We are seriously considering a Mediterranean cruise for our next adventure on the high seas. I know it's very expensive, and for us, living in Alberta, Canada, a very long plane ride to and from the ship. We have looked at the brochures and would tend towards Princess as our first choice due to our past experience with their ships. We are however open for suggestions as to other lines.I suspect Summer months would be very busy both to book a cabin and for shore excursions.
Any experienced Mediterranean cruisers out there who can offer some helpful tips? Any comments would be appreciated.
We are seriously considering a Mediterranean cruise for our next adventure on the high seas. I know it's very expensive, and for us, living in Alberta, Canada, a very long plane ride to and from the ship. We have looked at the brochures and would tend towards Princess as our first choice due to our past experience with their ships. We are however open for suggestions as to other lines.I suspect Summer months would be very busy both to book a cabin and for shore excursions.
Any experienced Mediterranean cruisers out there who can offer some helpful tips? Any comments would be appreciated.
Hello Bob & Bev,
I have done two Mediterranean cruises, both on Princess; one in May and the other in late July into August. I guess you know how I feel about Princess so I won't even go there.
But I would urge you to try for a Spring sailing. Late July-August was very warm and very crowded--Europeans are also on vacation about that time. Lines at the more popular sites were very long and often with no shade. Don't get me wrong--we had a wonderful time--just tried to do too much.
In contrast, the May sailing was much more comfortable weather-wise, not as crowded and more comfortably paced.
But by all means go to the Mediterranean--it's a magical experience.
I agree with f-mattox on all accounts. We went on back to back cruises during the month of September and with the humidity it was frequently very uncomfortable.
For this reason we have booked a 32 day trip - Trans Atlantic 3 continents with the Greek Isle for April-May of next year.
You will find the shore excursion will probably be more than what you will pay for the cruise, unless booking a suite, but with port locations and the opportunities to see various sights on them they are well worth the price.
Our cruise was on the Star Princess and obviously with 19 cruises on Princess they are our choice unless they do not offer a particular itinerary that we are interested in.
We flew from AZ and now CA so also long plane rides. Make sure and fly in at least one day early to help adjust to the "jet lag". Venice is a wonderful city and being in St. Peter's Square early as the sun is rising with only the street sweepers there is an unforgettable experience. Having said that it is very expensive to stay on the island in Venice but I was very glad we did it. Seeing this part of Venice without the day tourists gave us an entirely different opinion of Venice than we had previously on a day trip.
If you ask questions that would probably be the best way to find our any specifics you are looking for. Other than that my only tip would be to book it.
__________________
Future cruises:
Star Princess - Dec. 2007-Rome- TA
Crown Princess- May 2008 TA & Baltics
Pacific Princess-Nov. 2008-Holy Land & Egypt
Diamond Princess- Apr. 2009 Asia- Bangkok to Whittier
Past cruises:
Golden Princess-2007-Alaska
Sea Princess-2005 Canada/New England
Diamond Princess- 2005 Mexican Riviera
Star Princess- 2004 x2 Med. Venice to Barcelona/ Barcelona to Rome
Dawn Princess - 2004 x3- Southern Caribbean
Grand Princess- 2003 x2 W.Caribbean/ 2004 Panama
Sun Princess- 2003 Mexico
Tahitian Princess- 2003 Tahiti & Cook Islands
Royal Princess- 2003 x2- British Isles / Norwegian Fjords & Iceland
Island Princess- 2003 Panama Canal / 2007 Hawaii
Sky Princess- 2000 China & Orient
Sitmar's Fairwind - 1979 x2- Caribbean/Panama Canal
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HAL-Amsterdam- 2004 Alaska
HAL Ryndam - 2001 x 2- S. America
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Viking Spirit/Pride -2006 Budapest to Amsterdam
Hello, we are departing from Calgary on May 03 for the 12 day sail on the EMERALD PRINCESS, first cruise, will report back after the cruise - from all accounts, it seems May is one of the best months to go, today it is already 23 in Rome!! To ease the travel time, we are spending two days in Rome prior and 2 days in Venice at the conclusion of the cruise.
Albertagirl, have a wonderful cruise. I definitely will be eager to get your input afterwards as we are looking at the Emerald for May of 2008 for the Venice to Barcelona 12 day sailing.
Ellie
f-mattox, glad to hear about May cruises. We are leaving May 12th for a 2 week Mediterranean cruise departing from Southampton on the Sea Princess. We're spending 2 days in London to recover from the flight and sightsee.
you will have a wonderful cruise; first, you are on the Sea Princess, which is one of my favorites--it has all the amenities in a more intimate size ship. Plus it is a great time to sail the Mediterranean. Please let us know what you think.
An option for you to get the experiance of Europe and to save some money would be to take a transatlantic. This would also save some airfare costs and being a transatlantic lowers the per day cost. You may not get as many ports as some other cruises but to counter this you could have go a few days early for a very nice pre-cruise. Just a thought. Have a great trip.
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