Europe Cruises

[Hubie]

I can't help you much concerning Mediterranean cruises. I've done land trips throughout the Alps including the Dolomites in Italy while on climbing and hiking trips but have only gone on DCL's cruises to Northern Europe and Norway. All were on the Magic. We even repeated the Northern Europe cruise because there is just so much to see and do in all of the ports DCL visited at that time. Norway though was also great. All three cruises left and returned to Copenhagen which is a fabulous city to explore by itself either before and/or after your cruise. I have two reports on the Northern European cruises if you care to read them:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...day-6-11-2017-northern-europe-cruise.3687237/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/a...y-northern-european-cruise-completed.3706620/

 

[tidefan]

We have done 2 DCL cruises in Europe, a 7-night Norwegian Fjords from Dover and a 9-night Greek Isles from Civitavecchia. Both were outstanding and I would do them again in a heartbeat.

That said, last May we did a 12-night British Isles cruise on Regal Princess and that may have been one of our favorite trips that we have taken, right up there with our Disney and Virgin cruises. We enjoyed it so much so that we will be going on Princess again next May, out of Southampton. That cruise has a great itinerary that goes to Rotterdam, Bruges, Oslo, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Aarhus, Hamburg, and LeHavre.

 

[auntlynne]

I had fun building an itinerary based on various things mentioned so far. I do tend to mix limiting budget and spending more, depending on factors more than luxury. Flying within Europe often entails limiting the weight of your luggage, so I am recommending the train in two places. It also allows you to see more of the countries.

I am building this around a 7-N cruise in Royal’s Allure OTS

Fri May 23 - overnight flight USA to Barcelona

Sat May 24 - arrive Barcelona in morning; light sightseeing, Hotel

Sun May 25 - board Allure of the Seas

Cruise Sun - Sun

Sun June 1 - Travel Day. Train or plane to Disneyland Paris. H: pick a Disney property

June 2 & 3 - Disneyland Paris

June 4 - train from DLP to London (1 train change) Eurostar segment from Lille to St Pancras

Arrive London Hotel for length of time here. Our family is happy with Premiere Inn when in UK. I have also stayed at Hilton Tower Bridge and the Atheneum.

We have enjoyed visiting Windsor and Legoland Windsor in addition to historical sites in London. If you enjoy theater, London’s West End has more affordable tickets to expensive Broadway offerings.



The cruise price for 2 balcony cabins (2 + 3 guests) is under $8K.

I did London > Paris (flying Heathrow to Charles de Galle), then ~12 min train to DLP (Marne- la-Vallée - Chessy). You arrive right at DLP. After DLP, I flew from CDG to Barcelona to board a cruise.

You don’t need a car for the DLP segment. I stayed at a non-affiliated hotel that had shuttle service.

If you want to see Paris, you could do a day trip from DLP. Just add a day. Don’t need to move hotels if you choose not to. I enjoyed the one day to go up the Eiffel Tower and see a bit of Paris.

If using Eurostar train for DLP > London, the direct service no longer exists. You can take a train to Lille or Gare du Nord (Paris) and then board Eurostar.
(I also did London > DLP > London on Eurostar when it was an option.)

UK observes the Second May Bank Holiday when we have Memorial Day. May 26, 2025.

 

[auntlynne]

I consider a short time frame and a wish to see a variety of places to be a sampler, hitting a few of the highlights.

For example, our port day to access Rome, we just visited the famous sites but not The Vatican. Coliseum, Forum, various fountains, lunch…

This would be a great place to get a personal tour that picks you up at the port and drives you around Rome. (We did the train, subway, and our feet. But it was just two of us - and I was the slow one, not a kid in tow).

La Spezia - we took the train to Pisa. Combined with Lucca, it could be a nice day with a kid in tow. DCL or ABD described this combo with kids in mind.

Naples - unless your kid is interested in Pompeii already, this might be a chance to go to Capri, Amalfi Coast, Positano.

You can get a variety of Italy with these three ports.

 

[Rich M]

I had fun building an itinerary based on various things mentioned so far. I do tend to mix limiting budget and spending more, depending on factors more than luxury. Flying within Europe often entails limiting the weight of your luggage, so I am recommending the train in two places. It also allows you to see more of the countries.

I am building this around a 7-N cruise in Royal’s Allure OTS

Fri May 23 - overnight flight USA to Barcelona

Sat May 24 - arrive Barcelona in morning; light sightseeing, Hotel

Sun May 25 - board Allure of the Seas

Cruise Sun - Sun

Sun June 1 - Travel Day. Train or plane to Disneyland Paris. H: pick a Disney property

June 2 & 3 - Disneyland Paris

June 4 - train from DLP to London (1 train change) Eurostar segment from Lille to St Pancras

Arrive London Hotel for length of time here. Our family is happy with Premiere Inn when in UK. I have also stayed at Hilton Tower Bridge and the Atheneum.

We have enjoyed visiting Windsor and Legoland Windsor in addition to historical sites in London. If you enjoy theater, London’s West End has more affordable tickets to expensive Broadway offerings.


View attachment 864236
The cruise price for 2 balcony cabins (2 + 3 guests) is under $8K.

I did London > Paris (flying Heathrow to Charles de Galle), then ~12 min train to DLP (Marne- la-Vallée - Chessy). You arrive right at DLP. After DLP, I flew from CDG to Barcelona to board a cruise.

You don’t need a car for the DLP segment. I stayed at a non-affiliated hotel that had shuttle service.

If you want to see Paris, you could do a day trip from DLP. Just add a day. Don’t need to move hotels if you choose not to. I enjoyed the one day to go up the Eiffel Tower and see a bit of Paris.

If using Eurostar train for DLP > London, the direct service no longer exists. You can take a train to Lille or Gare du Nord (Paris) and then board Eurostar.
(I also did London > DLP > London on Eurostar when it was an option.)

UK observes the Second May Bank Holiday when we have Memorial Day. May 26, 2025.

This is so great. Thank you so much

 

[DisneyPiPhi]

We love DCL but we've chosen a different cruise line to create a more port-intensive experience for a Greek cruise later this year. Certainly the DCL premium in Europe is very high, which is definitely a factor, but we also liked the daily port visits (no sea days) and long days in port (until Midnight or later) on another, smaller ship cruise line.

 

[kiford]

We've done three: two Med (10-day, 11-day) and one Baltic (12-day). We were two adults, no children. We loved them. Is it worth the extra cost? I can't answer that for you; only you can as that's a personal value question. For us, it was. I want at least 10 days, preferably at least 12 - I'm not flying out to Europe for a 7-day cruise. It's largely how we decide if we want to spend more time in that area or port. We keep looking at other cruise lines because of the itineraries in Europe that DCL doesn't do or doesn't do for long enough, but there are only a few that we'd consider. We've hesitated to go with another one because, regardless of whether it's DCL or another line, it's going to be relatively expensive, and if I'm going to spend a lot of money, I'd rather go with a line that I'm very confident I'll be happy with. To me, a 10-12 day cruise isn't the time to experiment.

The first Med cruise we went on was one of the first that DCL did for 10 days. It was basically one day at sea, 6 or 7 ports back-to-back and then one day at sea. It was wonderful but totally exhausting. Because you're so far from the historical sites or the cities, you have to be up very early. If I'm only there for a day, I'm going to go for as long of an excursion as I can to see as much as I can so after the first couple of days I could barely remember where we were or what we did yesterday. We did the next Med cruise three years later, and they'd learned a bit. One or two port days, then a day at sea, then a couple of more days - much more enjoyable. Fortunately, most of the sights at the ports on the Baltic cruise were closer, so excursions started later in the morning, and you could be back at your ship by late afternoon. That cruise was definitely much more leisurely.

I know many have said that since you're using the ship almost like a hotel and not using all of its amenities, it doesn't really matter what ship you're on or what it's like, but I disagree. If I'm going to be out all day, tired when I return, and I've spent a bucket of money to get to Europe and take the cruise, I don't want to ruin it at the end of the day by staying on a ship where I'm not happy with what I'm getting, or it's not really to my taste. While we didn't spend a lot of time on the ship, we made the most of the time we had. We really enjoyed the dining as they had a number of nights of specialized menus to match where we were at the time. We spent time in the Cove Cafe when we had leisure time. We chilled in our room and sat on the verandah, occasionally watching movies on the TV. We went to all of the talks about the upcoming port and its history. Knowing that I was coming back to a ship that I liked (Magic) after a long day was of great importance to me. We also booked all of our excursions and pre- and post-cruise hotels through DCL, and I trust them to properly vet and stand behind their choices. Again, to me, a 10-12 day cruise isn't the time to experiment.

 

[mousefan73]

Thank you so much for all that helpful information and thoughts. Italy is the biggest dream of mine and we are thinking the cruise needs to hit as much of Italy as we can. We then plan to go to Paris (Have to go to Disney) and England. I would like to see as many countries as we can. I will be taking my 8 (will be 9 at the time) grandson so was thinking Disney might be a good option for him and as a huge Disney fan was thinking I should give it a try but we really like RC also and had good experiences with them.

If Italy is your biggest dream, then I suggest you do Italy as a land tour. Because to be honest doing Italy via Cruise is the most exhausting thing you couldn’t pay me to do it again. Ports are so far away from anything. I would recommend that you find a cruise that starts in Rome.( which is actually civitvecchia) a good hour and a half from the city. So flying to Rome or anywhere in Italy work your way down and then get on the sailing and do the rest of Europe around the med.

 

[RACHEL_GB]

Lots of good advice here - I am right now sitting on the RC Oasis in the port of Naples, it’s our first non DCL cruise and we’ve really enjoyed it. We've done the DCL Med round trip before and it was too expensive for us this time and we thought a good opportunity to try a different line. It’s just me and my 13yo so can’t comment on the kids clubs (he isn’t interested) but they look good, we have just done the casual dining options and I think they are on a par if not better than Cabanas. We are missing some of the Disney entertainment, I’m not a big drinker and I’m here as a solo parent so the bars and casino etc aren’t for me. I think if the cost differential wasn’t that much I’d go DCL because I think the kids will have a much more immersive experience but having seen some of the prices I suspect for a party of your size that RC or similar would offer you much better value. It’s wonderful to see Italy either way. I would start in Civitavecchia as Mousefan73 days if you want to see Rome - we were late ish starting off yesterday but the train station at Civitavecchia was chaos (as were the shuttles), the trains were sold out so we got about 5 hours in Rome which is no way enough. That was with only 4 ships in port, I’ve seen 9 before. It was great to have a taste of it and I’d definitely like to go back.

 

[jujubiee4]

Currently in Spain the last 4 days waiting to board the Disney 9 night Med. Been on DCL Europe
before and I didn't find the price difference worth it. Frankly because after touring all day and then
mostly eating local cuisine we skipped almost all dinners at MDR. And too exhausted to see most shows.

The only reason we are going on this one is because graduating daughter chose it. I have to admit though
if ship wasn't departing from Barcelona I never would have visited and the whole family loves it. DH wants
to come back and just do Spain land tour. But again we are exhausted from touring all day. DD though can
barely sit still. She is beyond excited to be going and keeps hugging us and saying thank you. So in that respect yes it is very much worth it.

 

[brentm77]

We're heading on an Italy/Greece cruise on the Epic in a few weeks! Can't wait!

We did a DCL Med cruise back in 2007 and loved it. Recently, I don't think Disney is offering the best itineraries in Europe AND they're charging an insane amount. If they had the ports I wanted for a smaller premium, I would pick Disney. But as others have said, you're spending most of your time on land in port and the ship is less important. With the current itineraries and prices, we are going with another line for this summer.

We loved our Disney Med cruise, and thought the premium was well worth it at the time. It turned out to be an amazing trip. You spend much more time on the ship than people realize, even on the most port-intensive cruises. We loved seeing cool new places, while coming back to a product we love. It was one of those situations where when other ships were in port, I was glad I was going back to the DCL one.

However, I 100% agree that the itinerary two years ago was much better than current offerings in the Med. I personally wouldn't pay the premium for the current itineraries if I was sailing the Med. If I had my choice between comparable lines to DCL, it would come down to itinerary right now and DCL wouldn't win. There are newer ships, with comparable lines, that have much better itineraries for less money. (I haven't paid attention to the DCL itineraries in other parts of Europe)

I also wouldn't pick any cruise where Rome was only a port day. Rome is too far form the port, and really needs to be experienced for more than a few hours. In my opinion, there is no place in the world like Rome at night. So I would either pick a cruise leaving/ending there, or one that bypasses it entirely and hit it up on another trip. Florence looks iffy as a port day too, but wouldn't mind it if the rest of the itinerary rocked.

Edit: DCL also gives you less port time than most lines I have looked at. So take that into consideration if you like long port days.

 

[brentm77]

Currently in Spain the last 4 days waiting to board the Disney 9 night Med. Been on DCL Europe
before and I didn't find the price difference worth it. Frankly because after touring all day and then
mostly eating local cuisine we skipped almost all dinners at MDR. And too exhausted to see most shows.

The only reason we are going on this one is because graduating daughter chose it. I have to admit though
if ship wasn't departing from Barcelona I never would have visited and the whole family loves it. DH wants
to come back and just do Spain land tour. But again we are exhausted from touring all day. DD though can
barely sit still. She is beyond excited to be going and keeps hugging us and saying thank you. So in that respect yes it is very much worth it.

Have fun! That's how we ended up on our Med cruise, leaving from Rome - daughter's graduation trip. Turned out amazing.

We were supposed to be head for Barcelona, followed by a Celebrity cruise, next week, but life had other plans. I hope to be there next year!

 

[mousefan73]

Edit: DCL also gives you less port time than most lines I have looked at. So take that into consideration if you like long port days.

i’m on virgin right now doing the Adriatic gem sailing that’s part Grease part Croatia. And I noticed that our departures are much later than Disney’s. And we love it. I can go out a bit with my mom first half of the day then drop her off so she can rest and go back out. We usually leave port around 830 Dubrovnik was actually 10 PM.

I think Disney really wants people on their evening schedule where you have people in the MDR starting at around 5:45. They don’t really have any other options. Here we can book dinner from 5:45 to 10 PM in 15 minutes slots And all the restaurants. They stress restaurants considered are not like a main dining room concept but much better.

 

[LAS2AMS]

i’m on virgin right now doing the Adriatic gem sailing that’s part Grease part Croatia. And I noticed that our departures are much later than Disney’s. And we love it. I can go out a bit with my mom first half of the day then drop her off so she can rest and go back out. We usually leave port around 830 Dubrovnik was actually 10 PM.

I think Disney really wants people on their evening schedule where you have people in the MDR starting at around 5:45. They don’t really have any other options. Here we can book dinner from 5:45 to 10 PM in 15 minutes slots And all the restaurants. They stress restaurants considered are not like a main dining room concept but much better.

Over the last 15-20 years, the cruise industry has moved way from late port nights. When they’re offered, they’re generally a selling point. It doesn’t have anything to do with dining - Disney could offer a late buffet, etc. When ships stayed in ports late, people generally got back on early for dinner and entertainment. Because the cruise line pays for the time it’s docked on port, it makes more sense to depart earlier.

 

[brentm77]

Over the last 15-20 years, the cruise industry has moved way from late port nights. When they’re offered, they’re generally a selling point. It doesn’t have anything to do with dining - Disney could offer a late buffet, etc. When ships stayed in ports late, people generally got back on early for dinner and entertainment. Because the cruise line pays for the time it’s docked on port, it makes more sense to depart earlier.

While this is true, it seems that whenever I compare cruises to similar destinations in Europe, DCL is often leaving port at least a couple of hours before their competitors. But I haven't looked this year. I just looked up their Alaska cruise and most of the port times a pretty late and comparable to what I am seeing for the Celebrity cruise we have booked. Where reasonable, I would love the option to spend the evening in more ports. But I can see why people would often come back to the ship early for free food and to rest.

 

[tidefan]

While this is true, it seems that whenever I compare cruises to similar destinations in Europe, DCL is often leaving port at least a couple of hours before their competitors. But I haven't looked this year. I just looked up their Alaska cruise and most of the port times a pretty late and comparable to what I am seeing for the Celebrity cruise we have booked. Where reasonable, I would love the option to spend the evening in more ports. But I can see why people would often come back to the ship early for free food and to rest.

I know that this doesn't help if you have kids, but Virgin Voyages actually overnights in Mykonos.

If you have kids, other lines still stay longer. While I am more of a Princess person but just to add on to what @brentm77 mentions about Celebrity (which is pretty similar), I checked the new Sun Princess itinerary this past week and it was in Mykonos until 9pm.

 

[LAS2AMS]

While this is true, it seems that whenever I compare cruises to similar destinations in Europe, DCL is often leaving port at least a couple of hours before their competitors. But I haven't looked this year. I just looked up their Alaska cruise and most of the port times a pretty late and comparable to what I am seeing for the Celebrity cruise we have booked. Where reasonable, I would love the option to spend the evening in more ports. But I can see why people would often come back to the ship early for free food and to rest.

Maybe not in Europe but there are itineraries where DCL leaves later than the competition. I’m not sure what the formula is, but I don’t think it relates to dining . On our most recent cruise, we had an 8PM late port night and I’d say at least half the dining room was empty.