Rome and Venice

[browerjs]

My wife and I are looking to do Italy next year and Rome and Venice are musts. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a ton of options when wanting to hit both ports. I do see a 12 night Royal Carribean out of Barcelona (which is another port we would love to do) but we are a little leary about the ship ( Vision of the Seas). We have only done Disney before so we aren't sure what to expect in other cruise lines.

 

How do people typically hit both of these cities? I'm also a little worried that 1 day isn't enough in Rome. Of course if it is the embark/disembark port it doesn't make a difference.

 

Also what is the consensus of Balcony vs Inside or Ocean View for the Mediterranean? We did Balcony for Alaska and were so glad we did, but aren't sure if it's as needed in Europe.

[Hlitner]

Italy is a fabulous country to visit with Rome, Florence and Venice being the most popular cities (and its justified). Must admit that we have a real love for the Italy outside of major cities, but those cities are a great place to start. In response to the OP, visiting Rome on a port day is not a good way to see Rome. In fact, visiting most cities on a port day will leave you wanting more :). If that is all you can do...then go for it and try to fit a lifetime into a day. But otherwise, plan on longer visits.

 

We have long recommended that when folks take a European cruise, they somehow find a way to spare a few extra days.....and beg or borrow the extra money....and spend some land time in Europe. The airlines really help with "open jaw" fares which allow folks to fly into one European city and home from another. So, for example, the OP could take a cruise from Barcelona to Civitavecchia (Rome). Fly in to Barcelona a day or two before the cruise so you have time to enjoy this interesting city. Then after your cruise ends at Civitavvechia, you can go into Rome for a few days and then use the train system to get to other places like Florence or Venice. In fact that is a nice train vacation. A few days in Rome...then train to Florence...a few days in Florence...then train to Venice....a few days in Venice...and then fly home.

 

Traveling in Europe is only limited by one's imagination (plus finding time off and having the money). There are truly an unlimited number of options using your feet, rental cars, trains, buses, air, cruise ships, and river boats. After traveling extensively for around forty years we have not even dented Europe (or our travel ideas). When I see posts from folks who say things like, "we have already been to Rome for a day...so now what" we cringe.

 

Hank

[CruiserBruce]

I agree with Hank...we have not found ourselves tired of touring in Italy, or Europe, or the world for that matter. Italy is a wonderful country, easy to travel in.

 

If you can't find a cruise that works, I would strongly suggest flying into Rome, spend 3 or 4 days, then train to Venice, spend a couple of days, then get on your cruise. A fair number of cruises start in Venice. The train ride is 3 hours by high speed train. You could add a few nights in Florence...as it is on your way from Rome to Venice.

 

And we have done the train run. 4 nights in Rome, 3 in Venice, 3 in Florence and 3 in Cinque Terre, all by train.

[galfromkazoo]

I would agree that one day is not enough for Venice and Rome. We love to cruise but our first trip to Italy was four nights in Rome and three in Venice. Flew into Rome, out of Venice with the high speed train between the two. The next year we took a MSC cruise from Genoa with a stop in Rome that ended in Venice. In the Caribbean we travel for ship and ports. In Europe, we travel for ports. We were so glad we had a balcony. We could see many of the towns as we passed by Greece, Croatia and Montenegro. The view heading into Venice early in the morning was amazing.

 

 

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[Spree75]

I'll defer to others about the balcony. We've had three cruises in the Med (Aegean, Adriatic, and Western Med) and I don't think I used our balcony once...

 

As for how to do Venice and Rome on the same trip, this is what we did for our Adriatic cruise a couple of years ago. We were flying from NYC so direct flights into Rome were easier than getting to Venice so that's what we did. We spent 2 nights in Rome and took the high speed train up to Venice on cruise day. The train only takes 3-4 hours and is pretty easy to navigate as long as you don't have A LOT of luggage. We took a round trip Venice cruise which will hit wonderful cities around the Adriatic (Corfu, Olympus/Katakolon, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Split). End up back in Venice where you can spend a few extra days. You can fly out of Venice or take the train back to Rome for a couple of more days or maybe just stay at the Hilton at the airport for a night (which we did). Now if the cruises in the Adriatic don't appeal to you then this wouldn't work.

[Tara Jane]

Agree with all the above but I would like to add a couple of suggestions -

 

If you don't need 5 star hotels, go for staying a few nights in a convent. It's an interesting experience, just choose one that suits your needs. Some have curfews others give you a key and you can come and go as you please. They are all spotlessly clean, and the beautiful nuns who run them are just so sweet. Our stays in Rome were very special as we think back about dear sister amelia who would have to be 90 or more, and had eyes in the back of her head, knew everything that was going on and didnt speak a word of english, but had a contagious laugh and always smiling.

We had done a fews days here and there but you need to be very controlled with luggage if you plan to travel Italy by rail, lugging suitcases is no fun and spoils the whole experience.

One time we decided to just take a day trip to Florence, therefore not having to worry about luggage, not checking in and out of hotels. it worked quite well, we had an early train from termini about 6 am by memory and left about 8 pm to go back. Was a long day but a lot more time in Florence than those on a port excursion have in a day.

Whatever you do I am sure you will love Rome.

[Keith1010]

You have been given good advice about time in Rome and Venice.

 

As to the balcony I would recommend it for a cruise like this one to enjoy some of the beautiful views of sailing the Mediterranean.

 

Keith

[Rosieg30]

We did the Western Med cruise on NCL last year and used Rome in a Limo at our Italian ports. We were able to plan our day to suit our needs and were able to maximize the highlights. We definitely want to return and spend extra time in Italy but we got to see so many amazing places in just one day.

We would definitely recommend a balcony for the Med. The Med and its ports are just wonderful.

 

 

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[GOLDENBONNY]

My wife and I are looking to do Italy next year and Rome and Venice are musts. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a ton of options when wanting to hit both ports. I do see a 12 night Royal Carribean out of Barcelona (which is another port we would love to do) but we are a little leary about the ship ( Vision of the Seas). We have only done Disney before so we aren't sure what to expect in other cruise lines.

 

How do people typically hit both of these cities? I'm also a little worried that 1 day isn't enough in Rome. Of course if it is the embark/disembark port it doesn't make a difference.

 

Also what is the consensus of Balcony vs Inside or Ocean View for the Mediterranean? We did Balcony for Alaska and were so glad we did, but aren't sure if it's as needed in Europe.

 

I would stay 3 days in Rome take train to Venice ,stay at least 2 in Venice and take 7 days cruise from Venice.

[4cats4me]

We were on the Vision of the Seas for our Mediterranean cruise in Oct 2015. We had a balcony. We usually travel on newer, larger ships. We LOVED the Vision. Smaller and compact, recently refurbished before our cruise. We wasted money on the balcony, as we were rarely in our room and off the ship 50% of the time.

 

We are looking to take the Med cruise on the Vision once again and are only considering inside or oceanview since it was a waste of money for us to have a balcony. Truth is, we pulled into port each morning while it was still dark out and pulled out of port when the sun had already set on many occasions

We enjoyed the dining room food a lot.

We had the best cruise!

We too like the Barcelona-Venice with overnight-Barcelona, including Rome itinerary on that ship and haven't found one we like better.

I love the land trip followed by 7-day cruise idea though. [emoji3][emoji3]

 

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[caripoo]

We have been to Italy numerous times and Venice has eluded us until this year...We are taking an Azamara cruise from Rome to Barcelona....We are starting in Venice and taking the train to Rome. 4 days prior in Venice.....A trip like this would get you to Venice, Rome and Barcelona...Rome is our favorite, we are fortunate to visit each year:). I would pick the length of your cruise based on how much time you want to spend in each port....Fly to Venice 3 days...train to Rome before cruise 3-4 days....disembark in Barcelona 3 days....and yes a BALCONY....Happy planning

[lynncarol]

Years ago did a 7 day cruise out of Rome that went to Crete, Sicily, Athens and Ephesus. We had a balcony but didn't spend much time there nor see that many sights from it...mostly ocean if I recall correctly.