Mediterranean Cruises

phoenix833

Myself, my OH and another two couples are planning a Mediterranean Cruise for early September this year. I was hoping for a bit of advice from anybody who may have been on some before.

First off is the destination: Is it really a matter of preference whether it be the west med, east or maybe one that cruises to the canaries. Has anybody got any excperience of which may be better for the day stops etc. I would think there would be more to see/do around Italy/Greece but I'm certainly open to other views.

We have been trawling through the online cruise websites but havn't really found one yet which stands out. They all seem to be more or less the same. Although looking at the ships Royal Caribbean seems to be the one that offers most to do on board. Any thoughts?

Would you be nearly better off booking a seperate cruise and flights or going for the complete package through a website or with a travel agents?

Thanks in advance!

Cruisebuff

Hi Phoenix,

Routes, there are 3 prime routes, Eastern, Western, and Southern,

Western - Jamaica and Mexico, Eastern - Bahamas, St. Thomas/St. Maarten and possibly San Juan.

Southern, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and St. Thomas.

The Eastern/Western have Royal Caribbeans fleet on them - the Oasis and the Allure - they are pretty much top of the tree in family cruise terms. Outside of this Freedom of the Seas operates from Orlando(Port Canaveral), and covers both Eastern/Western. Carnival have a cool ship called the Magic out of Orlando too - it's a strong ship and I loved the service on board Carnival.
Finally the Southern Caribbean - Royal Caribbean has the Serenade down there - smaller in a whale is alittle fish sort of way and Carnival have the Victory there. Serenade I would argue is the better of the 2 ships - but it's a matter of taste I think down there.

A note to remember, in September you are in Hurricane Season - and the prime of it. Hurricanes generally follow a track slightly south of Florida and then spin north - thus the reason Louisana tends to be in the firing line. Now the Southern normally is below this line and generally avoids them - so it's a point worth noting. On the other hand - cruise ships aren't into steering into them either - so they may simple "drive around it".

Later in the season Norweigian pops their Daddy ship into the Caribbean - the EPIC - and it is what it says on the tin! But it's not there till November.

Agent versus the Web. Well - if you book the sum of the parts and your flight does not operate for whatever reason and your ship sails - well this could be a problem. You can get insurance to cover this issue. Also, travel agents still have their "own" fares which end up pretty close (maybe within €10.00 or sometimes cheaper) than what you'll find on the web. On the cruise - it's usually the same price and hotels likewise. So overall you'll hear stories of huge savings- but compare apples and apples - usually the savings are someone asking for a 4 star hotel in the agents, then going home and finding a 2 star cheaper and thus the "saving".
If you know your agent, ie you've a relationship with them - you'll have built a trust in them and so if the hurricane turns up - they'll know who to call and what to do about it.

Cheerio
Cruisebuff

phoenix833

Hi Cruisebuff,

Apologies if I caused any confusion with my post but it was actually a Mediterranean Cuise we were looking into. Appreciate the reply though, could be useful for future holidays!

By any chance do you have any knowledge about Med Cruises as much as you do Caribbean ones because I'm sure it would help us no end?

Thanks

munstergirl

Have a look on www.cruisecritic.com

Cruisebuff

Sorry Phoenix - Long Day.

Med Cruises - again split into 3. 1. Eastern - Generally towards, Egypt, Israel, and Greek Isles.
2: Western - Bread and Butter route - out of Barcelona or Rome and then off to South of France normally either Villefranche or Monaco, across to Italy, the port of Livorno which covers off Florence/Pisa - down to Rome onto Naples - which is good for Sorrento and the Isle of Capri. This doubles back to possibly Palma Majorca then and finally home to Barcelona. There are a few twists in this itinerary depending on the cruise company.
3: Adriatic - from Venice - covers either Greek Isles and Turkey or Adraitic Coast - Croatia, Slovenia and a stop of two in Italy.

Which company - Royal Caribbean have a huge fleet in the Med - the larger ships Voyager of the Seas is based in Venice, ADventure is based in Malaga, and Navigator & Mariner are in Rome. These 4 ships are almost identical. LIberty of the Seas which is bigger again is based out of Barcelona.
Norweigian have 2 ships in the Med - the EPIC which is stunning and massive, and the Jade from Venice.
Princess have a couple of ships down there - they do longer hops from Venice to Barcelona and back again.
MSC who have 4* ships but aren't as good as the 2 above have 2 big and beautiful ships - the Splendida and Fantasia out of Barcelona. Generally doing Western Med.
Holland America - who you may not have heard of - are 5* and have a lovely ship from Rome called the Noordam - they are American. But can have some really great value.
Then Celebrity are there with their newest ship the Silhouette - it's a twin of Solstice - anyways key points are - new ships, tons to do, and can be great value.
Finally Carnival have their largest ship in the fleet based out of Barcelona doing 7/9 day cruises - it's generally doing Western Med.

So you are spoiled for choice.

To come back to the flights - the biggest issue is - on Saturdays in particular from Dublin - Aer Lingus to Venice can be really expensive as the flights are shared with normal package holidays and the price may already be high - so flying with Ryanair and overnighting might be the way to go. Or head to Milan and take the train over - but it'll involve possibly and overnight too.
Barcelona is grand - you can fly into Girona, or Barcelona - but it can be busy.
Malaga fine too. And Rome - you just need to watch the transfers - they can be expensive but the train is cheap enough.

Hope this helps.

Cheerio and sorry for the earlier confusion.

Sincerely,
Cruise Buff.

phoenix833

Thanks a million for the reply cruisebuff, very informative advice much appreciated. Your username says it all really:)

Now to the easy part, finding a good deal!!

shiibata

4 of us went on our first ever cruise with Thomson last year out of Palma, booked flights separetly, easyjet out of Belfast. We thought it excellent but we booked in good time and all drinks were free too:D

Joined the forum mentioned above, cruisecritic, to find out info on cruising and it was great as met people on the forum who were sailing on the same cruise and had great crack with them.

Cruisebuff

Phoneix,

Cruise critic is well handy. Also try cruiseparadise.ie, have plenty of good offers and are bonded in Ireland. People don't realise the importance of doing the deal in Ireland and usually the money is the same.

Cheerio Phoenix.
If you need any questions on cruise answered fire on - I've done a fair few of them.

phoenix833

shiibata wrote: »

4 of us went on our first ever cruise with Thomson last year out of Palma, booked flights separetly, easyjet out of Belfast. We thought it excellent but we booked in good time and all drinks were free too:D

Joined the forum mentioned above, cruisecritic, to find out info on cruising and it was great as met people on the forum who were sailing on the same cruise and had great crack with them.

I was looking of taking that sort of route. Was on to Virgin Cruises and some of their cruises have flights included from Belfast and on some Dublin is listed as an option to fly from.
Thanks for the advice about the cruise critic forum, I might just do that.

Cruisebuff wrote: »

Phoneix,

Cruise critic is well handy. Also try cruiseparadise.ie, have plenty of good offers and are bonded in Ireland. People don't realise the importance of doing the deal in Ireland and usually the money is the same.

Cheerio Phoenix.
If you need any questions on cruise answered fire on - I've done a fair few of them.

Cruisebuff,

We have looked into a few and have more or less settled on either the Norwegian Epic from Barcelona doing the Western Med or Royal Caribbean doing the Eastern. Basically all the ports that NCL stop at are mostly in Italy whereas the RCL cruise takes in Italy, Greece and Turkey.

Now I know you may say it's a matter of preference which to choose but being a newbie I'm wondering do people go on cruises for the experience of a cruise or where you get to visit? Forgive me if it's a stupid question!

Also in your experience do you plan well in advance or wait for something last minute? We are toying with the idea of trying to go last minute, with the hope of a) saving a bit more money between now and then (September) to afford a better cabin and b) obviously try get a reduced rate for whatever we book.

For example Virgin are offering a week on board the NCL Epic leaving next week for STG£589 flying from Belfast whereas early september is £720 which is a big enough difference if you're skint:D

Cruisebuff

Hi Phoenix,

Ok, first off - the curious side of me kicked in. So I called Virgin this evening. The costing I got for thw 25th September was 1535.00 euro when I converted the costing over. It was 659.00 Gbp plus the diff plus I allowed 3% variation on the credit card. This was ex Belfast. Then I did a costing from Dublin and it came in at 1607.00 euro. So the diff being 70.00 Euro total. If you live in Dublin you'll spend the 70.00 Euro driving up and down to Belfast plus you'll need to be up 2 hours earlier! And it's a 7am flight. Lovely.

Anyways, Royal Caribbean, NCL, Carnival - all are mega resort cruises aimed at families and couples. Plenty of high energy activity along with nice dining options and tons of fun.

the ship versus the destination. Hmm, well unless you intend spending the whole day on the ship - the stops are important. Eastern Med is sun/sand kinda stops with the exception of perhaps Athens/Israel and Kusadasi (ephesus). As the Western Med you've the likes of Rome/Florence, Naples and the South of France. You'll be busy on Western Med - bring comfy shoes.

I do know NCL have a sale coming up in about 10 days time. It'll have money off staterooms and onboard credit. You may be better off buying your flights now, as chances are they'll go up. And then buy the cruise in 2 weeks. 800.00 euro for flights and cruise is not bad value. If you choose the EPIC.
If you go Navigator which is the one covering eastern med from rome. Perhaps fly the day before and take the train to the port. It'll work out similar enough to flyin in on the morning of the cruise and you'll get a night in Rome. From what I could see that was close to 1000.00 a head. But it included your onboard gratuities.

Hope this helps.

Cruisebuff

CreepingDeath

Hi,

myself and the girlfriend are just back from a Royal Carribbean cruise from the Med - Rome (Civitavecchia) to Messina(Sicily), Pireas (Athens/Greece), Kudsadasi(Turkey) and Chania(Crete).

The Navigator of the Seas ship was gorgeous.
We got an outside suite (external window) which was large and well equipped with EU and US power sockets.

It had 14 floors, a theatre, cinema, ice rink, rock climbing wall, crazy golf course, promenade of shops, various restaurants, beautiful bars overlooking the front & back of the ship, swimming pools, hot tubs etc....

If you like wine I recommend you get the prepaid package.
Otherwise a single glass of wine is US$11.
There's feck all European beers except bottles of Heineken.
I ended up drinking nice cocktails for $8 a go, not bad at all.
But the vast majority of cocktails are Rum based.

If you go for "fine dining" take the later seating of 9:30pm or so, not the earlier one of 6:30pm or you'll be wrecked after the tours and not in time to get showered, rested and dressed up for the meal.

Ps. You can skip Crete it's shite... not worth the price of the cruise tours. Unless you want to tour a Crete winery for cheap Olive Oil, Wine and Ozzo (liquor).

Cruisebuff

Ye wouldn't drink em here in a fit. But they are quare nice on a cruise ship!

Have the souvenir glasses to prove it.

Regards
Cruisebuff

finbarrk

I presume drink is generally expensive on cruises? I haven't been on one yet.

Cruisebuff

Hi there,

Good question complicated answer - so picking averages here.

Bottled Water $4.00
Bottled Beer $5.00
Bottles of wine starting at $22.00 and going up rapidly.
Speciality Cocktails starting at $5.00 but quickly getting to $10.00 in speciality glasses.
Martini's starting at $7.00 - average of $9.00 each
Shorts starting at $5 - average $7.00 plus mixers.

Don't forget normally 15% to be added - on board gratuities. Now, it all depends on which cruise line you sail with ie - Royal Caribbean will have different prices to NCL.

Regards
Cruisebuff

shiibata

finbarrk wrote: »

I presume drink is generally expensive on cruises? I haven't been on one yet.

That was why we went on the Thomson cruise for our 1st cruise last year as was a good deal with all drink included in the price:D

Cruisebuff

Just a heads up. Royal Caribbean have a sale on their Med cruises at the minute. $100.00 On board credit free. And there are some savage prices at the moment too. So good value to be had.

A handy way of exploring them in one place is www.cruiseparadise.ie.

Cheerio Cruisebuff

outta

Hi Cruise BUFF! Buff is nota strong enough word it seems!! Ur knowledge is unreal! I was thinking about RCI Splendour of the seas Vs MSC Armonia in July 2013. the prices are crazy different. We getting married 13July n want to cruise in the med, Eastern seems more to our taste, sun sea sand and drink! Cities fine but beaches great.

In ur HUMBLE opinion which is best? RCI Splendour is v expensive to MSC but then again seems to be different class! Suite on MSC Armonia is €1000 each, outside cabin in RCI is 1500 each!

coylemj

Cruisebuff hasn't posted anywhere on boards for over a year and this thread is well over a year old.

Cruisebuff

HI Outta,

You obviously won't be cruising on the 13th or 14th! So I'll assume 15th at the earliest. I'd have a serious look at NCL (Norwegian) on the 19th from Venice - you could do a couple of days in Venice. Cool ship. It's younger focused also. Norwegian have "freestyle" cruising which means you don't have set dining times etc. It's really cool.

Splendours Itinerary is pretty tasty to be fair.

Now, the one I'd actually go for is MSC's Divina out of Venice on the 20th. She's less than 900.00 Euro each for a Balcony. You could fly into Milan with Aer lingus, or Verona - which is nice for lake garda. If you get your flights booked - you should get them cheap enough now.
Divina is a new ship - she'll be just over 1 year old by the time you sail on it. It's a huge ship. AND there's one extra treat. You can go all inclusive for €161.00 Euro each. Both of you must take the drinks package. But it'll save you a bundle on board.
In the all inclusive, they include 2 house reds, 2 house whites, 1 rose and 1 sparkling. Also what they call "house spirits" - for instance - vodka is Smirnoff - so not yellow pack. And draught beer is normally Heineken. Of course they also offer the top 10 cocktails on board and premium coffee's also. So overall I think it's savage value.

So assuming you get your flights for €250.00 or so, stick a couple of nights accomm on €150.00 per room per night and did 3 nights. So €500 plus €450.00 plus €1700 for your cruise and €320 for your drinkies - I'd say you'd have your holiday for perhaps €3000K total and you'd be all inclusive! The balcony staterooms on Divina are lovely, I thought the bedding etc was up a notch also.

Otherwise I don't believe Splendour really can command a huge premium - yes she's Royal Caribbean - but at €3500 for the cruise alone in a balcony I don't think so.

Outta - I hope this helps ye alittle.
If you need more info just shout.

Regards
Cruisebuff

Cruisebuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bCMGtCopjo

http://www.youtube.com/user/MSCCruiseLines?feature=CAQQwRs%3D
MSC Divina