first time EUROPEAN cruiser

[zaylyn2590]

While I have been on several cruises to the Caribbean and soon to be Canada, I think I'm ready for a European cruise. It will be me and my 7 year old daughter. I don't really care about the itinerary per say. Looking to go to Italy/Spain/Greece. How do I decide? I would ideally like to spend a day exploring the port before and after embarkation/disembarkation. I'm usually a search by price lowest to highest kinda gal

[Aquahound]

Do you have a preferred line?  I'd say stick with them if you enjoy their product.  Rome is a great place to spend a few days so look for sailings out of Civitavecchia (Rome).  Just realize you'll need to book some sort of transportation to the port from Rome.  Some people take the train.  

 

 

[cruisemom42]

How long are you thinking your cruise would be?  You likely won't get Spain AND Greece on a cruise that's 7 days -- they are at opposite ends of the Med. Most itineraries of 7-10 day cruises are Western (Spain/France/Italy) or Eastern (Italy/Adriatic/Greece with possible stops in Turkey).

 

If itinerary isn't important (not sure I understand this if you have places in mind), then what are your priorities?

 

One other thing -- most of the embarkation and disembarkation ports are major cities with much to see. If possible, I'd allow 2 days rather than one to really get a sense of them. If Rome, then 3 days.

 

 

[wcook]

Woo hoo. Have an amazing trip. There are a ton of western Med cruises that hit the main ports. Since Mediterranean cruises are so port heavy, I don’t think it matters much what line you are on. Find whatever is cheap for the days that work for you. 

[wcook]

Coming from the US, the easiest flights are usually to Rome or Barcelona. Both are simply amazing places to spend a few days before/after your cruise 

[gerryuk]

If cost is an issue then you really cannot beat Costa. You will find that on most Costa cruises you can embark and disembark at most ports across their itinerary. Don't be surprised to see customers with their lifejackets on, at each port of call. Barcelona and Savona in Italy are their main ports, but it wont be a scrum to embark. Rome is a good place to start, don't be put off by the distance to the port, you can get a direct train from the station next to the Vatican for a few euros. The train takes about 50 minutes and there is a free shuttle bus service from the port entrance to the ship. If you want to do Spain towards Greece then you will have to take a longer cruise. I would also take into consideration the weather. In peak summer time it can be stiflingly hot in many ports, and avoid the European school holidays.  

[Lois R]

9 hours ago, wcook said:

Coming from the US, the easiest flights are usually to Rome or Barcelona. Both are simply amazing places to spend a few days before/after your cruise 

It is pretty easy to fly to Athens as well.

[Marga.Anders]

What are you looking to do and or see? Big cities and cultural stuff or more picturesque villages like Santorini? 

Are you only cruising or also going to visit a few places before and after. 

 

Personally I prefer Spain and Italy over Greek Isles. The island are beautiful but there is not much to do except for tourist shopping stuff. But that's a matter of opinion of course. Everybody likes something else. 

[Essiesmom]

Half of this pair is only 7 years old.  So what will interest her?  Is she interested in history, ruins?  Scenery?  I think that you will not be leaving her in the kids club every day while you go sightseeing, so what interests her is important.  I would get a copy of Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports, read it together, find out what attracts you both, then look for a cruise that visits as many of those places as possible.  I recommend cruisetimetables.com for researching ports and itineraries.  And just my point of, but I think Northern Europe has more to interest children than the Med.  EM

[cruisemom42]

14 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

 And just my point of, but I think Northern Europe has more to interest children than the Med.

 

I think either one is fine as long as you approach it reasonably when planning. A day on a Greek beach makes a nice break from just seeing sights, for example.

 

There are a lot of good books to share with younger travelers, and it's a good opportunity to stretch the brain and the understanding of the world a bit, even if they don't remember everything.

 

We spent a week in Rome plus a few extra days in Italy with DS when he was six. Laying some groundwork was key. We borrowed or purchased books such as these to help:

 

Pompeii:   Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne | Goodreads

 

Some good choices for Rome:  Children books about Rome for before, during and after your trip - Mama Loves Rome

 

 

 

 

[fruitmachine]

19 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I think either one is fine as long as you approach it reasonably when planning. A day on a Greek beach makes a nice break from just seeing sights, for example.

 

There are a lot of good books to share with younger travelers, and it's a good opportunity to stretch the brain and the understanding of the world a bit, even if they don't remember everything.

 

We spent a week in Rome plus a few extra days in Italy with DS when he was six. Laying some groundwork was key. We borrowed or purchased books such as these to help:

 

Pompeii:   Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne | Goodreads

 

Some good choices for Rome:  Children books about Rome for before, during and after your trip - Mama Loves Rome

 

 

 

 

A couple of months on these boards, and anyone can see your passion for all things ancient worldly!!  That will have worn off on your son well before you took him on that trip as a six year old; I suspect you'll have been pushing at an open door.

 

To the OP: broaden their horizons, but make sure there is something you both already enjoy at the core.

[Turtles06]

16 hours ago, zaylyn2590 said:

I don't really care about the itinerary per say

 

Please help us understand what you mean by that.   I suspect you must care about seeing something if you want to go to the expense and hassle of RT travel to Europe.  And without further guidance, what folks here suggest you do may be of little interest to you and/or your daughter.

[sanger727]

Since this is your first trip to Europe, it will be hard to go wrong. An important thing is to be aware of how far major cities are from the ports. For example, Rome is over an hour from the port so is difficult to see in a one day excursion. Your best bet if you want to come in early and leave late would be to do a cruise that starts and ends in different cities. Also, you may want to plan a few days on both sides of the trip for sightseeing. There is only so much you can see in a day. 

[zaylyn2590]

19 hours ago, Aquahound said:

Do you have a preferred line?  I'd say stick with them if you enjoy their product.  Rome is a great place to spend a few days so look for sailings out of Civitavecchia (Rome).  Just realize you'll need to book some sort of transportation to the port from Rome.  Some people take the train.  

 

 

I've been on Royal Caribbean twice and carnival 2x. I've been looking at going with RC.

[zaylyn2590]

19 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

How long are you thinking your cruise would be?  You likely won't get Spain AND Greece on a cruise that's 7 days -- they are at opposite ends of the Med. Most itineraries of 7-10 day cruises are Western (Spain/France/Italy) or Eastern (Italy/Adriatic/Greece with possible stops in Turkey).

 

If itinerary isn't important (not sure I understand this if you have places in mind), then what are your priorities?

 

One other thing -- most of the embarkation and disembarkation ports are major cities with much to see. If possible, I'd allow 2 days rather than one to really get a sense of them. If Rome, then 3 days.

 

 

I haven't been to Europe in 15 years so where I go doesn't really matter. I was wanna go! lol

[George C]

We have only done two first was Athens to Rome,

Last one was round trip from Barcelona, love leaving from Barcelona, we had 5 stops in Italy and three other ports. My favorite ports were Florence ( port is a hour or so from city) Naples and Venice, Kotor and Dubrovnik. We prefer private tours and did most with fellow roll call passengers.

[zaylyn2590]

13 hours ago, gerryuk said:

If cost is an issue then you really cannot beat Costa. You will find that on most Costa cruises you can embark and disembark at most ports across their itinerary. Don't be surprised to see customers with their lifejackets on, at each port of call. Barcelona and Savona in Italy are their main ports, but it wont be a scrum to embark. Rome is a good place to start, don't be put off by the distance to the port, you can get a direct train from the station next to the Vatican for a few euros. The train takes about 50 minutes and there is a free shuttle bus service from the port entrance to the ship. If you want to do Spain towards Greece then you will have to take a longer cruise. I would also take into consideration the weather. In peak summer time it can be stiflingly hot in many ports, and avoid the European school holidays.  

I was thinking Early June...my daughter is done with school basically the first week of June

[zaylyn2590]

5 hours ago, Marga.Anders said:

What are you looking to do and or see? Big cities and cultural stuff or more picturesque villages like Santorini? 

Are you only cruising or also going to visit a few places before and after. 

 

Personally I prefer Spain and Italy over Greek Isles. The island are beautiful but there is not much to do except for tourist shopping stuff. But that's a matter of opinion of course. Everybody likes something else. 

I was looking that the Italy one, where it goes to Rome, Venice, Nice and a few other places...I just want to walk around and experience a different city/culture. Have some amazing food!

[George C]

1 minute ago, zaylyn2590 said:

I was thinking Early June...my daughter is done with school basically the first week of June

The earlier the better it can be really hot and many places like the Vatican doesn’t allow shorts.

[zaylyn2590]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I think either one is fine as long as you approach it reasonably when planning. A day on a Greek beach makes a nice break from just seeing sights, for example.

 

There are a lot of good books to share with younger travelers, and it's a good opportunity to stretch the brain and the understanding of the world a bit, even if they don't remember everything.

 

We spent a week in Rome plus a few extra days in Italy with DS when he was six. Laying some groundwork was key. We borrowed or purchased books such as these to help:

 

Pompeii:   Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne | Goodreads

 

Some good choices for Rome:  Children books about Rome for before, during and after your trip - Mama Loves Rome

 

 

 

 

How did your son handle it? My daughter hates waiting in lines ( me too but I can do it without fussing lol)

[zaylyn2590]

4 minutes ago, George C said:

We have only done two first was Athens to Rome,

Last one was round trip from Barcelona, love leaving from Barcelona, we had 5 stops in Italy and three other ports. My favorite ports were Florence ( port is a hour or so from city) Naples and Venice, Kotor and Dubrovnik. We prefer private tours and did most with fellow roll call passengers.

That is a good thing to consider

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, zaylyn2590 said:

How did your son handle it? My daughter hates waiting in lines ( me too but I can do it without fussing lol)

 

We were very lucky in that the grandparents went along on the trip and also we were there in early March, so not that crowded. We would plan maybe one outing in the morning, then back to hotel after lunch where DS stayed with grandma and had some down time. Then we might do one other thing late afternoon, then dinner all together, and off with grandpa to get a gelato!

 

He enjoyed the trip. Only negative we heard was "too much walking!"

 

[CPT Trips]

Something to consider is flying to/from the cruise. From PHL you can get non-stop to either Rome or Barçelona. Athens requires a connection.