luxury mediterranean cruise for young people

hello guys, my husband and i are planning a summer cruise to mediterranean, particularly barcelona- rome lines. we are both first time cruisers, would like to give ourselves a little treat by going a luxury cruise line.

as we are first timers we are open to almost any choices: crystal/ regent seven seas/ silversea/ viking ocean/ oceania/ azamara, etc. we went through the websites and got the impression that we will be among a crowd of white-haired retires.

anyone knows which of these companies are better for a couple in their twenties? or are we going to be better-off go with celebrity/ ncl?

my other question is although we wanna try luxury cruises, neither of us like dress up on vacations. are all luxury cruises have formal dinner nights?

thanks!

What is luxury for you? What do you want?

Is it the personal attention? Is it better food? Is the the "free" Champagne? Or is it...?

What is luxury for you? What do you want?

 

Is it the personal attention? Is it better food? Is the the "free" Champagne? Or is it...?

Thanks for replying! We like new and mordern decorations in stateroom/ public area.

Also good service. Personal attention is important. Many cruise companies i mentioned have butler service which we would like to try.

Thanks for replying! We like new and mordern decorations in stateroom/ public area.

 

Also good service. Personal attention is important. Many cruise companies i mentioned have butler service which we would like to try.

I have never been on a luxury line but from pictures I have seen, and I have seen many, the decorations are normally not new and modern on the luxury lines. It's more "old luxury" with dark, sober colours.

If what you want with personal attention is that all staff know your name and that they always know what you want to drink (before you even know it yourself!) I say that a very small ship is the best for you.

What do you want the butler to you for you? Even the biggest ships have butlers available but they do less and they are not your personal butler, they serve more suites.

I have never been on a luxury line but from pictures I have seen, and I have seen many, the decorations are normally not new and modern on the luxury lines. It's more "old luxury" with dark, sober colours.

 

If what you want with personal attention is that all staff know your name and that they always know what you want to drink (before you even know it yourself!) I say that a very small ship is the best for you.

 

What do you want the butler to you for you? Even the biggest ships have butlers available but they do less and they are not your personal butler, they serve more suites.

From the picture we saw, ships like seabourn encore/ crystal serenity etc. are either recently built or renovated. We quite like their interior decorations.

We dont really know what a butler can do for us but from my recent research on this forum i guess they are just like credit card conceirge service? And they know a lot about both the ship and the whole trip. We always apprrciate a little extra information when traveling.

Thanks for your tips i'll definitely research about small yacht cruises! I checked out windstar, not a big fan of their narrow staterooms. Seadream looks nice but they are not offering the barcelona- rome line we want. Any other suggestions?

How about Viking ? Smallish ship's, all cabins have balconies, but the ship's may not be small enough and personal for your needs.

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Try Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2. It is a German ship catering to an international clientele with English as a second language on the ship. Modern décor, first rate food, younger passengers than on American ships of the same luxury category. Drinks are extra on this ship, but they have plenty of parties where champagne and wine flow for free. You are handed a free drink at the entrance of the 'buffet'!

Casual dress code, but you will see a lot of high end materials like linen and the clothing called 'resort wear' in catalogues.

Try Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2. It is a German ship catering to an international clientele with English as a second language on the ship. Modern décor, first rate food, younger passengers than on American ships of the same luxury category. Drinks are extra on this ship, but they have plenty of parties where champagne and wine flow for free. You are handed a free drink at the entrance of the 'buffet'!

Casual dress code, but you will see a lot of high end materials like linen and the clothing called 'resort wear' in catalogues.

I was thinking about Hapag Lloyd too. I'm not sure that I should like that German is the first lauguage but if everything else is "right" maybe that can be an option for a luxury cruise in Europe.

Since you are focusing in a Mediterranean cruise - rather than just a "luxury" cruise per se. I would suggest you look at the itineraries: first, what ports most interest you; then, do research on the numbers of ships/passengers sharing those ports with you. Cinq Terre, for example, is much better seen with a few hundred vs. several thousand fellow cruisers sharing the experience with you.

Also, you should compare the length of port calls - 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (or possibly an overnight) is a whole lot better than 10:00 to 4:00 - especially when shared with many more passengers.

Look at Windstar.

lokihyx,

You moniker made me think. Loki is a cunning trickster in Norse mythology. hyx as in hoax? Are you sure you are not pulling our leg?

Windstar or Oceania are the 2 lines I've narrowed things down to.

If you like the idea of a sailing yacht, but want larger staterooms, take a look at the Sea Cloud II -- http://www.seacloud.com/en/yachts/sea-cloud-ii/

Lindblad charters her for some nice looking Mediterranean itineraries. https://www.expeditions.com/why-us/our-fleet/sea-cloud/itineraries/

Sea Cloud is hands down the poshest experience I have ever had - and it's very casual.

We like Oceania & I am not gray haired but am older ;)

They do not have formal nights & mostly casual dress

long pants & nice shirt for dinner is perfectly acceptable

I would choose one of their larger ships

it all depends on what you consider luxury & what you want in a cruise line

No rock climbing walls or water slides very calm & relaxed atmosphere

You could look at Seadream also

Too bad you can't wait until 2020, because that is when Virgin Cruise Line will be sailing.

If you have never cruised before, why not try a line that is not super upscale? You can find others that would fit your needs of not having to dress up for dinner etc. I would also pick which has the best itinerary.

Not about the ship, but do get a guidebook on your ports...the more you know, the better time ashore you will have!

We sailed Celebrity when we were 28/29 and thought it was a rather elegant line with a decent price tag. We did an open loop 13 day Med with them and they were great with port info etc. Celebrity are the upscale end of the major lines and are not the same as NCL/Royal.

I would go with them for sure...especially when you can get a stunning cabin (I think with extra staff) with the price you might have paid for the other lines. Celebrity are also great for first timers rather than a line with many many seasoned cruisers. We are now 30/31 and we would not touch the other lines at all for the reasons you were worried about with the exception of the Windstar/Royal Clipper due to the ship style.

On the flipside, if you don't want a whole heap of kids and families book June/early July and September as our summer break is late July and all of August. You will get better prices too.

Also, don't just concentrate on Italy and Spain for the Med....Malta,Croatia,Montenegro and Greece are better in our opinion.

I would rather do a suite on celebrity or rccl , preety sure cost will be same , like the perks on both

The ambiance of a small ship is very different.

The trouble, if you like the small ship experience, is that going back to a mass market ship feels like a let-down. Kind of like going from the Hilton to the Motel 6. Both offer a room and a shower for the night, but they are very different experiences.

I say that as somebody who has cruised with Lindblad, Princess, Celebrity, NCL, and is now booked on Windstar. And, I use Motel 6 when it suits my purposes.

Oceania, Regent, Azamara or a full suite on Celebrity.

Our first cruise was in the Yacht Club on MSC in the Mediterranean. It was an incredible experience and hooked us on cruising. We had just turned 40 when we took this cruise and found there were many both older and younger than us in the Yacht Club.

MSC has very beautiful ships with modern decor. The Yacht Club gives the feel of being on a smaller more luxury ship without a similar price tag. We loved it and will heading back for 20th wedding anniversary next year.

To lower the average age of fellow cruisers , why not a top level suite on a mass market ship?

Those luxury lines do attract seniors with time & $$$ . The itinerary that you chose may be port intensive making the onboard experience secondary ?

Book a Royal Suite (or higher) on Celebrity and will have all the attention you want! Everything is also included. Our butlers have been very knowledge about ports but you would also have the Michaels Club concierge and now a Suite Manager.