I am interested in doing a European cruise on a a small ship. I have had friends who have done this on European sponsored trips. Rather than going to Europe with a bunch of Americans, this would be a cruise that was offered primarily to and for Europeans.
We like the idea of being the only Americans on a boat loaded with Swiss, Swedes , Danish, Germans etc....we can practice our language skills!
We hope to travel this fall (2014). The agenda is wide open at this point...
Does any one have experience with booking through European travel agents? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Keith Vrhel

Not a traditional cruise, indeed almost an anti cruise, but Hurtigruten are mostly populated by Germans, Dutch, Brits, French and of course Norwegians. There are normally one or two north American couples on board, but not always.

Sounds like fun,but we don't want to go the "container ship" route with a few passengers. Anyone with other suggestions?!

Hi Keith
We took a two week Norwegian Cruise Line on the Adriatic - it was actually two separate cruises, back-to-back.
The first week we had mostly Europeans on board; the second week had quite a number of large American groups, so from our experience it's a bit of pot luck!
Most cruises can be booked on www.vacationstogo.com, so you may not need to use a European travel agent. Di

Look into Aida cruises. It's a German company and there are mostly Germans on board. Not much English is spoken however.

bTW Hurtigriten is not small and has hundreds of passengers, not a few and the views are spectacular. It's not like a mass market ship but is far closer to that than a freighter. Look into it a bit. You will be surprised.

I think MSC might be a line that you would like. The very big BUT for us was that smoking was not curtailed like virtually all other ships and people all around me smoking was the sole reason for eliminating them.

That said I think I read on CNN.com about the 10 reasons to sail with MSC and the diversity of the cruisers was one but a big one to me was the food (freshly made pasta) was really different than the others.

Hurtigruten is anything but a container ship!Look at their website. We were among few Americans on board, mostly Northern European , British, Scots and a few Australians.
Terrific food, our own table for two by the window which we loved.

Thanks everyone. This gives me a lot to research!! I would also love to find out best times of year to travel and typical age groups. There will no kids involved. I am a recently retired physician and we are lucky enough to be able to travel in September or October when the crowds have thinned (somewhat)...

Be wary of cruises that run in the European school holidays if you want to avoid being overrun with children on your cruise.

Many of the cruise lines offer free travel for children during these holidays.

If you take a look at www.cruisecritic.com you'll be able to read their reviews for each ship; this includes likely age bands of passengers. Di

As most cruise lines are US based or owned I am not sure how to guarantee that you can be with mostly European passengers unless you go with Hurtigruten.

MSC and Costa are Italian lines though Costa is owned by Carnival and their reviews are generally a notch or two (or more!) below other mass market lines and their ships are huge as are most mass market line ships except for a few Princess ships like the Ocean or the Pacific Princess.

If you want smaller ships try Azamara and if the cruise begins in Europe you should have a fair number of non US passengers and you can practice your British or Aussie English. .

http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/?g...FdFAMgodfEkArg

Also look into the higher end lines such as Oceania, Seabourn, Crystal and Regent as their ships are smaller as well. The price is a lot more but they usually offer perks such as 2 for 1 pricing, included excursions, all tips, better food and wine and reduced or free airfare. Despite this the prices are still high but not neary as high as the brochure price.

The fall is a great time to cruise Europe as the crowds have thinned and the weather is better too.

Personally one of the best cruises we've ever done included Israel as the history is amazing. We had a cruise with four days there abd had private guides every day. It was pricey but well worth it for the knowledge these guides have.

Good luck, Larry.

I guess my prejudices against Americans doesn't extend to cruising MSC or Costa.

Hey Reme! I'm interested to know what exactly your objections to Americans is...you will note that I am trying to find a comfortable cruise WITHOUT a bunch of Americans...I can get plenty of cruises here in the US. My parents were both born in Europe. ( Germany and Czech Republic ). So maybe I'm interested in getting back to my "Roots". Care to help?
For my American friends which I am solidly with, what do you think?!

Keith

I think let's stay on track with the discussion.

If you read my post, I am supporting Americans. Many of us have European antecedents, and are proud of being American.

So Keith have you narrowed down your decision yet?