Cruises in the Med - which stops are best done as a non-cruiser

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

Silver wedding anniversary coming up next year and I've been pondering the idea of a cruise. But I'm not sure it's for us. I like the idea of seeing a number of different places and getting a small flavour of them for a possible return at a later date but then again whenever I've been to places like Rome on a short break the cruise ship tour groups have really irritated me! The days a ship is in port the narrow streets seemed blocked by tour groups, they were like flocks of sheep, following the flag on a stick, getting in the way. And I wondered how much they actually saw, and whether it annoyed them if they stopped at a sight that they really would have liked to explore a bit more but then were hurried along by the tour guide.

I'm thinking Venice and Santorini are both cruise stops which would not be the best seen as part of a cruise ship tour group? Both are places I've never visited and had thought about for our anniversary trip but unsure whether it would just be best to do those places on our own, not as part of a cruise?

And I've seen the videos online of huge queues of tourists in Santorini when a cruise ship is in port and it looks like my idea of hell. So is cruising just not for us? Or should we be thinking of just picking a ruise which don't include places which are better to visit as part of a standalone trip?

You don’t have to go on tours run by the cruise company - many people just explore by themselves.

What time of year would you be going?

There are some places which do get very busy in the summer with cruise ships - Santorini is one, Dubrovnik is another from memory.

I think with a cruise you want a mix of bigger city stops and smaller places you might not otherwise think to go - one of the best stops I’ve ever had was on Corsica, for example, which I would never have thought to go to before.

Usually the cruise operator provides a variety of tours in each port, and some like Rome give options of a full guided tour or alternatives such as transport to the city only. You can also make use of private tour companies and local transport. Lots of cruise ports have beaches or small resorts nearby which you can explore independently. Google for websites which describe what to see in cruise ports and there are often many options. I totally agree with you about not wanting to be hearded on a group tour.

I think the trick is to make sure the ship stops very close to the main city/sights so you don't waste time getting to and from the ship (or risk missing getting back on board). It's then easier to just wander around independently.

Valetta in Malta, Barcelona or other Spanish cities like Valencia or Malaga and Palma Mallorca would be good cruise stops.

I've done cruise tours run by private companies where it's 16 of you in a minibus over 50 in a coach

Or done my own thing.

Never rome though as it's miles from the actual port -like 1hour on train /coach. Did a "take you into the centre plus round the colosseum then 3 hours to wander" -good compromise.

Venice we booked a walking tour by a local to see some different sites.

It sounds like what you might like is an itinerary where the ship docks in ports where you can just get off the ship and explore the local area. Rather than have to travel miles on a coach first, such as Rome.

Ajaccio in Corsica, Palamos in Spain, Palermo, Sicily are three examples, off the top of my head. Walk off the ship, straight into a bustling centre, HOHO bus etc.

The What's in Port website is helpful for research on this.

As everyone has said you do r have to do the organised tours. We didn't do any of them as the my are £££! We just googled and did our own thing.

We started in Rome (as pp say it's an hour round the port) and did two nights there before getting on the cruise. Then we did Cartagena, Palma, Barcelona, Corsica and Portofino.

Portofino was busy but the rest were fine.

As others have said a mix of excursions. We usually do our own thing & often go on cruise critic roll call where we can join smaller groups and do smaller group excursions for far less than cruise ship.

We fly in couple of days before if say Rome and tack on a couple of days at the end.

What’s in port is great and we use tours by locals who can be expensive but worth it in some places.

Mykonos and Naples are good for getting off the ship and exploring on your own. My favourite stop was Kusadasi where we did an organised tour to Ephesus. It was only about half an hour away by bus and Ephesus is amazing.

Just wanted to add my experience of Santorini by cruise ship. Before booking we checked how many ships would be in dock that day - we were fortunate that there were only two. Everyone heads straight to the cable car but we didn't and got the boat around to Oia instead so got there before the crowds. It was wonderful.
Checking the ports is quite a good tip if you have an itinerary in mind.

Go inter railing instead. Really fun, relatively cheap and gets you into the heart of each city.

Kotor is another one you can easily do on your own.

We very rarely do the ship tours. Tours by locals is a good site and we've not had a bad experience with them. You see a lot more and they usually know the off beat places. Also check what's at each port. A lot of ports are a stop for the hop on hop off busses. Some you can also walk into the main town from the port although the cruise ship will sell shuttle tickets.

I've been on a few cruises to keep my mum company and we've never taken any of the Cruiseline tours. We've booked smaller tours or private ones for the same price or less than the official ones, or just explored on our own if what we want to see is nearby or easy to access. You can find good recommendations or groups to join on some of the Cruise forums or groups online.

I've never really liked the idea of those huge groups following a flag!

Kotor is fabulous but we couldn’t dock last October due to high winds.

These replies are really helpful, thanks. I hadn’t heard of the What’s in port website so I’ll have a look at that.

I lost the first version of my post and then forgot to mention that as I work in a school I’m tied to school holidays, and our wedding anniversary falls during the easter holidays. So I’m unsure over whether everywhere will just be too busy or the ship would have hoards of noisy kids everywhere, or whether the weather may be iffy in some places then. I guess it won’t be high season in some places. Another option is waiting till the May half term but then I’d be even more tied to specific departure dates as I’d have to be back in work on a set date . Summer holidays may be too hot in the med to be touring round all day. So I keep veering towards the idea of leaving cruising for a few years till we have more choice over when we go, and whether to just stick to a 2 Center city break for a week, eg Florence and Venice of a week. Or 2 of the Greek islands.

But then I read your replies and come back round to the cruising thing again! I’ll carry on investigating and looking at what’s in port website, Thankyou.

May half term- we did a Norway cruise last year. Did have lots of kids ok board but we went on celebrity so not as many kids as other lines. I’d suggest going onto cruise critic as you’ll get more idea and reviews of specific lines and their ships classes.

For example we like celebrity and I prefer S class and Dh E class. I’m not as keen on the cabins in E class as most don’t have a traditional balcony. So it costs more. Neither of us particularly like M class.

Why not try something like a Norway cruise? They are much less child focused even in summer holidays.
Or there are adults only ships - within say p&o or all of the virgin voyages ships.

Have you thought of a river cruise ? We were looking at one on the Elbe which starts in Berlin down to Dresden I think. The boat actually moors in the city for a few days and then moves on. Lots of trips, not too hot, mainly more mature crowd…

Choose ports where you can get off and wander round on your own.
So avoid Rome and Barcelona as the ports are way outside. Also Venice because they dock on the outskirts and if you don't have confidence to make your own way it can be very stressful.
Places where you can hop off and wander
Split
Kotor
Cartagena
Most stops in Sicily and Corsica

Not sure why people think Rome is hard to do on a cruise. It's a nice 1-hour train ride (which, from memory, costs less than the cruise port's bus to the station in Civitavecchia), well worth doing if the Vatican or the Colosseum are on your bucket list. Also the stop there is often quite long because if you are going on to Naples or Florence the distance to be travelled overnight is quite short.

My Mil has cruised quite a bit, she's off shortly on a p&o trip round some of Spain and Portugal and she also really enjoyed the Fjords. I think the next trip does Santander, Porto, Lisbon and the Channel Islands. It's the second time she's done that particular itinerary

Hadnt realised Virgin Voyages were adults only. I had a look at them, and while they are a bit different from your traditional cruise, so I wasn't too sure, they seem to have good reviews especially the food. And best bit is - no kids! Which basically is one of the main reasons for booking with them. I'm fed up of everywhere being crammed with kids whenever we've gone on holiday, so this will be completely new for me.

So we've booked a week in May half term next year going from Barcelona. There is a day at sea then a stop at Rome, but as we went last year and saw all the main sights it will be really nice not to feel rushed round them, and we can just mooch. Especially as the city centre is away from the Port so we'll be pushed for time I imagine.

Also Marina di Carrara (don't know a lot about that place except it's all about the marble!), Ajaccio in Corsica then 2 nights at Ibiza then back to Barcelona.

I've looked at so many and there are some fab ones but the dates just didn't work for theschool holidays, and I preferred not to wait until the main school summer holidays. I also didn't want to risk Easter holidays because I'll have 2 kids at uni then and a bit of to'ing and fro'ing picking them up from halls with all their gear and Im' not quite sure of the dates.

Thanks for all the help, everyone.

If I get the cruising bug I'll definitely be looking at a fjords cruise at some point. And I quite fancy a Japanese one - maybe for when we retire.

Good stuff!

Virgin -the advertising looks like it's all 20sonetiing pretty people (and maybe it is out of Miami) but in practice it's a 40-60 crowd. Food is amazing.
Maybewatch someone like Emma cruises or Ben and David about various ships on YouTube.

OP I have only just found this thread, but am in a similar situation to you.

A teacher, tied to school holidays with 2 secondary school aged kids. Looking to cruise the Greek Islands/Turkey in either Summer 2025 or Easter 2026. It will be my 50th birthday that summer and our 20th wedding anniversary that Easter!

Looking at P&O cruises atm as already did a Mediterranean cruise with them for our 10 year anniversary.

Yes, I found a couple of very informative youtube blogs by couples a similar age group to us. I made DH watch them and even he seems to be getting a bit excited about it all now and he wasn't at all sure he wanted a cruise at first. He's really not into anything too formal but likes it to feel like a treat, and Virgin Voyages seems like a good solution. Also from the videos I could see plenty of tables for 2 in all the eating places, as opposed to those big banquet tables you get in some cruise dining rooms where you share a table with others. I mean, it's our Silver wedding anniversary, I want to be spending it with him not making polite smalltalk with Jeff and Sue from Coventry.