Mediterranean or Transatlantic cruise

[lovecruising!!!]

I am in the beginning stages of planning my 2020 Cruise. I am looking at possibly a Transatlantic or a  Mediterranean  cruise.

The Med Cruise I am thinking about is a 12 night on Vison of the Seas, and has stops in France, Florence, Italy, Venice, Split, Croatia, etc.

 

If I did a TransAtlantic it would be from the US to Barcelona.    Just curious what others would pick on this.

[twangster]

Med is port intensive, but many great ports.

Which transatlantic are you looking at?  Many have some ports but lots of sea days.  Which ship? 

An older, smaller ship isn't that big of a deal on a Med port intensive cruise because you are off the ship day after day.  Lot's of sea days on a smaller, older ship with not much to do may be in your wheelhouse or may be very boring.  

[lovecruising!!!]

Good Points

Jewel of the Seas  out of Miami to Rome for the Trans

There is also Oasis of the Seas out of Orlando to Barcelona

[Lovetocruise2002]

Have you ever done a Med cruise? If not, I would personally pick the Med first over a TA.  And @twangster brings up a good point, I would only do a TA on a big ship.

[L454S]

Our first T/A was on the Allure, had only one stop in Malaga before arriving in Barcelona. We enjoyed it, but for following T/A's decided to go more for itinerary. For us, going across on a floating amusement park was OK, but the places you see have more impact. The Radiance and Vision class ships turned out to be very enjoyable. Some sailings have only a stop or two. 

On the Serenade this April, FLL to Azores> Cork, Ireland> LeHavre,France> Bruges,Belgium> Amsterdam,Holland> Copenhagen,Denmark.  

When we did the Jewel sailing mentioned above FLL> 3 stops Canary Islands> Gibraltar,GB> Alicante,Spain> Rome,Italy.

I guess my point is, if you are going to do either the T/A or Euro/Med, compare a T/A that actually goes places you want to see and have a combo T/A and Med sailing.

Just some thoughts to consider.

[mworkman]

Here's what i've been looking at doing for a TA in 2020. As for a ships list of those doing TA's in 2020 is unbeknownst at this time, so were looking/hoping an Oasis or Quantum class ship (Balcony or higher) sailings, then pair it up with a Med or European cruise once were there on a smaller class ship Radiance/Vision class (Oceanview) as more port intensive thus no need to splurge for a balcony or higher cabin and spend that money on excursions.

Depending on how the itinerary lines up will determine what route we take.  We hope for a sailing to Spain on a TA, then a b2b could be done easily.

[mworkman]

I will be looking hard at the Allure's Amped 2020 sailing. Waiting in anticipation for it's release!!!

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/9420-what-will-the-oasis-get-during-dry-dock/&page=1

[Auto]

I've only done a Med cruise, but loved every minute (Barcelona-Naples-Rome-Livorno-Cannes-Barcelona)- so booked a Greek Isles cruise to hit the eastern Med, and then have another Western Med next spring....so yeah, I'd go with a Med cruise.

Although a B2B T/A and Med cruise is on my bucket list.

[themillennialcruiser]

Just got off a cruise in the med it was truly life changing. I would highly highly suggest it! It was exhausting but I am still in awe of all of the places we traveled to in 9 days! 

[41m33]

My husband and I sailed the 12nt on Vision last month. AMAZING! The itinerary knocked quite a few destinations off our bucket list for sure. We enjoyed the ship. Having sailed on Allure and Anthem previously, we knew there wouldn't be the usual "bells and whistles" we were used to. The vision made up for it in exceptional service and probably the best food we've had. Passengers were mostly 55+ or honeymooners so my husband and I (40) were a minority unlike previous sailing where there were lots of families. Feel free to ask me any questions!

[lovecruising!!!]

Okay So I have this narrowed down, for the Med cruise for possibly 2020. Let me know what you think about  these itineraries. The 2 12 night sailings are on Vision, and the 13 Night out of London is on Explorer 

A. 12 Night Med Greek Isles  Vision of the Seas                                      
1.    Barcelona, Spain
2.    Nice, France
3.    Florence, Italy
4.    Rome, Italy
5.    Amalfi  Coast, Italy
6.    Sea Day
7.    Venice, Italy
8.    Venice, Italy
9.    Split, Croatia
10.    Kotor, Motenegro
11.    Sea Day
12.    Sea Day
13.    Barcelona, Spain

 

B. 12 Night Med Venice  - Vision 
1.    Barcelona, Spain
2.    Cannes, France
3.    Florence, Italy
4.    Rome, Italy
5.    Sea Day
6.    Sea Day
7.    Athens, Greece
8.    Mykonos, Greece
9.    Santorini, Greece
10.    Sea Day
11.    Valletta, Malta
12.    Sea Day
13.    Barcelona, Spain

C. 13 Night Med Tour  Explorer of the seas
1.    London, England
2.    Sea Day
3.    Sea Day
4.    Gibraltar, UK
5.    Alicante, Spain
6.    Barcelona, Spain
7.    Provence, France
8.    Ajaccio, Corsica
9.    Sea Day
10.    Sea Day
11.    Lisbon, Portugal
12.    Sea Day
13.    Chebourg, France
14.    London, England

 

Also, I am leaning on the TA for 2021 on Oasis of the Seas, out of Orlando.   I have looked at the Oasis of the Seas schedule. This normally runs on around April 21. In 2019 Oasis is leaving on Easter Sunday. This schedule would not work for me, but hopefully 2021 would be a better schedule. Easter is Earlier that year, and wouldn't conflict. I have been on a smaller ship just recently with Serenade of the seas , I loved it I got alot of rest.

[mworkman]

I like the first itinerary..A is my choice...that's my final answer!

[lovecruising!!!]

Thanks for the Reply.. I Love this Group !! Hope everyone has a great Friday

[Auto]

Second vote for option A...love all the ports, especially the Amalfi Coast. But I haven't been to Greece (yet, 7 days!). I definitely would go for the overnight in Venice, too, so hard to do in one day. 

[JLMoran]

Tough call. If you've been on Radiance class and enjoyed it, then Vision is probably going to be fine for you as well and either A or B would be good. Only small negative I see with A is that it's only going to Split in Croatia and not Dubrovnik, which I would think is a must-see port for that country. I think B has a slightly better alternation of port days and sea days, so you get some time to recuperate after a few ports in a row.

Only advantage with C is if you want a bigger ship with more options and that's been kept more up to date. The Voyager class ships are all getting AMPED, so if the ports are less important than the ship you'll probably find a better experience on Explorer, as long as that sailing is after her dry dock and AMPED update (the schedule just says "2020", so it could be early in the year or closer to end of year).

My vote goes for B, with A as a very close second.

[Traveler]

I would take option A unless you really want to see the Greece Islands. 

I love Nice , Kutor is very nice and in Venice many things to see 

[Stephanie]

Tough call between A or B.  I just did 7 days from Barcelona - Palma - Marseille - Florence - Rome - Naples.   I'd love to go to Santorini, but option B doesn't have Naples.  For our day in Naples, we took the ferry over to Capri & it was the best stop of our entire trip.  The beauty on the island is unsurpassed!!  Simply breathtaking.  But, I honestly don't see how you could go wrong with either option.

In full disclosure - Rome is an 1.5 bus ride from the port and Florence is a full 2 hour bus ride.  Those days back-to-back are extremely long & tiring days, but worth every minute.

[lovecruising!!!]

Great points Stephanie !  I have done Rome a few years ago. Not on a cruise So I don't plan on exploring Rome anymore., so I can rest that day.   One other question I have is I have heard some Cruise Lines collect passports in European voyages is this true of Royal?