Western Med Cruise - 2024 - Questions

[Racer70]

Hello - We’ve been on many cruises to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Alaska, Hawaii and New England/ Canada.
 

This year, we’re strongly considering a 7 day Western Med cruise on the Oasis of the Seas in June 2024.

 

It leaves out of Barcelona and ports in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Provence (Marseille), France, La Spezia (Florence/Pisa) Italy, Civitavecchia (Rome) Italy and Naples/Capri, Italy.

 

We intend flying in a full day prior to the cruise and flying out the day after the cruise.

 

If you’ve been on this cruise itinerary before or sailed out of Barcelona or visited any of these ports, please let me know your thoughts and experiences of Western Med cruise & itinerary.

 

Also, please advise of the following:

 

Did you use a travel agent to book airfare, cruise, hotels, transfers etc?

 

Hotels in Barcelona after arrival?

 

Transfers to hotel & cruise port?

 

Differences between a European cruise & Caribbean cruise?

 

Are the majority of the passengers European?

 

Did you exchange US $ to Euros when you landed?

 

Was the language barrier difficult in Spain getting to hotel & cruse port.

 

Thank you for your information, recommendations and tips.

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, Racer70 said:

Thank you for your information, recommendations and tips.

The folks on the roll call thread for the sailing you are interested in may have some info. Previous O class reviews of this itinerary may also have info. 

[firefly333]

I booked for further out than you but I am reading about rome especially as that is where mine ends. I am thinking more like 4 days after to explore rome.

 

Air2sea for yours should be bookable now. My TA says 11 months out transfers and flights can be booked thru rcl. For me too soon. 

 

If yours ends in spain .. go to that area on cc .. click on spain if thats what you want. .

 

.https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-ports/

 

 

 

 

[George C]

Barcelona is a wonderful city I would spend two nights before the cruise , we really enjoyed hotel Barcelona universal, has a great roof top bar and pool with a fantastic view of the city , short walk to all the restaurants , we had a suite on floor below the pool. Totally agree with Biker19, we did most of our excursions with people from our roll call . We did bring several hundred in euros . No problem getting taxi to hotel and hotel to port ( very close distance to port).

  Almost all passengers were American or Canadian on our rccl cruise. Had no trouble with people understanding English in Barcelona or other ports. Do try to see David in Florence it was a highlight of our cruise, we did a private tour with several people from roll call with Papillon tours , highly recommend. In Naples need to have pizza and we loved Pompeii.

[dani negreanu]

Did you use a travel agent to book airfare, cruise, hotels, transfers etc?

Travel agent only for the cruise.

 

Hotels in Barcelona after arrival?

Jazz.

 

Transfers to hotel & cruise port?

Taxi.

 

Differences between a European cruise & Caribbean cruise?

European is more port intensive.

 

Was the language barrier difficult in Spain getting to hotel & cruse port.

No.

[SbbquilterUT]

Love Barcelona - would want at least 3 days to explore.  We stayed at the Cotton House hotel and would again.  Easy for us to walk everywhere we wanted to go and even metro station was close.  We really enjoyed our walking Tapas Tour of the Gothic Quarter - very interesting and kept us up and moving until 10 pm that night which helped adjust to time change.  Everyone we interacted with spoke English.  Used credit card almost everywhere but we did get some Euros at a bank ATM to use for tour guides.  Did a Runner Bean Free tour (tipped the guide at the end equivalent of what we had seen paid tours charge but many people just walked away).  This familiarized us to where we wanted to spend more time.  Made our plans ourselves but it was not our first trip to Europe.  Look hard at travel time from port to visitor area as that will impact what you can see.  

[George C]

We did get a better airfare with rccl than we could find ourselves, we did business class.

[Tin can]

13 hours ago, Racer70 said:

Differences between a European cruise & Caribbean cruise?

 

Are the majority of the passengers European?

 

 

 

I would expect the majority of the passengers to be European, probably a real mixture from all over Europe and the the UK. The majority of passengers will probably dine later than a Caribbean cruise and I would expect dress to be more formal.

 

European cruises are more port intensive so it will be a different pace and vibe to a Caribbean cruise. 

 

June is a good time for you to go as it won't be so hot or crowded as July/August.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Tin can

[ajtaylor29]

We've done 3 European cruises and did not use ta's for any of them. I feel like most passengers are American. We've never had trouble anywhere with the language barrier, not everybody but certainly a lot of Europeans speak English and for the most part they try very hard to communicate with us as tourism is their livlihood!

imo, the cruise aspect helps so much in establishing your itinerary and floating hotel for the week, so all that's left is for you to decide what to do each day and settle all the little details! I rely on the boards here for so much information, i take advise from other travelers to decide on hotels, excursions transportation, etc. 

 I would plan to stay a couple of days in Barcelona before the cruise, it's a great city with so much to see! We also stayed 1 night after our cruise there, but we were pretty tired at that point so we didn't explore as much as we did before the cruise!

European cruises are definitely port intensive, so plan for long days and probably very little down time on the ship (compared to Caribbean cruises). Our European cruises have all been on smaller ships, going on an Oasis class ship would be different since you won't really have as much time to enjoy all the stuff on Oasis.

Have fun! I'm already looking forward to planning another one for us!

 

 

[RobInMN]

Personally, we much prefer Rome. Since this interports, our preference would be to port out of Rome and spend at least a week in Rome before or after. But that's us. That's what we did in 2018, and even with a week in Rome before hand, we still did not see everything we wanted to.

[logan312]

Did you use a travel agent to book airfare, cruise, hotels, transfers etc? Nope

 

Hotels in Barcelona after arrival? Near the Cruise Port

 

Transfers to hotel & cruise port? check with hotel

 

Differences between a European cruise & Caribbean cruise? European = Better dressed, No over drinkers, Less kids

 

Are the majority of the passengers European? A good Mix

 

Did you exchange US $ to Euros when you landed? NEVER EVER Exchange money!! Just go to an ATM attached (physically) to a bank and withdraw Euros

 

Was the language barrier difficult in Spain getting to hotel & cruse port. Absolutely not. ZERO language barrier. 

[George C]

Make sure your credit card doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee. Only place we had a language issue was in Europe was in Sicily. 

[CynBeth6]

We did a Western Med cruise in July. We got Euros from the bank ahead of time. We were glad we did because some places we were the travel card from our bank did not work with their machine at some smaller stores or kiosks. We flew into Barcelona a few days early. We wish we had more time there it was such an amazing city but were glad we got to experience what we did. We took taxis everywhere. We had no issues on any part of our trip with a language barrier. We were in Spain, France, Monaco, and Italy and tried to extend greetings and say please and thank you in those languages. Most people spoke English. I think we mostly saw Americans and Canadians on our ship. We ended at Civitavecchia so after the cruise spent some time in Venice and Rome. 

Edited December 26, 2023 by CynBeth6

[bonsai3s]

On 12/25/2023 at 11:46 AM, Racer70 said:

Hello - We’ve been on many cruises to the Caribbean, Bermuda, Alaska, Hawaii and New England/ Canada.
 

This year, we’re strongly considering a 7 day Western Med cruise on the Oasis of the Seas in June 2024.

 

It leaves out of Barcelona and ports in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Provence (Marseille), France, La Spezia (Florence/Pisa) Italy, Civitavecchia (Rome) Italy and Naples/Capri, Italy.

 

We intend flying in a full day prior to the cruise and flying out the day after the cruise.

 

If you’ve been on this cruise itinerary before or sailed out of Barcelona or visited any of these ports, please let me know your thoughts and experiences of Western Med cruise & itinerary.

·       We recently sailed this same itinerary this past October on the Symphony.  It is a wonderful itinerary but do agree…it is port intensive.  There’s so much to see at each port.

 

Also, please advise of the following:

 

Did you use a travel agent to book airfare, cruise, hotels, transfers etc?

·       No

 

Hotels in Barcelona after arrival?

·       We stayed at Hotel Lleo…centrally located between Placa Universitat and Placa Catalunya.  Walking distance: Metro station, La Rambla, and many restaurants.

 

Transfers to hotel & cruise port?

·       The easiest way is by taxi.

·       We used Aerobus from BCN.  It is available at both Terminal 1 and 2, 24/7, 365 days, runs every 10 minutes…safe, cheap, and convenient for us because it stops at both Placa Universitat and Placa Catalunya.  Hotel Lleo was a 5-minute walk from the Placa Universitat stop.

·       From Hotel Lleo we took a taxi to the cruise terminal…about 10 minutes away.  There’s no Uber in Barcelona.  Side story: The morning of our cruise, we walked outside the hotel and a taxi driver immediately saw us (luggages in tow) and stopped.  He understood immediately we wanted to go to the cruise terminal.  As we approached the Columbus Monument and the bridge to the cruise terminal(s)…we got stuck in heavy traffic.  We couldn’t understand our driver but we soon realized what was happening…there was a marathon!  Our driver spoke to the police and managed to get us through…impressive driving and truly an honest taxi driver.  The cost was only 8 Euros…we gave him 20 Euros.

 

Differences between a European cruise & Caribbean cruise?

·       Oh my…currency, language, museums, ruins, history, and churches.  There’s so much to see at each port.  Barcelona: La Rambla, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona Cathedral, Park Guell, and of course La Sagrada Familia.  La Spezia: Cinque Terre.  Civitavecchia: Rome…you can spend a week here and not see everything.  Naples: Pompeii, Herculeum, and the island of Capri.  Palma and Marseille: Churches and Museums.

 

Are the majority of the passengers European?

·       Yes, but everyone spoke English.

 

Did you exchange US $ to Euros when you landed?

·       No, we had leftover Euros from a previous trip.  We usually exchange Euros before leaving but ATM’s are easy to use all over Europe. Read up on credit card and ATM use in Europe.

 

Was the language barrier difficult in Spain getting to hotel & cruse port.

·       No, most spoke English at the airport, in tourist areas, and at the hotel.

 

Thank you for your information, recommendations and tips.

·       You will be visiting many churches and religious sites…please be mindful of what you are wearing.  If you plan on visiting inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome…exposed shoulders and exposed knees are not allowed.

·       Try to at least learn a few words or phrases in Spanish, French, and Italian. If they hear you trying, they will smile and help.

·       Be careful of pickpockets.  Yes, it can be said anywhere around the world but be careful in Barcelona, Naples, and Rome.

·       Cruise Critic has a wonderful European Forum with tons of information.  Our favorite websites for doing cruise research are: Cruise Critic, www.whatsinport.com, www.rometorio.com, and YouTube.