Med cruise

[MKCH]

Quite obviously not for this year! My DP turns 40 in 2023 and I am planning on a med cruise for his present. I appreciate it's a couple of years away but hey, nothing like being prepared.

Has anyone done an amazing cruise that they'd totally recommend? We have never been to Croatia so that is a potential, also Sicily and/or the east coast of Italy might be nice. Probably for 7 nights.

Somewhere warm, basically!

(We're currently watching Below Deck Med and we 100% cannot afford to charter a yacht so this is second best!!)

Most of them tend to go from Barcelona and along the south coast of France and then down the west coast of Italy, either that or they start at Malta and then go over to Athens and some of the Greek Islands. That's your first decision - east or western Med.

@parkpoolplunge fabulous - great insight thank you! Ok - so first decisions need to be made.
Thanks!

Feel free to ask about ports etc once you've had a think whereabouts you might want to go.

We haven't been to the east coast of Italy but we've been all down the west coast, to the Greek Islands, Malta and Albania.

Look at those that start in Venice, crete or dubrovnik as well as Malta...

I did an Adriatic cruise with Tui last year. It was an adults only. I liked the fact we could just get off the boat and explore and not just have to catch a bus or train to see sights. We also had the biggest cabin as a treat.

Club Med 2.
Pricey but wonderful. Not old and not entertainment rubbish. For youngerish. Helps if you speak French?

I’ve been on 11 cruises and 7 different Med and Adriatic cruises and enjoyed them all. I think you’d like an Adriatic cruise where you would visit Croatia, Venice, Slovenia and Montenegro. The scenery is unbelievable.
The Bay of Naples is another beautiful port. Lots of med cruises go to Sicily and there are a couple of ports there. I’ve travelled with Disney, Marella (Tui), celebrity, Royal Caribbean, NCL, and Carnival. Apart from Carnival if use any of the others again.

I've done both, & much prefer the Eastern Med..
We started in Corfu (but didn't see any of it), then Venice & several places including Dubrovnik, Split, Kotor, etc
Should have been a lovely trip.
BUT we went with Tui. Excursions were poorly organised - 3 hours sitting in a traffic jam in roadworks that they knew about but still went ahead; midday boat trip in an open boat with no shade, etc
Food was awful - sent back 3 dinners out of 7.
There are other operators doing the same trip, pick one of them.

Venice, as far as I am aware, is no longer accepting cruise ships. You go to Ravenna now which is about 2.5 hours away. I know this as our cruise last year (if it went) was one of the last to go direct from Venice which was a huge draw for us.

When planning, I look at Ports first and places I’d like to see and then I look at Cruise lines and try to find one that suits what we like as a family.

We tend not to book ship excursions unless it’s something quite a bit away from the Port.

I don’t like the big mega ships.

@Friendsoneuptown

Venice, as far as I am aware, is no longer accepting cruise ships. You go to Ravenna now which is about 2.5 hours away. I know this as our cruise last year (if it went) was one of the last to go direct from Venice which was a huge draw for us.

When planning, I look at Ports first and places I’d like to see and then I look at Cruise lines and try to find one that suits what we like as a family.

We tend not to book ship excursions unless it’s something quite a bit away from the Port.

I don’t like the big mega ships.

That's good advice about the excursions. For example you wouldn't want to use a different company for an excursion to Florence and Pisa due to the distance and heavy traffic.

We did a Disney Cruise (as we had one of our sons in tow) round the western Med, Barcelona, Cannes, Rome and Pisa/Florence. Our first cruise but have to say it was very enjoyable. What I hadn't appreciated is how far the port can be from the city (a good hour to 90 minutes for the Italian ones).

The Disney excursions were very expensive and we didn't fancy having to wait for people so we did our own thing. I didn't realise until I did some research how many private companies cater for cruise passenger excursions (lots of reviews on Trip Advisor). In Rome we took the train and organised our own guided tours. In Pisa/Florence, we had a guide in a private minibus that gave us a great day out for about half the cost of the Disney tours (in fairness that's based on three people). So that's maybe worth considering.

Also, if I had my time again, I'd like to have a bit more time at sea as it was very nice to watch the sea go past with food and drinks on tap.

How lovely! We've done several and prefer the round trip from Southampton ones rather than fly cruises. You can take as much luggage as you like from Southampton and it's so easy and stress free. Also it's usually 2-3days at sea at the beginning and end (some see this as a downside) but we find it incredibly relaxing, exploring the ship and sitting on the balcony, sunbathing etc.

Plus I found it inexplicably exciting going past the IOW and Portsmouth on a ship!

A few gorgeous places we've been are Corsica, Barcelona, Rome, Florence, Monaco, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Minorca, Marseille, Nice, Sardinia.

So much choice of cruise line but we've always been very happy with P&O and Cunard.

So sorry I've just spotted the 7 nights. The ones I'm talking about are 14. You can do 7 from Southampton but this would be France and northern Spain and maybe Channel Islands, so weather less reliable.

We have done 14 I think we feel the Eastern Med is best, any that go to Italy tend to dock in Industrial Ports and Bus you out. Kotor In Montenegro you virtually stop in the centre and walk in many others in that area are the same. Look on the Cruise critic forum loads of good advice

@Funf

We have done 14 I think we feel the Eastern Med is best, any that go to Italy tend to dock in Industrial Ports and Bus you out. Kotor In Montenegro you virtually stop in the centre and walk in many others in that area are the same. Look on the Cruise critic forum loads of good advice

Our last a cruise was quite good for Ports being in the centre and it does make a big difference. Portofino was however on tender and the sea was really rough that day 🤢

Went on a 10 day Cunard cruise with my mum years - starting in Rome, ending in Venice, including Sicily, Naples. Ravenna, Corfu, Rhodes, Santorini, there was a stop in Turkey but had already been to that place so stayed on the boat that day, supposed to be Dubrovnik but sea was too rough to get in. I didn’t expect to but loved it, would definitely do another. We got upgraded and ate in a little restaurant and the food was very good. Evenings in a cocktail bar with pianist or on our little balcony, avoided the shows etc but did go to a couple of talks on Jack The Ripper which were very interesting 😬