Mediterranean cruise

Hello,

I have been lurking here for a few weeks and am now ready to plunge in
with a question.

My husband and are are going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary
next spring and we have decided to do a Mediterranean cruise with 2 or
3 days at each end in the city of embarkation/debarkation.

Ideally we would like a cruise that starts or ends in Rome
(Citavecchia) and then ends or starts at a different city.

Few reasons why: By getting to Europe early and leaving late, we can
do our own airline reservations. I have been told that unless you have
a few days leeway, you really should go with the cruiselines' air
transportation.

We both are dying to see Rome, so that is a must, but Venice would also
be nice, as would Barcelona.

My questions a
Have any of you done this? Any hints, warning, or war stories?

When are 2006 cruise dates released? I went to a travel agent a few
weeks ago and she told me it would be a few months. I find it hard to
believe that Princess, et al. do not know what there cruising schedule
is going to be for 2009, much less 2006!

Since it is our 10th and we have two small kids that we are NOT taking,
we plan on pampering ourselves. We can't do Silversea, but we aren't
going to go budget. We love good food, would like a casino on board
and also want a few days at sea to relax. We are both in our early
forties.

Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Kathryn

We've sailed out of all 3 ports & if you're dying to see Rome,
definitely fly in at least 3 nights early. We stayed at the Bernini
Bristol, which is a 4 star, so much less expensive than the 5 stars, &
they upgraded us to a plaza front suite as it was our 15th Anniversary.
I'v ealso found in my 40's that jetlag gets harder & harder to get
over, so appreciate those extra days getting acclimated. Sailing into
Venice is the experience of a lifetime - we even got up hours before
our usual wake time & it was so worth it. I like Barcelona, but I like
Venice much more. We stayed at the Londra Palace - right on the Lido &
ask for a front room with balcony - I believe there's only 3 or 4 of
those. Wonderful romantic evenings sitting on the balcony with a
bottle of wine watching the Lido, the gondolier's station, people -
just fabulously romantic! Since you are doing the Med, this is one
place it's so worth it to have a balcony cabin. Obviously where you
want to go is of consideration - a Rome/Barcelona will be mostly
southern France with Florence (a loooong bus ride - hire a car!) &
possibly Portofino (one of my favorite ports in the world!) thrown in.
A Rome/Venice will most probably be the Amalfi Coast (spectacular -
another place to hire a car & driver), possibly Sicily, Malta, Croatia
& then Venice - more Italy intensive. We prefer the smaller lines for
their service & being able to get into small ports the large ships
can't. I wouldn't discount Silversea - their 2006 schedule is out &
they are offering huge discounts on 2005 cruises & will probably we
doing the same on 2006. If you have a good TA, they're pretty good
about refunding differences if the price goes down. Radisson is also
nice & I like Seabourne's food & service, but not their cabins.

Enjoy!

Ww did a 10 day on Oceania last year and loved it.
THey frequently run free air and 1/2 price cruise.
If you need a TA I have a good cruise only one. Actually gives her
home phone number so you can always get her.
Email if you need remove the nospam.


On 16 Mar 2005 12:34:49 -0800, wrote:

Hello,

I have been lurking here for a few weeks and am now ready to plunge in
with a question.

My husband and are are going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary
next spring and we have decided to do a Mediterranean cruise with 2 or
3 days at each end in the city of embarkation/debarkation.

Ideally we would like a cruise that starts or ends in Rome
(Citavecchia) and then ends or starts at a different city.

Few reasons why: By getting to Europe early and leaving late, we can
do our own airline reservations. I have been told that unless you have
a few days leeway, you really should go with the cruiselines' air
transportation.

We both are dying to see Rome, so that is a must, but Venice would also
be nice, as would Barcelona.

My questions a
Have any of you done this? Any hints, warning, or war stories?

When are 2006 cruise dates released? I went to a travel agent a few
weeks ago and she told me it would be a few months. I find it hard to
believe that Princess, et al. do not know what there cruising schedule
is going to be for 2009, much less 2006!

Since it is our 10th and we have two small kids that we are NOT taking,
we plan on pampering ourselves. We can't do Silversea, but we aren't
going to go budget. We love good food, would like a casino on board
and also want a few days at sea to relax. We are both in our early
forties.

Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Kathryn

My daughter overruled me and booked a port intensive Mediterranean cruise,
and we used our US Airways frequent flyer miles as we did last year to book
Envoy Class, only this time it is a direct flight to the ship and a
connecting flight home.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


"Naldo" wrote in message
...

Mike is right on target about the air. The only advantages that I have
found about
the cruise line air is that you don't have to worry about airline
solvency--the cruise
line is on the hook to get you there on whatever airline is still flying
when you want
to go. Secondly, you can sometimes get a much better fare overseas with
cruise air.
If you do book your own air, book a foreign carrier. If you book a
domestic
carrier and it goes
bankrupt you've got a mess (been there). Also, keep in mind that the Med
cruises are "port
intensive", which means you will busier than a one armed paper hanger
because the destination
cities are frequently not ports and take a while to get to. For that
reason
I agree with Mike--
Florence and Rome are best done with with land tours. Also, you will not
have many shipboard activities, except maybe on your days at sea, which
will
be few. Not at all like a Caribbean cruise.


"Mike Cordelli" wrote in message
m...
You can do your own air reservations no matter when you get there and
when
you leave. No matter if you do them yourselves or use cruise line air,
it's
probably a very bad idea to arrive on the day of departure. Too many
things
can delay you.

Lots of people believe that there is something special about doing the
air
through the cruise line. There isn't. You are getting air line tickets.
You are not getting a guarantee to get you to the ship, you are not
getting
a guarantee they will hold the ship or get you to the next port, or
anything
like that. You are getting tickets, with little difference then getting
them yourself. There may be times they will take care of you should
things
change, but they don't have to, your agreement with them is you are
purchasing tickets, period.

Rome and Venice, while both wonderful, are not places to really see on a
cruise unless it's on the beginning or end and you have the time. If
you
are there just for a day or two, then see as much as you can with the
concept of making a list for when you return. It's not fair to either
city
to try to see it in a day.

Ask your TA for videos from the ships you are interested in. They
actually
give a fairly good view of the type of people on board, the
entertainment,
and the food that is served. If you are in Italy though, I would skip
as
many meals on the ship as you can and enjoy the most wonderful food on
the
planet in local restaurants. When picking a ship and trip, keep that in
mind, if nightlife if important to you in port, then pick trips with
either
overnights in port or late departures. One of the things I hate about
some
cruises is you get in at 8 in the morning and leave at 4, not all that
much
time for fun.

Consider hiring local guides in the places on your must visit cities, it
will make the trip way better then getting on and off a giant bus with
the
people from the cruise. Plus you get to pick the schedule.





wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello,

I have been lurking here for a few weeks and am now ready to plunge in
with a question.

My husband and are are going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary
next spring and we have decided to do a Mediterranean cruise with 2 or
3 days at each end in the city of embarkation/debarkation.

Ideally we would like a cruise that starts or ends in Rome
(Citavecchia) and then ends or starts at a different city.

Few reasons why: By getting to Europe early and leaving late, we can
do our own airline reservations. I have been told that unless you have
a few days leeway, you really should go with the cruiselines' air
transportation.

We both are dying to see Rome, so that is a must, but Venice would
also
be nice, as would Barcelona.

My questions a
Have any of you done this? Any hints, warning, or war stories?

When are 2006 cruise dates released? I went to a travel agent a few
weeks ago and she told me it would be a few months. I find it hard
to
believe that Princess, et al. do not know what there cruising schedule
is going to be for 2009, much less 2006!

Since it is our 10th and we have two small kids that we are NOT
taking,
we plan on pampering ourselves. We can't do Silversea, but we aren't
going to go budget. We love good food, would like a casino on board
and also want a few days at sea to relax. We are both in our early
forties.

Any ideas/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Kathryn