geanster

Hi! I've been searching for flights and cruises for a honeymoon trip in June but this will be first cruise and I've no idea where to start. I finally realized tonight that I should turn to the experts here.
I've been looking for something that covers a couple of stops in France, Rome, Santorini...
Spain, Turkey would be fun additional stops...
Can do up to 2 weeks or maybe a week and then a few days in one place.
Not sure how you get anywhere.... Flights from CVG to Barcelona are $15-1800.00
And then I guess some cruises start in one place and end in another?
Are there packages that make these flights more affordable as a package?

I've heard good things about Norwegian... are there other recommendations?
Thank you for any information!!

geanster

And I've found a Norwegian cruise that is close to what I'd like but if there are recommendations on best places to purchase online or agents to book through like Gate 1, or whatever may offer the most benefits, please advise.
Thanks!

thursdaysd

You'll find a lot of cruise info at cruisecritic.com.

I am not a fan of cruises, but I recently cruised the Norwegian coast on a Hurtigruten boat, booked directly with the company. But this is NOT the boat for you if you want casinos and floor shows and multiple restaurants, it's all about the scenery.

di2315

I suggest you take a look at vacationstogo.com

They have summaries of prices, places, crusie companies etc, and extremely helpful LIVE consultants at the end of the phone.
Di

Rhea58

I second di2315. I book with them all the time !

Do your research on cruisecritic.com where you can view the ships, the ports and member's reports of their cruises.

jacketwatch

I suggest you accelerate your pace a bit as choice cabins, especially on popular cruises will fill up. By that I mean balcony cabins amidships which are desirous.

I think a travel agent would be especially helpful for you and in particular one who specializes in cruising. That is there are many cruise lines and all are a little different or perhaps a lot different. HAL for example tends to draw a more conservative crowd vs. Carnival which can be boisterous. I would definitely avoid Costa and MSC cruise lines.

Then there is the ship to consider. Mist lines' newer ships are fab so look into that. The Solstice class ships of Celebrity are all very cool as is RCI's Anthem class though I don't know which of these if any are in the Med in June. So again I think get a TA and get started asap.

Cheers, Larry. .

abram

Oceania is having some great sales on their Med itineraries.
Their prices include airfare, although you can get a credit if you want to arrange your own.
Several sailings offer free shore excursions, free Internet, beverage package, and hundreds of dollars in shipboard credit.
Oceania is our favorite line, fir the small ships, port intensive itineraries, great staff, lack of formal nights, excellent food, free specialty dining rooms.

geanster

Thanks everyone! Good to know about the ones to avoid too. I'd never heard of MSC but with prices lower than Royal Carribean, I wondered.
I was trying to search Oceania last night but their site was give my browsers issues so I'll try again.
Abram, you mentioned small ships, does the smaller ship increase the chance of motion sickness or are they still big enough that it doesn't really affect it?

I may look into a few days somewhere and then use second week for cruise due to how long it will take us to get there after wedding. It would be fun to fly in somewhere more reasonable (flight cost wise) and take a train to port maybe, giving us a richer experience in one place. I'll take suggestions. Most of the MED cruises I"ve seen start in Barcelona, rome, venice... One started in Marseilles I think.

Thanks again!

jacketwatch

Speaking of motion the rule of thumb to minimize it is low and middle. However the lower cabins will be inside or have a wndow instead of a balcony and we like having a balcony.

If the seas are calm you should be ok on a smaller ship. Oceania has some newer ships but most of them are pretty small, around 32 k tons and go about 600 ft. long. We were on such a ship once and even in calm seas you felt a gentle sway. However we were on the Royal Caribbean mega ship the Oasis which is like about 1150 ft. long and goes 225k tons and we never felt a thing. So unless you are in a huge storm like the Anthem of the Saes was a few mos. back a bigger ship does reduce motion sensation vs. the 32k tea pots out there.

jan47ete

What we did--

take a look at map
where do I want to go?
where do I really, really want to go?
find a ship and a tour that hits those spots

when it all was said and done for us, there was only one cruise line and one ship, so that made it very easy.

ira

Hi G,

>flights and cruises for a honeymoon trip in June

This June????

>I've heard good things about Norwegian...

If you'd be happy with a large group of relatively young folks who like partying a cruise on NCL would probably be what you want.

Check this one out.
https://www.ncl.com/vacations/europe...rt=4294963176#

geanster

Thanks everyone! Vacationstogo and cruise critic were awesome for research and we ultimately booked through an agent. Booked Rome>France>Spain and a few days to enjoy Rome on our own.
Debating hotels now and will take recommendations.
Also, wondering if we should stay somewhere closer to port the night before the cruise.
Thanks again!!

jacketwatch

No need to stay close to the port pre cruise but be sure to give yourself enough time to get there.
http://www.travelmath.com/drive-dist...to/Rome,+Italy