To Cruise or not to Cruise?

There are people who love to be on cruise ships, people who use them for places they either may never see otherwise or want to get a taste of to decide if they want to return.

I have taken several cruises, always with a group with a common interest (Scrabble players). On those long days at sea, we avidly played our game during the day, with a break for lunch and long evenings to dine leisurely and relax together at a bar. The cruise lines we used all catered to the middle-aged and older, so there were very few children on board. This suited me. All the "perks" of ship life - spa treatments, gambling, mediocre live entertainment, old movies, and ballroom dancing (on a moving ship, a somewhat odd feeling anyway) don't appeal to me. For me the combination of being with a group - always including some old friends I rarely see, seeing new and out-of-the-way places (e.g., New Zealand, Scandinavia), and staying in one room for a couple weeks was well worth the money.

This hard about whether a cruise ship will be enjoyable for you. Are there going to be lots of kids around the pool? Do you like spas? Will you use the gym? Are you going to miss those lovely European dinners in small restaurants with good local wines? (cruise ship food general caters to American tastes, dining rooms are huge - think ballroom - and wine is very expensive). Speaking of expense - keep in mind that the price for the cruise does not include tipping (you are expected to tip a lot for nearly everything- the staff make slave wages), you'll pay high prices for soft drinks, bar drinks, wine, spa treatments, laundry, transportation to/from the port to the sights.

Frankly, I don't understand why you want to rent a car. Fly into Venice and spend a few days there, then take the high-speed train to Florence and make the easy transfer to a local train to Lucca. Or rent a car and stay in an agriturismo and relax. You can easily see the Amalfi coast while relaxing in Sorrento, take the local train to Pompeii, buses to the top of the Amalfi towns, then the ferries back to Sorrento from the seashore. You won't want to drive around any of your destinations except Tuscany/Umbria where you can leisurely explore little towns (and big ones) on your own. When you work out how much you pay per night and how many places you see, cruising just doesn't give enough bang for the buck unless you really enjoy the shipboard experience.

I am not a big fan of cruises. I will tell you why, and if these types of drawbacks are ok with you then by all means take the cruise. There are plus sides, too - everything is taken care of for you, it is relaxing.

What I dislike - you don't have a lot of time in the ports. Some are far from the destination, requiring a long time in transit and making it near essential that you take the ships excursion. I prefer to explore on my own so this bugs me. Look into your ports - are they ones where you can get into the destination on your own, or do you like guided excursions?
Along with this - you are only in town for the daytime, usually. So you miss the magic hours of early and late when it is less crowded and instead are stuck in the crowds.

On occasion a port stop will be cancelled for schedule or weather and you can't rearrange to go back.

This one is subjective, but I think you don't really feel like you are "there" on a cruise. You are on the boat every night, eating the same food (which is good but not at all specific to the location), with the same people. There is little sense of being in a new place, just getting off w boat, seeing something cool, and going back to the boat

I personally find the activities and entertainment on a cruise annoying and patronizing, but obviously other people like it so this may not matter to you!

On your other plans - can you make it cheaper? You don't need a car for those places which could save a ton!

Frankly, I don't understand why you want to rent a car. Fly into
Venice and spend a few days there, then take the high-speed train to
Florence and make the easy transfer to a local train to Lucca.

I'm thinking along the same lines as Chani. There's no reason to rent a car when it's more more hindrance than benefit in Venice, the Amalfi, Rome and some other locations in Italy. You might think about just renting for a few days to putter around some of the villages in Tuscany or Umbria but so many locations are well served by trains or buses. Pompei? Very, very easy (and inexpensive) by train from Sorrento or Naples.

The ease and efficiency of Italian trains and some other types of transport have added a 'relax' factor or our trips to The Boot: no confusing fees, parking issues, worrying about damage; dodging ZTLs, etc. Add the ability to indulge in the local grape or other adult beverage whenever and wherever the spirit moves us...

Whether you would enjoy a cruise or not is very much up to personal taste: no right or wrong. We don't do them because their itineraries are too restrictive (not enough time in any one place), we wouldn't enjoy most of the amenities we'd be paying for (nightclubs/casinos/pools/etc.), and the considerable extra costs would drive us nuts.

We would also miss the independence of setting our own schedule/itinerary, enjoying meals in local restaurants, taking the spur of the moment day trip or the late-evening/early morning stroll, and even the interesting variety of different accommodations versus the same room day in and day out.

Traveling on the floating hotels that accommodate several thousand people would not be enjoyable or relaxing for us either but lots of folks DO enjoy them so as I said, it's up to personal style, and I certainly won't knock what works for someone else. After all, it's their holiday and not mine! :O)

One more cruise consideration -is anyone in the party highly sensitive to motion sickness? I am not but my sister is. On our Carribean cruise there was one day she was completely sick (in bed, couldn't eat). The rest of the time she was fine but couldn't do things like dance, run, exercise, or drink much alcohol or she would be sick again.

We've been to Italy many times renting cars. And we took the same basic cruise in May because the price was just so attractive.
Since you've never cruised, take it. Chances are you'll really like it.
If you want to see a little more of Italy, go a few days early and stay a few days after your disembarkation.
Ocean cruises are our backup vacations when they really get the prices down, and we've forgotten how many we've been on.
We took a Baltic cruise a year ago, and they're the only affordable way to see Scandinavia and St. Petersburg--another trip of a lifetime. That region is deadly expensive if you traveled on the ground.

We took a Baltic cruise a year ago, and they're the only affordable
way to see Scandinavia and St. Petersburg--another trip of a lifetime.
That region is deadly expensive if you traveled on the ground.

David, I will concede that point. These locations are indeed breathtakingly expensive to do independently on the ground...which is one reason they haven't been top of our list. Ouch.

Since you have been to Italy many times I would consider the cruise as an addition to your land stay if possible. We just returned from a similar cruise excluding Turkey and loved Greece. If you do a little research you can plan your own days in Port with out the high price of cruise ship excursions. We have been to Italy many times too and still find it hard to decide on
only land or land/sea. For us the best in our 3 weeks was taking the cruise in middle. Again that's just us, next year we're doing Sicily, no cruise, you can tell we love it all.

If potentially being tired and the cost of the trip are the key issues, why not just scale back or reconfigure your destinations so they are closer together and drop the car idea altogether? You can have an affordable land trip if you have the inclination to make some trade-offs...it doesn't have to be a choice between your current plan and a cruise - there is a lot of "in between" as well (or you can go to Sicily or Malta...much smaller and more relaxing, just one example). It doesn't seem like you're wedded to the cities you outlined since you're open to whatever ports the cruise offers in its package...so give your chosen cities some thought and work out something that's more doable before you give up on the land option altogether.

How many nights for the cruise? Any overnight ports?

One consideration...Med cruises are generally port intensive=not so relaxing as there are few relaxing days at sea. With short time in each port most folks feel obligated to get up and going early (most excursions leave early as well) thus cutting into the relaxing time as well. If you choose you can not take excursions and just tour on your own at your own pace but this generally means seeing less of the port.

I am on the same page as others...ditch the car...take the train. So much easier, especially for the locations you are visiting.

In addition to having done land travel in Europe many times, we've taken many cruises. Including one with an itinerary almost exactly like the one you describe. As you have gathered by now, there are many different opinions about which is "better". In your case, just consider your particular circumstances. If saving on the cost and having a relaxing holiday is high on your list of desires, then go for it. There will definitely be time for relaxing. No, you will not have as much time in port as one who stays for several days. However, on our port calls in Mykonos, Santorini, Athens, Turkey, Sicily, and Naples there was definitely time enough to see and do what we wanted. On a slightly different note, some will say the excursions offered through the ship are expensive. And they are somewhat more costly than one can do alone. But, if you are on a ship excursion and there is a delay returning to the ship, the ship will wait. Not so if you are on a private tour. And the traffic, which is the usual reason for the delay, can become impossible for the smallest reason. We've seen people literally left at the dock on a number of occasions.

My husband and I (similar to you... he is a "young" 66, and I'm 55), used to be "anti-cruise" and did all our travelling on our own. There is a great deal of satisfaction in figuring it all out for yourselves, and being independent.

We went on our first cruise 4 years ago, and in October we will be doing our 7th cruise (3rd in the Mediterranean, all with Celebrity Cruises). I didn't LOVE my first one, but it piqued my interest, and there was a lot of "next time, I would do such and such". A wise friend said to me once -- and I've repeated it to others often -- that a cruise can be whatever you want it to be. As active/or relaxing -- as scheduled/as unscheduled, as social/as private as you want it to be. And, you only unpack once. :-)

We usually go a few days early, so we get to do the independent, day/night life thing. In October we start in Venice (will be there 4 nights prior to 11-night cruise), and ends in Athens (will be staying 2 more nights).

With regard to excursions -- we have NEVER taken a ship excursion. We do our research and either head out on our own (using public transportation), or we have booked private tours. Usually, we keep our costs low, and enjoy that "doing it on our own" satisfaction by doing just that. Of course, we use all the Rick Steves material, and utilized his wonderful audio tours.
Our first Med cruise was exhausting -- very port-intensive, so now we select ones with an eye to better balance our down time (and mornings to sleep in a bit!) with our active port days.

The one thing I've come to learn is... ALL styles/methods of travel have their pros and cons. What you might gain one way, you lose in another. Five years ago I'd have rolled my eyes at the idea of a cruise. Just keep travelling, and try it all!

BTW... we also ONLY travel with carry-on -- the Rick Steves way! We haven't checked a bag since 1998. And, (I think) we always look nice and appropriately dressed.

Cheers!
Vivian (& Bryce)
Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Rick Steves' fans are typically not cruise fans. I balance both land and cruise trips and find that cruises have given me an opportunity to travel with less stress and to see some places I may not have chosen to visit if left to my own wisdom. I'm so happy I did.

There are many advantages, the first being the economy. We took a 14 day transatlantic cruise and stopped at Madiera (Funchal) Cartagena, Malaga and ending in Barcelona. The cost was $600 with taxes and fees- (food, cabin, entertainment, etc.). Then we venture off on land using air travel and rental cars. I have never taken a pure Baltic or Mediterranean cruise, but have been in those regions three times on a cruise ship.

So, you can do both very easily, if you have the time. I love that I can fully unpack the luggage and that we have a home base for a while. Not toting luggage is a huge benefit, especially when you are a bit older and past the backpacking years...

We did something like what you are proposing with our debarkation in Rome. We spent several days there first and it was absolutely wonderful! It sounds like you will get the benefits of both worlds. BTW- my favorite day in Rome was a day tour to the countryside to see the catacombs, the Appian Way and the aqueducts.

Both Pisa and Lucca (frequent cruise destinations) are near the coast, but your ship won't be in a place where you can "walk into town". Rome and the Amalfi Coast are poor cruise destinations, a statement I make having visited both, both with a cruise involved and as independent land travel. Local transportation on the Amalfi Coast is tough enough that you can only do one, or one and a half things during the cruise stop. So you'll miss most of the high spots, if you define them as "Sorrento, Capri, Positano, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Vesuvius, Naples, Paestum".

The Rome cruise port is famously, over an hour from Rome! And Rome is a wonderful city to sit in for days and days, strolling and enjoying things with no need of a guide or car. For various travel reasons, we've been to Rome three times, and we haven't seen everything yet.

I would suggest that your view of European travel has been skewed by those (rural?) family visits. You don't reveal your home in your Rick Steves profile, but I'd guess it's a car-dominated American area. Some parts of Italy, like, say, Tuscany, are better seen by car. But many places, including modest-sized cities, are easily seen by train. That certainly applies to all of those in your OP's list of Italian destinations.

Edit: Do you already know what a "ZTL" is?

A lot of your decision has to be based on personal preference.

I personally enjoy cruising and like the lazy days at sea to relax. But, some ports do not lend themselves to a cruise - e.g. Athens, Rome, since the ports are so far from the cruise port. We took a cruise that stopped at Mykonos and Santorini and thoroughly enjoyed both, but I am sure you do miss out by not being there overnight. But, you'll have been there. Remember that when you take a cruise, you need to be on board 1/2 hour before the departure time, and if you are on your own (which we have always been), you spend half the time 'worrying' that you won't make it back to the ship on time. That being said, there are some ports where the few hours are more than enough and it's certainly easier to get to those ports via a cruise than via land on some other tour.

I've rented a car in Italy twice now, and it's great to drive around the countryside, but it is not worth having in larger cities. If you are ok taking the train, that's very convenient too.

Check with the cruise lines - I didn't think any of them were stopping in Turkey at the moment because of the unrest. I can't believe a cruise would be stopping in Istanbul, but maybe it's stopping in Ephesus. Cruise lines can change the itinerary at the last minute for safety (weather-related or unrest-related). We took a cruise a number of years ago that was supposed to go to Alexandria Egypt, but went to Istanbul instead. We had booked close to the sailing date, so we knew we were going to Istanbul, but many on the ship were surprised. We've also been on a cruise that skipped a port because of a dock strike, and also shortened a port stay to leave before bad weather arrived. You need to be ok with changes. Not that it happens all that often, but it does happen.

As for tipping on the cruise ships, many are offering pre-paid gratuities, which is a great savings. Figure at least $12-13 per day per person for tips.

I vote for taking the cruise realizing potential pitfalls. We are taking a cruise this fall going to lots of ports we've never been to before, so we're excited to go, but disappointed that there are no days at sea. People either love or hate cruising.

You might want to review this discussion. Although the title is river cruising, many of the comments would apply to your question.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/river-cruising-dbc7e681-fc61-4f6f-9e7c-9c787052efa0#bottom

"When you work out how much you pay per night and how many places you see, cruising just doesn't give enough bang for the buck unless you really enjoy the shipboard experience."
I couldn't agree more with that statement. The water is going to look pretty much the same whether you're in the Atlantic, Pacific, or Indian Ocean...and you are, after all, going to be spending most of your time at sea. We found European port visits to be rushed, superficial, hit-and-run experiences and that the novelty of being aboard ship wore off quickly. Cruises became mind-numbing experiences for us - we've decided that we much prefer to go by land.
Then again, that's just us. As others have opined, cruising is a matter of individual preference. You may find that you love it, and probably ought to give it a go to decide first hand whether it's for you.
Safe travels.

Cruising the Med is a far different experience than the Caribbean - we love cruising the Caribbean - we are going on #12 in October and have #13 booked - a transatlantic - our way home after our next Europe vacation - 15 glorious nights & lovely sea days - with stops in Boston, overnight in NYC & Bermuda and a stop in Nassau where we will stay on the boat! TA's are really relaxing - love those sea days!

Couldn't disagree more about bang for the buck. I've never taken a cruise ( we are not discussing river cruises) that worked out to more than $90-$100 a day. You don't have to book a suite or a pricier balcony stateroom.
I am looking forward to retirement so I can take one of the transAtlantic repositioning cruises. 14 days from FL to Spain or Copenhagen with stops in the Canaries or Azores for about $50 a day. Spending long days reading on the deck, meals when and what I want with no effort on my part, no packing and unpacking. I find this totally relaxing and too good of a bargain to pass up.

Wow! I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to give such wonderful insight and sharing their cruise experiences with me. The decision has been made! We are sticking to the original plan and driving around Italy at our leisure! My husband is Italian and seems to think he is an F1 driver and can not and will not be without a car. Oh dear!! So the adventure begins!! Thanks again for your input.

Sound like OP made a decision but I can't help chiming in. My wife and I have been to Europe around fifteen times, not counting business trips only vacations. Twice was on a cruise, Lisbon to Venice in 1999 on our honeymoon and RT out of Athens in 2011. If you can get a good price it can be an excellent value. The lack of ability to linger in a place is a major downside, but you can see a lot of places in a short time frame that are hard to get to, or that are especially expensive. Our 2011 trip visited Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Split, Crete, Kotor, Montenegro, two nights in Venice, Corfu (not in that order)—you get the idea. Our 1999 trip included Tunisia. Morocco, Malta, Palermo, Sardinia, just a lot of places we probably would never have gotten to. You can also book a trip a lot more easily if you are traveling on short notice due to some unexpected time off (I spend months planning my land itineraries). A cruise helps to balance when two members of a couple have different energy levels, which we do. Sometimes my wife will head back early from a port while I continue to run around. She gets a nap in and we're both happy. So while it's not my preferred mode of travel, it's a legitimate choice for certain people, at certain times, who wish to visit certain places. Also you can easily look online to determine which ports are far from town, which ones you may be nearly forced into a paid excursion. We very rarely take paid excursions. They have been really rasing the prices in recent years so it pays to be selective and do your homework about when it's really necessary. Also be aware when they say Rome (Civitavecchia), London (Harwich), or Seville (Cadiz) that you are not close to those cities which are located inland. Personally we gravitate toward iteineraries that factor this in and visit places where an expensive one or two hour bus ride is not necessary to get to the place you really want to go. All of this said, I really prefer traveling on land and on the train rather than with a rental car.

I saw that your decision was made, but I'll throw my .02€ in anyway.

We have taken some 15-18 cruises, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska and Transatlantic. Though we enjoyed most of them, our interest is now more in independent travel. That said, cruising has some definite advantages.

We used cruising as a "buffet" from which to pick places we wanted to visit independently later on. We usually did not have more than a couple of weeks vacation time per year, and cruising allowed us to get to many places we never would have seen otherwise. One of our favorites was an Eastern Mediterranean itinerary very similar to the one you were considering. On other cruises (especially Caribbean), the highlight for me was simply hanging out on the deck and relaxing while 90% of the other passengers were ashore. And it's very nice to see a number of different places without having to pack and unpack every day.

One trip that stands out in our minds was the six-day transatlantic trip from Southampton to New York on the Queen Mary 2. There is quite a difference between a stout ocean liner like QM2 and cruise ships that have to run for the nearest port in rough weather; and North Atlantic weather dictates that most activity is indoors. There were lectures by Oxford professors; drama workshops with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts; celebrity interviews; an excellent library and even a planetarium onboard. Plus there was the taste of history, how transatlantic travel used to be.

Base prices for cruise tickets are very reasonable. Remember that cruise lines make the big profits from onboard booze and gambling, elaborate shore excursions, and kickbacks from their dockside merchant "partners". If you can resist those heavily-marketed temptations, cruising can return excellent value for your travel money.