Undecided

Iam thinking of doing a cruise and stay next year. Lake Garda and Venice then med cruise. I have 3 cruises in mind. RCL, NCL and MSC. Wondering if anyone can give me information on these please. I have read mixed reviews, so wondered if any of my cruise critic friends would help. All different prices and dates. Which is value for money?

Thanks in advance. :)

It would be helpful if you can say what the prices are and what the itineraries are.

If prices are close then I would go with the itinerary which would be of the most interest.

So having both pieces of information would be very helpful to provide you with input.

Keith

I know you said that the dates are different. But are the ports all the same? Are they all the same length of cruise? What are the prices?

Give us some information so that we can help you.

Short on details [emoji848]

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Our recent experience out of Venice was not great. Venetians are not happy with cruise ships in the Guideca Canal and will sometimes create situations to prevent ships coming or going. This happened to us just a few weeks ago. There was a "gondola and small craft regatta" in the canal and 4 cruise ships had to sit and wait until it was over before they could proceed to the port. This delayed even further a cruise that was already delayed due to October fog. Consequently our itinerary changed and we did not get the cruise that we originally signed up for. Very disappointing. If I were you, I would choose to depart from a different port. Visit Venice because it is beautiful and worth the visit, but start your cruise elsewhere. I would never choose Venice as a starting cruise port again. As a matter of fact I recently saw an article in Business World that said the central Venice port will no longer be used for cruise ships by 2022. Instead they will start further down the mainland from the commercial shipping port.

Guess I will have to be a contrarian. We have cruised in and out of Venice, ended cruises in Venice and embarked on cruises in Venice and have done it quite a few times over the past 30 or so years. DW and I love Venice as a port although it can be a bit complicated to use for embarkation and debarkation. It is true that the Italian Government is working on a proposal to ban large cruise ships from Venice and have them port on the mainland (about 8-9 miles from Venice. This could happen as soon as 2020, or it might never happen...since we are talking about Italy where nothing is for sure until it is :).

Keep in mind that most European cruises are port intensive which makes the ship related issues less important then the itinerary. One needs to carefully look at the itinerary and consider the times in each port (the longer the better) as well as where a ship will be on specific days such as Sundays and Mondays when some important museums and sites might be closed. Since you have not given us any info regarding itineraries, time of year, etc...it is impossible to give you any suggestions as to the lines/ships.

I should add that in our many cruises in and out of Venice we have never had any issues like the previous poster. When you cruise...sometimes stuff happens. We once cruise out of New York City right into a nasty hurricane (Bob) with huge seas and wiinds around 100 knots. Does that mean every cruise from NYC will hit a hurricane?

Hank

Have you cruised before? Choosing a ship might depend on the style of cruising you prefer... but in the Med, there's not a lot of time on board. MSC sometimes have shorter port times; we've had no problems with RCI or NCl, and found them similar.

Thanks ALL for your replies. Dates range from 28th May to 18th June, Price... From £1,200, RCL.. £1,329 with free balcony upgrade, MSC.. And £1829 NCL.(June) Inside cabin.

Staying at Lake Garda for 3 nights, Venice for 2. Itineries are mostly the same. All 12 nights.

I know the MSC looks the better deal, but heard lots of bad reports about bad /cold food. Noisy and staff being unfriendly.

I have cruised before with RCL.

Hope this helps.

Thanks again

I have forum friends on UK sites who go with MSC a lot, and they say that once you've adjusted to the Italian way of living, they have no problems... we're quite interested in trying one of the new ships.

Perhaps the different itineraries might help you choose?

Enjoy searching! :)

Thanks Jo, I think we will just have to take the plunge. MSC has the best deal, not counting gratuities :).

Thanks again for your input. :D

Linda

Thanks Jo, I think we will just have to take the plunge. MSC has the best deal, not counting gratuities :).

Thanks again for your input. :D

Linda

Anything for a fellow Cumbrian! :D

Friends have been on a long MSC cruise from Venice to South Africa, and have enjoyed it... it's just different customs, but very friendly people. A lot of pasta... ;)

Anything for a fellow Cumbrian! :D

Friends have been on a long MSC cruise from Venice to South Africa, and have enjoyed it... it's just different customs, but very friendly people. A lot of pasta... ;)

Thats good to know, thanks, :) I quite like pasta ;)

Linda :*