Advice sought on 2 cruises out of Barcelona

[kjc852]

Wife and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary on the April 29, 2017 transatlantic sailing on the Rhapsody. Ship arrives in Barcelona on May 13 and we wish to sail on immediately on 1 of 2 cruises out of Barcelona that day. The first is a 7-night Venice cruise on the Rhapsody making ports in Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sicily and Venice where we would disembark. The other is a 12-night Med. & Greek Isle cruise embarking the same day on the Brilliance which disembarks back in Barcelona. Itinerary does include visits to Florence and Rome besides the Greek Isles and Athens with the final port being in Malta.

 

Seeking advice on which follow-up cruise you might recommend of the two?

 

Love the thought of sailing into Venice and perhaps spending a day or 2 there before flying home. However not sure if after the 14-night TA cruise, we might better enjoy changing to a different class ship for the remainder of our sea adventure. We have never been on either class of these ships so both will be new to us. The allure of the Greek Isles is also very appealing.

 

For those of you who have done B2B cruises, does sailing the second leg on the same ship make it that much more advantageous than changing ships in the same port. I imagine the Rhapsody and Brilliance will be docked close to one another should we decide to change ships in Barcelona.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts on the ships and the ports of call of our 2 options!

 

Keith

[cosytoes]

That's a tough one.

 

I think the two main port differences for me would be If you love Roman ruins then Pompeii and amalfi coast from Naples compared to Athens on the other cruise still some great sites to see but I would choose Naples over Athens.

 

However if you prefer a more chill out holiday the Greek islands are fabulous you can do sightseeing or beaches or both and nothing can beat those beautiful towns.

 

You could also stay a few days post cruise in Barcelona there's plenty to see there.

 

Venice also fabulous but as you say you need a few days.

 

I think there is so much to see in the Mediterranean ideally you could do with a longer cruise starting in Barcelona finishing in Venice and stopping in the Greek islands. [emoji3][emoji3]

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

It doesn't appear you've been to the Med on a cruise yet.

 

Do the cruise that includes Venice...cruise ships could be banned from calling there in the coming years (or banned from arriving via the scenic route through the canal).

 

Also...Rhapsody and Brilliance are pretty similar, so switching ships wouldn't be necessary IMO.

Edited June 22, 2016 by OfTheSeasCruiser