Barcelona cruise feedback - which is the better out of the 3 Barcelona round trip?

[gobear]

First time we will be going Europe trip and I am wondering which itinerary seems to be better and we are more of a landscape scenery type of person rather than historical stuffs.

There are 3 Barcelona round trip cruises sailing on 27th October, 4th and 5th November respectively
 

27th October (8 nights) Royal çarribean vision of the sea
 Xxxxxxxx 

4th November (7 nights) MSC Seaview
Xxxxxxx

5th November (7 nights) MSC Grandiosa
Xxxxu 

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated to assist our decision making in choosing which cruise and itinerary to go for provided you guys have been either or all cruise itinerary?

It looks like the Grandisa seems to be more attractive in terms of the itinerary, ship though it is more expensive.

Your thoughts?

[sealynx]

Many pro's and con's on all three of them.

 

If you like beautiful landscapes then you should definitely choose a trip that includes Cinque Terre. You can reach this by train/boat from La Spezia, which is included in the MSC Grandiosa cruise. However, that cruise (as well as the RCL cruise) also stops in Civiteavecchia which is boring to no end (although you can take a excursion to Rome, which is beautiful, but 1,5 hours away, so in this case (and only in this case) I'd suggest an excursion).

Both MSC cruises include Genua. Which is nice, but no more than nice. You will probably be finished walking around before lunch. However, the city is surrounded by a great park/forest. You can take a funicular on the east of the city (20 min walk from port), walk around the city (3-4 hours) through park and forest and visit old forts and then take another funicular in the northwest of the city back down to the city and walk another 20 min to the ship. I'm planning on doing this myself next week.

From Naples (on the RCL cruise) you can take a trip to Pompeii (city that was destroyed by volcano-ashes and recently dug up) or visit that actual volcano. I've done both many many years ago and have good memories.

I've never been to Malta or Sicily, so I cannot advise you about that part of the cruises. From the French cities I'd say Cannes is the most fun (Grandiosa), Marseille is okay (Seaview), Toulon is also okay (Vision), Nice is nice (Vision) and Ajaccio is on the most beautiful Island in the Mediterranean, but you would need to take an excursion for the better parts (or maybe rent a car, there should be plenty available within walking distance from the port).

 

I'm sorry I cannot tell you directly what cruise to choose, though I hope this helps.

[Nunagoras]

Hi! First of its all, be welcome to the MSC boards.

 

First of its all; bear in mind that linking to travel agents is not good by CC rules. The next time, give the ports of call in text without the links, please.

 

All those cruises are more similar than different to say the least. The RCI includes Monaco which can be a deciding factor or not if that is a once in a lifetime visit, if not, bear in mind that the Vision is one of the older RCI's ships, so no "bells & whistles" if you're on that mood, while both the Seaview and the Grandiosa are basically brand new ships which pretty much meet 2022 full mainstream cruise standards.

 

As per your description you want the cruise for both scenery and to rest a little bit on holiday. I'd say all of them may provide it, but for me I'd to chose the Grandiosa. Basically because of the La Spezia Cinque Terre like suggested by the above post and you have Palma de Maiorca where you'd expect a little bit hotter day that is well worth at that time of the year here in Europe. In Rome, definitely go with ships sponsored shore excursions because of the huge distance from port to city center.

 

Have a nice day!...

[kernow]

As others have said, pros and cons of all of them but my personal choice of itinerary would be the Seaview one because of Naples and Malta. If you like scenery I would try and do Sorrento from Naples for the beautiful views, we once did a tour that included both Sorrento and Pompeii. Malta is a beautiful sail in and has a different feel to the other ports.

 

For a first trip to Europe you can't go wrong with any of the cruises though, all have a good variety of ports. As already mentioned Vision will have a very different cruise experience than the bigger, glitzier new ships so you may have a preference there too.

 

We have our first ever trip to Australia booked for Nov so I know how you feel, it will all be new and exciting whatever we see!

[perakcruiser]

5 hours ago, gobear said:

First time we will be going Europe trip and I am wondering which itinerary seems to be better and we are more of a landscape scenery type of person rather than historical stuffs.

 

Easy call, Grandiosa because of La Spezia. Cinque Terre is one of the best sceneries not only of Italy but of this planet. 

 

Having that said I would start the cruise in Naples. If you cannot do this and have Naples as a stop fork out the money for a Sorrento plus Pompeii tour. 

 

[Essiesmom]

I would do Seaview because of Malta.  We did not have enough time there, so different from our other ports.  EM

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

I try not to repeat ships but for various reasons, have been on Vision three times. There's nothing wrong with it and it's well-maintained but does not come with the "extras" found on newer ships. So I would rule that ship out for that reason alone.  Between the other two, I'd do the one that stops in Malta. Such a beautiful port to a European country relatively few have been to.

[Host Carolyn]

On 4/22/2022 at 4:43 AM, gobear said:

First time we will be going Europe trip and I am wondering which itinerary seems to be better and we are more of a landscape scenery type of person rather than historical stuffs.

There are 3 Barcelona round trip cruises sailing on 27th October, 4th and 5th November respectively
 

27th October (8 nights) Royal çarribean vision of the sea
 Xxxxxxxx 

4th November (7 nights) MSC Seaview
Xxxxxxx

5th November (7 nights) MSC Grandiosa
Xxxxu 

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated to assist our decision making in choosing which cruise and itinerary to go for provided you guys have been either or all cruise itinerary?

It looks like the Grandisa seems to be more attractive in terms of the itinerary, ship though it is more expensive.

Your thoughts?

Linking to travel agent websites isn't permitted by CC guidelines but I wanted you to hopefully get some answers to aid in your decision so removed links ....Your choices are all interesting.  For what it's worth I absolutely love Malta and Genos!

[sverigecruiser]

On 4/22/2022 at 10:43 AM, gobear said:

First time we will be going Europe trip and I am wondering which itinerary seems to be better and we are more of a landscape scenery type of person rather than historical stuffs.

There are 3 Barcelona round trip cruises sailing on 27th October, 4th and 5th November respectively
 

27th October (8 nights) Royal çarribean vision of the sea
 Xxxxxxxx 

4th November (7 nights) MSC Seaview
Xxxxxxx

5th November (7 nights) MSC Grandiosa
Xxxxu 

Your feedback would be greatly appreciated to assist our decision making in choosing which cruise and itinerary to go for provided you guys have been either or all cruise itinerary?

It looks like the Grandisa seems to be more attractive in terms of the itinerary, ship though it is more expensive.

Your thoughts?

 

Sorry but I can't answer because I don't know where the ships go. Maybe you can write the itinerarys?