First Mediterranean Cruise - any suggestions

[northcreek]

We are looking at booking our first Mediterranean Cruise on Princess in 2012. What are your favorite itineraries, time of year, ships, and anyother information would be appreciated. We have cruised on many Princess ships in the past but only in the Carribbean

[-Lew-]

Our first Med cruise was the 12-day Grand Med Itinerary in September 2007. It runs Barcelona to Venice or reverse and the itinerary gives a first-time Med cruiser a taste of a number of ports of call in France, Italy, Greece and Turkey. September and October are our favorite months to visit Europe...great weather and smaller crowds

 

Barcelona and Venice are two wonderful cities where you should spend a few days pre and post cruise. We combined our cruise with two weeks in Tuscany after we disembarked.

 

You should know that a Med cruise is quite different from what you have experienced on your Caribbean cruises. Itineraries are very port intensive with few sea days.

 

Definitely join the roll call for your cruise and visit the various ports of call boards for the areas you will be visiting.

 

Enjoy planning your cruise...

 

Lew

[paul929207]

I will ansewr your question with questions. Have you been to the countries around the Med? Are there places you interested in? Did your family come from that part of the world? Do you still have family there? These are things that could point you to some parts or away from others.

[hubofhockey]

Grand Med on the Ruby. Incredible itinerary (best of both worlds) and great ship.

[Carolyn R]

My advice:

 

1. Choose a cruise that either begins or ends in Venice.

2. Join the roll call for your cruise and plan private tours with others on your sailing.

3. Don't try to see everything and end up enjoying nothing. Quality wins over quantity every time.

[Madame B]

We went on the Crown for the 12 day "Mediterranean & Greek Isles" cruise in May of '09. We chose it because it began in Rome and ended in Venice. This was our first trip to Europe and those two cities were on our "must see" list. We spent two nights pre-cruise in Rome and one night post-cruise in Venice. We visited Monte Carlo, Florence, Naples, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Katakalon (for Olympia), Kusadasi (for Ephesus), and Corfu. The highlights for us were in Rome (would recommend 3 days there), Venice, Monte Carlo, Florence, and Santorini. We also saw wonderful things in the other ports. Two years later and we still talk about this trip almost daily!

[chipmaster]

Wjat is my favorite might not be yours. I seriously think a Med cruise is ALL about the ports. After looking thru many itneraries on many lines the Princess Grand Med was ideal, YMMV. Only thing missing was for my kids the RCCL amenities might have been a tad better, but we loved our past two Princess cruies.

 

Felt like food/dining service dropped more recently, but wouldn't hesitate to do Princess again, provided the port lineup is what I wanted.

 

 

We are looking at booking our first Mediterranean Cruise on Princess in 2012. What are your favorite itineraries, time of year, ships, and anyother information would be appreciated. We have cruised on many Princess ships in the past but only in the Carribbean

[SwissDave]

July/August are also the European school holidays and everywhere is busier, including the ships, airfare is also higher due to that, & they are also the hottest months and the heat can be exhausting with so many ports and so much to do. May/June & September/early October are good for cooler temps but still good weather.

 

As others have said, research the ports and pick out a couple of things at each one that interest you and spend your day doing those things well, rather than 5 things and not seeing much.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Med cruises are hard work, to much to see and do,

 

so do your home work and plan.

 

Except that you will not be able to see all the must sees in each port,

 

so decide what is important to you and do those items well.

 

Do not wste your time queing to get into places, while some places

 

 

are amazing inside be it art or history, you can walk straight in to ST

 

Peters in Chains Church or wait hours to get into ST Peters.

 

Once you have been to the Med you will return again.

 

The Med cruise is like no other, however it is a great way to see this

 

part of the world, just expect long days, watch the time of year

 

its gets over 100 degrees in summer.

 

yours Shogun

[Hoyaheel]

We really only like the small ships on Princess - were booked on a northern Europe itinerary on Pacific Princess in 2009 we had to cancel because of work - we're now getting to the deadline for using our future cruise credit from our Alaska sailing on Pacific. We like interesting itineraries - sadly not enough time for an Asian cruise this year - so we're doing the Black Sea in September. Start in Athens, end in Venice, all ports are new to my husband, most are new to me (I've been to Athens, Venice, & Istanbul)

 

So we chose by ship first, then a mix of itinerary & timing.....

 

Of course, we're incredibly excited!!!! Starting to figure out what we want to do in the ports- many I imagine we'll just explore on our own as that's our favorite way to spend port days.....

[MSMcDuffy]

You will love the Mediterranean! I have been on 2 Med cruises - in May & June (both great months to sail there, not too hot yet) - on Star & Ruby (both great ships).

 

I personally would go by itinerary 1st and then look at the ship. As others have mentioned, research which areas you might like to see. When selecting a cruise I always think about which places would I have a harder time doing a land vacation (i.e. Greek isles would be easier to do on a cruise rather than taking flights/ferries between the islands).

 

You really can't go wrong with any itinerary but one thing I'd highly recommend is sailing out of Venice. It is the most scenic embarkation port. Barcelona, Rome/Civitavecchia, and Athens ports are in industrial areas and further from the city.

 

As far as ships, in general I think the smaller the better for ease of moving around and shorter lines. The Mediterranean cruises are very port intensive so you won't be spending a lot of time on the ship. Another thing worth mentioning, if you think you're going to do shore exc/touring in each port, you may want to consider having at least 2 sea days. My 1st cruise had 2 sea days and 2nd cruise had 1&1/2 and that was not enough. Both cruises wiped me out and I could have used another vacation.:p

 

Have fun planning!:)

[cruisingbarb]

Since they both offer the same itinerary, what's the difference between the Star and the Ruby?

[northcreek]

No we have never been to any of the countries, we are interested in visiting Italy, Spain and Greece.

[northcreek]

I will ansewr your question with questions. Have you been to the countries around the Med? Are there places you interested in? Did your family come from that part of the world? Do you still have family there? These are things that could point you to some parts or away from others.

 

No family in or from that area and no we have never been there. We would like to see Spain, Italy and Greece.

[Rob & Beckys mom]

We usede Italy car service dot com & they were wonderful. Much less expensive than the ships excursions. Just email them & they will set it all up for you & you can decide if this is what you want to do or not. Our trip was Barcelona to Venice.

 

Jan

[jody]

My Grand Med cruise on the Golden (Barcelona to Venice) was fantastic, but I might select one that had a few Greek island stops (instead of just Athens), if given the chance to go again. Santorini and Kusadasi (for Ephesus) are two of my personal favorites and there's nothing like sailing into Venice on a beautiful summer morning. I recommend mid to late May or maybe early Sept to have nice weather with a bit smaller crowds (if your timing is flexible).

 

Whichever itinerary you choose, I am sure you'll have a great time!

[jody]

PS I would say that the ship is likely the least important factor for a Med cruise, as your time on it is minimal, compared to a Caribbean cruise. Select the sailing that goes to largest amount of your preferred stops. You'll be so happily tired at night, you'll hardly care what ship you are on!

[Jacqueline]

the single most important thing is to plan out your ports well in advance. This could mean that you are 1) taking a ships tour 2) booking a private tour 3) touring independently.

My first cruise in the Med was 10 years ago. A newly wed couple stayed with my family of 6 in Monaco and then took a train with us to Nice as they had no idea of what to do or where to go.

When we ran into them our first night in Venice they asked me how I found the Grand Canal.. I said we found it quite lovely and we took a vaporetto to xyz... No, no they meant how did I FIND the Grand canal. they spent the whole day lost.

One really needs to have a sense of where the ship docks and how that relates to where and how one travels. the idea that you can get off the ship and wander around does not work well in Europe as sometimes you will find your self in a cargo port area.

There is a ton of info on the Port of Calls board to guide you

[MSMcDuffy]

Since they both offer the same itinerary, what's the difference between the Star and the Ruby?

 

Passenger capacity is the main difference - Star: 2,600, Ruby: 3,080

 

I was on the Star before it had the Int'l Cafe & MUTS (Movies Under The Stars). I've heard it now has these.

 

If I had to choose between the 2, I'd pick the most convenient date. If the date didn't matter, then I'd pick the Star since it carries less people.

[Nymue]

That sounds like exactly the one for us!!!! Just waiting for Fall 2012 to open for booking and crossing my fingers that it's offered ;);)

Anne

 

We went on the Crown for the 12 day "Mediterranean & Greek Isles" cruise in May of '09. We chose it because it began in Rome and ended in Venice. This was our first trip to Europe and those two cities were on our "must see" list. We spent two nights pre-cruise in Rome and one night post-cruise in Venice. We visited Monte Carlo, Florence, Naples, Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Katakalon (for Olympia), Kusadasi (for Ephesus), and Corfu. The highlights for us were in Rome (would recommend 3 days there), Venice, Monte Carlo, Florence, and Santorini. We also saw wonderful things in the other ports. Two years later and we still talk about this trip almost daily!

[dfields1814]

IMHO if you really want to see and learn about a European city or culture it is better to tale a land trip. On a cruise you have just a day or if you are lucky an over night in a port city. Hardly enough time to really know a city. But on the other hand you want a vacation with a ship ride with lots of good food and entertainment and the like, with no unpacking everyday and not dealing with the hassles of finding good hotels and restaurants .. Then cruising is for you. I like them both.

 

I found we had the best time in places I never heard of. Example in Corisca we spent the afternoon eating pizza and drinking wine and listening to local musicians at a restaurant by the sea. Cobh and Cartagena other small ports that I really enjoyed. If you plan to go on your own in the bigger ports buy your tickets on line before you go. I saved a two hour line at the Vatican Museum that way

[-Lew-]

 

My Grand Med cruise on the Golden (Barcelona to Venice) was fantastic, but I might select one that had a few Greek island stops (instead of just Athens), if given the chance to go again.

The Grand Med on the Ruby does include Mykonos, Greece.

 

Lew

[Madame B]

That sounds like exactly the one for us!!!! Just waiting for Fall 2012 to open for booking and crossing my fingers that it's offered ;);)

Anne

I made notes from our trip. We explored most ports on our own. If you would like them, please email me directly at annsuire@bellsouth.net.

Ann Marie

[Hoyaheel]

PS I would say that the ship is likely the least important factor for a Med cruise, as your time on it is minimal, compared to a Caribbean cruise. You'll be so happily tired at night, you'll hardly care what ship you are on!

 

For some people that might be true. For us, it most emphatically is not. I was simply stating my own opinion.

 

We don't cruise much - I really prefer land vacations at this point in my life. However- we find cruises a nice way to get an overview of an area to decide where we might want to spend more time on a land vacation in the future. That's why we're so excited about our upcoming Black Sea cruise with its interesting and different itinerary....

[hubofhockey]

The Grand Med on the Ruby does include Mykonos, Greece.

 

Lew

 

The amazing thing about the Grand Med itinerary is that it also includes Istanbul and Kusadasi in addition to Athens, a Greek Island, and the whole other part of the cruise, the Western Med (Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice, Monaco, and Barcelona). This is a best of both worlds cruise itinerary on a truly great ship. I have seen other cruiselines refer to itineraries as "grand med". But nothing touches this one, especially for a first timer.