Holland or Princess for Med cruise?

[chelledun]

I am just about to put down a deposit on a late July Mediterranean cruise to celebrate my law school graduation. I will be going with my husband, mom, dad, and 19 year old sister. We have a cabin on hold for the Emerald Princess, but are also considering the Westerdam that leaves around the same date. The itineraries are as follows:

Emerald Princess:
Leaves from Venice
Athens, Greece
Kusadasi (Ephasis), Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey
Mykonos, Greece
Naples/Capri, Italy
Rome, Italy
Florence/Pisa, Italy
Marsailles, France
Ends in Barcelona, Spain
(12 days)

Holland Westerdam:
Leaves from Rome, Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Florence/Pisa, Italy
Barcelona, Spain
Mallorca (Palma) Spain
Carthage/Tunis
Polermo, Italy
Capri/Naples, Italy
Back to Rome
(10 days)

I like things about both and I am torn. I like it that Holland starts and ends in Rome and allows more time in Spain. However, I like it that Princess hits Greece and lasts two additional days. I have not previously sailed either of these lines although I am booked for Princess in May. The only one of these port cities I have been to previously is Venice.

For those who have sailed these lines or similar itineraries before, which would you recommend? Thank you very much for any input.

[thomasale]

I found the pricing on Princess to be quite a bit better. I like the Emerald Princess Itinerary better. I have been on neither lines yet and am really stretching my wings as I am a confirmed Celebrity cruiser.

[chelledun]

I found the pricing on Princess to be quite a bit better. I like the Emerald Princess Itinerary better. I have been on neither lines yet and am really stretching my wings as I am a confirmed Celebrity cruiser.

We would be going on the one right after yours. I'll wave at you as I get on!

[hammybee]

Congratualtions on your iminent graduation.

This is a tough one given cost, per day, seems comparable and the intineraries are fabulous. Both intineraries are port intensive. It is going to be hot. You are most likely going to be exhausted from a day of touring and want a cool cabin and a good bed, most of all. Here are some things to consider:

Airfare R/T to Rome might be less costly than a split ticket.

Turkey is probably a higher risk of being cancelled due to perceived or real safety passenger issues. Will Princess substitute other ports or could the lost time become sea days, (not a bad idea)?

Tunis may give you the ability to talk about Africa, at the watercooler. The talk however, may be better than the experience.

Rome and Florence are in the middle of the Princess cruise and both require long bus rides to/fro the good stuff.

Planning a pre cruise stay in Rome gives you time to adjust to the time difference and lessens the impact of schlepping to/ fro the port on a single day.

The Emerald is a newer ship, if that matters.

The Emerald has self-service laundry, but this should not matter casue you will be too tired.

The Westerdam carries a maximum of 1,848 passengers while Emerald carries 3,120. The Princess will have a bigger impact on the shore due to the numbers of people being disgourged at once.

HAL cabins will be larger than comparable ones on Princess.

Eeny, meenie, miny moe.

[Giorgi-one]

We are booked on July 30 HAL Med cruise. We are also booked on Crown Princess in January. I thought the pricing was way better on HAL for Med cruise. Also, we plan to spend 3 days post-cruise in Rome and HAL works out way better for that including only being 10 days. I also like the HAL itinerary better. We were in Greece many years ago (great time) and I have no interest in going to Turkey right now. I also like the idea of Westeradam holding only 1800 passengers.

[toz]

I would do HAL. The Princess ship is too big; quality of food and service is better on HAL.

[KLLund]

Love both cruise lines ... but the port difference would send me to Emerald .. personal preference for sure but Instanbul is my absolute favorite port anywhere I have been .. Ephesis ( spelling wrong I am sure ) is incredible .. and a day on Mykonos is as relaxing as an extra day at sea.

July you say ... off to look at that more carefully !!!!!!

Enjoy whichever cruise you decide and congrats on the Graduation.

[chelledun]

Wow, you guys have been so nice and helpful, I can hardly believe it. Except now I'm at even more of a toss-up! :)

I understand there is a fairly decent probability that Turkey could get cancelled, I just would hope the ship would be rerouted somewhere neat. I would love to leave from rome as we have friends there, but my husband has never seen Venice and really wants to so it is a toss-up.

[hammybee]

You could do both, starting in Roma and then hopping over to Athens for a few days before boarding The Emerald and then Venice back to Roma.

Problem solved.

[Charliesmom]

I have not been on a Med cruise, but I have visited Venice, Florence, Rome and Capri on a tour and then did a week in an apartment in Venice and a week in an apartment in Rome.

My choice would be the Westerdam. I am a long time Princess cruiser. In April, on our trip to Hawaii on the Island Princess, our waiter told me that they have the same size wait staff on the Caribbean Princess as on the Island Princess, even though there are many more passengers on the Caribbean. He said he worked harder on the Caribbean Princess and the passengers were not nearly as happy as they were on the Island Princess.

The staff on the Westerdam are marvelous. If they are overworked, you wouldn't know it. They are extremely personable.

The other reason I would choose the Westerdam, is that at least you will be spending enough time in Rome to really see it. Rome is a fabulous place with many fine restaurants (our favorite is Le Cave de St. Ignatius - right up the street from the Pantheon - right across from the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola). Wherever you go in Rome you find wonderful artwork - sculpture and paintings and frescos and fabulous sarcophogi and fountains.

I think you'll have a better time on the Westerdam.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Roberta

[middle-aged mom]

You could do both, starting in Roma and then hopping over to Athens for a few days before boarding The Emerald and then Venice back to Roma.

Problem solved.

Hey, that last itinerary sounds pretty good!:) Hammybee, I'd like to hire you as my cruise consultant! You are a woman of infinite personal resource.:) Nothing would stymie you!

Karin

[Giorgi-one]

Wow, you guys have been so nice and helpful, I can hardly believe it. Except now I'm at even more of a toss-up! :)

I understand there is a fairly decent probability that Turkey could get cancelled, I just would hope the ship would be rerouted somewhere neat. I would love to leave from rome as we have friends there, but my husband has never seen Venice and really wants to so it is a toss-up.

Looks like you have only sailed on Carnivore before. Whichever ship you pick, Princess or HAL, you are going to think you died and went to Heaven.

[AAAAmerican]

But H A L: does have many advantages there too. Greece and Italy are wonderful. :D :D

When your in Greece get a drive up to the border in Macedonia thats where one of the longest fortified borders was ever.. Greece and then Yugoslavia finally agreed on peace then the parts of Yugoslvia split up and a war occured.:eek:

Pill boxes still remain and the Albanian border also... the topography is unique there.:eek:

[ger_77]

I'd say take the Westerdam - we're currently booked on our 2nd Mediterranean cruise with HAL, and looking forward to it eagerly. We love the HAL ships and crews so much that we'd choose them over most other cruise lines. Having said that, Princess's itinerary on the trips you're talking about is more to our liking - we loved Istanbul and Kusadasi - so much, in fact, that that's why we're going back this time. Remember that you're going to be in the Med. during the hottest part of the summer; it all depends on your wants / needs and your family's interests, too.

No matter which cruise line you choose, I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Navy_Chief]

I usually pick cruises based on itinerary. I haven't sailed on Princess so I can't offer any advice there. I do like Emerald Princess' itinerary over Westerdam's though. I wouldn't worry about security in Kusadasi, the Turks take security real serious and that port is one of the most security intensive ports I've seen in the med. Doubt it will get cancelled. Istanbul I have never stopped at, just passed by on the way to the Black sea but again, the Turks look at the cruise industry as a big boost to the economy and aren't about to let an incident happen to close the port. Naples has two thngs to do IMHO, 1 is go to Pompeii, 2 is go to Capri by ferry. Naples is a waste to stay in the city itself. Be very careful of thieves there. I've been there more times than I care with Uncle Sam's sailing club and when it was substituted on our itinerary in 04, we stayed on the ship using the ship's facilities for the day. One older gentleman came back to the ship, some punk had run by him and tore his watch right off his arm. Typical Naples.

Westerdam's itinerary has advantages also because it is a round trip from the same port. I don't care much for Tunis though (just personal opinion, never did find much that I like about North Africa though) and if there is a chance of a port being cancelled, that would be the one.

As far as the air fare goes, splitting the ticket out seemed to make little difference in our 04 trip. JFK to Athens then Heathrow to Newark, solved the car parking issue by driving one way rentals to and from the airport as we were in Athens for 10 days prior to the cruise departure to visit with relitives and take in the Olympics. Would have cost us more in parking and securing a return fare to the same airport we left.

Either way, your going to have a great time.

[chelledun]

Ok, after taking everything said here into consideration, I have realized the Princess itinerary does NOT allow enough time for Rome. However, I want to see Greece. So...

We are going to fly into Rome three days ahead and stay two nights with a family we know there. That should allow us enough time to get a good feel for it. Then we will take the train to Venice to board the Princess. When the ship stops in Rome, we can just finish up whatever we didn't get to do during our three days pre-cruise. That will also allow us to adapt to the time change before the cruise leaves.

Thank you so much for all your help!