European Cruise

[Paumavista]

I've cruised before but not in Europe.

I'm looking for the most generic 14 day Mediterranean cruise on any of the generic lines, ie. Holland, Princess, Royal Caribbean (I'm a little overwhelmed at CruiseCritic until I pick an itinerary or ship).

Grandma is taking her granddaughter for graduation (and some of the rest of the family may tag along (at our own expense)). No one has been to Europe (except grandma who won't be touring much or getting off the ship). The rest of us want to be able to say we've seen the most we can in 14 days without breaking the bank.

Any suggestions........?
(I could recommend for Alaska - Princess if its a varied age group; Holland if adults only......they have both done the itinerary for a long time and have priority to some areas and ports).......Any help for me and Europe?.......

THANKS.

 

[DeniseM]

Check out www.vacationstogo.com and www.cruisecritic.com

 

[Passepartout]

First, you should decide Eastern or Western Med. Italy more or less divides the Med that way. So do you want to see Rome, France, Spain, Portugal (West), or do you want to see Italy, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Malta (East)? Than check Vacationstogo for your dates. It won't seem so daunting that way.

For a more 'European' experience, consider the European carriers. Costa, P & O come to mind. They seat English speakers together and the only major difference would be that the currency onboard would be the Euro (US Dollar on the carriers you mentioned) and announcements would be in multiple languages. And you'd spend less.

Happy planning.

Jim

 

[lizap]

We did a Costa cruise for our daughter's graduation, starting in Venice and visiting the Greek Isles, Southern Italy, and Croatia. We've cruised quite a bit, and this was one of the best cruises we've been on. The food was very good, staff friendly, and ship very nice. Recommend Costa highly..

First, you should decide Eastern or Western Med. Italy more or less divides the Med that way. So do you want to see Rome, France, Spain, Portugal (West), or do you want to see Italy, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Malta (East)? Than check Vacationstogo for your dates. It won't seem so daunting that way.

For a more 'European' experience, consider the European carriers. Costa, P & O come to mind. They seat English speakers together and the only major difference would be that the currency onboard would be the Euro (US Dollar on the carriers you mentioned) and announcements would be in multiple languages. And you'd spend less.

Happy planning.

Jim

 

[Fern Modena]

I also did a Costa Cruise of the Western Med with Jerry. It was great. They have very nice ships, food is top notch. Your waiter and room steward speak at least two languages, English being one of them. Their activity staff are multi lingual and do all the activities in as many languages as there are people needing them. Imagine trivia, cooking demonstrations, or bingo in five languages. Many passengers spoke at least some English and wanted to talk with us to practice.

Your tours were done in your preferred language. Americans/English speakers were a small minority (there were 44 of us on my cruise), so often we were in a minibus with aprivate guide, and since there were less people on the tour, we'd get to go extra places, since we didn't have to wait for others. In Barcelona we had a big bus with four of us, with our own guide, and four French people with their own guide!

Costa isn't for everybody. If you want a typically American vacation, surrounded by other Americans, it probably isn't for you. But if you want to be surrounded by people from many countries, with good food and plenty of people who will speak your language, then this may well be for you.

Two more things...besides the fact that the cruise fare being lower, the gratuities on Costa are about a third lower, it being An Italian Company.

Also, if you don't find a 14 day cruise, see if any of the ships you are considering has several alternating routes. You might be able to take two seven day cruises back to back and go to differing ports except for the turn around day.

Fern

 

[elaine]

first, what time of year? I would recommend a 7-10 day cruise with a 3 day stay in the city of departure to make it 2 weeks. We have had good experiences with RCCL, Princess, NCL and even Carnival (which has a new ship in Europe summer 2016). I think for a 1st trip to Europe, I like the W. Med., with trips to the Coloseum in Rome, Pompeii in Naples, Florence or Pisa in Livorno, and hill towns for S. France.

 

[artringwald]

We're doing a 12 day Princess cruise next month, with a 7 land land tour. I'll report on that when we get back.