deciding on a cruiseline?
 

Next year we are planning to travel to the Mediterranean taking a cruise. Please give me a few ideas.We are a married couple in our 50's celebrating our 37 th year together.We believe what would be important to us would be good quality dining ,a ship that is more geared to a 45 and over crowd ,and not a ship with a director insisting on you rolling an egg down a deck.Is casual elegance a term I should use?We are also wondering if a 12 to 14 day cruise is wise, or would it get frustrating. Also does a inside cabin on a cruise for that length hard to handle. Are there any ports that are a must.Personally Venice is, any other ideas? Thank you in advance for helping me I am trying to do this as a surprise anniversary gift to my wife and I really want to get It right.

Sounds like you are good candidates for a luxury/upscale cruise line: Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, Oceania - if you can afford it, of course. A 12-14 days will cost you an arm and a leg, and no, in Europe it wouldn't be boring. If you want it cheaper, take HAL or Celebrity. Choice of cabin kind also depends on how much you can spend. Just avoid summer time in Med: too hot and crowded.

Thanks spur, and I will consider early or later in the season .

I agree with Spur. The summer months in the Med are way too hot to enjoy. Also, it gets very crowded and lines are long! Med cruises start in the spring, so consider April or May. HAL and Celebrity are great. Also, Carnival is coming out with its new ship, the Freedom in March. It's newer ships don't attract the younger crowd, as they have a tendency to go for the shorter, more affordable cruises.

Travel consultant,

What is it that you don't understand about no advertising allowed on this board?

Orient Cruise Lines is geared for the 40's and older crowd. No children. Nice ports. Smaller size cruise of 826 people. Inexpensive excursions. Very relaxing and enjoyable. We did the Venice to Rome cruise last year and enjoyed it. Will be taking the Rome to Barcelona in a few weeks.

Thanks everyone for your help,and please I am not trying to be a wise guy ,but how can discussions take place if Names or brands are not mentioned.I respect t.a. your point,you do derive your living from this industry,I just hope that at times what you are suggesting to your clients is included in these threads.

In case you need a good travel agent, I highly recommend my agent Alex at [email protected]. He will find you a best cruise for the least price. Tell him spur sent you.

I would not recommend Carnival for the experience you describe and in my personal experience, the age of the ship does not influence the age of the guests. I saw the same partying, loud atmosphere on one of their newest as I did on their older ships. Loud, all the way around IMO.

I would highly recommend a smaller ship for the Med as: more personal experience, more creative itineraries, more time in port, open dining for flexibility, no lines, intimate and personal atmosphere.

Oceania has some great itineraries with good promos for next year and sounds like a good fit.

If you can afford the tariff, RSSC is top of the line.

If these are out of your price range, check out Celebrity.

Most important is to think small and personal, vs. bells and whistles.

The Freedom of the Seas is the new Royal Caribbean ship, not Carnival. We're sailing in Feb, but it heads overseas after that. I agree that April or May would be the best sailing time.

I think Windstar Cruises would suit you very nicely. Mostly couples in your age group, active & interesting. All the cabins are oceanview. No cruise director to bother you. Casual dress code, and dining when & with whom you choose. Gourmet dinners & scrumptious buffets & BBQ's. They have only 7 day cruises but you can combine them for a two-week cruise that doen't repeat any ports. We sailed on the Windsurf in July & was the most romantic time we ever had.

PS. Windstar boasts of the term "casual elegance." www.windstarcruises.com

Freedom of the Seas is not going to Europe but is based in the Caribbean year round.

Also, Carnival is introducing the Carnival Freedom, hence the confusion.

NOW you've cleared it up for me, LOL. We told our neighbors that we were sailing on the new Freedom and they said they were waiting till it crossed the ocean. Looks like we were talking about different ships! Boy, that's going to cause some confusion, I bet!

Costa by all means, unless you are going on Crystal, Seaborne, or Raddison. All of which are upscale. However, on Costa you get more of an Italian flair. Check them out.
Alberto

Thank you for all the great advice,as the time winds down I will need lots of advice,we did Italy last year and could have never had such a wonderful trip without the foderite family.Again thank you.

If smoking bothers you, beware of Costa.

I enjoyed MSC Sinfonia in the Med last year. Wonderful food, smaller ship and very clean and well maintained.

Regent and Oceania would be my top recommendations for you. Smaller is sooo much better, espeically in the Med.

I second the opinion of the others who recommend going on a smaller ship that holds fewer passengers and also one that has open seating. I've done both and it's a much better experience than the mega ships that hold thousands of passengers. They're not able to get into the smaller ports and if they could the number of passengers getting off the ship would out number the locals. Regent has the perfect size ships and best food/service IMO. Windstar also sounds nice but I'm too spoiled having a balcony. Happy Anniversary cruising.