This will be our first time cruising the mediteranean and I know there are some cruises that are better than others, i.e. in terms of ports of call. Some ports of call are so distant from where they dock that you spend so long getting there and don't have much time visiting. Which would you recommend. This is our 11th cruise and we just love cruising.

I would also like to add a question to this question..best mediteranean cruise but would like to know about age groups...we are 37 and would like to be in around that crowd...thank you

Have you read what people are saying on cruise critic? That is the best source of info I have found. You might want to check out cruise reviews.com too.

Since many of these cruises are longer than 7 days and are in the fall you most likely will find a little older crowd. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself.. We just had our first Med, cruise and it will not be the last.... this one was a total of 17 days with two nights in Barcelona on our own..

We took the Grand Princess out of Venice last May. It went just about EVERYWHERE! Everything was wonderful. The age group was 40s up for the most part but such a port intensve cruise that ...who cares! No tenders, either. Check it out...Patty

The one thing that would be important to me on a med cruise is how late do they stay in each port. We took Celebrity last year because they didn't leave most ports until evening so you didn't have to rush back, but you could still have dinner on the ship. Also when I see itineraries like Istanbul from 7:00 to 3:00, I can't help but think this is done intentionally so you will be forced to take some sort of excursion or organized tour, cause on you own, thats not even close to enough time to enjoy a look around independently.

We did a 7 night Rome to Athens cruise with Windstar last fall and it was fabulous. The ship is small enough that you dock right in the port and walk off into the town. We plan to cruise them again.