I’m getting married in June and my fiancé definitely want to go to Europe. I have been to parts of Europe and he never has.

Originally we were planning on touring a little of Spain and maybe Portugal for a couple of weeks.

Then we came across the idea of a cruise in Europe and I thought it might be a fun way to see a bit of Europe in only a couple of weeks.

Neither of us have ever been on a cruise.

Opinions?
Has anyone here ever been on one?

This is NOT based on personal experience.

Seems like a good way to see a cruise ship, and only a little smidge of some of Europe.

When you could actually SEE Europe...

Whatever your decision, congratulations on your new life in marriage... and...

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi J,

One goes on a cruise to be on a cruise. It is not a way to see Europe.

For example, if your ship is scheduled to visit Florence, it will stop in Livorno. For Rome it will stop in Civitavecchia. Etc, etc, etc.....

You have to decide if you want a cruise or a honeymoon in Europe. They are equally attractive.

Another consideration: Do you really want to spend your honeymoon cheek-to-jowl with the SAME people throughout the trip?

A friend and I did a seven-day cruise of the Greek isles; throughout the seven days we were seated - breakfast, lunch and dinner - with the same two people.

Travel independently; you can choose where you go, where you stay, where you eat, and you can do it as a couple instead of as part of a crowd.

Also not based on personal experience...

Went on my honeymoon last summer...
I think traveling around Europe is an adventure...being on a boat is wonderful - but too easy! To get those crazy fun memories, you need the adventure, and it's always nice to have the taste of each country from the hotels, their breakfasts, thier concierges, finding little restaurants, little bars...etc....
If you want to taste Europe, I would have the little adventures and travel on your own, together!

I have to disagree with some of what is being said, cruising is just different than doing independent travel. What you will get on a cruise is a little bit of several different places, some of which you may decide to return and see in more depth and some which you won't care to.

The pros of doing a cruise on a honeymoon would be not having to pack and unpack, no stress of driving, renting cars, figuring out how to get from one city to the next or making hotel reservations which if you are planning a wedding might just be one additional headache that you don't have to deal with.

If you pick the right cruise, you can minimize the amount of time you are cruising and maximize the amount of time you are on shore seeing things, maybe even pick a shorter one and spend several days at either end in the port city. You can eat in the cities, shop, sightsee, all you aren't doing is sleeping there.

BTW, I am not a die hard cruiser, but I have been on several really good itineraries and find that when I am short of time to plan that it is a wonderful way to travel. You don't have to eat with other people if you don't want, in fact cruise lines are coming up with more and more ways for you not to have to if you don't want to.

IMHO - If you want a cruise, take a cruise to the Caribbean, etc. if you want to see Europe, go to Europe. A cruise will not let you see much of anything but the ports and a few cities via expensive shore excursions.

A cruise is great - and a trip to Europe is great -- but not together. A land-based trip will let you see a LOT more, at your own pace, and can cost a lot less.

Well, we <i>have</i> cruised in the Mediterranean (as well as plenty of land based touring over a few centuries) and I think it's quite an okay idea. Here are the advantages:

- Unpack once

- You can see more places in a short time than you possibly could with a land-based vacation.

- Many cruises also include some islands or water-access-only locations that would be very inconvenient (ie inaccessible) using any other travel mode.

- You sleep in a great bed, with room service and good food, every night.

- The plumbing works, there are no cars to park and no luggage to schlep.

- Everyone speaks English, but as the cruise lines recruit heavily from Eastern Europe and Asia, you will have the chance to get to know people from different countries just in the course of cruising. Frankly, if you're outgoing and don't treat the crew like servants, you can learn a helluva lot more from them than from a waiter in a Parisian cafe.

- If you get a balcony cabin, there are not many more romantic places to be on a honeymoon than out on your balcony with a glass of champagne, looking at the moon as the ocean hisses by. Seriously.

- All costs considered, cruises can be very - that's very - cost-effective compared to other travel modes in Europe.

Yes, there are drawbacks.

- You can't spend nights on land as a rule, so sitting at sidewalk cafes in the moonlight means you've missed the boat.

- The shore &quot;excursions&quot; sold by the cruise line are invariably overpriced and dumbed down. Fortunately, you can skip them, grab a bus or a cab, and have your own journeys of discovery during port calls.

- The food can be overwhelming, and of mixed quality. That said, if you're attentive in not overdoing it, you'll find as we have that the overall quality over a week or two's duration is much higher than you'd get - on average - ashore, unless you look for Michelin stars and fork out big &euro;s meal after meal.

- There will be obnoxious, boorish, ignorant and unpleasant people to deal with. On the ship, too.

- You will indeed only see a sliver, a glimpse, a snapshot of some carefully selected places. You will have to come back to see more, and to do the bike tours/hillclimbs/autobahn drives/pony treks/B&amp;B stays/museum marches/etc. that come with European travel. Just like everybody else.

A couple of years ago I did a trip report/meditation on a spring trip to Europe and Israel that included a cruise. Here's the reference: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34498271 In it I pretty well harshed the cruise experience. But in re-reading it, I now think my views were pretty pompous and unfair to many of the people on the ship. Certainly honeymooners and first-time European travelers don't fall into the stereotypes I drew.

I think a cruise might be a fine idea. So would be any other form of honeymoon in Europe. Or in Ohio.

Here is the itinereary of the cruise we took.
Departure city - Civitavecchia, port for Rome.
Stop 1 - Livorno Choices for Shore Excursions were Pisa and Florence.
Stop 2 - Portofino
Stop 3 - Nice, One shore excursion offered was Monaco.
Stop 4 - Marseille, one shore excursion offered was Aix en Provence (stopping at Marseille was a last minute change due to a strike.)

A mentioned above shore excursions average $60 per person. From my experience, the cruise lines are focused on getting enough clean airconditioned busses for their clients. All else with the shore excursions is of lesser importance.

In all honesty, this ends up being a minimal hassle way to to see several towns in just a few days.

The last 2 cruises I've taken were to Europe and I did not take one shore excursion offered by the cruise company. Several of the ports were close enough to town where we could walk or we did a little advance research and got into town on our own. If you do decide to go on a cruise, take a look at cruisecritic.com, an invaluable resource for planning a cruise without the expensive sometimes unsatisfying shore excursions.