Trying To Decide On Cruise To Med With Airfare In Mind

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I am part of a group that plans to cruise the Med in 2009. While itineraries have not been released yet, we are doing research based on current 2008 itineraries for the same time period (June - July). We are looking at a RT Barcelona; a RT Rome; and a Venice to Barcelona Itinerary. Looking at airfares there are currently huge differences in the 3, with the RT Barcelona being the cheapest & the Venice-Barcelona the most expensive, actually almost twice as expensive!

The airfare and ease of traveling from the arports to hotels and the ports could greatly influence our decision. As I am very inexperienced in traveling to Europe, and as we will be booking one of these cruises before the airfare is released, are any of you able to give us any advice from your experience? Are any of these destinations (BCN, Rome, Venice) easier than others to fly into? Which ones are easier for transportation to and from hotels and the ports? Does the airfare traditionally run higher from one airport or another? Any advice would be very much appreciated!:)

[FlyerTalker]

Quick hits: Both airfare to Venice, and the hotels there, are expensive. That's why the VCE/BCN open jaw is the highest of the three. Rome is an inland city, so you will have transportation issues and costs going to Civitavecchia. Not as inland as in Paris or Berlin, but not coastal. BCN is convenient, both in terms of airport to city and city to port.

(Personal bias alert!!) Then again...pricing alone should NOT determine your cruise, IMO. If you haven't been to Europe, take the cruise that appeals to your interests the most. If Venice has always been in your heart, go there. If the attractions of Iberia are to your desires, make that your choice. Same if Italy is the draw. The last thing you want is to come home, feel like you've missed out on something and later be telling yourself, "You know, we really should have gone to X instead". Decide what you want first and then try to make the numbers work out.

[Keith1010]

In the end, we consider both aspects when we travel but more the convenience.

We look at the ease/difficulty of getting to and from the embarkation and disembarkation ports vs. the ports of call we want to see and try to balance the two together.

We won't just pick a cruise because of the embarkation/disembarkation ports if it involves places that we are not interested in. If we find a few places that we are happy with then we evaluate ease from a flying perspective.

As usual, FlyerTalker has provided some wonderful advice. I just want to add one additonal point.

Wherever you decide to leave from I would recommend flying in at least the day before embarkation or if you can two or three days before. In addition to giving you time to get over the jet lag, by going in at least one day early it provides flexibility should your planes be delayed or canceled or something happens with your luggage. And of course the earlier you fly in the more time you will have to tour the city that your ship will be leaving from.

Keith

[diannedri]

In 2004, we did the 12-day Millenium cruise: Barcelona - Venice. Both the ship and the ports were wonderful. The transportation to/from the ship was quick and simple. We booked transfers through Celebrity. We booked our own airfare/times with Air France but paid $75/ per for Celebrity to guarantee it. You'll have a great trip!

[greatam]

[quote name='diannedri'] We booked our own airfare/times with Air France but paid $75/ per for Celebrity to guarantee it. You'll have a great trip![/QUOTE]

Celebrity cannot and does not GUARANTEE independently booked air. What it appears you did was choose custom air deviation, allowing you to pick the time and airline and paying X $75.00 per for custom air. X acted as your travel agent to book the air. Usually NOT the cheapest way to book air.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Wow! Such great advice from all of you! Thanks so much.:)

Since this is the first time for most of us to Europe & we want the most bang for our buck any advice that you can give us on traveling to and from and also the best embarkment and disembarkment ports really helps.

Keith - We are planning on spending pre and possibly post cruise time in the city we cruise from/to, so I count that as one of our ports. I have done some research on Barcelona and that does look pretty easy. I haven't researched the other two cities yet. That is excellent advice that I hope my whole group will follow!

Flyer Talker - You brought up some excellent points. The problem is that we want to take in as much as possible, but, alas - price has to be factored in!:( But you are right about regrets later. Much to think about......

[vivian02]

For a first time cruiser to Europe this is what I would recommend. Fly into Barcelona. From the airport to the ship or a hotel the taxis are reliable and not that expensive. (20 to 28 Euros for two people). There are some very good hotels in Barcelona depending where you want to stay. Most people stay in Las Rablas but I like the area called the "lower Diagonal" Its quiet, there is a big shopping mall, and the beach is an easy four to five block walk.
You will have to figure out how long to cruise and I would recommend doing a 12 night cruise vs a 7 night cruise. Look at it this way...if you are going to spend all that money to fly from Phoenix to Barcelona at least take the longer cruise with some sea days in between to get some rest. Those 7 night cruises are very port intensive. One more thing I might recommend. Cruise during the month of May when there are no crowds (Except for the Spanish Grand Prix). Airline prices are reasonable during the month of May and be aware that prices really go up after June 7th. I would bet you can get airfare from Phoenix to Barcelona in a price range of $675 to $800 depending on the carrier during the Month of May. For summer travel exspect to pay out at least $1200 a person for Airfare. Shop for Airfare 6 to 9 months before your cruise and you will save a bundle.
By the way, did you know that a Taxi from Rome FCO airport to the port will cost you $153 Euros? The cheapest way is to take the Leanardo express from the Rome airport to the Rome Termi for 11 Euros a person. From there you can take the local train (runs every hour) at platform #28 to Civitavecchia for 9 Euros or a total of 19 Euros a person. Be carefull when going to Rome...Taxis have not been reliable and there have been alot of taxi strikes this summer. With this information I think you know why I recommend choosing Barcelona. No one wants to deal with stress on a vacation. Tim

[Sunny AZ Girl]

Thanks, Tim. We are looking at cruises in June because we have a family who is taking their son along as a graduation gift and we have to wait for school to be out. However, the rest of your information is very helpful. I was kind of leaning that way for the reasons you stated, but wasn't sure. We also want to check out all of the possibilities!:D

[mahdnc]

As a first time cruiser to Europe last month, we found the airports in Barcelona and Venice very easy to deal with. We just got back from an awesome 12 night Millennium cruise (6/18 - 6/30) from Venice to Barcelona.

My only comment is that you should take the precaution of flying into the embarkation port at least one day prior to the start of the cruise. We met alot of people on board that had delays, missed connections, and lost baggage.

We were delayed in getting to Venice by 2 hrs because they held our ATL-VCE flight to allow late passengers to get on board which did not hurt us. But our problems occurred on the way back from Barcelona. Our transatlantic flight went very well but we ended up missing our connecting flight to Chicago because the customs/immigration process took too long in Atlanta. Because Delta had no other flights to Chicago that night, we ended up having to stay in Atlanta overnight to take a morning flight home the next day. I was just thankful that this did not happen to us on the way over to Venice.

[stlrboo]

I am also 'part' of the proposed 'group' in "Meandering the Med - 2009", so I'm interested in all these options/opinions as well! :)
We definitely want to do at least one full day, if not two, in our port of embarkation/departure. I would like to fly in on a Sunday (best fares seem to be on a Sunday) while the ship sails on a Tuesday!

Any further help/experiences/suggestions will be appreciated! :D