European Cruise

[JanAndJeremy]

Hi There!
My husband and I are looking into a European Cruise within the next two years. The two places that are on the top of our list as far as an itinerary goes is London (Dover) and Venice. Any HAL itineraries that anyone would recommend? I'd love to hear about your experience with HAL European Cruises.

Thanks in advance,

Jan

[doone]

I sailed the Baltics with HAL on their beautiful ship the Amsterdam. I thought this ship and itinerary was the best I have experienced on any of my cruises. I would highly recommend the Baltics and any of HAL's ships.

[Globaliser]

The two places that are on the top of our list as far as an itinerary goes is London (Dover) and Venice.A word of advice: Don't expect a cruise itinerary that says "London (Dover)", "London (Southampton)", "London (Harwich)" or anything similar to actually take you to London. These ports are all a couple of hours away from London. If your cruise starts from (or ends in) one of these ports, then it will be very feasible for you to visit London pre- or post-cruise. If you plan on that basis, you won't be disappointed.

[Sue's Mom]

I'm from the UK, also and would suggest that you really look into whether or not you would be actually visiting London. There would be much travelling to London and back to the ship if you were only in port for one day. A bit of a waste of time IMHO.

[grannynurse]

If you want to sail over, look at the Westerdam, Rotterdam, or prinsendam in April or may of 2005. Maasdam will begin a roundtrip on July 26.

If you want in-europe cruises the above 3 will be there late spring and through the summer and fall. There are some trips like "European capitals" that combine the med with northern Europe, but not too many.
You generally pick a region of Europe and see which ship is there when you want to go. The Prinsendam will be doing alot of Northern Europe and the Baltics in 2005. Check the HAL website, click on destinations, Europe, pick a region, then a month and a ship. Click on "view" to see the itinerary.

Hope this helps.
GN