ktb609 Posted March 25 #1 Share Posted March 25 Hi all! I am an avid cruiser but have mainly done them in the Caribbean. We would love to do one in Europe in 2025. For anyone that has done a European itinerary with Virgin, I would love to hear or thoughts or let me know which of the following I was looking at would be the best. Note: I liked the idea of having a different start and end port so we could bookend the trip with an extra day or two in those cities, but that is not a mandatory consideration factor. If you did an itinerary I am not considering and think it is superior or if there are any ports you would avoid, let me know. Itinerary 1: Spanish & Italian Hot Spots Start Port: Civitavecchia (Rome) Naples, Italy Sicily Sea Day Marina di Carrara, Italy Ajaccio, Corsica, France Sea Day End Port: Barcelona, Spain Itinerary 2: Barcelona to Cannes, Rome & More Start Port: Barcelona, Spain Cannes, France Marina di Carrara, Italy Civitavecchia (Rome) Sea Day Ibiza, Spain (overnight) End Port: Barcelona, Spain Itinerary 3: Greek Island Glow Start Port: Piraeus (Athens), Greece Santorini, Greece Rhodes, Greece Bodrum, Turkey Sea Day Mykonos, Greece (Overnight) End Port: Piraeus (Athens), Greece Thanks in advance for any feedback or suggestions! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted March 25 #2 Share Posted March 25 (edited) Be aware the Civita...is NOT anywhere near Rome. It is about an hour away by train, about 90 minutes or more by bus. So, if you do that as a one day stop, you will have very little time to see the city. THere is easily enough to do there to spend a week....so I like that better as a start or end port rather than a port of call (same with Florence, but that isn't on any of your lists) Naples is good for either the city or to do Vesuvius/Pompeii or Herculaneum. However...when we did Pompeii, we were told that "all the good stuff is at the museum." The people who did the museum were told it was all at the excavation site. Seems that many of the treasures were raided by various governments (per a couple of documentaries.). Don't get me wrong--it was worth doing and they are doing more excavation all the time. Cannes is great. You are near many little places that you can choose to visit, There is a train that will take you to Nice, you can visit Eze, etc. or stay in Cannes (or choose different places each time you visit). Funniest photo ever--a total junker VW Beatle at a stop light next to a spotless, new looking Ferrari. So....I would not do 2 because Rome would just not be enough time there. Any of the others have good ports. One thought--there IS such a thing as visiting too many ruins. On one cruise (not VV) we did Ephesus, some of the Greek islands, and Pompeii. Should have skipped the ruins at the islands. And remember that ports in Turkey may sometimes be canceled for political unrest (can happen anywhere, but that is the most likely on your list) If I was concerned about the starting and ending cities, I'd go with number 1. Both Rome and Barcelona are good for as many days as you wish to spend and well worth your time.....for ports, I sort of like 3, but seriously, you can't go wrong. Edited March 25 by cantgetin 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdever Posted March 25 #3 Share Posted March 25 I would highly recommend Southern Spain & Casablanca because it’s a 10 day itinerary and if you’re going to Europe IMO it should be for at least 2 weeks. Spain is the best country in the world, with Cadiz being the best city in the world IMO and this is the only VV sailing visiting Cadiz. And on top of Cadiz you get Casablanca. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soccersharon Posted March 26 #4 Share Posted March 26 4 hours ago, bdever said: I would highly recommend Southern Spain & Casablanca because it’s a 10 day itinerary and if you’re going to Europe IMO it should be for at least 2 weeks. Spain is the best country in the world, with Cadiz being the best city in the world IMO and this is the only VV sailing visiting Cadiz. And on top of Cadiz you get Casablanca. Booked for this cruise too! What a fabulous itinerary - and so looking forward to Casablanca! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdever Posted March 26 #5 Share Posted March 26 Personally, if I had the money & wanted a different embarkation and debarkation port to book end it would be the Portsmouth to Lisbon, Casablanca, and Spain for 13 days in Sept. 2025. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MeganGC1983 Posted March 26 #6 Share Posted March 26 I understand you like to start and end in different ports, but if you haven’t done the Greek Island Glow itinerary, it’s fabulous. Santorini and Mykonos are unbelievable and the water in Bodrum was insane. A few pictures for reference. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesv281117 Posted March 27 #7 Share Posted March 27 Agree with above on Greek island glow being a very nice experience, loved that each destination was very different in character and what it had to offer! Any itinerary with Ibiza in is great I think, loved having an overnight there with virgin and sailing in to Ibiza at sunset was a great moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zumbaqueen1 Posted March 27 #8 Share Posted March 27 Are there ports you can just get off the ship and enjoy the actual port locations in (Cannes, Cagliari, Catania, Mykonos, Piraeus) ? Are there ports that you would absolutely bypass or stay on ship and for sure book an excursion? Thanks we are on" Across The Med" Spain to Greece October 11 -20 2024 This will be our first cruise in ten years ... Thanks, Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesv281117 Posted March 28 #9 Share Posted March 28 16 hours ago, zumbaqueen1 said: Are there ports you can just get off the ship and enjoy the actual port locations in (Cannes, Cagliari, Catania, Mykonos, Piraeus) ? Are there ports that you would absolutely bypass or stay on ship and for sure book an excursion? Thanks we are on" Across The Med" Spain to Greece October 11 -20 2024 This will be our first cruise in ten years ... Thanks, Mary Hi I've done all of those arriving by cruise and think they're quite easy and straightforward to do walking off the ship. Mykonos might be tendered and then a bus transfer but then is very easy to walk around once in town. There were some interesting excursions if I remember rightly for Cagliari if wanting to go further afield. Piraeus I assume is the ending port on this one, its quite a way from Athens centre so would recommend taxi/Uber. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruisingWalter Posted March 29 #10 Share Posted March 29 I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa353 Posted March 29 #11 Share Posted March 29 1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said: I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise I agree. Croatia is a beautiful country. We stayed in Dubrovnik and from there we also had a day trip to Kotor and to Bosnia. I really want to go back again to see Split. Also if you are a Game of Thrones fan, parts of this was filmed in Dubrovnik. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cantgetin Posted March 29 #12 Share Posted March 29 Loved Croatia! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotsauce126 Posted March 30 #13 Share Posted March 30 On 3/25/2024 at 3:52 PM, cantgetin said: Be aware the Civita...is NOT anywhere near Rome. It is about an hour away by train, about 90 minutes or more by bus. So, if you do that as a one day stop, you will have very little time to see the city. THere is easily enough to do there to spend a week....so I like that better as a start or end port rather than a port of call (same with Florence, but that isn't on any of your lists) Naples is good for either the city or to do Vesuvius/Pompeii or Herculaneum. However...when we did Pompeii, we were told that "all the good stuff is at the museum." The people who did the museum were told it was all at the excavation site. Seems that many of the treasures were raided by various governments (per a couple of documentaries.). Don't get me wrong--it was worth doing and they are doing more excavation all the time. Cannes is great. You are near many little places that you can choose to visit, There is a train that will take you to Nice, you can visit Eze, etc. or stay in Cannes (or choose different places each time you visit). Funniest photo ever--a total junker VW Beatle at a stop light next to a spotless, new looking Ferrari. So....I would not do 2 because Rome would just not be enough time there. Any of the others have good ports. One thought--there IS such a thing as visiting too many ruins. On one cruise (not VV) we did Ephesus, some of the Greek islands, and Pompeii. Should have skipped the ruins at the islands. And remember that ports in Turkey may sometimes be canceled for political unrest (can happen anywhere, but that is the most likely on your list) If I was concerned about the starting and ending cities, I'd go with number 1. Both Rome and Barcelona are good for as many days as you wish to spend and well worth your time.....for ports, I sort of like 3, but seriously, you can't go wrong. on mine were in citavecchia for 15 hours. I’d say that leaves plenty of time to actually spend in Rome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DCGuy64 Posted April 1 #14 Share Posted April 1 (edited) On 3/30/2024 at 12:44 PM, hotsauce126 said: on mine were in citavecchia for 15 hours. I’d say that leaves plenty of time to actually spend in Rome Absolutely. You can see quite a bit in 15 hours. In fact, in 2021, we disembarked from a cruise in Trieste, took the train to Chiusi to meet friends who live in Citta' della Pieve, had dinner, breakfast and a snack with them and were there less than 24 hours. You could do a ton of stuff in Rome with 15 hours. Edited April 1 by DCGuy64 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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