2014 Crazie Med Cruise

RayColey · June 28, 2012

I'll dig deep to see if there are ever any cruises that do the Florence/Pisa/Rome/Naples or combination thereof, plus Venice and go on to Turkey. I've never seen any, but I'll check with my TA to see if she's ever run into any... And I do think we should try for June if possible, for two reasons: 1) to include Kevin, and 2) because June comes before September and I'm going through cruise withdrawal!

Shari2 · June 28, 2012

Thanks, Jackie...that's really interesting how others perceive the US. Good advice everyone.

Ray...LOL on the cruise withdrawal...Marc is wanting to go sooner...he's getting in good shape...now I need to. Lots of walking at these ports. Also, I am still saving up...have quite a bit saved, but this is an expensive cruise. We could probably go next June though if everyone wanted to move it up. Early June sounds good, and we definitely want Kevin to be able to come. Thanks for doing the research...I have looked a bit, but it's so early, nothing is really out there now for that far away, and some of the cruises done today could change by then...but then again, maybe not. I will be looking, too.

RayColey · June 28, 2012

Shari, I may be stuck with 2014 because Kevin's graduation came just a half year after I bought Trixie - about $20K spent between those two plus a few home repairs... by mid-2013 we ought to be whole, but we'll need better than that to go cruising in the Med! Also, Tim requested 2014, and he has things he's dealing with now, so.... I figure a cruise up and down the Bay will suffice for next year - that's priced in the hundreds, not the thousands! :biggrin:

deb1220 · June 28, 2012

Just my 2 cents......If we have to choose between Turkey and Venice, I'd choose Venice. Also.....the time of year doesn't matter much to me.

Jackie, I've even encountered that kind of "news" about the U.S. in our travels to Canada.

zebra · June 28, 2012

Andi - we have been to the Med twice in September and totally LOVE that time of year. One of the deal breakers for us could be the cruise being in June. Typically we are commited to seasonal work at that time of year, so spring and fall are the best times for us to cruise. But this is 2 years ahead and who knows what the future holds .... so at this time I'm not ruling out the possibility........

zebra · June 28, 2012

I'll dig deep to see if there are ever any cruises that do the Florence/Pisa/Rome/Naples or combination thereof, plus Venice and go on to Turkey. I've never seen any, but I'll check with my TA to see if she's ever run into any... And I do think we should try for June if possible, for two reasons: 1) to include Kevin, and 2) because June comes before September and I'm going through cruise withdrawal!

Ray I've just run into this post from Jan (Sunluva7) on another thread:

"We are booked on the Royal Princess for a 12-day Mediterranean in July-August 2013. Ports are Venice, Athens, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Rome, Florence, Toulon & Barcelona."

That cruise encompasses all the usual Italian ports that everyone is looking for plus Greece and Turkey. So these combinations are out there ... of course we don't know what's available for summer 2014 yet.

sailingrose · June 28, 2012

I'll be following this thread as we go along. I'm not sure June would work for us and I really would prefer August for our anniversary since it's our 30th in 2014. But yes 2 years from now is a long time so who knows.

RayColey · June 29, 2012

Jackie, I haven't run into that particular itinerary, but it sure sounds like a winner... If possible, I'd love to have Kevin (ColoradoCruiser, not my son) be able to take this cruise, and he's got to adhere to the academic calendar, which means June - August... Let's see what happens over the next year insofar as schedules are concerned... I don't want to chase anybody away this early in the game!

Shari2 · June 29, 2012

Sounds good, Ray...I'm still saving, too...and need to get in better shape for a busy cruise like that.

Jackie...that Royal Princess cruise sounds like a good one.

zebra · June 29, 2012

Shari - I thought so too. It would be great to do the new Royal Princess too - I wonder if they will position her back to the Med for the 2014 season? One thing I will say about the Med cruises .... they are VERY, VERY port intensive and entail a LOT of walking. All these old cities also have cobblestone streets and hundreds of steps ... one needs to be in relatively good shape to do Europe that's for sure. Venice, Rome, Florence, the Amalfi Coast (Naples) and Dubrovnik really require good knees, hips and stamina. We enjoyed all the walking, although we were exhausted at the end of every day ... we are now a few years older and Tony is also having hip problems - so we'll see how it will work for him.

Ray - one thing you might keep in mind, and maybe this is a non-issue for others. Because we would come back onboard pretty late each day from our shore excursions sometimes we were just too wiped out to jump in the shower and rush to the main dining room in time for dinner, we would have loved to be able to have a leisurely dinner up in the buffet. We did Europe twice on the Millenium and Celebrity does NOT have 24 hour dining upstairs. So we were out of luck. Many cruisers were grumbling about that. Princess would be ideal because they do have food offerings available for those coming in so late. That was probably our ONLY complaint about our European cruises.

Also if you have main seating you will miss dinner in the diningroom on many nights because a lot of the excursions (cruise line and private) come back at dinner time, not fogetting of course that Florence and Rome are at least an hour away from the port. So it's better to book late seating in Europe.