Cruising from Venice

Hello,

My boyfriend and I have been on 11 cruises, however we've never been on a Mediterranean cruise. We have been looking into leaving on a cruise out of Venice Italy with Norweigan but would love some advice on the cheapest airport to fly into/ surrounding airports with a short train ride. The cruise is in July and we would be leaving from Boston International. Also if anyone has been on a Mediterranean Cruise to the Greek Islands and would recommend another cruise line, I'd love to hear your opinion!!! Thank you!:)

You can easily find out by doing your own research. Kayak or Hipmunk are good airline search sites. I prefer Hipmunk because it has a better user interface. This site is a good one for trains - https://www.raileurope.com/train-tickets/.

DON

Cruising the Med is all about the ports, not the line or ship. They are port intensive, not many sea days. The ship is your hotel and restaurant. After long hot days of sightseeing, you will want to shower, eat, and sleep. If you are sailing from Venice, be sure to come in at least a day early, preferable two or three. Coming in just the day before, you will be too jet-lagged and tired to really see Venice. EM

I would avoid the mass market lines and sail one of the luxury lines - Sea Dream, Silversea, Seaborne, Regent, or Windstar. I would also not do less than two weeks.

I would avoid the mass market lines and sail one of the luxury lines - Sea Dream, Silversea, Seaborne, Regent, or Windstar. I would also not do less than two weeks.

Good advice - I would add that, if at all possible, OP should plan to spend a couple of days pre- and post cruise at ports -- typically there is not sufficient time to get anything but the faintest taste of a city on a port call.

You can easily find out by doing your own research. Kayak or Hipmunk are good airline search sites. I prefer Hipmunk because it has a better user interface. This site is a good one for trains - https://www.raileurope.com/train-tickets/.

 

DON

I would not use raileurope for tickets. Trenitalia is almost always cheaper.

Hello,

My boyfriend and I have been on 11 cruises, however we've never been on a Mediterranean cruise. We have been looking into leaving on a cruise out of Venice Italy with Norweigan but would love some advice on the cheapest airport to fly into/ surrounding airports with a short train ride. The cruise is in July and we would be leaving from Boston International. Also if anyone has been on a Mediterranean Cruise to the Greek Islands and would recommend another cruise line, I'd love to hear your opinion!!! Thank you!:)

You will likely find the Venice airport is your best shot. Milan is some distance and the other cities anywhere near Venice are not major airports. I do know that flights go into Florence, but that city is also a good distance away.

We did our first cruise on the NCL Gem out of Venice that went to Croatia, Greece and Turkey. We now prefer Celebrity, but still cruise on NCL. Celebrity's food is better, but NCL's entertainment is usually better.

Be sure to fly into Venice a little early to enjoy this wonderful unique city.

One thought about Boston to Venice (VCE). This route is done by Aer Lingus with a stop-over (plane change) in Dublin. But the thing about Aer Lingus is that its possible to do a multi-day stopover in Ireland (we have stayed 1 - 2 weeks when we do this deal) for no extra cost for the flights. If one has the time its hard to beat what is essentially a free flight to Dublin.

Hank

I would avoid the mass market lines and sail one of the luxury lines - Sea Dream, Silversea, Seaborne, Regent, or Windstar. I would also not do less than two weeks.

Great options if you like spending a lot more.

We did a cruise out of Venice with RCI Rhapsody of the Seas

It was a great itinerary and nicely priced.

depart Venice

sea day

Katakolon, Greece

Chania, Crete

Pireaus, Greece

Thessaloniki, Greece

Ephesis, Turkey

Rhodes, Greece

sea day

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Venice, Italy overnight

depart RCL Venice

Check out Star Clippers! It's a genuine sailing ship. Awesome

Great options if you like spending a lot more.

Price it out one time, it really is not a lot more and it is well worth the experience.

My wife and I flew into Rome and took the train to Venice for our Eastern Media cruise. It was quite relaxing and interesting for us. Give yourself 2 to 3 days to enjoy Venice right. Otherwise, Venice is the airport you should target.

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Price it out one time, it really is not a lot more and it is well worth the experience.

I have priced a couple of those lines and for someone that regularly books a veranda, not a suite on a mainline cruise ship, prices were around double or more.

Princess Cruise Line has a few cruises in and out of Venice on the delightful Pacific Princess ..... small ship with under 700 passengers, meaning no huge herds of passengers all wanting to get off the ship at the same time in the ports.

Might be a better option than a large ship for those busy Med ports.

24 years ago my ex and I flew in to Milan and then took the train to Venice. He had business in Milan and finished early, so we decided to take advantage and spend the weekend in Venice. I don't recall the train ride being that long - couple of hours(?) if I remember correctly.

I do agree with other posters. Get to Venice a couple of days early. You don't want to miss seeing that glorious city. Make sure you get off the beaten path too. There's more to see than just what you see in the tourist areas. Check with the concierge at your hotel to get ideas of things to do/see and what areas are safest.

We are planning our first Med cruise, too....booked Celebrity Constellation and chose the Santa Chiara hotel in Venice because you can take 1 bus there from the airport...cheaper and a great location...it gets great reviews. Enjoy your cruise!

We did a b2b from Venice on NCL last October. Each week we did different itineraries. We flew from LA through Philly then non-stop to Venice. We spent 2 nights in Venice and it was awesome.

My husband and I did a Med cruise with Celebrityfor our honeymoon 10 years ago and loved it. Hubby said he never felt so pampered in all his life!

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