40th Anniversary Trip to Spain, Italy & Greece - Cruise or Land Tours???

[WonderMan3]

7 days for three stops and three flights is not reasonable nor should be attempted.

 

Australia is one of those places where an exception might be needed. Most of us need to do that part of the world in one shot so often people will add on some time to fly out to the Outback (Ayer's Rock, Alice Springs, etc.) as they might not get that opportunity again. It can be exhausting but also possibly enriching depending on what you are seeing.

[Cruise Junky]

Australia is one of those places where an exception might be needed. Most of us need to do that part of the world in one shot so often people will add on some time to fly out to the Outback (Ayer's Rock, Alice Springs, etc.) as they might not get that opportunity again. It can be exhausting but also possibly enriching depending on what you are seeing.

 

I don't disagree although one might say that a cruise ship is a pretty lousy way to see Australia in the first place. My only comment is that if you're going to cram that much into 7 days, then don't compare how exhausted you were to a cruise as it's not a fair comparison

[WonderMan3]

I don't disagree although one might say that a cruise ship is a pretty lousy way to see Australia in the first place.

 

And the same could be said for Europe (which is kind of the inspiration for the OP's thread). While a cruise can give you a nice sampling of different European countries, it does not allow you to explore any one area in any sort of depth like a land trip would.

[Turangi!]

What we haven’t discussed on this thread with TaylorTime is how to experiece the ports to their fullest and to have a memorable trip. Our first cruise was a Barcelona to Barcelona and being newbies we took a lot of expensive ships tours that toured us [ran us] through the major sites but our most memorable day was in Malta, where we took the public buses on our own out to a car museum (my husband loves these quirky little museums) and actually experienced Malta. Another day, DH was sick and I took the port bus into town and wandered the streets and brought back the Greek equivalent of Nyquil! Over the years I’ve joined and organized private tours through our roll calls on cruise critic and had some wonderful days away from the cruiseline tour buses! Ask me about swimming with and eating mussels in Montengro... one of our favourite Tours by Local experiences!!! In Cyprus, we asked the local car museum to open on a Monday just for us and they picked us up at the port with a small group (other wives went shopping). My point is that you can still have some unique experiences if you do your research and take on the responsibilty of organizing your own tour to your interests... thus a small group enjoyed the private rental of a saloon boat in Amsterdam for an evening canal cruise because I thought it would be fun and because I choose the tour I wanted, TWO tours groups visit the new Faberge Museum in St. Petersburg on a Baltic cruise. NB: Even the teenagers in our group enjoyed the Museum! (They also enjoyed the saloon boat as they were legal to drink beer in Amsterdam!)

 

 

 

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[Can'tstopcruising]

We have been going to Europe once a year for about 25 years now. (A couple of years we went twice and a couple not at all)

 

We took one tranatlantic cruise that did one week in Europe after the crossing and we did one Adriatic cruise, which we enjoyed.

 

All the others were land and individual (no tours) trips.

 

Hopefully, this will be the first of many European adventures for you.

 

My opinion!!!!!!!

 

Are you going for 2 weeks? If so, choose no more than 3 hotels in different places that you would like to visit. The fewer hotels the better. Depends on your personalities! We have done 2 weeks in Paris, for example. We didn't see everything. But we got to FEEL Paris! Nowadays, we go for 3 weeks, but we still don't do more than 3 hotels. And we like two better. As we age, we will probably do more of only one. There are so many wonderful places to visit. Hopefully we will all be able to spend many more years travelling!

 

A cruise is OK, but remember you are on an American ship, eating American food and talking mostly with American passengers!

 

Whatever you decide, Happy Anniversary and Enjoy!

[shipster60]

We booked this same cruise while on a Panama Canal cruise last November. It looks like a great itinerary. I'll agree with other posters that what I like best is not having to change hotels and pack and unpack. We celebrate our 44th this May, so we're probably close to the same age. Hope to meet up with you on the Roll Call for this sailing.

[smtcan]

We are celebrating our 50th this year, and have travelled extensively since we retired. We have never taken an organized land tour in Europe, although we have done two in China. Our European trips have varied between a month in a rented cottage in France, several driving tours in Germany, Austria, Spain and cruises with land stays before and/or afterwards.

 

We enjoy the experience of local food and culture, but for a relaxing and romantic holiday a cruise fits the bill. For your first visit to Europe, independent touring might be complicated and a bus tour where you have to be up early and follow the crowd would not be relaxing.

 

I am sure that after a cruise you will be ready to see your favourite places in more depth on future visits, but for a special anniversary relax and enjoy being together in some interesting places. Do research the ports before you book tours everywhere. Often exploring on your own can be fun. I have happy memories of taking the ‘speed boat’ in Santorini and arriving in Oia in time to enjoy the village before the crowds on bus tours arrived.

 

Sheila

[taylortime05]

We are celebrating our 50th this year, and have travelled extensively since we retired. We have never taken an organized land tour in Europe, although we have done two in China. Our European trips have varied between a month in a rented cottage in France, several driving tours in Germany, Austria, Spain and cruises with land stays before and/or afterwards.

 

We enjoy the experience of local food and culture, but for a relaxing and romantic holiday a cruise fits the bill. For your first visit to Europe, independent touring might be complicated and a bus tour where you have to be up early and follow the crowd would not be relaxing.

 

I am sure that after a cruise you will be ready to see your favourite places in more depth on future visits, but for a special anniversary relax and enjoy being together in some interesting places. Do research the ports before you book tours everywhere. Often exploring on your own can be fun. I have happy memories of taking the ‘speed boat’ in Santorini and arriving in Oia in time to enjoy the village before the crowds on bus tours arrived.

 

Sheila

 

Congratulations on your special anniversary. As some of the posters have suggested, we will fly into Barcelona about 3-4 days early. I need to do some research to see if we should fly into another city in Spain and start there and then go to Barcelona for couple of days. I can't wait until we retire. Then we'll have the time and hopefully enough money to cruise once a year and take another special land vacation once a year.

[Mr. Click]

7 days for three stops and three flights is not reasonable nor should be attempted.

 

I won't disagree with you, I did bite off a bit too much for us but that was the time frame I had. As it was the trip, with the two TPAC flights was 24 days. In hindsight I should have allowed a few more days in Australia and cut down the post cruise days in Auckland. The only reason we even attempted it was I cut out Alice Springs and Ayers Rock once I realized that Ayers Rock was just a big red rock. We spend half of the year in Las Vegas so I get to see pretty red rocks every day when we are here.

 

We have done a number of European cruises now and for us it is the best way to go. Pick a good start and/or finish port, plan a few days pre/post cruise and then enjoy all of the stuff in between too. If I was 25 again, or even 55 I would lean towards the land trip but those numbers are all well behind me so I chose to cruise.

[waterbug123]

I’m a huge fan of land trips to Europe and, yes, you won’t see all of those places on a land trip, but the question is do you need to? Is a week in a villa on a Greek island exploring at your own leisure and hanging with the locals at night, eating local less or more than island hopping on a ship and returning to your generic main dining room menu each night? Sure, you get to check more places off your list on a cruise, but how much do you really see of it? Same goes for Spain and Italy.

 

This is kind of what my thoughts are. Yes, you get to check off a lot of places with the cruise itinerary, but is the actual places or just the "idea" of the places that excites you? Typically with cruise stops, you don't get that far from the ship; it's like doing a cruise stop in Mexico and going to Carlos and Charlie's, buying a bracelet from a street vendor and thinking you've "seen Mexico." You can see more if you put more effort into planning excursions on your own to get off the beaten path, but if you're willing to put in that much effort, you can likely plan a simple land-based trip.

 

Consider flying into Barcelona and spending a few days there. From Barcelona you could fly nonstop to Athens and spend a few days doing the tourist thing there, then fly nonstop to Santorini for a relaxing week in a lovely villa, perhaps hiring a guide for a local excursion or two. Another alternative would be to find a shorter, one-way cruise, perhaps one that starts in Barcelona and ends in Rome or one that starts in Rome and ends in Athens. You could spend a week on a ship visiting a variety of ports in Spain, Italy and/or Greece, adding a couple of days for more extensive exploring in your embarkation and debarkation cities, and then fly to Santorini and spend a few days there, in one place, where you can soak up the local flavor much better than you could on a port stop of a few hours.

[Can'tstopcruising]

This is kind of what my thoughts are. Yes, you get to check off a lot of places with the cruise itinerary, but is the actual places or just the "idea" of the places that excites you? Typically with cruise stops, you don't get that far from the ship; it's like doing a cruise stop in Mexico and going to Carlos and Charlie's, buying a bracelet from a street vendor and thinking you've "seen Mexico." You can see more if you put more effort into planning excursions on your own to get off the beaten path, but if you're willing to put in that much effort, you can likely plan a simple land-based trip.

 

Consider flying into Barcelona and spending a few days there. From Barcelona you could fly nonstop to Athens and spend a few days doing the tourist thing there, then fly nonstop to Santorini for a relaxing week in a lovely villa, perhaps hiring a guide for a local excursion or two. Another alternative would be to find a shorter, one-way cruise, perhaps one that starts in Barcelona and ends in Rome or one that starts in Rome and ends in Athens. You could spend a week on a ship visiting a variety of ports in Spain, Italy and/or Greece, adding a couple of days for more extensive exploring in your embarkation and debarkation cities, and then fly to Santorini and spend a few days there, in one place, where you can soak up the local flavor much better than you could on a port stop of a few hours.

 

 

 

I would narrow it down even more.

 

If two weeks, I would spend one in Barcelona (never enough days in Barcelona!) and the second week in Malaga or Mallorca..

 

Or what about one week in Rome and one somewhere on the Amalfi coast

 

There are so many easy combinations.

 

The first European trip my husband and I did together (we both travelled before we were married), we divided our time between the Sheraton in Lisbon and the Gorgeous Sheraton in the Algarve. Great trip!

[dcacchiotti]

Take the cruise we did Barcelona to Venice two years ago with 2 days in Barcelona before the cruise. We loved Barcelona so much to see and do and great food. On the cruise it's so nice to go to another city and or country each day then come back to your same room and great food and entertainment on the ship. We did not go to Greece so this summer we are on a 10 day cruise with 4 stops in Greece. Have a great trip and Happy Anniversary.

 

 

 

What cruise line did the Barcelona to Venice trip?

 

 

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