Thinking about a mediterranean cruise

[1948buddy]

Wife and I have been on 11 cruises, and have 3 booked , pretty much all to the same places, so we are considering biting the bullet and flying to Barcelona for a 12 day cruise, Barcelona to Barcelona..The cruise runs about $3400 , airfare about $1800 , plus cruise tips and airport transfer...I understand that these cruises are very port intensive, and would definitely not want to just sit on the ship, so realistically speaking, can we make it for say $7000 total ? I would love to hear any pointers from you who have been there, done that...I have been to several places in Europe in the past, but DW has not, and would like her to see it before we get to feeble...We are mid sixties, good health, but I figure if we are going to do this , we better start planning..TIA

[George C]

I want to do Europe also, did it in 2001 and one thing is the shore excursions were preety expensive might need to budget a little more. ( we will do this when I retire in 22 months or less), need to travel when you can.

[1948buddy]

That's what I thought I might be a little conservative on excursions..Thanks for the reply, and good luck on the retirement ...

I want to do Europe also, did it in 2001 and one thing is the shore excursions were preety expensive might need to budget a little more. ( we will do this when I retire in 22 months or less), need to travel when you can.

[Funnel]

If you are interested in ancient history you have to cruise the Med!
I love cruising in the Med, but as you say it's very port intensive and you would not want to miss to go ashore.

In general I think a whole day excursion is about $150 p/p or slightly higher including lunch (excursions to Rome may be closer to $200 p/p). Of course there are more expensive excursions too (have seen some for about $350 p/p, but I guess they are rather "exclusive"). You also have the option in many ports to just buy the transportation and do your own excursion, in for example Rome and Florence. Just the transportation will cost you about $100 p/p if you buy it from the cruise company. There are of course other options - just go to the nearest train station and buy a ticket. That will be much cheaper, but you have to make sure to get back to the ship in time and in many ports there is a long distance to the train station.
Half day excursions usually costs about $60-$80 p/p.

Note; my experience is from cruising RCI in the Med but I guess the cost would be about the same for excursions with any cruise line.
I hope I did all the maths correct with the currency exchange!

I would recommend a pre-cruise stay in Barcelona before the cruise as it's, in my opinion, a very nice city. That will be about $200-300 per night for 2 people. Transportation to and from the airport I guess is about $50 each way. From the hotel to the port it would be something like $30.

Have you been thinking of any particular itinerary?

/Erik

[1948buddy]

Thanks Erik for the great info..I was looking at Serenade of the Seas from Barcelona to Cannes, Florence, Rome, Athens,Epehus, Crete , Naples , and Barcelona. I think if we decide to go it would be better to do a 12 day instead of 7 , as it might be our only time, and I do like Royal caribbean..Thank you again

[1948buddy]

I don't know what the heck I typed at first ?

[Funnel]

Thanks Erik for the great info..I was looking at Serenade of the Seas from Barcelona to Cannes, Florence, Rome, Athens,Epehus, Crete , Naples , and Barcelona. I think if we decide to go it would be better to do a 12 day instead of 7 , as it might be our only time, and I do like Royal caribbean..Thank you again

That sounds like a very nice cruise!
I agree on the 12 day cruise. You may also have some more sea days which is very good to have as you may need to rest as I guess it will be very long days in port (full day excursions in many of the ports, just to see as much as possible).

Oddly enough I have not been to Greece or Turkey yet. When I cruise in the Med it has always been the western part, as I love France and Italy. In October this year I will go to Cannes for the first time. Just planning on taking an independent walk there, or possibly join a 3 hours guided walking tour.

Florence and Rome are great cities to visit, but I'm sure you are well aware of the already. The leaning tower in Pisa is nice to visit, but in general I prefer Florence before Pisa. I think there are excursions where you visit both Pisa and Florence.

Naples is an interesting city - just look at how they park their cars! The cruise port is almost in the middle of the city. I did a stroll in Naples two years ago. The only thing to remember is to be careful with the traffic - it seemed cars wouldn't stop for people that were about to cross the road, but you have to look determined and take that first (careful) step out and then they stopped (but veeery close to you... ). This year I may take a tour to the Amalfi coast. Capri is a nice visit too as well as Pompei. So much to see there!

Radiance class is a favourite of mine but I have only cruised with one of the ships in that class - Jewel of the Seas. Have been onboard Radiance and Serenade during a day each though, but spent most of the time in the engine room.

/Erik

[1948buddy]

Thanks again.. I think we might like the western better also, so we shall see..Have great weekend Buddy

That sounds like a very nice cruise!
I agree on the 12 day cruise. You may also have some more sea days which is very good to have as you may need to rest as I guess it will be very long days in port (full day excursions in many of the ports, just to see as much as possible).

Oddly enough I have not been to Greece or Turkey yet. When I cruise in the Med it has always been the western part, as I love France and Italy. In October this year I will go to Cannes for the first time. Just planning on taking an independent walk there, or possibly join a 3 hours guided walking tour.

Florence and Rome are great cities to visit, but I'm sure you are well aware of the already. The leaning tower in Pisa is nice to visit, but in general I prefer Florence before Pisa. I think there are excursions where you visit both Pisa and Florence.

Naples is an interesting city - just look at how they park their cars! The cruise port is almost in the middle of the city. I did a stroll in Naples two years ago. The only thing to remember is to be careful with the traffic - it seemed cars wouldn't stop for people that were about to cross the road, but you have to look determined and take that first (careful) step out and then they stopped (but veeery close to you... ). This year I may take a tour to the Amalfi coast. Capri is a nice visit too as well as Pompei. So much to see there!

Radiance class is a favourite of mine but I have only cruised with one of the ships in that class - Jewel of the Seas. Have been onboard Radiance and Serenade during a day each though, but spent most of the time in the engine room.

/Erik

[tango55]

We did a 12 day on Princess a few years ago - Rome to Venice. We saw places I've only dreamed about - it was indeed the trip of a lifetime. We splurged and got an aft corner balcony, but truly we could have saved money and got an inside cabin as we didn't have much time to spend in the cabin. It was port intensive, but we saw so much! I would love to do it again, but who knows if we ever will!

We didn't do too many excursions, but if we did, we chose wisely. Between hubby and I we took over 8000 pictures - but thank goodness for digital! I treasure those memories though - so in a word - DO IT!!

Terry

[1948buddy]

Thank you for the encouragment...Once you start thinking about it, you want to go for sure..Glad you enjoyed yours..