Europe Cruise Question

[Dem920]

Which ship is the best to do Europe/Mediterrean Cruise? Splendour, Legend or Voyager with teeneage kids. Which ship has the best amenities and ports? This will be a once-in a lifetime cruise in summer of 2007 and want to do it right. Also am I better off getting a balcony and inside cabin for the 4 of us or a suite that holds 4 people. Looking for whatever advice you have. Thanks.

 

-DEM920

tdembek@optonline.net

[superjerryw]

I think on a European cruise the ports are the most important and the ship is somewhat secondary. You really need to decide what part of Europe you want to see and then see which ships sail such an itinerary. We did an 11 night Med cruise last year on the Celebrity Galaxy and had a great time. The ship is a little older, but there were only 2 sea days so we were ashore most of the time anyway. A Voyager class ship will have more activities for teens, but that only applies on sea days since you will likely be ashore all day if the ship is in port. The same applies to the cabin. Are you going to use the cabin just for sleeping and changing clothes or are you planning on spending a lot of time in the cabin. If you're active and will never be in cabin, go with something cheaper.

[yogimax]

In general, Voyager Class ships are more fun for teenagers, but superjerryw makes the excellent point that on European cruises the ports are the main attractions

[Elizanessie]

Ports aside...some things to consider:

 

Voyager.....lots more for teens to do.Sails from Barcelona

Splendour...nice ship...has been voted many times best for their food.

Legend....sails from Southampton...maybe you could have few days in UK before cruise.....and onboard charges in pounds not dollars(this might bother you it might not)

 

Havent done the Legend....but I am sure Carol who loves the Legend will come here later and be able to tell you more about it :D

 

Splendour ...we did that for our first cruise....voted the best in fleet many times for its food...and although not having the same things for teens on it as the Voyager..I am sure they will still enjoy it.

 

Voyager...havent done it but have done sister ships,the Navigator and Mariner....and I would say it does have more for teens...if they enjoy all the extra sports etc available on this class.Perhaps your teens would like a Promenade cabin on this one...which you cant get on the other two,and you could have a balcony across from their cabin.

 

Just a few thoughts for you to ponder over....I am sure there are many other folks here who can help you out.:D

 

Good luck and happy cruising

Liz

WYWH Cruiser

[Nick Needs To Know]

Would you consider Navigator? We're going on June 30, 2007 and could hook you up with a VERY nice deal.

 

Here's the itinerary:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/cruiseDetails/itineraryAndPricing.do;jsessionid=0000106ojK7Dk1BSjnaneZK_gAX:10ktdmpjo?packageCode=NV14Q004&sailDate=1070630&date=&selectedCurrencyCode=&promoType=

 

30-Jun Southampton, England 5:00 PM Boarding

 

01-Jul Cruising

 

02-Jul Cruising

 

03-Jul Gibraltar, United Kingdom 9:00 AM 4:00 PM Docked

 

04-Jul Cruising

 

05-Jul Ajaccio, Corsica 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

 

06-Jul Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

07-Jul Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM 7:00 PM Docked

 

08-Jul Cagliary, Sardinia, Italy 9:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

 

09-Jul Cruising

 

10-Jul Seville (cadiz), Spain 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

 

11-Jul Lisbon, Portugal 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

 

12-Jul Vigo, Spain 10:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

 

13-Jul Cruising

 

14-Jul Southampton, England 6:00 AM Departure

 

Email me at NickNataleJr@gmail.com If you have interest!

 

Nick

[Elizanessie]

Oh duh...sorry to OP...just noticed you said 2007....oh now thats a different kettle of fish as we say here..:D .(thanks Nick for your post :o )

 

You then would have a different choice then....as the Legend wont be doing the same route next year as this year....heck where is Cruiser Carol when we need her :D

 

With the Navigator coming over this side of the pond next year...you also have choice of two routes doing 14 nights on the Med...(.one of which Nick has posted) the other one doesnt have so many Italian ports(which is the one we are doing in Sept 2007)....also there is an 11 nights to the Baltics/Scandanavia.

 

Oh so many to choose from.....good luck.:D

 

Liz

WYWH Cruiser

[envy4u]

For loads more information try the Europe forum .This will probably moved there .

[Dem920]

Mid-July to end of August. Unfortunately June 29th is the last day of school for my kids, so we could never get there in time. Thanks for all the advice. I think I want to spend some time in Europe aside from the cruise and can only take 2 weeks off of work, so a 12 or 14 night won't work for us. Has anyone done the 7 night cruises? Are they too short?

 

-DEM920

tdembek@optonline.net

[sailor moon]

We are doing a 7 night out of Barcelona on the Voyager. DH can only be gone up to 9 days. I wish we could do a longer one! Go on whatever fits your schedule --- 7 or 14. Even though it will be a short cruise, I will still get a taste of Europe!

[critterchick]

Has anyone done the 7 night cruises? Are they too short?

-DEM920

tdembek@optonline.net[/quote]

We did the 7-night Barcelona round trip on Splendour (now Voyager's route). We had spent the previous 7 nights in Italy on land, so it was the perfect length. If I were only going to do a cruise, however, I would want to do at least 10, if not 12 or 14 nights, assuming, of course, that it's within the budget.

 

Splendour was a beautiful ship when we sailed on her, but I wouldn't characterize the food as "best in the fleet". Maybe she's gotten better over the past year or two. I'd sail her again in a heartbeat, though.

 

As for teen activities, although there's more for them on Voyager (so I've read here), as others have said, it's the ports that will take up most of your time, so the onboard activities are less important, IMHO. After all, you don't want the ship to be so much fun that they don't want to visit Rome!

 

And for a family of 4, unless there's a huge price difference, go with the two cabins - you'll have two bathrooms, which is priceless!

[misseulalie]

Hi everyone! I am new to these boards, but I just booked the 7 night Voyager for June 9th 2007. We were originally booked on Disney's med. cruise but realized we could get an Owner's suite on RCCL for $3,000 less!!! (vs. an oceanview on Disney)

 

Everyone I spoke to said if we were happy with Disney, then we would love Voyager (we need a great kids progams).

 

We plan to take that extra $3,000 and put it towards spending a few extra days in Spain and Portugal.

[Dem920]

Someone just told me Brilliance is also an option but they are 12 nights. This is my 40th birthday cruise, and DH said we could do one of the 12 nights if I really wanted too. I plan to book this month, but do you think prices will go down? There is an 8 night on July 20, 2007 on Splendour that the price seems pretty good, but it leaves from Venice, not sure how hard it is to get there. Barcelona and Rome are direct flights but Venice wouldn't be.

 

Decisions, decisions.... I don't want to make the wrong decision.

 

-DEM920

tdembek@optonline.net

[Iwantsun]

DEM920

 

I would book as soon as possible if I was you. I am going on the Brilliance (12 days Venice) this September and since we booked last October my balcony cabin as gone up $1000 CAD pp. :eek:

 

I do not expect prices going down since Europe seems to become more popular. If ever prices do go down, just call RCI or your TA go get the rebate applied.

[sunvalley cruisers]

We're booked on Splendour for the end of June and I'm taking two 18yr olds. We chose the 7 day Splendour because my son wanted to see Greece and I wanted to see Italy. So after the cruise is over with we are staying in Venice for the night then heading to the ruins in Rome, Pompeii and take in the Amalfi Coast for the week. Felt it was a nice balance for the whole family.

 

I like the idea of the 7 day cruises so that you can stay in Europe for an extra week. Maybe someday we'll try a 12 day....