hye2enjoy

Hello, We live in San Diego, California. We are thinking of a 7 day cruise on Riviera (Oceania) which starts from Venice and ends in Rome. The cruise will leave Rome on November 2nd and arrive in Venice on the 9th this year. Frankly, this trip is a bit of stretch for our budget but we really want to make it for our 10th anniversary, if possible.

Having said that, we have enough BA credit for 2 round trip air to Europe but I'm not sure which way would allow us save the most money without incurring unintended cost on the way as we plan our trip. I read somewhere it is better to do a round trip from a single destination than to do flights out of 2 one-way destinations.

I would really appreciate if anyone can shed some light on us, as we are pretty clueless in traveling to Europe. We both have been to Europe, when we were in grad schools in a group tour but we didn't plan those trips as you can imagine. Thanks EVERYONE for reading my post!

janisj

Forts of all you do not want two one ways. What you'd book is open jaw (usually called 'multi city) where you fly in to one city and home form another. There are not one way and will be cheaper than two one ways.

Second -- you do <B>NOT</B> want to fly BA unless you absolutely must. They tack on enormous fees to their 'free' mileage tickets.

The same trip on AA or other One World carriers would be hundreds of $$$ cheaper per ticket.

janisj

oops -- that should say >> First of all you do not want two one ways . . . <<

Sassafrass

Your 7 night, Oceana cruise starts in Rome and ends in Venice.
You would not want RT or one-ways. You need multi-city or multi-destination that allows you to fly into one city and depart from another, or depart from one place and return to another, or even to link several places together. On the booking sites, where it shows RT and 1-way, it should also show multi-city or multi-destination.

You would definitely want to arrive in Rome two or three days early to tour Rome and be rested before the cruise. You want to enjoy the ship from the minute you board. Venice is so magical, and you will already be there, you want to take advantage of that and stay a couple of days at the end.

Does your anniversary occur during that time frame? Must you go then? Is it this year or next year? Are you limited to 7 days? Have you done much cruising? I ask for several reasons. Budget is an issue, so this cruise is a stretch for you. November starts to be late for many cruises in the Med or Greek Islands, so cruise choices are very limited by that time. Though nice for walking, it can get a bit cool for swimming too. There are many, many more choices in October. If you can go for 10 to 12 days, you have even more choices then. I have not cruised with Oceana. I understand it is a wonderful cruise line, but out of my budget. If you would consider a Princess Ship or Celebrity, a few days earlier, you could have a lovely cabin, even with balcony for a lot less. I have cruised with both, and both have some beautiful ships with great service and very good food. If you don't mind a ship with Italian flair, the MSC ships are wonderful with excellent food and talented entertainment.

janisj

Oh -- when booking <u>award</u> tix -- yes you would want two one ways (confused enough ?? )

If you <u>buy</u> tickets then you'd want open jaw/multi city, but award tickets are one way/each way.

However the fees on BA are so high, that buying tickets won't cost much more than their 'free' ones. If you can use your miles on another carrier (not a BA code share/flight # ) you will save a fortune.

jan47ete

I rarely fly RT, usually multi-city and fare is comparable. I think one time had to fly RT and take into account the transportation cost to get you back to your original city.

I looked into MSC cruises for a particular trip and although the cruise would have been perfect (they cancelled it for the year I wanted), the pax are mainly Europeans and lots of smokers not matter the signs posted as far as what I read.

Sassafrass

I did a Caribbean cruise last year on the MSC Divina. The ship is stunning! Yes, the majority of the Passengers were European. There was more smoking. There was a smoking section on one side of the pool. However, only once or twice did I see anyone smoking outside of that and they were actually sitting close by it. We did smell it when we walked by that section. There was absolutely no smoking in enclosed areas like theater, dining rooms, hallways, food areas, etc. and I did not see any. I also do not know for sure about the casino. But smoking may have been allowed in part of it. Perhaps it was just on that cruise in the Caribbean and would be worse in the Med. I prefer a ship with no smoking, and I hate smoking, but it was not a problem. The entertainment on the Divina was so good, it was my favorite thing on the ship. The food was also very good, though as you might expect, lots of pasta, and not as much variety of salads as on some other ships.

For me, the main thing that was a problem was the number of children running around the pool and buffet, but there were enough quiet adult areas to enjoy and they rarely came to dinner or any shows.

Anyway, for those reasons, it was the 3rd ship I mentioned, but still very nice.

This year, we did the Princess Regal for our anniversary, my 4th cruise on a Princess ship, which was definitely quieter and more adult oriented with mostly Americans. It is a beautiful ship, similar to Royal. We didn't do much of the entertainment, but DD did and said it was very good. There were quite a few audience participation activities. Definitely more appeal for Americans and hardly any kids to be seen. Even the kids' areas were nearly empty.

Celebrity is even more adult oriented and we enjoyed the cruise we took on the Constellation. I don't believe there were any kids at all on our cruise. It was the most formal in some ways. Men had to have a jacket on for dinner. DH pushed the rule one night and was given a jacket. He did not like that and took his own from then on.

The OP seemed a bit concerned about the cost of making their trip happen. I can see from the pictures that they do not offer the same lux experience as Oceana, but want to say that, even though they are mid-market, you can feel quite pampered and have a really lovely experience on these ships. You can choose to have a separate table. You can have dinner on your balcony. You can buy a sanctuary day with a special pool and lounge area. You could, for a small extra, try a specialty restaurant. The ships are beautiful with good food and good service.

aliced

Oceania includes international airfare on all the promo booklets I have been receiving. (We are looking at Greece/Adriatic/Med). You need to clarify this. If it is not included, look at r/t fares from each of the cities, and calculate how much it would be to train from one to the other. Obviously, compare to the open jaw fares. Lots of beautiful Italy to see between Venice & Rome!