European RC Cruise

[baileyutk]

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are taking a cruise in the spring of next year. We have it pinned down to two Royal Carribean cruises both with the exact ports the only difference is one is a round trip from Barcelona, Spain and the other is out of Rome, Italy. We have never been to Europe before. Which cruise port/ airport do you recommend is the most beginner friendly?

For the ports we will be traveling to Naples, Barcelona, Rome, Provence, and Florence. Any suggestions on where to go on port days? Any tips on traveling to Spain, France, and Italy will be greatly appreciated.

[ChessE4]

6 hours ago, baileyutk said:

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are taking a cruise in the spring of next year. We have it pinned down to two Royal Carribean cruises both with the exact ports the only difference is one is a round trip from Barcelona, Spain and the other is out of Rome, Italy. We have never been to Europe before. Which cruise port/ airport do you recommend is the most beginner friendly?

For the ports we will be traveling to Naples, Barcelona, Rome, Provence, and Florence. Any suggestions on where to go on port days? Any tips on traveling to Spain, France, and Italy will be greatly appreciated.

We just returned from a Barcelona cruise.  For us, flying to Barcelona is cheaper than flying to Rome.  Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, is farther from the airport than Barcelona.  But whichever departure port you pick, go a few days early to avoid jet lag, account for missed connections, and see the local sights.  We stayed two nights in Barcelona pre-cruise, but we wish we had stayed a third.  Time of year is a factor for the ports you've listed.  The unseasonably warm weather last week created unusually large crowds in France and Italy (folks squeezing in that one last trip), complicating our visits to some ports.  We've also been to the Med at the end of June, and it was also crowded and hot.  We were told by a guide that spring is a good time to visit Italy, but the weather might be iffy.  No one can really tell you what you should do, just remember that some ports are walkable on your own or with local transportation (e.g., buses, trains, and taxis) whereas other ports require an excursion.  For example, Florence and Rome are inland, not next to the port.

At Naples, we've seen Pompeii and climbed Mt. Vesuvius, so our next goal is to visit Capri. Whatever you choose to do, I am sure you'll have fun.

[AshleyDillo]

If it is on the same exact ship, I suggest you go with the Barcelona embarkation.  There is a practice called interporting that Royal Caribbean does for these sailings where passengers get on either in Barcelona or Civitavecchia (Rome).  It's more confusing to get on in Rome since they consider Barcelona the official Day 1 of these cruises, so if you get on in Rome all of the schedules and compasses refer to Day 4 (or whichever) when it's really your Day 1.

However if you'd really like to spend more time in Rome prior to the cruise or after the cruise, you may just want to start the cruise there.

[Baked Alaska]

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

If it is on the same exact ship, I suggest you go with the Barcelona embarkation.  There is a practice called interporting that Royal Caribbean does for these sailings where passengers get on either in Barcelona or Civitavecchia (Rome).  It's more confusing to get on in Rome since they consider Barcelona the official Day 1 of these cruises, so if you get on in Rome all of the schedules and compasses refer to Day 4 (or whichever) when it's really your Day 1.

However if you'd really like to spend more time in Rome prior to the cruise or after the cruise, you may just want to start the cruise there.

With the interporting, is it possible to do a cruise-and-a-half?

[FireFishII]

I have not taken a European cruise YET.  But I LOVE Barcelona.  Must see La Sagrada Familia - check out both ends - they were done by 2 different artists.  Also Parc Guell.  Finally, can I recommend the Alan Parson Project's album Gaudi?   I listened to the album on my flight to Barcelona.  Then I was able to see all of his amazing works.  

[James K]

2 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

If it is on the same exact ship, I suggest you go with the Barcelona embarkation.  There is a practice called interporting that Royal Caribbean does for these sailings where passengers get on either in Barcelona or Civitavecchia (Rome).  It's more confusing to get on in Rome since they consider Barcelona the official Day 1 of these cruises, so if you get on in Rome all of the schedules and compasses refer to Day 4 (or whichever) when it's really your Day 1.

I was looking at the same Itinerary. It's on Symphony. I was wondering if they had just not taken down the Rome sailings yet, but this makes more sense. Glad I booked the Barcelona one! Thanks.

[Adriana]

Great question, thank you! It  does sound like Barcelona is the less stressful choice. That is a winner!

[AshleyDillo]

1 hour ago, Baked Alaska said:

With the interporting, is it possible to do a cruise-and-a-half?

They only sell RT Barcelona and RT Rome 7 night sailings, so I don't think you can.

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

With the interporting, is it possible to do a cruise-and-a-half?

 

7 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

They only sell RT Barcelona and RT Rome 7 night sailings, so I don't think you can.

Not usually, because they block off specific rooms for each departure port, but there may be one exception. Often, depending on whether their dry dock is before or after their European season, the Oasis class ships offer a 3-night cruise from Rome to Barcelona at the end of the season, prior to the TA. So, you could make it a cruise and a half by booking B2B with the 7-nighter out of Rome before the 3-nighter. This is an option for next year on Symphony.

[Baked Alaska]

17 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

Not usually, because they block off specific rooms for each departure port, but there may be one exception. Often, depending on whether their dry dock is before or after their European season, the Oasis class ships offer a 3-night cruise from Rome to Barcelona at the end of the season, prior to the TA. So, you could make it a cruise and a half by booking B2B with the 7-nighter out of Rome before the 3-nighter. This is an option for next year on Symphony.

While we've already plans for next summer, I will take a look at the itinerary you mention to stretgize for the future. Thank you!

[Jill]

If this is Symphony, pick the embarkation/disembarkation port you want to spend time in. 

Note: the Royal App only works for cruises out of Barcelona (unless they fix it this year)

May I suggest looking at Odyssey out of Rome? We just did the 12 night Holy Land/Best of Greece and it was FANTASTIC! 

I’ve looked at that western med cruise and only one sea day on an oasis class has discouraged me. Just throwing it out there for consideration

 

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, Jill said:

If this is Symphony, pick the embarkation/disembarkation port you want to spend time in. 

Note: the Royal App only works for cruises out of Barcelona (unless they fix it this year)

May I suggest looking at Odyssey out of Rome? We just did the 12 night Holy Land/Best of Greece and it was FANTASTIC! 

I’ve looked at that western med cruise and only one sea day on an oasis class has discouraged me. Just throwing it out there for consideration

 

Yeah, wouldn't hold my breath for the app to work out of Rome. It's been that way forever. I'm sure they could have fixed it by now if they really wanted to.

Totally agree with you about the ship. We do the Oasis-class Med route more for the ship itself, which is fine for us living in Europe, as we don't need to spend much time on shore, but a bit pointless if you're coming from a long way away. You're paying more for bells and whistles that you're not going to have time to enjoy and you'll be too tired anyway after long days in port. 

[FionaMG]

10 hours ago, Baked Alaska said:

While we've already plans for next summer, I will take a look at the itinerary you mention to stretgize for the future. Thank you!

I believe the summer 2024 European itineraries are due for release next week. The Oasis-class ship that is due for dry dock in 2024 and should therefore be doing the Med is Oasis.

[FionaMG]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:48 PM, Baked Alaska said:

With the interporting, is it possible to do a cruise-and-a-half?

For summer 2024, cruise and a half on Oasis departing Civitavecchia on 19 September, arriving Barcelona on 29 September. Showing on the public website now.

[Va4fam]

If it were me, I would go with Barcelona.  It's a fantastic city to spend a few days pre/post cruise and the port is a lot more convenient than catching a cruise outside of Rome. 

[Fairlynew]

I will give contrary advice.  We did this trip last spring.  We choose to sail from Rome because it is so far from the port that you will not get to see much, if anything, on an excursion.  We went to Venice for a day, then took the train to Rome (beautiful scenery).  We had a day in Rome with a private tour guide (there were 6 of us so it made sense) and saw both the Vatican and the Coliseum.  We had time the next morning to see the Pantheon and do some shopping before meeting our driver to get to the port.  Sagrada Familia was our priority in Barcelona and we had plenty of time to see it and explore some of the city.

[Ray]

Thought i would share this for anyone outside US, below are comparisons for a cruise priced on both US and UK RC websites.

Obviously we cannot book through the RC US website but we can use a good TA to do it for us. 

So a shout out to Blog Sponsors MEI Travel for saving this Frugal Scotsman a few bucks