25th Anniv. Med cruise...where do I begin?

[CintiPam]

I sailed on Celebrity and they offered a tour to the Cinque Terre for $ 129 per person- which was well worth it. I am sure that the other lines offer a similar tour. The tour lasts nine hours but I enjoyed every minute of it. First you take a bus ride thru olive groves and the guide talks about this. The landscape is very pretty. You reach La Spezia and you board a ferry that takes you to the first of the five towns. It is breathtaking scenery. You walk from the first town to the second town via the "Walk of Love"- it is so beautiful. Then you board the ferry again and go to the third town and and board it again and go to the last town where you have several hours to yourself- there are lots of nice restaurants. The specialties of this region are olive oil, pesto and white wine- so that's what we had for lunch. It was great. I did this with my Dad but next time I want to go back with my boyfriend. Such a romantic day. You will love it. I wouldn't suggest going it alone. it is too far to risk doing your own excursion and having a mishap.

 

rebeccalouise, thanks so much for the information. Unfortunately, Oceania does not offer this excursion. (I guess with only 684 passengers max, there has not been enough demand.) So we'll have to make our own arrangements.

[bay guy]

We've usually found that the weather in Italy is nice in early to mid May. After that, it can get oppressively hot, especially if you're heading to Sicily or Greece as part of your cruise. Also, the air fares are usually lower in May than after June 1.

We've done several European cruises on RCI and have usually found that they have the best fares in most cases especially considering the quality of service on their ships.

I wouldn't do less than a 12 day trip, if you can afford it price wise and time wise. A week is just too short considering the length of the flight and the time change you ahve to get used to.

Most trans Atlantic flights will have business and first class seats but you'll usually pay dearly for them. We've usually purchased our flights on our own since the crusie lines seem to tack on extra charges. With air travel being what it is these days, I'd definately arrive the day before your cruise.

[paulred]

Check out Azamara's latest deals. 12 Day Med cruise WITH AIR under $3000. Several itineraries.

 

Paul

[jjferr]

Hello all.

 

Everyone has such varied opinons on this topic. Here is mine. My hubby and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary on Brilliance of the Seas in July. We are taking the same cruise that Chester is taking only we leave on 21 July. We have added a 4 day precruise cruise tour to our actual cruise (cruise is 12 nights). We will leave RI on 16 July (the day after our anniversary) and will arrive home on 2 August (the day after my bday). We will fly to Madrid and spend 2 days, then take the train to Barcelona and stay for 2 days before we get on the ship. This is our second time to the med, so we will visit some of the same ports as last time. Barcelona is a great city to explore and we are looking forward to seeing other things in the ports we have already visited (Villefranche (Nice), Naples, Livorno (Florence and Pisa), and Civitavecchia (Rome)). We are very excited to visit the new places as well (Kusadasi/Ephesus, Turkey; Mykonos, Santorini, and Piraeus (Athens), Greece). We always get a balcony room. Although there are many ports, the balcony gives you a bit more room and if you want to be outside in a quiet area...not by the pool, you have it! I would caution you about the aft balconies though. I am sure others would disagree. When we had an aft balcony, we found there was soot from the stack that fell on our chairs and we were constantly cleaning them to sit outside.

 

As far as flights go, we have done both options. We have let the cruise line get our flights and we have gotten them other times. This time, I will be getting the flights so that we can upgrade to business class for the overseas flight. I think it will be cheaper this time too. Other times when we have checked, it was going to be cheaper to let the cruise line do the flights. We always book while on board a cruise and have them include the airfare in the price. You can always cancel the airfare from your reservation without penalty. We also have only cruised with RCCL.

 

As far as time of year to go, I can only tell you that we have traveled to Europe in the summer. I am a teacher and can only go for any length of time in the summer. Rome was extremely hot the day we visited the Vatican. Our day in Pompeii was also very warm. Not a problem for us though. Be aware of the clothing restrictions in the churches in Europe too.

 

Hope this helps. Happy decision making Kevin.

 

Lisa

[CatherineL]

Hi Kevin - I am also looking to do a European cruise this year. I haven't cruised there before but I'm from the UK and I've been to quite a few places in Europe, so I hope I can help.

 

As others have said, the weather in late May can be lovely. But it isn't always the case. Sometimes it can rain for several days in May. Saying that, I once went to Corfu, late July, early August and it rained for days on end. So, I wouldn't worry to much about the weather.

 

It can get extremely hot in July and August but it's still do-able. We usually get out of the sun in the middle of the day for lunch. I guess some people might see that as a waste of time on a cruise but I'd rather see less and have a more enjoyable time.

 

If I had to choose between July and August (and I probably do, due to school holidays), I would go for July. In many European cities, restaurants etc close down in August, as the owners go on vacation to the beach.

 

Some of the cruise prices are more expensive for July and August, but I've noticed that a few are lower. Celebrity Summit, Royal Caribbean Legend Of The Seas and Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas all have awesome itineraries. Holland America Oosterdam has a nice itinerary too but you only get one rest day at sea.

 

Regarding flights - business class is expensive, if you don't have frequent flyer miles, especially in the summer. Some airlines, like Virgin Atlantic and BA have a premium economy service and you do get wider seats, more legroom etc. It may be worth checking out to see if it's not too much extra.

 

It really depends whether you need the extra room. I have travelled in all plane classes across the atlantic. And while the ones with the flat beds are very nice and do help you to sleep on the plane, you still wind up with jetlag. Personally, I would save the extra cash and put it towards excursions etc.

[Yunker310]

Kevin,

 

Great minds think alike, LOL

 

We, too, are celebrating 25 years this year (May 19) and I had the same thought. We are just booked on the Celebrity Summit out of Venice on June 15. We have never been to the Mediterranean, and the more I review the itinerary, the more I love it. Celebrity is our favorite line. My wife's grandparents grew up north of Venice and she has second cousins that live in Padua. I have been promising to take her to Italy for years.

 

The airfare is a little tricky (and pricey) due to the different arrival and departure cities. We are considering flying round trip to Rome and taking an extra travel day. You may have already booked something, but if you haven't, this is a great option (in my humble opinion) ;)

 

Good luck with your anniversary plans.

[pmc7704]

KShea, we did a great mediterranean trip on the Emerald Princes in May 2007 (May to beat the really hot weather). We booked a balcony room, and it was well worth it. We started with an overnight in Venice, and the itenerary included days in Rome, Naples, Florence/Pisa, plus 2 days in Greece (Athens, Mikonos), 2 in Turkey (Istanbul, Kusadasi), and Marseille before ending in Barcelona.

 

We booked our own airfare because we got a better deal doing it on our own. It was coach for us, business class is 3-4X the cost.

 

 

This is the same itinerary we did on the Grand Princess in 2006, and it was FABULOUS !! We loved it so much that we're thinking of doing the same one over again on the new Ruby Princess, and take our daughter with us this time. Some pluses for Princess are the self laundry facilities, and the anytime dining. Believe me, with a cruise this port intensive, you don't want to be saddled with a 6 o'clock dining time.. We also did our own flights ( coach for us too ) By the way, our cruise was the first week of October, and the weather was perfect, cruises were smaller, and we didn't get any rain.

[harrodsfan]

What a grand plan...

We have done Seabourn, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Carribean Cruises in the mediterrean. They all were great. Really. It all about the wonderful ports.

Would suggest 12 day if that works for you. It gives you more sea days which you will need as the ports are intensive sightseeing.

Try not to do too many museum days in a row... or tours. You will get really overwhelmed. Leave some space for Romantic things...and if you go to Venice go on a gondola ride at night...but hire your own gondola. It is $$$ but soooo worth it.

do try to figure out a way to go Business Class or at least as suggested go premium economy. It takes the sting out of the whole airplane travel and you can actually sleep.

Use your frequent flyer miles if you need to.

And try to fly as direct as you can to your port. More chance of your luggage arriving with you.

And have fun!!!