What's the easiest European cruise port cities to fly into (fast/direct/cheap transport from airport to cruiseport)?

[fuc847]

Unfamiliar with the huge amounts of European ports , we are wanting to do Mediterranean cruise (we live in Canada). But at the same time, we want to fly into a city that is convenient/easy to get to the cruise port as well. Some of the airports that we can fly relatively easily into are London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome. From London, we may consider getting cheap flights to smaller cities to cruise from.

 

I looked into a few ports and for example Rome, even that seems abit quite far, or is my expectation too high?

 

We live in Vancouver and our intl airport to the cruise terminal is connected by train from airport directly to the cruise terminal ~40 minutes , costing ~$8 CAD. So I dont know if my expectation is spoiled or not... But ideally if there is something like that in Europe that would be great!

[George C]

Barcelona is great less than 30 mins from airport, plenty of inexpensive hotels , great restaurants. Athens was also good. Rome is about 90 mins to port. 

[hallasm]

8 minutes ago, fuc847 said:

From London, we may consider getting cheap flights to smaller cities to cruise from.

I believe Barcelona is the best choice - you might also find Mediterranean cruises from Southampton - easy to take a bus from Heathrow to Southampton.

Also many western Mediterranean cruises from Venice area. if Venice check location of the port.

The option I quoted only possible if you stay overnight at London hotel - making a transfer with two different booking at a London airport is a sure way of failure - if delays or missing luggage you’ll be in trouble.

[navybankerteacher]

I think Barcelona’s airport is the most convenient to a major cruise port, then perhaps Rome’s — London’s is a bit of a haul to Southampton.

 

But you might want to think a bit about more than just the cruise.  If you are flying across the Atlantic, why not build in a day or several for land travel -making Rome probably best choice, then London.  Sure, you may be short on time and trying to hold down costs — but how many times are you going to fly to Europe — why not make it a two-for-one?

[StollyBolly]

We flew out of Lisbon in April.  One of the most complicated airports I have ever flown from. Not sure how easy to maneuver on arrival, but departure!   

We transferred to ship in Barcelona in Oct 2021 and it seemed relatively straightforward.  If your cruise line has transfers, take them.  
 

 

[mom says]

OP, of all the cities you listed, only Barcelona has close proximity to the cruise port. All of the others require a longer bus or train ride to get to. But as previously stated, this should not be a limiting factor on your choice of Mediterranean cruise.Especially since it is STRONGLY recommended that you arrive at least a day (and preferably several days) before embarkation, pick the cruise and embarkation  port that is most interesting to you, then work the transfer logistics into your pre cruise stay.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I think Barcelona’s airport is the most convenient to a major cruise port, then perhaps Rome’s — London’s is a bit of a haul to Southampton.

 

But you might want to think a bit about more than just the cruise.  If you are flying across the Atlantic, why not build in a day or several for land travel -making Rome probably best choice, then London.  Sure, you may be short on time and trying to hold down costs — but how many times are you going to fly to Europe — why not make it a two-for-one?

Barcelona is also a fabulous choice. The Gaudi architecture alone makes it a worthwhile place, and of course there is more. It may not be Rome or London, but it is also a worthwhile city to visit.

[Lois R]

5 hours ago, StollyBolly said:

We flew out of Lisbon in April.  One of the most complicated airports I have ever flown from. Not sure how easy to maneuver on arrival, but departure!   

We transferred to ship in Barcelona in Oct 2021 and it seemed relatively straightforward.  If your cruise line has transfers, take them.  
 

 

I have landed in Lisbon multiple times and found it quite simple/easy to go though immigration, get my bags and find my driver. 

[StollyBolly]

Good to know it’s easier to get in than get out! 

[SPacificbound]

I agree with Barcelona! It is a beautiful city, and hopefully you could spend a couple days there. 

[LHT28]

I vote  for Amsterdam  or Copenhagen

 go for a few days prior

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

I vote  for Amsterdam  or Copenhagen

 go for a few days prior

 

 

OP is wanting a Med cruise...

[cruisemom42]

11 hours ago, fuc847 said:

Unfamiliar with the huge amounts of European ports , we are wanting to do Mediterranean cruise (we live in Canada). But at the same time, we want to fly into a city that is convenient/easy to get to the cruise port as well. Some of the airports that we can fly relatively easily into are London, Paris, Barcelona, Rome. From London, we may consider getting cheap flights to smaller cities to cruise from.

 

To clarify what others have said, most of the time the embarkation cities are some of the most interesting places. They are large cities and have a lot to see and do. If you want to see them, it is far better to arrive 2-3 days before your ship departs (or the equivalent amount of time after) and stay there, doing your sightseeing. It's a lot easier to see Rome this way, for example, than trying to fit it all in during a 12-hour port visit (with 3 hours needed just for the round-trip transport)!

 

That said, if ease of getting TO the port is the most important thing to you, then I'd say Barcelona would have to be top-ranked and -- at least from the US -- flights tend to be a bit cheaper as it is on the nearer side of the Med than, say, Athens (which is another fairly convenient destination, at least it is if you spend time in the city first...)

 

Also, you have to think strategically. If you sail out of Barcelona, you're going to get the Western Med, not the Greek Isles. And vice-versa for Athens. (Unless you take a longer cruise of course, but that sets up the question of whether you would prefer to have different starting and ending points.)

 

Much for you to consider. There are boards here on CC for various ports of call in the Med. Reading some of the info there might help you get a better handle on what things are important to you -- in addition to ease of access to the port.

 

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

To clarify what others have said, most of the time the embarkation cities are some of the most interesting places. They are large cities and have a lot to see and do. If you want to see them, it is far better to arrive 2-3 days before your ship departs (or the equivalent amount of time after) and stay there, doing your sightseeing. It's a lot easier to see Rome this way, for example, than trying to fit it all in during a 12-hour port visit (with 3 hours needed just for the round-trip transport)!

 

That said, if ease of getting TO the port is the most important thing to you, then I'd say Barcelona would have to be top-ranked and -- at least from the US -- flights tend to be a bit cheaper as it is on the nearer side of the Med than, say, Athens (which is another fairly convenient destination, at least it is if you spend time in the city first...)

 

Also, you have to think strategically. If you sail out of Barcelona, you're going to get the Western Med, not the Greek Isles. And vice-versa for Athens. (Unless you take a longer cruise of course, but that sets up the question of whether you would prefer to have different starting and ending points.)

 

Much for you to consider. There are boards here on CC for various ports of call in the Med. Reading some of the info there might help you get a better handle on what things are important to you -- in addition to ease of access to the port.

 

Good post, but perhaps you should have added the link where the OP could find out about various ports in Europe.

 

Europe Cruises Q&A: Find Tips & Recommendations - Cruise Critic Message Board Forums

 

 

[LHT28]

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

OP is wanting a Med cruise...

OOPS

 

[mom says]

13 hours ago, LHT28 said:

I vote  for Amsterdam  or Copenhagen

 go for a few days prior

 

And to further muddy the waters, A'dam is about to pull a Venice. They will eventually be closing their port to (most) ocean cruise ships, and diverting them to Rotterdam or similar.

[herbanrenewal]

An option I like for either a Rome or Venice cruise is flying into Milan. Train to Venice is scenic route at base of Alps with wonderful lakes (Lake Como). Train to Rome Termini station is routed along the coast, another nice ride. Both trains are inexpensive, and Milan airport is usually cheaper than Rome or Venice, and a lot easier to maneuver thru. Milan is also a nice place to visit - if you're lucky the opera house may have seats available. Check out schedules and prices train from EN - Trenitalia (Italian national rail service usually has best prices). 

[new_cruiser]

I don't think any is as inexpensive to get to by public transit as the Vancouver cruise port via Sky Train. As others have mentioned, Lisbon and Barcelona have similar distance between the airport and cruise terminal to Vancouver. In both cases, the cruise terminal is near downtown and the city highly worth spending time in so going early to spend some time in the city would be worthwhile.

 

Athens isn't quite as convenient but not bad. Time/distance from the airport is about double. The port is about 11 km from Athens so a short taxi ride from downtown if you stay in Athens before the cruise.

[sverigecruiser]

 

Taxi between airport and port has a fixed price of €39 in Barcelona, no extra tip is really needed but we paid €45 last week.

[Zach1213]

On 7/23/2023 at 11:36 AM, mom says said:

And to further muddy the waters, A'dam is about to pull a Venice. They will eventually be closing their port to (most) ocean cruise ships, and diverting them to Rotterdam or similar.

 

I mean, it is the Netherlands, so even a trip to the other side of the country using their excellent transit takes like 45 minutes 😉

[ldubs]

On 7/23/2023 at 9:36 AM, mom says said:

And to further muddy the waters, A'dam is about to pull a Venice. They will eventually be closing their port to (most) ocean cruise ships, and diverting them to Rotterdam or similar.

 

17 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I mean, it is the Netherlands, so even a trip to the other side of the country using their excellent transit takes like 45 minutes 😉

 

Might not be all bad news.  I don't know what I expected but really enjoyed visiting Rotterdam last fall.    

[Zach1213]

1 minute ago, ldubs said:

 

 

Might not be all bad news.  I don't know what I expected but really enjoyed visiting Rotterdam last fall.    

Rotterdam is great. But even if it isn't, it's literally like 45-60 minutes on the train from Amsterdam if not less. 

[SelectSys]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, fuc847 said:

We live in Vancouver

You are lucky in that you'll be able to find just about any European port is accessible from your home airport with one stop or less.  

 

On 7/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, fuc847 said:

From London, we may consider getting cheap flights to smaller cities to cruise from.

You can do this - maybe - but I wouldn't do it unless I planned on spending time in London.  Also, the discount airlines may not fly from the same airport as your transatlantic flight.  I also think that this could be easily more expensive than simply booking a flight to where you really want to go.

 

On 7/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, fuc847 said:

our intl airport to the cruise terminal is connected by train

This does exist in Europe but not necessarily as convenient as in Vancouver with your light rail system.  You can take the train, but often times it involves more connections and walking.  Buses are also a possibility.  The good news is that lots of transfer information is online.

 

 

One thing that I think you might be missing is where do you want to cruise?  For me this would be my first step as you have lots of good flight options regardless of where you want to go.  For example, cruises from Barcelona focus mainly on the Western Med with some longer cruises heading east.  Is this what you want?

 

You might also post on the cruise air to find other ideas on picking flights.

 

Good luck!

[ldubs]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:40 AM, fuc847 said:

From London, we may consider getting cheap flights to smaller cities to cruise from.

 

 

 

13 hours ago, SelectSys said:

 

You can do this - maybe - but I wouldn't do it unless I planned on spending time in London.  Also, the discount airlines may not fly from the same airport as your transatlantic flight.  I also think that this could be easily more expensive than simply booking a flight to where you really want to go.

 

 

I totally agree about spending time in London.

 

We have used cheap regional flights to our cruise port location several times.  For example, we get a great fare to Paris or London then will jump on a cheap regional jet to our ultimate destination.  Sometimes we spend the night before catching the regional flight and sometimes not.   One downside is these flights are not linked, so if the "connection" is missed, you are out of luck.   Fortunately, the fares were so low to make it an acceptable risk  I'm not sure of current fares as the last time we did this was pre-Covid.   

[fuc847]

thanks all, so i decided to book a late november cruise departing/returning genoa (portofino). we're likely flying into Paris and then switching flights to Genoa (not on same day, we'll explore paris a few days). On the way back home, we'll fly out of Milan. I know actually what i'm doing actually involves quite abit of travelling around, but schedules and pricing match up best... thanks for the advices and experiences!