bit and book an Aurea Duplex Suite (similar to a Crown Loft Suite on the Symphony of the Seas). After comparison shopping, our suite on MSC was FOUR times cheaper than on Royal! It was a wonderful suite and we were very happy about our decision to upgrade.
 

MSC has launched other sister ships to the Meraviglia, like Bellissima and Grandiosa, so look for those as well. Whatever cruise you choose, have a wonderful time. We truly loved our Mediterranean cruise. Easily one of our best.  
 

I’ll leave you with a link to a review of our cruise aboard the Meraviglia. Hope it’s helpful! 
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=640575

Edited November 10, 2019 by Tapi

[Essiesmom]

Starting with the Symphony, she will be a hard act to follow.  However, all the things you listed that you enjoyed can be found on older, smaller ships too.  If you really want an experience as close to Symphony as you can get in Europe, her older sister, Allure of the Seas, will be sailing from Barcelona next year.  I suggest you go to https://www.cruisetimetables.com/  Check out departure ports that are easy for you to get to, or would like to sail from.  There are even cruises from Lisbon, although they tend to be on much, much smaller ships, and some are quite expensive!  It's a fun site to wander around in.  As is Cruise Critic also!  EM

[dogs4fun]

14 hours ago, clo said:

You don't mention where you live but if it's not Europe then why bother cruising from there since you're not interested in ports.  Or maybe a transatlantic.

I was thinking the same thing - perhaps a TA that begins or ends in Europe. 

[clo]

5 hours ago, Fil486 said:

I live in Lisbon (Portugal), that's why we are looking to book something in Europe for next year. Any recommendations? 😊

Sorry, no.  We're 180 degrees from you 🙂  We're all about the ports.  As a frequent poster here said "the ship is just a floating hotel" for us.

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I live in Lisbon (Portugal), that's why we are looking to book something in Europe for next year.

Ah, that makes sense. The Symphony is an Oasis class ship - other Oasis class ships in the RCL line are Allure, Oasis and Harmony. 

There is an 7 night cruise on the Allure = r/t Barcelona - many dates from which to choose beginning in May and culminating in November. That's all I could find for the RCL Oasis class ships beginning/ending in Europe for 2020.

[Fil486]

6 hours ago, Tapi said:

I agree that Symphony will be a very tough act to follow, but we sailed last November on MSC aboard the Meraviglia in the Mediterranean and were very impressed. We hadn’t been this impressed since sailing on Symphony’s sister ship, the Allure of the Seas. 
 

The MSC Meraviglia isn’t quite as impressive as the Oasis class ships, but she’s impressive nonetheless, and a close second in my opinion. She’s big, bold, modern, technologically advanced, and is packed with tons of activities. She has several restaurants, bars, lounges, a large casino, indoor sports plex, as well as outdoor activities including heated pools, and a water park with big water slides. She also has an entertainment district with formula race car, flight and roller coaster simulators, as well as a 4D cinema and a bowling alley, if that’s something that may interest you. 
 

As far as stage entertainment goes, once again you will never see entertainment at sea like on an Oasis ship,  but we enjoyed what Meraviglia had to offer. The main theater offers nightly shows that can be reserved either using the MSC for Me app on your phone, from the interactive system in your cabin, or from touch screens throughout the ship. They also offer Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows specially created for MSC at another dedicated theater, and which we considered to be greatly entertaining and more at par with Oasis shows. But MSC does charge extra to attend these shows. I believe we paid 15 euros. Yes, not free, but we considered it money well spent.

 

We sailed round trip from Civitavecchia / Rome to Palermo, Valletta, Barcelona, Marseille, and Genoa. It was a very easy itinerary and a great introduction to the Mediterranean for our young family. MSC does allow you to board at any port of call, so you can decide which city works best for you and choose to start and end your cruise there. Since all the port of call in this itinerary are within the Schengen Area, there are no Customs / Immigration requirements, even at the completion of your cruise. It makes for a very easy cruise experience. 
 

MSC is a decidedly European cruise line, so do expect the atmosphere to be different and fellow cruisers to be much more diverse than on Royal Caribbean which tends to attract a large percentage of Americans and, as a result, offer a more American-centric experience. On MSC, everything is conducted in 7 different languages, reflecting the passenger composition onboard. Entertainment and cuisine also take into account the diversity of fellow passengers. 

 

Lastly, we sailed in the Mediterranean in November; which meant cooler temperatures but it also meant less crowds at tourist destinations, but more importantly it meant cheaper prices! We sailed on MSC very inexpensively. In fact, the fares for our sailing were so low that we decided to splurge a bit and book an Aurea Duplex Suite (similar to a Crown Loft Suite on the Symphony of the Seas). After comparison shopping, our suite on MSC was FOUR times cheaper than on Royal! It was a wonderful suite and we were very happy about our decision to upgrade.
 

MSC has launched other sister ships to the Meraviglia, like Bellissima and Grandiosa, so look for those as well. Whatever cruise you choose, have a wonderful time. We truly loved our Mediterranean cruise. Easily one of our best.  
 

I’ll leave you with a link to a review of our cruise aboard the Meraviglia. Hope it’s helpful! 
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=640575

 

This was extremely helpful, thank you so much. I researched MSC Grandiosa, which has an interesting itinerary from Barcelona next year (Barcelona | Marselha | Génova | Nápoles | Messina | La Valleta). The ship looks amazing! I'm very excited!!! Thank you so much for taking the time :)

 

 

[Fil486]

4 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Starting with the Symphony, she will be a hard act to follow.  However, all the things you listed that you enjoyed can be found on older, smaller ships too.  If you really want an experience as close to Symphony as you can get in Europe, her older sister, Allure of the Seas, will be sailing from Barcelona next year.  I suggest you go to https://www.cruisetimetables.com/  Check out departure ports that are easy for you to get to, or would like to sail from.  There are even cruises from Lisbon, although they tend to be on much, much smaller ships, and some are quite expensive!  It's a fun site to wander around in.  As is Cruise Critic also!  EM

 

Hi! Thaks so much! I checked Allure of the seas and I was quite surprised with the prices. The interior room is more expensive than a central park view I had on Symphony, I would have thought that symphony would be more expensive... Either, it's definitely one of the contenders!

[Fil486]

2 hours ago, clo said:

Sorry, no.  We're 180 degrees from you 🙂  We're all about the ports.  As a frequent poster here said "the ship is just a floating hotel" for us.

Thanks anyway :)

[Fil486]

38 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Ah, that makes sense. The Symphony is an Oasis class ship - other Oasis class ships in the RCL line are Allure, Oasis and Harmony. 

There is an 7 night cruise on the Allure = r/t Barcelona - many dates from which to choose beginning in May and culminating in November. That's all I could find for the RCL Oasis class ships beginning/ending in Europe for 2020.

Thanks! :)

Definitely considering Allure but also trying to compare with some of the MSC ships. I think I'll exclude NCL solely beause of the prices I found, it's much more expensive than Allure of the seas, MSC Grandiosa or MSC Sewview. 

 

Thanks again for your suggestions :)

[Tapi]

28 minutes ago, Fil486 said:

I researched MSC Grandiosa, which has an interesting itinerary from Barcelona next year (Barcelona | Marselha | Génova | Nápoles | Messina | La Valleta). The ship looks amazing! I'm very excited!!! Thank you so much for taking the time 🙂

That’s almost the same itinerary that we sailed on. And Grandiosa is MSC newest ship. Like, brand spanking new. It JUST got christened! 
https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21895-msc-grandiosa-is-christened.html

Edited November 10, 2019 by Tapi

[jocap]

Anthem of the Seas (Quantum Class) is sailing out of Southampton next summer... but perhaps not the sort of itineraries you'd like- and she will probably be calling into Portugal during some of them...  🙄. Still, it might be worth a look?