Please bear with me. My wife and I have never been to europe and want to take a eastern med cruise. need advice on everything. From which cruise line to which ports all that. Thank you in advance

There are many fine choices for a Med cruise. You and your wife should sit down and talk with a Travel Agent who will qualify you, and make recommendations based on the type of experience you are looking for.

Well, instead of asking a travel agent who has never been there, I figured I would try to find somebody who has actual experience. Find out the things they loved, just stuff you can not get from a travel agent. So allthough a nice reply, not much help. I am looking for people who have been there and see what they really liked. Thanks in advance.

There are many ships cruising in the mediterranian. Last year we were on board MS Mediterranea from Venice to Istanbul and retour. The route ist Venice/Italy - Bari/Italy - Izmir /Turkey - Istanbul/Turkey - Olympia/Greece - Dubrovnik/Serb. - Venice.

And there ist the MSC Musica. The ship leaves Venice every saturday at 4 PM. Ports are Bari, Katakolon/Greece, Izmir, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Venice (8 AM). The link to msc-cruises:
www.msc-kreuzfahrten.de (german language)
The MSC Lirica is sailing from Genua/Italy to Naples/Italy, Piräus/Greece, Jalta, Odessa (Ukraine), Istanbul, Catania /Italy, Capri/Italy, Genua /12 days).

The MSC Melody : Genua-Civitavecchia (the port from Rome), Messina, Piräus, Rhodos/Greece, Limassol, Zypre, Heraklion/Greece-Kreta, Naples, Genua (12 days) and so fore.

Now take your globe an look for the destinys.
Have a lot of fun.
Best regards
Uwe

Thank you. I will get the globe out. Keep the insights coming. Any particular destinations anybody liked and for what reason would be appreciated

And, bcfisher, who's to say a travel agent you visit has not been there?

Last summer we did a Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Galaxy out of Citavecchia, the Port of Rome. It went to Naples, Mykonos, Santorini, Messina, Villefranche (for Nice and Monte Carlo) and Genoa, then back to Citavecchia. Our favourite ports were Mykonos and Santorini in the Greek Islands - absolutely fabulously pretty. Also Villefranche where we took a trip to Monte Carlo to see how the risch live! Messina in Sicily was also nice for the trip we took to the picturesque mountain village of Taormina. Naples was pretty in a big city sort of way (cities are not our thing) but Genoa was the pits, dirty and crumbling.

Galaxy like other Celebrity ships we have been on was a classy, spacious ship with good food and mixed entertainment. I did a readers review if you want to read more look in www.cruisereviews.com

hi keith- could you look at my questions I posted today and give your advice. Did you do Santorini and mykonos on your own or take organized cruises? thanks Kim

quote:

Originally posted by FloridaKeith:
Last summer we did a Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Galaxy out of Citavecchia, the Port of Rome. It went to Naples, Mykonos, Santorini, Messina, Villefranche (for Nice and Monte Carlo) and Genoa, then back to Citavecchia. Our favourite ports were Mykonos and Santorini in the Greek Islands - absolutely fabulously pretty. Also Villefranche where we took a trip to Monte Carlo to see how the risch live! Messina in Sicily was also nice for the trip we took to the picturesque mountain village of Taormina. Naples was pretty in a big city sort of way (cities are not our thing) but Genoa was the pits, dirty and crumbling.

Galaxy like other Celebrity ships we have been on was a classy, spacious ship with good food and mixed entertainment. I did a readers review if you want to read more look in www.cruisereviews.com

Last summer we did Princess' Grand Mediterranean Cruise, starting in Barcelona Spain, many stops in Italy and 2 stops each in Greece & Turkey. We did a full day tour in Istanbul and saw many things we would never see on our own. Kusadasi, Turkey, take the tour to the ruins of Ephesus. Everyone recommended that tour and we were very glad we took it. Spectacular. We also stopped at Mykonos, Greece. This is a small resort town with very narrow winding streets. It's a fun town to stroll through. Very picturesque. Athens is a big city that you go to to see the Acroppolis and other historic sites. In all the eastern mediterranean ports of call, we enjoyed every one.
I also recommend a good travel agent. Even if they haven't been on the cruise theyre recommending, they have talked to people who have been on that cruise and know what the people liked and didn't like.

I have done 2 Med cruises (the first with Thomson Cruise and the second one with MSC)and both were perfect.
With the 1st one we have been to Athenes, Santorin, Istanbul, Corfou and Gythion and with the second one we have been to Genoa, Naples,Egypt(Port Saïd),Santorin, Cyprus and Capri.

Istanbul is one of my favorite port of call with Myconos. You just have to see Istanbul from the sea. It's spectacular!!! And Myconos is probably one of the prettiest Greek Islands with its typical white houses and blue roofs.

quote:

Originally posted by bcfisher:
Please bear with me. My wife and I have never been to europe and want to take a eastern med cruise. need advice on everything. From which cruise line to which ports all that. Thank you in advance

Costa Cruise lines has a Western Mediterranean cruise that goes to Funchal,Madeira Island. I have not cruised on Costa but I have been to Funchal it's a Portuguese topical island. It's beauiful the people are friendly and the food is excellent. If you go to madeira island try the Black Espada which is also call black scabbard fish.

quote:

Originally posted by bcfisher:
Well, instead of asking a travel agent who has never been there, I figured I would try to find somebody who has actual experience. Find out the things they loved, just stuff you can not get from a travel agent. So allthough a nice reply, not much help. I am looking for people who have been there and see what they really liked. Thanks in advance.

bcfisher, while it may be true that an agent has not visited every port you are looking for, a good cruise agent continues their education concerning the ships and ports of call. Everyone can give you recommendations based on thier experiences, but a good cruise specialist agent will be able to qualify you based on your likes and dislikes and exactly what you are looking for as far as excursions. They also can tell you the differences in the ships some people love the Costa lines, others wouldnt step foot on it, some people are die hard Carnival fans, others wouldnt step foot near it. A good agent can help you sort out these areas and make sure that you have a great cruise.

Just my $.02