European Cruise Recommendations & travel agent reco

DH and I are starting to plan our 1 year anniversary

Since our anniversary is in September, we face lots of limits regarding where we can go.

I really want to go to Europe and I think a cruise is a great way to see different countries. We're thinking of a Mediteranean cruise (so we can see Greece, Italy etc.)

Does anyone recommend any particular cruise lines (I heard Royal Caribbean is very good) or possibly some travel agents?

Thanks in advance!

My mom and my best friend swear that Princess is the best cruise line ever. DH and I are going on our honeymoon cruise with Princess in May so I can't confirm their claims.

Call Marianne at CruiseEra - 201-433-4433 x127

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Posted by kirstenjk

My mom and my best friend swear that Princess is the best cruise line ever. DH and I are going on our honeymoon cruise with Princess in May so I can't confirm their claims.

Call Marianne at CruiseEra - 201-433-4433 x127

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Thank you!

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Posted by futuremrsfab

we did a carnival cruise through italy and it was phenominal! we are doing princess next june. my travel agent is my aunt- she does it as a side job, so since she's not in it for the money- she always gets me a great deal- I will fm you her info if you want

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Aww, thanks Marybeth. We've never cruised before. How is it?

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Posted by NapaValleyGirl

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Posted by futuremrsfab

we did a carnival cruise through italy and it was phenominal! we are doing princess next june. my travel agent is my aunt- she does it as a side job, so since she's not in it for the money- she always gets me a great deal- I will fm you her info if you want

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Aww, thanks Marybeth. We've never cruised before. How is it?

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I absolutely love it and find it the best way to travel- you get to see so much- but its at such a relaxed pace- we used to do europe on a bus trip and it was awful- get up at 7 every morning, repack & drive 4-6 hours to the next stop- on the cruise, you go to sleep in venice & wake up in sorrento- so nice! plus the service on the all european lines is really tops! i can not reccomend it higher! definately do the shore trips- they are expensive but they really take you to spots and show you things you wouldnt see on your own

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Posted by MnM182008

I have to recommend Princess as well. We have been on a few princess cruises and loved them. We didn't do a European cruise yet. Some of our best friend did a Mediterranean cruise last year on Princess and raved about it.

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I'm definitely going to look into the Princess! Thank you!

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Posted by futuremrsfab

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Posted by NapaValleyGirl

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Posted by futuremrsfab

we did a carnival cruise through italy and it was phenominal! we are doing princess next june. my travel agent is my aunt- she does it as a side job, so since she's not in it for the money- she always gets me a great deal- I will fm you her info if you want

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Aww, thanks Marybeth. We've never cruised before. How is it?

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I absolutely love it and find it the best way to travel- you get to see so much- but its at such a relaxed pace- we used to do europe on a bus trip and it was awful- get up at 7 every morning, repack & drive 4-6 hours to the next stop- on the cruise, you go to sleep in venice & wake up in sorrento- so nice! plus the service on the all european lines is really tops! i can not reccomend it higher! definately do the shore trips- they are expensive but they really take you to spots and show you things you wouldnt see on your own

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That sounds wonderful!!! I'm starting to get excited. I've been recommending things to DH and this is the first thing he's actually shown interest in!

Hey Cindy...that sounds like a wonderful idea! I have been to 2 Greek Islands and LOVED them! I want to go back so bad!

My friends mom is a travel agent and has been booking my family's vacation for like 15 years. I will FM you her info! She is great!

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Posted by Jenn04

Hey Cindy...that sounds like a wonderful idea! I have been to 2 Greek Islands and LOVED them! I want to go back so bad!

My friends mom is a travel agent and has been booking my family's vacation for like 15 years. I will FM you her info! She is great!

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I know, I'm really excited. September is a tough month because of the hurricanes, rainy season etc! We already went to Hawaii for our HM so we want to do something different.

I want to do Mediteranean because we've already been to Spain and I've been to France for work 4x already. I've been itching to go to Greece!!!

i did this for my HM wench. were you going to ask me??

so mine was great but i'm not sure I recommend it because it's an Italian cruise line and a lot of people didn't speak english. Which i didn't care about b/c i don't tend to make friends on vacation, but if i did it again I wouldn't do that line (Costa). However, my co-worker is doing a Celebrity for his HM in late August and their ship is called the Solstice and looks/sounds AMAZING.

only thing is you are slightly limited with the med cruises - I picked Costa b/c we only want a week and a lot of them are 14 days. I think if you can do 9 or 10 days it opens up your options. At the time it was Costa and Royal Caribbean who did 7 days.

I wanted the same - mine went to a bunch of places in Greece (Rhodes , Santorini, Mykonos, Olympia, and one other), Croatia , and a few parts in Italy.

We can discuss more next week. Vacation is my most favorite thing EVER.

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Posted by snwb08

i did this for my HM wench. were you going to ask me??

so mine was great but i'm not sure I recommend it because it's an Italian cruise line and a lot of people didn't speak english. Which i didn't care about b/c i don't tend to make friends on vacation, but if i did it again I wouldn't do that line (Costa). However, my co-worker is doing a Celebrity for his HM in late August and their ship is called the Solstice and looks/sounds AMAZING.

only thing is you are slightly limited with the med cruises - I picked Costa b/c we only want a week and a lot of them are 14 days. I think if you can do 9 or 10 days it opens up your options. At the time it was Costa and Royal Caribbean who did 7 days.

I wanted the same - mine went to a bunch of places in Greece (Rhodes , Santorini, Mykonos, Olympia, and one other), Croatia , and a few parts in Italy.

We can discuss more next week. Vacation is my most favorite thing EVER.

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Oh you KNOW I was gonna ask you sister!!!!

This is the only thing that Adam was excited about and I actually caught him looking at packages online! Usually, he's indifferent and like 'eeeeh, we need to save for a '

There's a Royal Caribbean cruise that leaves the day of our actual anniversary! It leaves from Rome and goes to Turkey, Greece and Croatia I think. 7 days! Whoo hoo.

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Posted by snwb08

if ANY of them do Greece and either Sicily or the Amalfi Coast, I would jump on that one. the amalfi coast is AMAZINGLY gorgeous, especially that time of year, and so is Sicily. My co-worker's stops in Taormina Sicily - but I think his is a 14 day one; not sure if you are planning to go for that long.

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Of course I'm looking at the Seabourne cruises and they are But they go to AMAZING places and it's also a 7 day. It's more than double the Royal Caribbean Cruise though.

I'm going to be the voice of reason and say the RC one is probably perfect. and flights have come down a lot. when i went it was $1600 for coach.

Seaborne would probably be amazing, but maybe after the is bought... we can do a joint cruise for our 5-year anniversaries!

duh, I meant we can, not can't.

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Posted by snwb08

I'm going to be the voice of reason and say the RC one is probably perfect. and flights have come down a lot. when i went it was $1600 for coach.

Seaborne would probably be amazing, but maybe after the is bought... we can't do a joint cruise for our 5-year anniversaries!

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You're so wise I know, I have champagne taste on a beer budget It's nice to dream though, right?

Yes, a 5 year anniversary trip would be

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Posted by NapaValleyGirl

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Posted by snwb08

I'm going to be the voice of reason and say the RC one is probably perfect. and flights have come down a lot. when i went it was $1600 for coach.

Seaborne would probably be amazing, but maybe after the is bought... we can't do a joint cruise for our 5-year anniversaries!

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You're so wise I know, I have champagne taste on a beer budget It's nice to dream though, right?

Yes, a 5 year anniversary trip would be

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don't tell me about champagne taste; I'm the one who rebooked mexico to save $800 and ended up paying $50 MORE to upgrade us to the nicer resort because it was cheaper than it was in November when I booked. I think I have a vacation sickness.

Cindy!!!!! Sorry to bump this...I was looking for a recipe I had posted and searched the work 'italian' and this came up! LOL!

Anyway have you done any more research? DH and I are thinking about an Italy trip in 2010 and so I have been doing some research on cruises but couldnt find a cruise that only went to Italy :(

We may end up going by train so we can stay longer in certain towns but I am curious to see if you came up with anything?

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Posted by Jenn04

Cindy!!!!! Sorry to bump this...I was looking for a recipe I had posted and searched the work 'italian' and this came up! LOL!

Anyway have you done any more research? DH and I are thinking about an Italy trip in 2010 and so I have been doing some research on cruises but couldnt find a cruise that only went to Italy :(

We may end up going by train so we can stay longer in certain towns but I am curious to see if you came up with anything?

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Hey girly,

We booked a trip to Mexico instead
But I did find some GREAT packages on Air France to tour Italy. This is a package that starts at about $1,500 per person.'

Enjoy the history of Rome, the art of Florence and the uniqueness of Venice all in one fabulous package. Every direction you turn in Rome you will run into evidence of the Roman Empire; the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon all still standing. Amidst all of the ancient monuments is a bustling city full of taxis, buses and motor scooters. Move on to Florence, where you will find a more relaxed pace to life, with just as much to see as in Rome. Tour the many art galleries and museums, Florence is home to many great works including the Statue of David and Madonna and Child. Throw away the map once in Venice; getting lost is the best way to explore the city. Wander the many bridges and walkways until you stumble across Piazza San Marco or the Rialto Bridge. Take a romantic gondola ride through the scenic canals of Venice to top of your Italian adventure.
Package Includes
Round-trip airfare on Air France
2-night hotel accommodations in Rome
2-night hotel accommodations in Florence
2-night hotel accommodations in Venice
2nd class reserved rail between cities
Continental breakfast daily
Hotel taxes and service charges
Airline fuel surcharges
(Package price excludes airport taxes and fees)