Honeymooners first time to Europe

May I suggest that you go to the cruise critic website and browse there while waiting for some answers?

www.cruisecritic.com

Also, you should seek out a local travel agent in your area (preferably one who specializes in cruises) and ask for their advice.It's always good to use a TA. They can get the same deals that are on the internet or sometimes better.

"We are currently looking at cruise options to help maximize our time - and see as much as we can with the time we have."

Well I hope "we are currently looking" means you haven't decided yet. Cruises won't help you see more. You'll actually see, learn, experience, and appreciate more if you're on the ground the whole time and if you visit fewer places, and you'll have more choices about what to see when. Excursions offered by cruise companies typically cut your time short and take you where it's most convenient for them to earn a commission.

There's no way really to see 7 or 8 cities in 7 days. You will probably want to return to all or at least most of them. Better to see 2-3 places somewhat more fully, IMO.

If you want to cruise just for the cruise experience itself, that's an entirely different matter. I like Florence, but for a honeymoon I would go with the option that includes Venice.

As the prior poster commented, I would strongly consider seeing Europe by land, even though that means extra time spent planning your itinerary. You can maximize your time just by planning out your trip judiciously. Get some books (Rick Steves has some good ones) and just focus on one country or region you'd like to visit - most travel books already have some itinerary templates which you can easily adjust to your liking.

We did a disney cruise on our first europe trip with our boys, who were 8 and 10. We did 5 nights before in Munich, then did the Barcelona to Rome cruise route, and then another week in Italy. We used the cruise more for relaxation than seeing big sites (we did not go into Pisa or Florence (we went to the Cinque Terre) and we stayed on the boat when everyone else went to Rome.). We did our sightseeing during our land portions.

How much time do you have? If you have 2 weeks, I would do a week cruise (option 1) but more for relaxing, seeing a bit of the sites (we went to a beach in Nice, and Pompeii from our cruise) then add a week and spend it in Italy. After the bustle of a wedding, a week on the cruise would be nice, seeing a bit of the sites, but not killing yourself driving hours to the cities and not seeing much.

Or just spend the time in Italy on land! If you want to see stuff, land is the way to go, in my opinion. We did find the combo to work well for us on our first trip though! And I would not do London/Copenhagen if you cruise... waaaaay too many logistics. Barcelona is great, as is Venice - you can get off and spend some time there, and easily get to Florence or Rome. Absolutely no need to go so far... keep the logistics simple.

Kim

As you can probably tell by the previous responses, this forum is not the best place to ask about a cruise. Most posters here travel more land based and independently or with tours like the ones provided on this website. One of the reasons cruises are not always as good is because the port the boat uses is not convenient to the city that it says it is visiting. For example, the port in La Spezia is not really all that close to Florence so you will be spending lots of time on a train or bus if you want to get to Florence. That only leaves you a few hours to explore a city that most people would suggest visiting for at least 3 days. So you will maximize the number of places you see but will end up seeing very little of what is available. Only you can decide if you want quantity or quality.

That being said, a cruise can be more relaxing because you unpack once and the boat travels at night while you party or sleep. My husband and I did a smaller sailing ship cruise along the coast of Croatia and that was a wonderful place for a cruise. The places we stopped were much smaller, the ports where we docked were part of the city and they stops were easy to see in a shorter time frame. Our smaller boat also stayed longer than some of the larger ships.

If you do choose a cruise and stay longer before and after, I would highly suggest spending more time in your port city. The places you are suggesting would require even more travel and lost time.

Thank you all for the candid responses, I appreciate it. We are certainly reconsidering our travel methods!

Hello bweil. I think being on a cruise ship would not be the best use of your time and money. I do not recommend being in a cruise ship in a honeymoon trip. In a cruise ship, your room would be small, the bed might not be comfortable. If you are willing to fly to the airport of Catania on Sicily, I recommend going to Hotel villa Belvadere at Taormina on Sicily. It is a luxury hotel that has rooms that are comfortable and beautiful, a big patio that is 1300 feet above the Mediteranean Sea, a swimming pool, a buffet lunch outside on the patio. A short walk to a cable gondola for a ride down to the beach. When you depart from Sicily, fly to Rome. Be at Rome, 2 whole days, and do a day trip from Rome to Orvieto via a train.

At least some of the cruise websites will show you the day-by-day itinerary with the scheduled times for arrival and departure from each port stop, though you may have to dig a bit to get there. Assume you will not be able to disembark for at least an hour after docking and you will have to be back on board at least an hour before sailing. That's the maximum amount of time you'll be on land - and usually you'll need at least 1/2 hour to get from the port and another to get back. Now figure out how much time you'll have for seeing Europe and how much time you'll spend on the ship. Chances are you'll be spending most of your evenings - including dinners - on the ship. While the food will probably be quite good, it won't be local. Sunset is late in May so you may never see the cities after dark at all - unless you are docked overnight. When you're sailing, you probably won't see more than sea and sky, since the ship will be in deep water.

A better option would be a river cruise, where you'll see the scenery go by and have a lot more time on land, with a lot less "wasted time" getting to/from seaports. The ships are smaller and often you'll just have a short walk from the pier to the town center.

A few months ago someone posted a long report on the pros and cons of a river cruise. I don't remember enough of it to do a search. Maybe another regular will be able to find it. One thing I do remember is that the median age of the passengers is a lot closer to 60 than 40 (and so it is with deep sea cruises too, unless you get one geared to families with young kids).

I think there are a group of people that love a cruise since it is easy, they get to see a lot of different places/countries, and all the details are taken care of. That is all true. But, what that group of people don't understand is what they are missing.

We travel on our own, but I did go with my dad on a long cruise to England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and France. My dad, never having really traveled except for a cruise, loved it. For me, yes I did "see" those places out of the window of a bus, had some time walking with our tour group from one place to another, and had great food on the ship. The missing part is the best part! Eating in a small restaurant where everyone is speaking a different language, trying to communicate with locals, staying in one place because it is so wonderful and not moving on. You get to have "experiences" as you get a real feel for a village or city. I can remember every place I've been and what we did and the mishaps, frustrations, great food, wonderful people, and something as simple as all the bathroom experiences, etc for our planned land trips. The cruise? Well, I remember eating a lot of hotel food with 300 other people and wearing my sticker telling me what bus I was on. But, other than the photos, I don't really have experiences to remember. In fact, when asked if I've been to Ireland I've responded with a "no" and later remember I had been to three different locations in Ireland, I just don't really have any experience that makes me remember it.

But, there are those that love the simplicity of it. If you decide to do a cruise, just make sure someday you do a trip on your own for a real experience. Just my opinion.....

It may have already been mentioned up thread but many cruise stop cities take on a very different feel once the cruise passengers leave.

For instance in Venice I have had the pleasure to sit at a cafe in St Marks at night, have an overpriced drink and listen to the different bands play. All this with maybe 50 people in that part of the square. Or ride the vaporetto on the grand canal and be able to grab a seat up front.

Travel can be stressful, especially if you are moving from place to place. An overnight flight followed by jet lag and a foreign environment may be a relationship test. But that said, you can return with a photo book of memories, hopefully good ones.

My cruise ship experience is limited to an overnight leg of a Hurtigurten voyage as deck passenger. The views and food were memorable. My bias is that a cruise seems to be too little (physical) activity and too much eating for my taste and here is one list of 15 reasons not to cruise: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-active-times/15-reasons-you-should-nev_b_9300796.html

That said, riverboat cruises that let you of at cities of interest and are basically floating hotel rooms may the the exception.

But to each his or her own.

Here's the link to the river cruise report.

We cruise a lot and when visiting Europe, we combine a cruise with a land trip for several days. I would imagine that you may not have that option.

Regarding cruising, we love Celebrity Cruise line, but also cruise on NCL when the price and itinerary are right.

We have done similar cruises to the ones you posted. I think you would love Venice. It is a very romantic city.

The website cruise critic is a fantastic website for researching cruises. There are reviews of the specific tours, by those who did the cruise and grade several criteria as well as write a review.

Here are a couple of my reviews:
Spain, Canary Islands and Morocco
http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=80907
E. Med and Adriatic, NCL Gem
http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=70129
W. Med  NCL Epic
http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103808

One more thing, about a trip to Europe on your honeymoon is that a cruise allows you to avoid moving from hotel to hotel and is romantic on its own. May is a good time to cruise the Caribbean. If you do the Baltic out of Copenhagen, it will be chilly and most Baltic cruises are about 9 days, not 7.

Your choice of cruise line may depend on your interests. Celebrity is tops for its dining for the mainline cruise ines. NCL and Royal Caribbean tend to appeal more to those that want rock climbing walls and special activities on board. Princess is another good line. HAL is good but tends to appeal more to older people. Disney is great, but expensive and more for couples with small children.

My thoughts:

We did a 12 night Baltic Cruise (Princess) that began, and ended, in Copenhagen. It included Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Gdansk, Tallinn, and Oslo. We stayed three nights on either side in Copenhagen.

It was a great trip but I wouldn't suggest it at all for your trip. The time to cruise the Baltic is July and August, outside of that the weather is too unsettled to count on even decent sea weather during the trip. I'd save this for a future time when you can go in the high summer months. Do they even start offering Baltic cruises before June?

I've never done a Med cruise because the ports offer too much to see in a day. Barcelona is great but needs three or four full days (so maybe the place to fly into before the cruise). Stops for Rome require transportation into the city, too much to see in too little time. Pisa is a place that can be seen in a few hours, the field of miracles is all you really "need" to see - so that's probably a good choice. I haven't been to the south of France yet but if I can judge on what my friends have told me Nice is nice (no pun intended) but Marseilles is kind of a dump. Cannes seems like a good place to spend a day and Monte Carlo probably would be too, depending on what you want to see. I haven't been south of Rome yet, I haven't heard wonderful things about Naples but there are choices from the port that might be interesting. Venice can sort of be seen in a day, but it can only be experienced at night when the crowds dwindle. It would be a good place to end and spend a couple nights before flying home.

I like option 1, particularly because I would like to include Venice for a honeymoon. To me, it's a more romantic last stop to spend time on your own after a cruise.

If your port in the Naples area is at Salerno, then you're well placed to take local buses or ferries along the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento and then would have to return by one of those same methods. Taxi or private car hire are more expensive options but allow better control of your timing. Or, if you want to skip the coast and head to the Pompeii ruins, you can take a train from Salerno to Pompei town (trains almost hourly, 35-45 minutes each way). At Pompei town, take a taxi to the ruins (or walk about half an hour).

Of course, if your cruise ends at Capri, then you could add time on your own to visit the region more thoroughly: Amalfi, Sorrento, Pompeii, and flying out from Naples.

Rick's Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook is a good one to take along. It also provides an overview of the issues for choosing a cruise line, but doesn't rate specific cruise itineraries.

My wife and I did a cruise from Lisbon to Venice on our honeymoon, and it was my first trip to Europe (have since had fifteen others not counting business trips). I don't think it's a bad way to go, as much as I prefer traveling by land. We also did a round trip out of Athens in 2011 because I found myself with some unexpected time off. It was great because I did not have to spend a lot of time planning. The planning part is always on me, and it's very stressful. On our 2011 trip I used Rick's Mediterranean Cruise Port book which I strongly recommend.

Cruises are great for visiting places that are hard to get to, and for quick stops at places that might not otherwise merit a multi-day stay. They can be great for seeing places that are really expensive too. Or places that you might not feel like traveling to independently. I doubt whether we would have made it to Morocco or Tunisia if not on our honeymoon cruise. Sardinia, Gibraltar, Mykonos, Crete, Corfu, Palermo, Dubrovnik, Split, Kotor. These are some of the other ports that we have visited on cruises.

I don't think cruise stops in inland cites like Rome and Florence are good because as you are aware, the ship actually docks on the coast quite far from those cities, and each of those cities has such an overwhelming number of sights to see that you will leave disappointed. You may also feel like you need to purchase an expensive ship excursion (and the prices have really gone up for those). Personally I would not feel comfortable taking the train from Civitavecchia to Rome on my own, though people do it. You can research in advance which ports are close to the places you will visit. This varies a lot and even if you dock in the city that's the attraction, the port may be some distance from the actual city center. An example is Dubrovnik where we had to take a bus to get to the center. (Provided for $10 by the cruise line). A cruise also lets you scout out places for a future return visit on land. We went back to Lisbon, Seville, Gibraltar, and Venice on land after our honeymoon cruise.

Since it's your honeymoon you might want to splurge on a veranda cabin. Also choose your cruise line based upon your interests.

A big down side to a cruise is that you have limited time in port and unless it's an overnight stay, you miss out on evenings. Sometimes the time in port can be frustratingly short, as in leaving at 3 p.m. You can usually check all of this out in advance though. The cruise lines are pretty good about not forcing you into a paid excursion, but there will be ports where you have to do it. (Or at least Holland America was-- that's the one that we chose for our Europe cruises with great results).

Especially with a stay on land on one or both ends, I think a cruise can be a reasonable choice for a honeymoon.

First, focus upon enjoying a wonderful time at your wedding!

Now some thoughts.....

Give yourselves a couple of days after the wedding to "recompose" before departing on your honeymoon.

First time to Europe, consider this as one of more trips to come. By doing so you can strive to avoid thinking you must cram alot into this trip.

Speaking of "cramming", don't be a clothing mule. Overpacking is a huge pain in the ass.

Have you both spoken about what each of you envision your honeymoon memories to encompass?
If you share your interests on this forum you will be richly rewarded by folks helping with tips on how to focus in on similar type of opportunities.

After 20 years of land travel in Europe we took a Med cruise and created wonderful memories.

I am deliberately staying away from diving into destination recommendations, but I ask you both to pause and consider if you want a journey, a trip, a honeymoon?

I should have suggested what might be a better cruise itinerary. I've been on four or five cruises and I always book through vacationstogo.com The prices are consistent with other online travel agents but they have, I think by far, the best search engine to explore options.

I'd look at some of the cruises that start and end in Venice. Here's an example but there are lots of choices.

MSC cruises (oceanview $704 each, balcony $913 each).
Saturday, May 6 Venice, Italy 4:30pm
Sunday, May 7 Bari, Italy 10:00am 5:00pm
Monday, May 8 Olympia (Katakolon), Greece 11:00am 5:00pm
Tuesday, May 9 Mykonos, Greece 8:00am 7:00pm
Wednesday, May 10 Athens (Piraeus), Greece 7:30am 4:30pm
Thursday, May 11 Sarande, Albania Noon 8:00pm
Friday, May 12 Dubrovnik, Croatia 9:00am 3:00pm
Saturday, May 13 Venice, Italy 9:00am

http://vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=36783