Monica

I've cruised several times in the Caribbean and now am interested in a 10 day cruise in the Med. I would love to hear about others that have cruised the Med. Which ports did you visit? What sights did you see? which cruise line did you go on? Which ship/port/sights would you avoid next time? Your comments are greatly appreciated! <BR> <BR>

kristi

Hi Monica! You were so helpful to me last year when I had questions about Spain-hopefully I can help you here! <BR> <BR>We've been on two cruises in the Mediterrean. The first was to Greece and Turkey on Orient Lines. Definitely not a luxury cruise but being simple travelers we enjoyed it all the same. The ports we really enjoyed were Kusadasi, Rhodes and Istanbul. In Kusadasi, we took the ship's tour to Ephesus-simply the best ruins we've seen anywhere. On Rhodes you can visit Lindos or wander around the medieval port town-lots of castles and moats. Istanbul is full of marvelous sites-the Grand Bazaar (so big you have to be careful not to get lost!), the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Topaki Palace. The places we didn't care for were Athens which was dirty and the sites were all surrounded by urban sprawl and Mykonos, probably because we went in late October and the place is a summer resort spot. We also went to Delos which was an interesting 4 hour stop and Santorini which was beautiful but also a bit deserted because of the time of year. If your thinking about this area of the Mediterrean, you may want to go a little more in season. <BR> <BR>The second cruise we took was just a few weeks ago to Barcelona, Ajaccio (Corsica), Messina (Sicily), Villefranche (France), Civitavecchia (Rome) and Valleta (Malta) on Royal Caribbean. We loved Barcelona, Rome and Malta, felt Villefrance (we took the train to Eze and Nice) and Ajaccio were boring and liked the day trip to Taormina we took while in Messina. Royal Caribbean is a middle class line, the service was excellent and the food was good as long as you stuck to the dining room. Personally I've liked the Princess cruises the best but we really wanted to go in and out of Barcelona so we selected Royal Caribbean. We thought the end of May was an excellent time to go-not too crowded but plenty warm. <BR> <BR>Any other questions, feel free to email me directly.

Monica

Hi Kristi, <BR> <BR>Thanks for the information. If I have any more questions, I'll email you directly. <BR> <BR>I hope my information on Spain was helpful! Tell me about it sometime. <BR> <BR>

Paige

I just returned from a cruise in the Med <BR>on Royal Caribbean. We left from Barcelona and visited Palma (Mallorca), Marseilles (France), Livorno (Florence, Italy), Naples (Italy), and Olbia (Sardinia). We had a fabulous time in each port. We did the shore excursions with the ship each day, usually taking excursions that went beyond just the port city. The corniche tour in Mallorca, Les Baux de Provence in France, Florence, Pompei/Sorrento/Capri in Naples, etc.. Some of the port cities were not too impressive, but the outer areas were beautiful. This was our first cruise so I don't have much to compare it to, but the service seemed great and the food was all right. Plenty of it, at any rate. I would said RCI again and can't wait to go back to the Med and spend more time there! Email me directly if you would like any more information!

fran

<BR>I can highly recommed the itineray I just did in the Med however, I would not advise taking the ship I did. It was the Rembrandt, Premier Cruise Line (heard it will be drydocked for renivation this Sept). The food was the worst ever (6th cruise) and the ship was in pretty bad shape (frayed carpet on the stairs and badly stained carpet in my cabin). However, the ports were excellent: Barcelona, Livorno (Florence, Pisa), Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples (Pompeii & Sorrento), Cannes (Nice, Monte Carlo) and Palma de Mallorca. <BR>Florence and Rome were my favorites altho seeing the tower of Pisa was great. Pompeii was like nothing I'ld ever seen and Sorrento was pretty and very friendly. I loved the French Rivera, Monaco is so clean and nice pleasant. Palma was the only place I wasn't thrilled over. I took the all day tours and glad I did, as I saw alot. Otherwise I would have just wondered around aimlessly and I'm sure would have missed alot. Good luck in your search.

Monica

Thanks Paige and Fran for your comments. I've been doing some reading and it seems impossible to pick the perfect cruise company. I've sailed on RCCL twice, but recently read reviews about their meals (negative), but always positive comments about the entertainment! My husband and I enjoy good food, so we do want one that provides memorable meals. I read that Celebrity cruise provides meals made from scratch. <BR> <BR>Fran, what were the prices for the shore excursions? <BR> <BR>

Vickie

For better-than-average food, I'd recommend Celebrity. (Crystal's food is nothing spectacular, nor is QE2.) And Princess, RCCL, etc. are average. <BR>

fran

<BR>The shore excursions ranged from: $39.00 to $65.00 for the all day tours. Of course, these are for the ones I took. There were a few more expensive ones and several less. If you need further assistance with your plans, feel free to email me direct.

fran

<BR>P.S. It appears from my experience and others that the food on cruise ships has declined over the years. My last two cruises have been especially low key if not bad when it comes to their meals.

Monica

Thanks Fran for the shore excursion information. <BR> <BR>As for the food, after reading several web sites about cruises, it does seem like the quality of food on cruises have gone down. My last cruise was in 1997 on RCCL we we thought the food was pretty good, not the best, but we were satisfied. I did look through one book which rates all cruise ships (on everything) and Celebrity had the best comments on food "made from scratch."