3 Probably Easy Questions

Hi all, thanks in advance for the help. Last year, hubby and I took a wonderful cruise through N. Europe with an overnight in St. Petersburg. It was our first trip overseas and probably our best vacation ever. :)

We have traveled all over the Caribbean and Mexico as well. Next trip on the list, is a 2018 cruise through the Mediterranean. But, we need your help. Three questions are below, bolded, and would really help us make some decisions.

Question #1: Norwegian sale? There is this really enticing sale going on right now and it ends tonight. Should I rush and pick a cruise or just keep researching and buy in the next month or so? Will there be another awesome sale? I know you are not mindreaders. But perhaps a more seasoned European cruiser will know.

Question #2: Rome itineraries or Barcelona itineraries? We are thinking of spending at least 3-4 days pre-cruise touring. It seems both ports have tons of things to see, and I understand that getting to Civitavecchia can be a bit more difficult. But I think we are more interested in Rome. The question for us really is, which ports are better for things to see and do? The Barcelona side (see France and Italy) or Rome side (see lots of Italy and some of Greece, maybe even Venice?)

Question #3: Refugee situation? Lastly, I searched and searched. It would seem that this issue has died down quite a bit. I don't want to argue but really want to know, is the refugee situation affecting any cruisers visiting Greece or elsewhere (Croatia) as of late? I did hear of some cruises skipping ports like Corfu.

Hi all, thanks in advance for the help. Last year, hubby and I took a wonderful cruise through N. Europe with an overnight in St. Petersburg. It was our first trip overseas and probably our best vacation ever. :)

 

We have traveled all over the Caribbean and Mexico as well. Next trip on the list, is a 2018 cruise through the Mediterranean. But, we need your help. Three questions are below, bolded, and would really help us make some decisions.

 

Question #1: Norwegian sale? There is this really enticing sale going on right now and it ends tonight. Should I rush and pick a cruise or just keep researching and buy in the next month or so? Will there be another awesome sale? I know you are not mindreaders. But perhaps a more seasoned European cruiser will know.

 

Question #2: Rome itineraries or Barcelona itineraries? We are thinking of spending at least 3-4 days pre-cruise touring. It seems both ports have tons of things to see, and I understand that getting to Civitavecchia can be a bit more difficult. But I think we are more interested in Rome. The question for us really is, which ports are better for things to see and do? The Barcelona side (see France and Italy) or Rome side (see lots of Italy and some of Greece, maybe even Venice?)

 

Question #3: Refugee situation? Lastly, I searched and searched. It would seem that this issue has died down quite a bit. I don't want to argue but really want to know, is the refugee situation affecting any cruisers visiting Greece or elsewhere (Croatia) as of late? I did hear of some cruises skipping ports like Corfu.

My thoughts:

1. No idea. Prices will generally go up as the sail date gets closer unless you can wait until the days after final payment is due (not recommended for most to do a European trip). But there will also likely be similar deals thru the coming months. But there are no guarantees. I book my cruise when I see an itinerary that I like at a price that fits my budget. Sometimes you can get it reduced if a sale pops up before your final payment is due on the cruise.

2. Both cities are great to start and end a cruise with. If I had to pick 2 "equal" cruises, I would pick one starting in Rome if you've never been to the Mediterranean ports before. Rome just seems to have more history to interest me. Having said that, I've taken 2 cruises that started in Barcelona as well, including my first Med cruise. So either will work, but if you're planning on spending 3-4 days before the cruise, I would pick Rome to do that in. You can easily spend 3-4 days exploring Rome itself without ever leaving the metro area. I would stay at a location inside central Rome. And with that much time, the transfer to Civitavecchia is not really a consideration -- easily done a number of ways.

3. I am not aware of any refugee situation that is currently affecting any cruises. Even when there were major issues in Greece, I don't recall them impacting cruises.

MeHeartCruising: Thank you so much for your response! After I posted, I dug around some more.

The deal I found is actually valid for another month, so I'm good there.

I'm leaning towards Rome too, because as you mentioned, it looks like tons to do over several days.

On the refugees, I'm glad to hear that the situation isn't causing issues for cruises. With that said, I'm sorry to hear about the affect on Greece and business owners, as well as those fleeing a horrible situation back home.

Can I presume you're from North America?

You have the big advantage over us Europeans that you can book and cancel (before final payment date) without penalty.

So is there any reason why you can't book first and make your mind up later?

When we've taken advantage of free cancellation (mainly hotels, and especially on free-wheeling road trips where we've been uncertain of our movements), my only concern has been that we'd forget about having made a reservation or we'd have some technical glitch which prevents us from cancelling in time.

So if you're not as senile or technophobic as yours-truly :rolleyes:, book while the offer is there and then research.

I'd definitely aim for Rome as either the embarkation port or disembarkation port.

IMHO it has way more to offer than Barcelona, and the travel time of 90 minutes+ each-way between the ship at Civi and Rome is actually an important reason to choose Rome as a turnaround port because the time in the city (5 to 6 hours) on a port-of-call visit is woefully inadequate. You need a bare minimum of two full days (others would say longer) to do justice to Rome.

In Barcelona, even without luggage you'd probably need the shuttlebus to get from ship to port gate, but that puts you near the bottom of Las Ramblas in the heart of the city so you can achieve a great deal more on a port-of-call visit.

Several cruise lines offer one-way itineraries from Rome to Venice or vice-versa, giving you the opportunity to enjoy pre/post-cruise time in both.

And I rate the eastern Med more varied and interesting than the western Med.

Be aware that if you choose eastern, the ports of Katakolon and Kusadasi are only of value for visiting the ancient sites of Olympia and Ephesus respectively.

Refugees aren't an issue in the ports that cruise ships visit, though they have impacted on a couple of Greek vacation islands off the Turkish coasts and parts of southern Italy and Sicily.

You mentioned Croatia. It has virtually no refugees, and on a road trip there a month or two back the country was noticeable for its absence of multi-culturalism generally. A little research into the history of conflicts in Yugoslavia (now the various independent Balkan states) will give you an idea of why this is.

You can confidently strike the refugee situation from your list of things to consider with any Med cruise.

JB :)

Can I presume you're from North America?

Why yes, you can! And I am. :) I've actually thought of booking and then watching the final date of payment, but then I saw a deal that is good until end of Aug, so I have some time.

You brought up an excellent point I didn't think of when choosing between Rome/Barcelona for embarkation and disembarkation. That 90 minutes IS just another reason why having it as a port stop would not be beneficial on a cruise.

We are planning on 3 full days in Rome and I'm definitely leaning towards the eastern side.

Be aware that if you choose eastern, the ports of Katakolon and Kusadasi are only of value for visiting the ancient sites of Olympia and Ephesus respectively.

Really good to know, and helpful when choosing itineraries. Dubrovnik is high on the list, as is Venice. Here are two itineraries I'm seriously considering, what do you think?

• Rome/Civitavecchia, Cruising, Dubrovnik, Venice/Italy, Venice/Italy,Koper, Split, Corfu, Katakolon, Valletta, Cruising and Rome/Civitavecchia
  
  
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Naples, Cruising, Thira/Santorini, Rhodes,Iraklion, Athens/Piraeus, Nafplion, Argostolion, Corfu, Kotor,Venice/Italy and Venice/Italy
  
  

You can confidently strike the refugee situation from your list of things to consider with any Med cruise.

Thanks! Consider it done. :D

I am not sure why you have limited your departure end point to either Rome or Barcelona. European cruises are different than US as you are not constrained by the PVSA. It is quite reasonable to embark from one port and disembark in another. It you look at a variety of lines you will see cruises which begin from Rome and end in Barcelona or vice versa. You can add Athens in as a start or end point as well if that interests you. By starting one place and ending another you get the advantage of doing an extension in two different cities. Personally I would think Rome to Barcelona would be fabulous. Your itinerary would be set to a great degree by how long you can dedicate to the cruise. Air using different ports is not difficult.

 

Here are two itineraries I'm seriously considering, what do you think?

 

• Rome/Civitavecchia, Cruising, Dubrovnik, Venice/Italy, Venice/Italy,Koper, Split, Corfu, Katakolon, Valletta, Cruising and Rome/Civitavecchia
  
  
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Naples, Cruising, Thira/Santorini, Rhodes,Iraklion, Athens/Piraeus, Nafplion, Argostolion, Corfu, Kotor,Venice/Italy and Venice/Italy
  
  

Thanks! Consider it done. :D

Those are both very interesting itineraries. I would probably rate the second one slightly higher for a first-time Med cruise as it visits quite a few "iconic" places including Naples, Santorini, Athens, and Venice, plus of course Rome. Rhodes, Nafplion and Corfu are also very pleasant.

You don't get Croatia (Dubrovnik and Split) though. I think you'll have to do some reading/research on your own and see what appeals most to you.

• Rome/Civitavecchia, Cruising, Dubrovnik, Venice/Italy, Venice/Italy,Koper, Split, Corfu, Katakolon, Valletta, Cruising and Rome/Civitavecchia
  
  
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Naples, Cruising, Thira/Santorini, Rhodes,Iraklion, Athens/Piraeus, Corfu, Kotor,Venice/Italy and Venice/Italy
  
  

:D

Venice isn't a turnaround port on the first option, but the ship overnites there. Do check the times in port - probably a day and a half, but that's just about long enough. Do see Venice in the evening, after the day-trippers have gone - it's a very different atmosphere.

Dubrovnik is exceptional, Split is also well worth visiting if only just for Diocletian's Palace and the comparatively small adjacent old city. Katakolon as I mentioned is only worthwhile for Olympia. but altho I'm not into dusty ancient history I could happily do that on this itinerary which has plenty of alternatives at other ports. Malta is quite a small and barren island, but has stax of history. I don't know Koper.

I don't rate Crete. But I do rate Santorini, and Athens is bucket-list. And I love the many sights around Naples (Pompeii, Herculaneum, Amalfi coast, Capri, etc - you'll have a hard job choosing which) though I don't rate the city itself.

I don't know Kotor.

For myself, I'd choose the first one - adding 2 to 3 days pre-cruise in Rome and 2 to 3 days post-cruise in the Naples area, easy to reach by train or road.

But it's your vacation, your time, your money.

Whatever you choose, either of those - or a dozen other itineraries - will do the job.

JB :)

I am not sure why you have limited your departure end point to either Rome or Barcelona. European cruises are different than US as you are not constrained by the PVSA. It is quite reasonable to embark from one port and disembark in another. It you look at a variety of lines you will see cruises which begin from Rome and end in Barcelona or vice versa. You can add Athens in as a start or end point as well if that interests you. By starting one place and ending another you get the advantage of doing an extension in two different cities. Personally I would think Rome to Barcelona would be fabulous. Your itinerary would be set to a great degree by how long you can dedicate to the cruise. Air using different ports is not difficult.

Because I am finding the cost to be higher than roundtrip airfare. And, often at the end of a trip we are ready to go home. But, I am not opposed to starting in one port and ending in another. I'm focusing on Rome because that's where our interests are and where we want to spend several days. If we were to end in Venice, I'm not sure we'd be able to spend days there as well. See, we have day jobs, and are coming from the USA, and therefore don't have a ton of vacation time. ;)

Lastly, I'm a little stuck on Barcelona and Greece. See, itineraries are either/or for us, as we can't do a 12 day. So if we chose Barcelona/Rome, we'd miss Greece.

You don't get Croatia (Dubrovnik and Split) though. I think you'll have to do some reading/research on your own and see what appeals most to you.

I know. Bummer. But I think I'm going to have to make some choices wherein I don't get to see it all. Rome is a must for us, but beyond that...I would like some relaxing beach time...and Venice looks pretty neat. So Rome, Venice, Greece? Not sure we can do even that with our time frame!

For myself, I'd choose the first one - adding 2 to 3 days pre-cruise in Rome and 2 to 3 days post-cruise in the Naples area, easy to reach by train or road.

But it's your vacation, your time, your money.

Whatever you choose, either of those - or a dozen other itineraries - will do the job.

 

JB :)

Thanks for the tips and thoughts! Such luxury problems we have. Either way, I'm sure it'll be a great time.

............because I am finding the cost to be higher than roundtrip airfare. And, often at the end of a trip we are ready to go home. But, I am not opposed to starting in one port and ending in another. .

Are you aware of open-jaw (aka multi-city) return tickets?

With our increased use of budget airlines (where return prices are simply the total of two one-way prices) and charter flights (where return tickets have been dirt-cheap), it's been a while since we've had occasion to book open-jaw tickets.

In fact, I don't even know if they're still available.

But instead of pricing a one-way ticket from home to - say - Venice and another one-way ticket from - say - Rome to home, check out airlines or airline-alliances which serves all three airports, and look for the magic words "open-jaw" or "multi-city" bookings. This will allow you to book both flights on one booking, at a total price mid-way between the two different return-ticket price.

So no premium for flying home from a different airport.

Mebbe ask about open-jaw tickets on Cruise Critic's "cruise air" forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=128

There'll be folk on there far more conversant with air bookings than I.

JB :)

Are you aware of open-jaw (aka multi-city) return tickets?

Yep. It's the option marked "multi-city" when searching in Expedia, Travelocity, etc. But when I do that, the cost is higher than a round trip from the same city. I'll check again though to be sure.

Right now, for a ticket to this area in May, 2018, total cost for 2 is around $3700 US. That's sky high. I paid about half that last year to get to Denmark. So, I'm worried about booking a vacation and then getting stuck with high airfare. But it could be I'm looking at airfare too soon.

Just FYI, we're cruising princess starting in Barcelona, ending in Rome and we're flying home from Venice. Airfare through princess was <$3k for both!

Between these two itineraries:

• Rome/Civitavecchia, Cruising, Dubrovnik, Venice/Italy, Venice/Italy,Koper, Split, Corfu, Katakolon, Valletta, Cruising and Rome/Civitavecchia
  
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Naples, Cruising, Thira/Santorini, Rhodes,Iraklion, Athens/Piraeus, Nafplion, Argostolion, Corfu, Kotor,Venice/Italy and Venice/Italy
  

I would choose the second itinerary. Naples opens you to the Amalfi Coast or Capri for the day. Santorini is gorgeous, and truly bucket list. Argostolion has the Melissani Cave Lake. Athens is a must-do just for the history. I think Perast (near Kotor) is a really beautiful little town with great views of the town from the islands nearby. Then after the cruise, you could stay a couple more days in Venice; and if you have time after the cruise, I would hire Go Opti to provide a private car service from Venice up to Llubljana, spend a couple days there (including a day tour of Lake Bled). Then I would hire Go Opti again to go from from Llubljana to Piran in Slovenia. That would be a fantastic trip.

Why yes, you can! And I am. :) I've actually thought of booking and then watching the final date of payment, but then I saw a deal that is good until end of Aug, so I have some time.

 

You brought up an excellent point I didn't think of when choosing between Rome/Barcelona for embarkation and disembarkation. That 90 minutes IS just another reason why having it as a port stop would not be beneficial on a cruise.

 

We are planning on 3 full days in Rome and I'm definitely leaning towards the eastern side.

 

 

 

Really good to know, and helpful when choosing itineraries. Dubrovnik is high on the list, as is Venice. Here are two itineraries I'm seriously considering, what do you think?

 

• Rome/Civitavecchia, Cruising, Dubrovnik, Venice/Italy, Venice/Italy,Koper, Split, Corfu, Katakolon, Valletta, Cruising and Rome/Civitavecchia
  
  
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Naples, Cruising, Thira/Santorini, Rhodes,Iraklion, Athens/Piraeus, Nafplion, Argostolion, Corfu, Kotor,Venice/Italy and Venice/Italy
  
  

Thanks! Consider it done. :D

I would choose the second but it is so personal. Check on the time in port.

We have done a fair amount of independent travel in Greece and Greek Islands. The refugee issue really only impact a few of the islands. You may see some evidence in Pireus if you are waiting to board a ferry. I do not think this will be an issue on a cruise. We did avoid some islands because of this but it was not a big deal.

We only do one way or open jaw flights. Flying to Europe can often lead to some interesting opportunities because of the number of budget carriers available. We look for great one ways or attractive open jaw offers. Then we see how we can combine an in Europe discount flight.

Last trip we flew into Athens one way on a great deal. Then we got another great flight home from Paris. We grabbed a direct flight from Crete to Paris for under $100. Gave us a bonus weekend in Paris on the way home. This was much less expensive that buying a return fare to Athens and then getting back from Crete to Athens to catch that flight. London is a good hub, as is Milan. TAP Portugal was also running some attractive offers a few weeks ago that had as thinking about a trip.

Hi everyone, we've narrowed down some decisions - and the first is to head to Western Med instead of Greece. Shall I post elsewhere?

Anyhoo - we are now down to 2 options. Itineraries include Barcelona, and one in Cannes and the other in Marseille. Thing is, it's really down to these two ships. And I'm so stuck.

Norwegian Epic or Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas

I read somewhere that RC has lots of smoking on the ship and not so much non-smoking around. We are non-smokers, one of us is asthmatic, so we avoid smoke. Last year we were on Princess Regal and there was little smoking onboard.

It's just 2 of us in our mid-40s.

We want to cruise Sept. 2018.

There seem to be limited choices then. Will more itineraries be released or is this it?

We have cruised on numerous cruise lines including NCL and RCI. In fact, the two of the last three have been RCI.

We do no smoke. My spouse is very sensitive to it. We certainly did not notice it on either of our two RCI cruises. No different than Celebrity, Princess, etc. Same with our NCL cruise on Star and Sun.

I would select based on your itinerary preference, ship, and price.

Be careful about booking and canceling. Some cruise

Ines including RCI are changing their booking policies to add penalties, change fees and non refundable prices.

Sometimes the cruise offered air is cheaper on open jaw cruises.

Also when booking your air check prices from a major international airport to your starting port than do your air separate from your home city to the international airport.

We live in Kansas City and do not get good flights when you put the whole trip in. On our upcoming trip we booked non stop to Barcelona from JFK when the price was cheap than we waited for a sale from KC to NYC.

We saved a lot of money. (Not sure where your home city is)