Who else is looking forward to the Med in 2007?

[Travelalot2]

For those of you who have been there before, what's the best time to cruise Europe? We're looking at the 7 day with our daughter for next year and can't decide between early June and over July 4th. I'm also wondering if the airfare jumps up in July. The 7 day would be Barcelona - Nice - Italy - Sicily - Barcelona.

[salty dingo]

We sure are looking forward to cruising on the new Carnival Freedom in September 2007. This will be our first Med. cruise!

[LEtue]

For those of you who have been there before, what's the best time to cruise Europe? We're looking at the 7 day with our daughter for next year and can't decide between early June and over July 4th. I'm also wondering if the airfare jumps up in July. The 7 day would be Barcelona - Nice - Italy - Sicily - Barcelona.

 

I would definitely go as early as possible so early June gets my vote. Spring is a great time to sail - temperatures are lower and the ports are not as crowded as they will be later. The last trip we sailed from May 19-30 everything was perfect! Hoping for the same in September ;)

[dileep]

Will be doing the Sept. 10, 2007 Millennium's Barcelona to Venice cruise. Looking forward to booking once Celebrity releases prices. Will be taking our 2 young adult children with us for my 60th birthday celebration.:)

 

We booked that cruise too! We will be in 6144, with friends in 6135 and 6136.

[CTKath]

I think we've decided on Oceania's September 22nd 10 day cruise from Rome to Venice. This will allow me 3 nights before and 3 nights after! Now I just have to call my ta tomorrow!

[leftyrn]

We are very excited to be doing a B2B on the Brilliance for the Sept 30 and Oct 12 sail dates. We wanted to do both itineraries and thought might as well save on airfare and do all in one trip rather than two years.....

 

Will be on deck nine. Tried for an aft but at 10 am on the day they were released they were all gone:eek: . We will be on hump now and have same room for both cruises.:D

 

This will be the trip of a lifetime!

[dileep]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=335954

[Schplinky]

Brilliance Venice thread for September 6, 2007

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=334467

[Host Karen]

How do I decide which to join?? :eek:

[Schplinky]

come on over to the Brilliance, Karen. You sound like lots of fun and we promise to be very chatty in advance of the cruise on the roll call!

 

It's a great life that includes these choices!!!

 

BTW, there are a couple of hump D1's left on Brill that have huge balconies. The ones next to the elevator on 9.

[Schplinky]

I don't know if you've been there but Athens (on Millie) was what helped us rule out that sailing. One of the people we are sailing with HATED it and she is well-travelled and sensible. She said she couldn't breathe from the pollution.

[ehogan]

Just booked our air today for the March 14/07 sailing of the Carnival Freedom! We are now committed!

 

I have to say the prices on the Carnival Freedom are outstanding, I am sure they will rise soon.

 

I'm a bit worried about the weather, but better cold than hot for us since we try to do a lot of sightseeing and find the cooler weather better for that. I think another plus will be the fact that there are no other cruises in port at that time, so crowds will be down.

 

Three days in Rome, pre cruise - we spent seven days in Rome after a Brilliance of the Seas cruise in 2005 and felt that we still had missed seeing a lot.

 

Can't wait!!!

[Host Karen]

No, no, no! :eek: Athens is not to be missed. The Acropolis took my breath away, despite the fact that some (too much, in my opinion) of it has been restored. One of the things that is causing us to lean toward the Millie itinerary is we would be able to have dinner in Athens and see the Parthenon lit up. THAT would be a sight to behold. We would also be in Santorini late enough to watch the sunset over the caldera, which we didn't get to see last time.

 

There is pollution in Athens, but you'll see more of it over Naples if you take a private tour and stop in the hills overlooking the city. Yuck! That looked very bad.

 

BTW, we snagged one of the afts on Brilliance. We've sailed twice in 9660 (the last time in the Med), so we're familiar with those balconies although we missed out on that one this time. On the other hand, we snagged a large balcony, although not aft, on Millie, so the staterooms are almost a wash.

 

Life is hard... Maybe I'll just stop over and say hello. No promises, though! :)

 

Karen

[MVPinBoynton]

Athens is not one of our favorite cities either. Next year's Grand med cruise will be our third time there. On our last visit when we were on the Brilliance, we took an excursion down the coast to Cape Sunion and the Temple of Poseiden. Very nice compared to the crowded dirty city of Athens. I don't know what to do next year, but will probably arrange a private tour.

 

You should at least go to Athens once, since the Acropolis is not to be missed.

[Schplinky]

I suspect we will visit Athens, just sometime we're not travelling with this friend. She is very easy-going so when she expressed an interest away from Athens, it felt like the right thing to do in honoring that, since she's letting us make most of the decisions...

[yannisusa]

MVPin Boynton

I don't understand your comment of Athens being a dirty city. When compared to large cities in the USA like NY, LA, Boston, Athens is spotless and a lot cleaner than the large American cities. In addition the people are a lot friendler and the city is much safer. Athens is considered the safest large city in Europe. Have you been in the Plaka area? The pedestrianized streets are washed daily.

 

Yannis

[MVPinBoynton]

Yannis,

I probably should have qualified my opinion, since the last time we were in the city was in 1999. The streets were piled with garbage and there were students protesting everywhere. The day we arrived, President Clinton had also arrived earlier that day. We had a difficult time finding a cab to get to our hotel, because some of the cab drivers would not pick up Americans. The anti-American grafitti in many areas of the city also didn't leave a good impression on us. I am glad you asked me to clarify my opinion, since the circumstances were not that good.

 

Perhaps we were there at a bad time. I would expect that it is better now, since so much was improved in the city to prepare for the Olympics. I do hope it is better, since there is so much history there to enjoy. I do plan on touring the city next year in hopes that it has improved. It is one of the few cities in the world that has left a bad impression on us. I would be very pleased to be able to have fond memories of this city and be able to extol it's virtues.

[jd10367]

Hello, all. My wife and I have also been waiting on the Mediterranean bookings. We'd like to take a weeklong cruise in September of 2007. The two that seem most appealing to us are:

 

1.) 7-night round-trip from Barcelona on RCCL Voyager, with stops in Villefranche (Nice), Livorno (Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples, and Palermo; and

 

2.) 8-night Amsterdam to Barcelona on Celebrity Century, with stops in Brussels, Le Havre (Paris), La Coruna, Lisbon, and Tangier.

 

The price for a balcony on the 7-nighter is the same as for an oceanview on the 8-nighter: $1299 (brochure price... we haven't met with our TA yet).

 

The first cruise is almost all Italy, but does have an affordable balcony. (And I'm of Italian descent, so even though it's all Italy it's interesting.) The second cruise, while we'd have to settle for an oceanview, is more diverse and has an extra city in it since it departs Amsterdam but returns to Barcelona.

 

Does anyone have an opinion on these? How is Barcelona, since we'd spend at least one end of the cruise there (or both ends, for the first cruise)? I'm sure the Italian stops have plenty to see (especially Rome and Florence), but I'm also sure that Paris and Lisbon do, too. Is Brussels safe? Tangier doesn't seem to be, from what I've read online, so we'd probably stay on the ship for that port. Is the balcony alone worth making the Italian itinerary a better choice?

[vacationhappy]

I just booked the Emerald Princess - Barcelona to Venice via Instanbul August 2007! Can't wait!

[DMorris]

What's the weather like in Europe (Greece and Italy) in October/November? Thank you for your help.

[Schplinky]

We checked on weatherunderground.com, which someone else had posted and t was very helpful. It gave the historic range of temperatures for the dates. I think the times yo're saying would be pleasant but not too warm.

[Host Karen]

Hello, all. My wife and I have also been waiting on the Mediterranean bookings. We'd like to take a weeklong cruise in September of 2007. The two that seem most appealing to us are:

 

1.) 7-night round-trip from Barcelona on RCCL Voyager, with stops in Villefranche (Nice), Livorno (Florence), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples, and Palermo; and

 

2.) 8-night Amsterdam to Barcelona on Celebrity Century, with stops in Brussels, Le Havre (Paris), La Coruna, Lisbon, and Tangier.

 

The price for a balcony on the 7-nighter is the same as for an oceanview on the 8-nighter: $1299

 

Does anyone have an opinion on these? How is Barcelona, since we'd spend at least one end of the cruise there (or both ends, for the first cruise)? I'm sure the Italian stops have plenty to see (especially Rome and Florence), but I'm also sure that Paris and Lisbon do, too.

 

I can only comment on a few of the questions you pose. First, Barcelona is a lovely, beautifully maintained, interesting city that's easily walkable. We spent an extra two days pre-cruise on the advice of our TA and truly enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to visiting again on our 2007 cruise. Second, on our first trip to the Med, we really wanted to see Italy and were very pleased we did. I haven't been to any of the countries on the other itinerary, so someone else will have to speak to those. Finally, you will rarely be in your stateroom on these port intensive cruises, so I wouldn't let a balcony vs. an oceanview cabin make the decision. It should be based on itinerary and the ship. You should take into account the size of the ships, as the number of people onboard may also be a determining factor in your decision.

 

Good luck.

 

Karen

[jd10367]

I can only comment on a few of the questions you pose. First, Barcelona is a lovely, beautifully maintained, interesting city that's easily walkable. We spent an extra two days pre-cruise on the advice of our TA and truly enjoyed ourselves. We are looking forward to visiting again on our 2007 cruise. Second, on our first trip to the Med, we really wanted to see Italy and were very pleased we did. I haven't been to any of the countries on the other itinerary, so someone else will have to speak to those. Finally, you will rarely be in your stateroom on these port intensive cruises, so I wouldn't let a balcony vs. an oceanview cabin make the decision. It should be based on itinerary and the ship. You should take into account the size of the ships, as the number of people onboard may also be a determining factor in your decision.

 

Good luck.

 

Karen

 

Thanks. :o) My wife (also named Karen, LOL) will appreciate the comments. She's leaning towards the Italy itinerary because she'd rather have more time in the departure city, so if Barcelona's nice that helps. (I'd like to see Amsterdam as well, but with the 8-day cruise, we'd basically have little time to spend in Amsterdam and Barcelona... not to mention the headache of having to book hotels and flights in two different cities.)

 

We understand that you can't see all of Europe in one trip. If we like the Med (and I'm sure we will), we'll go back and do the other parts.

[jd10367]

Oh... Forgot to add...

 

"Finally, you will rarely be in your stateroom on these port intensive cruises, so I wouldn't let a balcony vs. an oceanview cabin make the decision. It should be based on itinerary and the ship."

 

I would agree, especially on a cruise like this where it's port-intensive. But the other nice thing about the Italian itinerary is this: brochure price, the other itinerary is $1299 for Oceanview but $1799 for Balcony, which is a hefty difference--but on the Italian itinerary, the Balcony is $1299 and the Oceanview is $1199! For the extra $100pp (which breaks down to less than $30 a night), the Balcony's a slam-dunk.

[Host Karen]

jd, happy to lend my thoughts to your and Karen's decision-making process. We did the 12-night Brilliance cruise that included the Greek Isles last year and are now considering a return on an itinerary that includes Venice. My guess is that you will enjoy it AND you will return if possible.

 

One last thought: if you were taking a longer cruise and would have a few sea days, I would have suggested that you give the balcony more consideration. For $100 on the Italian itinerary, I would take the balcony regardless.

 

Karen