Best time to cruise the Med

[colorado_cruiser]

Just got back from first-time ever cruise (to Alaska Inside Passage) and now the whole family is hooked.

 

We're looking at either the Med (West or East) or the Caribbean. What month is the best time to cruise the Med?

 

Which part of the Med do you suggest cruising? West or East?

 

Prior to the Alaskan cruise, my in-laws just got back from a Europe tour (England, France, Switzerland, and Italy). They now are itching to see Spain as well.

 

My husband and I would also like to include Greece.

 

Any suggestions on which cruise ships and itineraries will cover both and give us time to explore both Spain and Greece?

 

I have plenty of time to plan since we're not looking to go until 2006.

[suekay]

I like mid June in the Med - not too hot or crowded, long days giving plenty of sunbathing time after returning to the ship

 

Why not try Brilliance or Princess....both do East and West Med in same cruise (probably other lines do as well, but I've never tried them)

[DELFIN]

Was on the Summit in Alaska June 11th and understand getting "hooked". After researching (I can drive anyone nuts with this) I found the Mediterranean to be the favorite pick of seasoned cruisers......Check out Celebrity's Millenium, the itinerary gives you Barcelona, Spain, Greek Islands, Rome, Nice, etc. and VENICE.......the pricing is also very reasonable....and I can attest that the Food and Service are outstanding..... we're booked June 2005 already! Good Luck!

 

Susana :)

[doubled]

I agree June is a great time to cruise Med and Celebrity Millennium is an awesome cruise. July and August can be very hot and ships can have huge amounts of children during July and August if that is a concern. Be sure to book early as last year prices went up over $1000 pp from booking early. We did Med in June and liked it so much we booked for June 2005. We are on same cruise as Delfin

[ClaudiaF]

Anytime!

But, to answer your question..we just got back from 2 week cruise in May

( great weather) on Oceania Cruise.. which included ports ( in wrong order)..Barcelona,Marseille, Monte Carlo, Corsica, Portofino, Amalfi ,Livorno ( for Florence), Civitavecchia ( for Rome) Sorrento, Corfu , Dubrovnik, Venice.

It was superb!

[Bruin Steve]

First, ANYTIME is a great time to cruise the Mediterranean...and I would choose to do it over the Caribbean without hesitation...If weather is the question, on a same-month comparison, the Mediterranean always beats the Caribbean due to the humidity factor...most Mediterranean ports have fairly low humidity (think: Same climate as Southern California--DRY Summers)...That said, August CAN get very hot...it was as hot as it ever gets there when we did it last August...but the trip as still wonderful...Obviously, if you can do it in May or June, the temperatures will be far more moderate (Some of us can only cruise July/August due to school calendars)...

 

As to routes and ships, I wholeheartedly recommend the Celebrity Millennium...The Millennium routes are all "one-way" Venice to Barcelona or vice-versa...That gives you the ability to extend your cruise on both ends with distinct stays in Venice and in Spain...Also, by going one way, they have the time to fit in BOTH Venice and the Adriatic AND Athens and the Aegean...

 

Ours, a 13-nighter, went Venice - Dubrovnik - Corfu - Santorini - Athens - Naples - Rome - Livorno - Nice - Barcelona (This year, most of the routes seem tohave replaced Corfu with Mykonos...and the routes for individually cruises do often vary)...

 

Plus, as has been said before, the ship is exquisite and the food and service on Celebrity far outpaces most other lines...

 

Good luck...

[Tatka]

We liked our May 7 days cruise on Splendour of the Sea (food was not up to Celebrity standards) but overall we got very good value for good money, very classy ship. We had great sunny weather 75F - 80F.

 

Barcelona - Marseilles - VilleFranche( Monte Carlo/Nice/Cannes) - Livorno (Frorence/Pisa) - Civitavecchia(Rome) - Naples(Capri, Sorrento., Pompeii) - Day at sea - Barcelona.

 

Warning: Plan accordingly as airfare to the Med and tours will probably much more expensive than cruisefare itself. (You have to do a extensive search for this two)

[colorado_cruiser]

I was all set to focus my cruise research on just the RCI ships to get going on the Crown Program. However, after all the accolades given toward Celebrity's Millennium, I'll definitely have to research that one as well. :)

 

Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming!

 

-Vanessa

[Bruin Steve]

I was all set to focus my cruise research on just the RCI ships to get going on the Crown Program. However, after all the accolades given toward Celebrity's Millennium, I'll definitely have to research that one as well. :)

 

Vanessa,

We were in about the same mode before we went on the Millie...

As you can see from my "cruise history" below, we have been on a number of Royal Caribbean cruises (actually, I may have forgotten some because the RCI folks thought we hit the "Platinum" level for Crown & Anchor before I thought we should have hit it...of course, some of those 3-nighters go by so fast I can't remember I took them!)

 

Anyway, we were sailing on the Grandeur of the Seas a couple of years back...and seriously thinking about booking the Brilliance of the Seas for the Mediterranean...but we held off...

 

When I returned home, I started seriously looking into it...and found several advantages to the Millennium itineraries (Different pre- and post-cruise stays, Venice AND Athens, better port schedule, etc.)...and, I had always heard about Celebrity in glowing terms (of course, I'd always heard similar things about Princess and was NOT impressed by them)...But, this seems to have been the chance to try Celebrity...Especially since, after talking to my TA, I found there was virtually no price differential between the two cruises...

 

So, we booked our first Celebrity cruise and were NOT disappointed (as evidenced by the fact we subsequently took Celebrity to Alaska and now have them booked for Northern Europe)...

 

As to the Crown & Anchor thing, I've decided that's not such a big deal...We're in the "club" as repeat customers on 5 still-operating cruise lines...we're Platinum members of C&A...our next cruise will put us into the next level with Celebrity's "Captains' Club"...and we're repeat cruisers with Carnival, Norwegian and Princess as well...

 

Most of that means I get junk mail from every cruise line out there...I can book ANY line and get invited to the "Club" cocktail party as well as get most of the other perks...

 

What you get from going to the next level with most isn't worth repeating the same line over and over the five or ten necessary cruises...what should draw ou to a specific cruise line isn't the perks...It's the service and quality of the line and its ships and its people...and the itineraries and amenities offered...

 

You shouldn't have to be on your fifth cruise with any line in order to get great service, to be moved onto or off of your ship speedily, to get a "good deal" on your cruise price, etc. Any cruise line that wants your business should be willing to do all that for you even if it's your first cruise with them...

 

A couple of other notes:

 

Much discussed here is the possibility that some day, Royal Caribbean MAY unify the Crown & Anchor and Captains Club...RCI owns BOTH Royal Caribbean AND Celebrity...and they're making money no matter which of their lines you cruise with (A lot of posters on the Celebrity board don't like the notion, but it is a discussed possibility)...

 

The rules have been changing over the years for these "clubs"...For example, Celebrity now credits you for 2 cruises if you take a cruise longer than 10 days...and for an extra cruise if you take a Suite...So, someone like me, who takes long cruises on Celebrity, some in Suites, I've moved to the next level rather quickly...Book a suite for that Millennium 12-nighter and it counts as 3 cruises toward your Captains Club level...

 

In any event, I HIGHLY recommend that Millennium Mediterranean cruise...it was the single best cruise I've ever taken...

[Mallorcan girl]

Hi folks, I've read all your experiences about cruising the Med and none of you have mentioned Mallorca or even Ibiza!! As you can see I am writing from Mallorca and I think American cruisers are sort of "discriminated" by the itineraries already offered. The most visitors here are British and Germans, and i must say I would like to see some "near home" fellow sometimes...

Why don't you come anyway? There's not much info or you really prefer another destinations?

[suekay]

Mallorcan Girl

I don't think any of the US cruiselines call at Mallorca or Ibiza, do they?

[Tatka]

Mallorcan Girl

I don't think any of the US cruiselines call at Mallorca or Ibiza, do they?

I don't think RCI (Celebrity) or Princess are US cruiseline.