cruising in Europe
Nov 26th, 2007, 09:49 AM
#1
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cruising in Europe
Hello,
My husband and I will be in London in August 2008 for business and would like to extend our time by perhaps going to Ireland and/or Scotland +- 7 days. We would then like to take a cruise and as we have never been to Greece looked at a few itineraries there. Some of the options include Turkey, Croatia, Italy. The big question is "how long" do we go for. There is a 7 night cruise on the Royal Carribbean line and an 11 night with Holland America. We are in our 50's. Will we just be enjoying our trip when its time to end on the 7 night trip. Perhaps the cruise line could influence us. Obviously pricing - would too many shore excursions become too expensive and exhausting. Is 7 days relaxing? Perhaps your seasoned travellers could advise? Thank you. We would also like any tips regards visiting Ireland/Scotland. Thanks again
My husband and I will be in London in August 2008 for business and would like to extend our time by perhaps going to Ireland and/or Scotland +- 7 days. We would then like to take a cruise and as we have never been to Greece looked at a few itineraries there. Some of the options include Turkey, Croatia, Italy. The big question is "how long" do we go for. There is a 7 night cruise on the Royal Carribbean line and an 11 night with Holland America. We are in our 50's. Will we just be enjoying our trip when its time to end on the 7 night trip. Perhaps the cruise line could influence us. Obviously pricing - would too many shore excursions become too expensive and exhausting. Is 7 days relaxing? Perhaps your seasoned travellers could advise? Thank you. We would also like any tips regards visiting Ireland/Scotland. Thanks again
Nov 27th, 2007, 09:34 PM
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Hi Lindaklm,
Both cruise lines are nice. My hubby and I (we are both in our 50's) just returned from a Royal Caribbean (RCI) cruise. We had such a fabulous time we booked a cruise on their Splendour for the Greek Isles.
We based our decision on where the cruise went. We wanted to see Athens, so we chose the cruise that included Athens. August will be warm in the Med. You can explore most ports on your own. That way you can do what you want and spend as much time on shore as you want.
Research is the key. You might want to go to www.cruisecritic.com and search the site. It has info an all the ships and ports. Good luck.
Barb
Both cruise lines are nice. My hubby and I (we are both in our 50's) just returned from a Royal Caribbean (RCI) cruise. We had such a fabulous time we booked a cruise on their Splendour for the Greek Isles.
We based our decision on where the cruise went. We wanted to see Athens, so we chose the cruise that included Athens. August will be warm in the Med. You can explore most ports on your own. That way you can do what you want and spend as much time on shore as you want.
Research is the key. You might want to go to www.cruisecritic.com and search the site. It has info an all the ships and ports. Good luck.
Barb
Nov 28th, 2007, 02:11 PM
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We're doing a Wind Star cruise next September. It leaves out of Athens and concludes in Istanbul. In addition to 7 day itineraries, they also have back to back 14 day itineraries. Perhaps this could be an option.
Nov 30th, 2007, 05:54 PM
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We have done six European cruises and prefer HAL. However, try to book at least 10 days and prefer 14 or 15. And seldom take the ship excursions. We think 7 days are too rushed and like the pace of 10 to 14 cruises.
Dec 9th, 2007, 08:54 AM
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Look carefully at the schedule. Some cruises (esp. Costa) stop only for 4 or 5 hours in a port, especially on Greek islands. This will force you into the ship's excursions (because with such limited time it is risky to go on your own).
The reason is that some passengers find it appealing to have a large number of ports of call in the schedule, but it is better to have more time per port.
In Europe, hardly any shore excursion is required. You can easily go on your own, in many ports just walking, otherwise you can use public transport or take a taxi. Sometimes we even rent a car which is delivered right on the pier. Especially if you share with four, you save a lot of money. Use the cruisecritic board to plan in advance.
The reason is that some passengers find it appealing to have a large number of ports of call in the schedule, but it is better to have more time per port.
In Europe, hardly any shore excursion is required. You can easily go on your own, in many ports just walking, otherwise you can use public transport or take a taxi. Sometimes we even rent a car which is delivered right on the pier. Especially if you share with four, you save a lot of money. Use the cruisecritic board to plan in advance.
Dec 9th, 2007, 12:43 PM
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We enjoy big ship cruising but are not always pleased when it's time to have 1,000 stop at a port. It's great not having to unpack but I think you see more of the countryside and visit more out of the way places on a land tour or river barge. I've only taken one river barge trip and that was to Russia this past fall.
We liked it especially because they put you in really nice hotels for several nights (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and yet you had the relaxing cruise experience visiting the little villages along the river daily.
We are partial to Celebrity but found few faults with the QE2. We seem to get stir crazy on board and found the ports just t-shirt shops unless you signed up for optionals so you could see more of the area.
Like someone said above, the stops are short and you don't want to be stuck in ports.
If ever you want a really nice First Cabin land/water tour of Russia, please look into Grand Circle.
If you have any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to respond directly to you.
Lindaklm, you have lots of good advice here. Hope it helps.
Katherine
Email: [email protected]
We liked it especially because they put you in really nice hotels for several nights (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and yet you had the relaxing cruise experience visiting the little villages along the river daily.
We are partial to Celebrity but found few faults with the QE2. We seem to get stir crazy on board and found the ports just t-shirt shops unless you signed up for optionals so you could see more of the area.
Like someone said above, the stops are short and you don't want to be stuck in ports.
If ever you want a really nice First Cabin land/water tour of Russia, please look into Grand Circle.
If you have any specific questions, I'd be more than happy to respond directly to you.
Lindaklm, you have lots of good advice here. Hope it helps.
Katherine
Email: [email protected]
Dec 15th, 2007, 07:55 PM
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I have a review on here of our 12 day Med cruise on Celebrity comparing it to land travel. I don't know how to copy links, but if you put my user ID in the search box it should come up. It's from 2005. Basically we looked for a cruise that stayed in Port until evening so we could have all day in each city. The down side is it was exhausting, because the ship was fun too, and you couldn't FULLY enjoy either. Had to get up early each day to get the most out of each fantastic port and at night when you wanted to rehash the day with your dinner mates and hear what they did, and maybe see the show or hit the casino you were dead tired from walking all day and had to get to bed so you could begin all over again the next day. Turkey is my all time favorite place to visit. 2 weeks by land didn't do it justice. No way 6 or 8 hours in Istanbul will deliver. Naturally you won't see as much on a 7 day, but you can spend a week doing a land trip then.
