Med 2023

[tfred]

I see that this just came out for a variety of Med trips.  We want to do something longer - 20 days or so 

 

a few questions 

• I know it is way early, but any reason to either take a reservation now or wait "some time" to make it.  Maybe prices go up or whatever.  I am assuming that I would be protected against any value added promotions if they are added 
• is 20 day reasonable on Seabourn?  Too long ?  Will we get bored with menu or general lifestyle on board.  We like "better things" and are foodies but are not looking for over the top formality, especially on a summer Med cruise
• Our initial thoughts were Adriatic intensive, but also saw  Barcelona to Italy, France, Sardinia.  Not interested in Greece and Turkey for the most part
• Like the small ship idea so we can get into smaller ports and avoiding longer bus rides to the city.  One reason we liked river cruises 

 

We have done a variety of cruises - mostly Celebrity, Oceania  and a few Crystal River.  

[shyla100]

Hi we have been looking at the same thing but more interested in the Italy across  to Casablanca .

I have done 11 days on Seabourn without a problem and I am not one for Sea days I like to be out and about.

The one we are looking at has only one or two sea days which suites us.

I am looking at putting a deposit down as the prices are cheaper that's what's on offer now.

I know they need the money and I would say this is way they are offering at those prices.

[SLSD]

Our favorite length of cruise is about 21 days.  We look to put together that length of itinerary--preferring at least a 14 day with a 7 day instead of three 7 days.  The fewer turnaround days and change of passengers , the  better.  

 

The menu does repeat a bit, but I don't see that as a huge issue as there is so much to choose from on the menu.  The entertainment can repeat a bit as well.  

 

We love Seabourn and  our plan (when everything calms down pandemic wise) is a series of 21 day cruises with about eight weeks between them.  

[wesport]

We’ve done 21 days with no problem. Went by quickly. The only problem was we had to eat the Thomas Keller ribs at the Colonade a couple times. YUM!

[PaulMCO]

Especially consider you will have to fly to the EU. for us it is not worth the jet lag pain unless it is 20 days.   We just booked the Greek and Turkish Riviera.  

 

You also need to consider the pent up demand for cruise travel and those that have credit or refunds owed.  The PH suites are already all sold out and a considerable number of the verandas have been sold.  So book early or you may lose out.

 

Also for us the consideration it is more pleasant to do the Med in the spring and fall rather than the heat of the summer.

[RetiredandTravel]

On 7/28/2021 at 5:48 PM, tfred said:

I see that this just came out for a variety of Med trips.  We want to do something longer - 20 days or so 

 

a few questions 

• I know it is way early, but any reason to either take a reservation now or wait "some time" to make it.  Maybe prices go up or whatever.  I am assuming that I would be protected against any value added promotions if they are added 
• is 20 day reasonable on Seabourn?  Too long ?  Will we get bored with menu or general lifestyle on board.  We like "better things" and are foodies but are not looking for over the top formality, especially on a summer Med cruise
• Our initial thoughts were Adriatic intensive, but also saw  Barcelona to Italy, France, Sardinia.  Not interested in Greece and Turkey for the most part
• Like the small ship idea so we can get into smaller ports and avoiding longer bus rides to the city.  One reason we liked river cruises 

 

We have done a variety of cruises - mostly Celebrity, Oceania  and a few Crystal River.  

 

 

Be sure you understand what is going on in Venice when planning.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2790315-italy-bans-cruise-ships-from-venice/

 

 

 

[cruiseej]

On 7/28/2021 at 5:48 PM, tfred said:

Like the small ship idea so we can get into smaller ports and avoiding longer bus rides to the city.

 

For better or worse, Adriatic trips which start or end in Venice require a bus ride into the city now, and perhaps a long bus ride. The thread linked above has a lot of explanation about the situation and why there aren't easy solutions. 

 

It seems the short-term plan is to create several new berths for cruise ships in the Marghera industrial port on the mainland just across from central Venice. It won't be a fancy, pretty, modern cruise terminal, but they will at least create infrastructure to handle passenger check-in, luggage handling, and moving people and buses. I've read different reports which say (a) they had already started on this, but aren't yet far enough along to take cruise ships, to (b) they hope to have two berths ready by next spring, and up to 5 eventually, to (c) nothing has started and money hasn't been provided to even start that process. Still waiting for clarity on that. Assuming they get that set up, it's a short bus ride (~15 minutes) from the port to the central Venice cruise port/train station, from where you can hop on a vaporetto to get where you want in the city. And an easy bus ride (~20 minutes) to/from the airport.

 

In the immediate short term, and probably for the foreseeable future, some cruise lines will move their embarkation/disembarkation outside Venice. MSC has moved their August sailings from Venice to Monfalcone, about 90 minutes from Venice. Because there isn't a large cruise port facility in Monfalcone, passengers still go to the Venice cruise terminal, drop their luggage, go through health screening, and are then bused to Monfalcone for immediate  boarding.

 

Trieste (two hours east) and Ravenna (2+ hours south) have cruise terminals which can handle passenger check-ins and luggage, and I'd expect some 2022 and 2023 Venice cruises will be diverted to those ports, with cruise lines providing bus transportation to/from Venice because most passengers will travel through the Venice airport. But those ports probably can't handle the cruises they did previously plus all the traffic from Venice. So there's probably some jockeying going on among the cruise lines and ports to get berthing reservations in the next few years.

 

If the owners that be can get the Marghera industrial port adjoining Venice up and running by next year, that will be the preferred location because it's close to Venice and the airport. But cruise line sneed to plan months and years ahead, and nothing is more at odds with that than uncertainty about availability. Some in Italy don't want to spend money or allow this "temporary" solution to come into being, because it will keep large cruise ships in the ecologically-sensitive Venice lagoon for years to come, and because it increases chances of a problem which could block cruise ships and commercial goods if a ship blocks the long, narrow commercial channel. (Picture the Suez canal debacle.) On the other hand, there are a lot of Italians' jobs on the line -- all the people who handled the infrastructure of cruise ships (from porters to longshoremen to fuel and provision suppliers) -- and there is pressure not to lose all those jobs. The government passed the cruise ship ban without working out the details of how to get Marghera set up to become an interim cruise port for Venice, so exactly what happens and how quickly is something we'll only know with the passage of time.

 

Barcelona - France - Sardinia - Italy might be more of a sure thing to look at until the future plans for Venice cruises get worked out! 😉