Solo 50th B-day cruise - Epic 10 day or Pearl 9 day

[libertyschool]

Hi there! I'm trying to decide between a 10 day Mediterranean and Greek Isles beginning and ending out of Rome with stops in Santorini, Athens, Mykonos,Greece, Corfu,Greece, Valletta, Messina, Naples and Florence/Pisa  or a 9 day Greek Isles on the Pearl out of Athens with stops in Santorini, Mykonos, Zakynthos, Corfu, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split,Croatia, Venice, Venice (Trieste). This will be my second solo cruise. I cruised the Mediterranean out of Barcelona in 2018. I visited Naples, Rome and Florence on that cruise so the Epic itinerary has a few repeats. The Epic is better suited for a solo traveler and has a more relaxed itinerary with a sea day and some later day arrivals, whereas the Pearl is a very Port intensive itinerary with no sea days and arriving early in port each day. I feel that the Epic makes the most sense for the relaxed itinerary and solo cabins, but on the other hand, it is my dream to see Venice and the Pearl itinerary has a whole day at Venice (until 11 Pm) before ending in Trieste. I have never sailed the Pearl, but I have sailed her sister, The Gem and I do enjoy the smaller ships. I would love some input from those who have done these itineraries to help me decide. This is a milestone cruise for me and I want to make the most of it. Thanks in advance! 

[Sailing12Away]

Are the prices similar? Do you have available time to extend your trip post cruise? If your main goal is Venice, it is very easy/fast to take the train from either final stop and just spend a day or more in Venice before going home. Do you have an interest in visiting Croatia? The Epic trip skips that whole area - so if being able to add that country to your map of visited cities is important, that's something to consider.

[HowardK]

Although the ship is different from 2011, my Epic cruise then was the best of the 6 solo trips I took.

Regardless if you stay in a studio or not- with 128 studios there are more solos, I found the entertainment better. I can't speak for the itinerary but loved the Epic

[www3traveler]

As a solo passenger, I have done a number of cruises on the Pearl and loved every one of them.  Because of the stops in Croatia (which is on my "Wish" list, I would choose the Pearl.

 

Either way, enjoy your cruise

[TwinMamainMN]

What are the individual port times? This would be a concern of mine, especially when travel is often required once in port to get to the actual things you want to see/do. What good is a port time of 11am-6pm while in Greece when it would already be hot and congested with other cruise passengers. How many ports are tender ports, and what are the port hours then? Tendering can really mess up a schedule.

 

If Venice is "must do" in order to truly do it right, I would just take a train pre/post cruise and actually stay there 3-5 days and really soak it up. It's an amazing city and getting "lost" in all the streets is half the fun.