Mediterranean Cruise? - Page 2

PartDeux · ‎08-10-2015

We are taking a 13 day Barcelona - Venice Viking cruise in a couple weeks. One of the stops is Croatia and I've only heard great things about the country. Also visiting France, Monte Carlo and Greece. It looks to be a great trip Hopefully the weather cools off by then!

Eileen in Virginia · ‎08-25-2010

We took a 14-day Mediterranean cruise on Cunard in early October 2012. We flew in to Athens, hit a lot of the Greek islands, Dubrovnik and ended in Venice. We enjoyed it immensely, especially Dubrovnik. We had excursions everyday except one. Most of them were 4 to 6 hours a day. The longest was in Venice, where we had a full day before heading home. I would definitely use Cunard again, especially if you’re not taking children. Our ship was beautiful and the service was incredible.

I agree with another poster’s suggestion that you add some time to the beginning and end of your trip to allow for flight delays. The worst part of our cruise was the flight home. Our flight out of Venice was an hour late, which caused us to miss our connecting flight in Frankfurt. We had to wait 4 hours for another flight, which was packed because over a dozen others had also missed this flight.

Mumof2 · ‎03-10-2010

@Alexia Thank you so much for the information. We went on a Celebrity cruise and really enjoyed it.

@code99 Sounds like a wonderful trip. I will look in to MSC.

@patbz Thanks for the recommendation of Epheus.

@AlterEgo Wow! Four Mediterranean cruises! What cruise lines did you use for the other three?

Thanks for all the information especially about Venice and the ports that some times change. That's good information to know for sure.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

It's been longer than a few years but for our 25th anniversary 10 years ago we went on a Mediterranean cruise with Royal Caribbean. It was both amazing & exhausting!

We did a lot of touring with lots of stops. We were up & out for sightseeing early each morning and would return in the evening....sometimes just in time for dinner. It would be dark when I got up to get ready for breakfast then leave the ship and dark again when we returned (we went in the fall).

We had balcony cabins and if I were to do it again I wouldn't opt for the additional expense of one. We never got to enjoy it.

Mumof2 · ‎03-10-2010

@FancyPhillyshopper That's great you just returned from a cruise. Sounds amazing. The four Greek Islands sound wonderful. Thanks for the excursion information.

Thanks for the review of the cruise lines. If time or money is of no object which cruise line would you use with a family of four ( children ages 20 and 17). I appreciate all your information.

@americanwoman Thanks for telling me about Seabourn. I'll havs to check them out. Have a great time next month. Are you going on Seabourn?

@mrssims Sounds terrific traveling on The Brillance of the Sea with RC. Two weeks sounds perfect.

@PartDeux Barcelona to Venice is possibly what I'm leaning towards. I cannot wait to hear about how you liked it. Have you traveled with Viking before?

Mumof2 · ‎03-10-2010

@Eileen in Virginia Your trip sounded beautiful! I will check out Cunard. We do have children age 20 and 17 coming along. I know we are adding days on both ends like you recommended. That always is a smart idea!. Thanks!

Mumof2 · ‎03-10-2010

@haddon9 Thanks for your feedback. Sounds like an amazing action packed trip. We too were looking at having a balcony cabin or suite but from what you said it was not worth the extra expense. We are also taking two children ages 20 and 17 and may need two cabins as that's what we did on a riverboat cruise.

Alter Ego · ‎03-12-2010

@Mumof2 wrote:

@AlterEgo Wow! Four Mediterranean cruises! What cruise lines did you use for the other three?

Thanks for all the information especially about Venice and the ports that some times change. That's good information to know for sure.

Three of the trips were on Royal Caribbean and one on Celebrity. But, this was over the course of many many years. I think the first was on Celebrity and I found, at the time, that it wasn’t as “fun” as my previous Royal cruise in the Caribbean (admittedly not a fair comparison so I really didn’t want to mention to sway you away from one line.)

I also want to say that it’s highly unlikely that your cruise itinerary will change. I only mention because there are some people who say their vacation was “ruined “ and they only went for that one particular port, etc. If that’s truly the case, then you should do a land trip to that place. But, the chances of this actually happening are very slim.

edited to add - according to Google, the Venice changes may just be talk. That would be a huge relief as it is one of the most beautiful port cities to sail in and out of!

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Mumof2 wrote:
@haddon9 Thanks for your feedback. Sounds like an amazing action packed trip. We too were looking at having a balcony cabin or suite but from what you said it was not worth the extra expense. We are also taking two children ages 20 and 17 and may need two cabins as that's what we did on a riverboat cruise.

@Mumof2 We did the same thing several years ago when my kids were also 17 and 20. We got two cabins...one balcony & one interior. It was a Caribbean cruise and a balcony cabin was worth it for that trip but for us it wasn't with the Mediterranean cruise.

We never got to spend any time on it and it was always dark out when we were on the ship...the one day at sea was a bit stormy and not a good outdoor day.

FancyPhillyshopper · ‎05-02-2017

Hello Mumof2,

I am not sure I would make a decision based on time or money of no object. You want to make a smart investment in travel that matches your style and personality! Are your children active and do they like to socialize? Is this their first cruise or are they familiar with the experience? Do they want to go with you on all of the shore excursions, or just prefer to stay on board and read? My recommendation would be Royal Caribbean, or if you are a more casual family, NCL. Some cruise lines have limited night life and fun activities, or may have many programs for much younger children. If you are gone all day you are basically just using the ship as your (night-time) hotel. You want to review all the amenities on the ship that may appeal to young adults (We are mature travelers but my husband still likes climbing the RC rock walls! I prefer dancing in the night club on all cruise lines. NCL has fun group parties. On Celebrity the highlight was drinking cocktails.). Some cruise lines are designed mainly for retired adults (Viking - Seabourn?) and may not appeal to younger folks.

I will say one of my first decisions in planning a cruise is itinerary. I look at all the ports, skim read the shore excursion descriptions on the website, and research the port a bit online. I try to decide on what my priorities to visit may be. My husband does not like too many sea days -- he prefers to be in ports most of the cruise. My next decision is length--I have pets and cannot go beyond two weeks. I always combine my cruise with a hotel stay, and have to budget in that factor.

Perhaps your children could have a role in looking at all the options and giving their opinions. You can use the Cruise Critic website to see what other cruisers think about their experiences. Planning the cruise is almost as much fun as going! ENJOY!