Potential European cruises for 2026

[TheoneandonlyMICAH]

As we await the itinerary release next week, I was thinking about taking my first European cruise. I had considered the group cruise next year out of Southhampton, but could  not convince my wife to pull the trigger on the booking. However, it brings up the question, what would be a good itinerary to sail on in Europe? I am interested in England, Norway, and other North Sea destinations. I would also be up for Italy and Spain. I have also told my travel agent to be on the lookout for any transatlantic sailings on an Oasis-class ship either from Europe to a Florida port (Since I live here) or vice versa. But I wanted to find out what you guys thought. I would like to do this in the summer as my daughter is in elementary school and would not want to pull her out of school. 

[Plasticbrain]

Hi! I am from  Norway, and I would definitely reccommend coming here in the summer. I would say Kristiansand and Stavanger (and Oslo or possibly Bergen) are great ports of call (if available) at that time of year. If you want to do excursions of your own with kids here are some ideas that my girls (age 8 and 10) love if you go to these ports:

Stavanger: Kongeparken (Theme park with a farm theme) 

Kristiansand: Dyreparken (Norways biggest zoo), Aquarama (aquapark in case you go on a ship without it)

Bystranda/Hamresanden/Høllesanden - 3 great beaches (Kristiansand is the best summer spot in Norway, and it is like a mini Barcelona, disclaimer: I am from Kristiansand city.) 

Bergen: Akvariet (aquarium), Bergen Urban zoo (reptiles) - urban zoo is right next to cruise terminal

Oslo- Freia (chocolate factory where you get to make and taste loads of lovely chocolate). Feel free to ask mote about specific ports and so on when you know your ports of call. 

 

-Chris- 

 

[TheoneandonlyMICAH]

Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. My daughter is 9 and I am trying to get her to see other parts of the word. I am looking forward to seeing  these places with her. 

[Plasticbrain]

4 minutes ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

Awesome! Thanks for the ideas. My daughter is 9 and I am trying to get her to see other parts of the word. I am looking forward to seeing  these places with her. 

I just posted a topic where I added things (under excursions) I forgot to say you should take her to the kings castle if you go to Oslo, and to Arendal (Arendelle from Frozen) if you go to Kristiansand.

Feel free to ask when you know more about which ports you are visiting. 

[michaelp1446]

2 hours ago, TheoneandonlyMICAH said:

As we await the itinerary release next week, I was thinking about taking my first European cruise. I had considered the group cruise next year out of Southhampton, but could  not convince my wife to pull the trigger on the booking. However, it brings up the question, what would be a good itinerary to sail on in Europe? I am interested in England, Norway, and other North Sea destinations. I would also be up for Italy and Spain. I have also told my travel agent to be on the lookout for any transatlantic sailings on an Oasis-class ship either from Europe to a Florida port (Since I live here) or vice versa. But I wanted to find out what you guys thought. I would like to do this in the summer as my daughter is in elementary school and would not want to pull her out of school. 

Norway is one of the most beautiful countries I've visited. We have 2 cruises booked for Norway for 2025. 

Would not get my hopes up for 2026 European cruise schedule next week. 2026 Europe deployment will most likely be released in October/November of this year. 

2025 deployment was released in October of 2023.

[Cactus527]

Keep in mind that RC only does transatlantics in the spring (April-ish) and fall (October-ish). You won't find one in the summer.

[Kelseylovestocruise]

I have taken one European cruise in summer 2022 on odyssey it was great I loved the port but I had never seen so many rude kids on a cruise or parents not parenting. I assume this was luck of the draw and I am a teacher so I spend all day with kids they don’t normally bug me. I am doing a b2b this summer on explore of the seas through Greece and the Adriatic from Ravenna. I am looking forward to this! I would recommend. In 2027 I am hoping to do another European cruise. 2025 I already have booked with a new years cruise and Alaska.

[JasonOasis]

If you are looking for a summer cruise then a Transatlantic cruise is out because Royal sends the ships over to Europe in April for the European season and they return to the US in October and November (I'm doing my first Transatlantic cruise this coming November on Odyssey). 

I've never done a cruise to Norway it is on my bucket list and I heard it is beautiful.  My husband and I have done several Mediterranean cruises on Oasis Class ships those are a lot of fun and generally they tend to be 7 night cruises on Oasis Class ships. Other ships that are smaller have longer itineraries and offer more options when it comes to ports of call.

Which ever cruise you choose one thing is for sure you will not be disappointed. 

[Ryan79]

Summer transatlantic cruise isn’t going to happen.

[Jill]

If you want Norway you better go in 2025 because they are putting big restrictions on cruise ships starting in 2026 

[Kelseylovestocruise]

I know about the Norway restrictions and I am super sad about that as I wanted to do one. It is a bucket list item for sure and I’m already in Europe with my whole family in 2027 so we were planning to do one then. We will now have to find something different

[Va4fam]

5 hours ago, Jill said:

If you want Norway you better go in 2025 because they are putting big restrictions on cruise ships starting in 2026 

Oh no.  Really wanted to go next year but already have 3 great cruises booked so we were going to wait until 2026.   Wanted to book the fjords itinerary, is that not going to be possible in 2026?

[Plasticbrain]

They will probably change up itinerarys, because some ports add restrictions whilst others open up for more. There is also a new proposal being voted on now as to whether or not to add a tourist tax for cruise passengers (1$ per passenger or something low like that) to mitigate the pollution issue. So 2026 is not off the table but it is uncertain.. (i reckon 2026 itinearys visiting here in Norway  would probably be more city focused and less fjords focused) 

[Ryansox]

I noticed the 2025 schedule got released in October/November. My wife and I are going to be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and wanted to do a European cruise. It will be our 4th cruise ever and our first time leaving North America. We looked at the itineraries from 2024 and 2025 and seem to be leaning toward the Mediteran Ones specifically leaving from Barcelona, (traveling around thru italy and greece), ending in athens, greece. 

 

I noticed Celebrity Cruises has better and more options available for Europe, which makes me sad. We've only ever done Royal Caribbean and they have been amazing. 

[AndyPandy]

I have had two RCCL cruises out of Southampton recently, both on the Anthem, a great ship. But whilst they deploy the Independence there, I am sailing another cruise line.

[Doug_Texas]

14 hours ago, Va4fam said:

Oh no.  Really wanted to go next year but already have 3 great cruises booked so we were going to wait until 2026.   Wanted to book the fjords itinerary, is that not going to be possible in 2026?

There is a phenomenal itinerary this year as a 9-day sailing (Ultimate Fjords) as a part of the World Cruise in August.  However, the price has gone up 67% since we booked it last year.  

[Va4fam]

7 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

There is a phenomenal itinerary this year as a 9-day sailing (Ultimate Fjords) as a part of the World Cruise in August.  However, the price has gone up 67% since we booked it last year.  

We considered it but the timing and price escalation didn't work.

[Plasticbrain]

If I hear more about the cruise legislation and restrictions I will let you know 

[Jill]

On 2/10/2024 at 8:19 AM, Ryansox said:

I noticed the 2025 schedule got released in October/November. My wife and I are going to be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and wanted to do a European cruise. It will be our 4th cruise ever and our first time leaving North America. We looked at the itineraries from 2024 and 2025 and seem to be leaning toward the Mediteran Ones specifically leaving from Barcelona, (traveling around thru italy and greece), ending in athens, greece. 

 

I noticed Celebrity Cruises has better and more options available for Europe, which makes me sad. We've only ever done Royal Caribbean and they have been amazing. 

Celebrity is owned by Royal and considered their “premium” line. It’s a more “ sophisticated” experience. No waterslides, flow riders etc. Ships are smaller. We booked the fjords for 2025 and I had Indy on hold, for a great price, but opted to go with celebrity apex because the itinerary included Geiranger and Flam, 2 deep fjords. 
 

I wouldn’t hesitate to book celebrity in the med simply because the itineraries are better and many celebrity sailings are actually lower in cost than Royal. I’ll miss my 5 free drinks a day (they only offer a couple of hours of happy hours in the evening), but being port intensive, I don’t think I’ll miss it too much 

 

[michaelp1446]

6 hours ago, Jill said:

Ships are smaller. We booked the fjords for 2025 and I had Indy on hold, for a great price, but opted to go with celebrity apex because the itinerary included Geiranger and Flam, 2 deep fjords. 

We booked Indy for August 2025 with a large group the day the deployment was released. When Celebrity released their schedule we jumped on the the Apex Itinerary with Geiranger and Flam. We love both of them. These 2 ports have been specifically mentioned as being closed to non-zero emission ships in 2026. 

It will be our first Celebrity cruise and we are looking forward to it.

[Doug_Texas]

For the 2026 Europe deployment schedule that will come out in November do we think that the one Oasis Class ship (Harmony) is all that there will be for the 2026 season or has anyone heard rumblings about adding a second Oasis class?

[steverk]

On 2/9/2024 at 9:02 PM, Va4fam said:

Oh no.  Really wanted to go next year but already have 3 great cruises booked so we were going to wait until 2026.   Wanted to book the fjords itinerary, is that not going to be possible in 2026?

It's my understanding that entry into the fjords will be limited to zero emissions ships only. Since Royal doesn't have any, they won't be able to ho there for several years at least.

If you do want to go in 2026, try Hurtigruten instead. Depending on how they define zero emissions,  Hurtigruten might still be able to go. Just plan on spending a great big pile of money for it.

[teddy]

We did our first European cruise last October.   We currently have three more cruises in Europe booked through Sept 2025.

Suffice to say we absolutely loved our first visit to Europe. 
 

We too are anxiously awaiting the 2026 itineraries.  

[PhillyLady]

I LOVE to cruise in Europe, and the Summer is great for me because I like hot, sunny days.

Just know that most cruises in Europe are a bit more port-intensive than the Caribbean, for example, and the excursion costs can add up quickly.

Well, I have been trying to get DH on a British Isles cruise, but he is not overly thrilled as some of the ports are by tender, and if the weather is poor the ship may not be able to dock. Yes, we have driven all over those countries, but I like not having to unpack and go from hotel to hotel, so I am just going to book it one of these years anyway! I also want to cruise around Iceland, and again, we have visited that country as well. 

We have cruised the Baltic--really fascinating to see all the different countries--we even went to St. Petersburg, a crown jewel port--so sad about the current situation.  A long time ago I cruised from the Med Sea to the Black Sea, and stopped in Odessa when it still belonged to the USSR! Going near Istanbul is amazing!

The most common and easy Europe cruise is Barcelona to Rome or vice-versa--you really get introduced to three major countries (Spain, France, Italy) and see some very nice cities. My brother did this with his children.

A favorite of mine is always the Greek Islands--RT from Athens, or Rome to Athens--you can also throw in some stops in Turkey for an even more adventurous cultural exploration. Many people also like leaving out of the Venice area and doing some of the pretty cities in Croatia.

As we are usually sailing just as a couple, we truly prefer lines like Celebrity to RC.  The itineraries are more complex, and shore excursions offer more historic and sophisticated touring opportunities.  However, a young child is not really going to care about which great medieval cathedral she visited, nor how interesting all the scenery looks.  Instead, she will want to make new friends, swim in the pool, see some entertaining shows, play on all the ship amenities, and enjoy time bonding with her parents. Therefore, RC would be a more satisfying choice for a family with children. 

Remember, airfare in the Summer is VERY pricey to Europe these days, so plan accordingly.  Finally, if you truly have your heart set on a transatlantic, please know that the Cunard Queen Mary goes back and forth between NY and England about once a month practically year round (and a few from FL)!

Have fun planning!! (and don't forget to pose for family photos!)

 

 

[smokeybandit]

My only issue with Euro cruises is how insane airfare is over the pond.

 

[Southern Dan]

I've been waiting for Delta to release their July 2025 ATL/FCO flight options...the flights are going to be more expensive than the actual cruise.  It'll all be worth it in the end I suppose.

[steverk]

58 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

My only issue with Euro cruises is how insane airfare is over the pond.

 

I agree. My solution is to group a bunch together so I can get several cruises out of a single flight

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, steverk said:

I agree. My solution is to group a bunch together so I can get several cruises out of a single flight

Unfortunately I'm not in a place career wise where I can do multiple cruises and not feel guilty about missing work. I've got a 9 nighter next summer and planned that over a holiday to allay any guilt.

[TheoneandonlyMICAH]

You and I are in the same boat. While I have a full-time job that is 100% remote, Its my part time job that I use to pay for my cruise addiction that would be hard to get extended amounts of time off. While the idea of working on a transatlantic cruise and tuning in for Zoom meetings with co-workers with the ocean as a back drop, I could not relay on the ship's internet for 90% uptime. @smokeybandit hope to meet you on a cruise in the future. 

[smokeybandit]

I'm full time remote, also, but my company (for no good reason) doesn't allow working outside the country.

[Jill]

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

My only issue with Euro cruises is how insane airfare is over the pond.

 

Have you looked at Nordic Air or Jet Blue? Friends just got lay flats on jet blue for $2k flying into Gatwick I think (may be Heathrow but I think I remember them saying gatwick 

Ive also just heard that the airlines are expected to drop fares as the Covid revenge travel seems to be declining. 
 

we just paid $3200 on delta  Jax to Budapest, then Prague to Jax for our Christmas Markets river cruise in December. Not too bad 

[FOB]

20 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

My only issue with Euro cruises is how insane airfare is over the pond.

 

Interestingly we have the same issue but in reverse - anything not out of Europe involves silly flights and loads of additional cost when you live in Scotland 

 

[FOB]

On 7/27/2024 at 3:37 PM, Doug_Texas said:

For the 2026 Europe deployment schedule that will come out in November do we think that the one Oasis Class ship (Harmony) is all that there will be for the 2026 season or has anyone heard rumblings about adding a second Oasis class?

Doubt that there will be a second Oasis as the European ports that can take one are limited. Definitely nothing in the Eastern med other than possibly Athens. 
Harmony sailing has already been announced so the cheap suites are already taken

we are waiting on the November announcement of 2026 itinerary for her so I can book a family cruise for my big birthday

[Starrynight0154]

On 7/28/2024 at 8:44 AM, Southern Dan said:

I've been waiting for Delta to release their July 2025 ATL/FCO flight options...the flights are going to be more expensive than the actual cruise.  It'll all be worth it in the end I suppose.

We’re flying Delta ATL-FCO this September. For two of us it’s $5,100. For comparison, 13 years ago on our honeymoon trip DTW-FCO was $1,600 for two people. 

The flight to Rome is on an Airbus a350, there’s no premium select. So it’s either main cabin or the extremely expensive Delta One suites.

Our trip this fall is 5 nights in Rome, 9 night Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey in a junior suite, 7 nights in Florence after cruise. $19,000 total. That includes everything…cruise, flights, 4 star hotels, excursions, train tickets, food tours, Tuscany wine tour, pasta class, WiFi, E-sims, refreshment package, couples massage, meals, etc. We’re looking forward to this trip but it’s really become a money pit, and is definitely more expensive than when I originally started planning it. 

[Southern Dan]

3 hours ago, Starrynight0154 said:

We’re flying Delta ATL-FCO this September. For two of us it’s $5,100. For comparison, 13 years ago on our honeymoon trip DTW-FCO was $1,600 for two people. 

The flight to Rome is on an Airbus a350, there’s no premium select. So it’s either main cabin or the extremely expensive Delta One suites.

Our trip this fall is 5 nights in Rome, 9 night Greek Isles cruise on Odyssey in a junior suite, 7 nights in Florence after cruise. $19,000 total. That includes everything…cruise, flights, 4 star hotels, excursions, train tickets, food tours, Tuscany wine tour, pasta class, WiFi, E-sims, refreshment package, couples massage, meals, etc. We’re looking forward to this trip but it’s really become a money pit, and is definitely more expensive than when I originally started planning it. 

Go big or go home!

Next July will be our first time visiting the Mediterranean.  Originally we were going to go on Voyager but I switched to Odyssey because I really want to sail on her, much more so than Voyager.  We are going on a 7 day cruise and are staying in an Oceanview w/ Large Balcony and it cost just under 4k.  Was going to do a Junior Suite but for such a port intensive itinerary it just wasn't worth the extra money.  We plan on flying in 3 days early and exploring Rome and staying 4-5 days after the cruise to visit Venice and Florence before we fly home.

I'm anticipating the flights via Delta and having Comfort+ being around 4500-5k, the hotels for Rome I'm looking at will be 2500-3k for 3 nights (I've narrowed it down to 4 choices...getting a hotel with a pool is a requirement since I'm expecting it to be very hot out and will be nice to cool down after sightseeing all day).  So right there is already 12k...still need to get hotels for Venice/Florence which I plan on doing some research later this week and drink package, train tickets, excursions, etc.  Will probably be 16k-17k when all is said and done. 

Probably will be our only cruise in 2025 since this trip is going to be insanely expensive but I have a deposit for the Presidents Cruise and I really want to go on one in January but my wife will probably kick my ass if I suggest it lmfao.  We'll see, doing our first cruise together in two weeks to Alaska which we've had planned for over two years...hopefully she loves it and will want to cruise more.