Europe first timers - is a cruise a good way to do it?

[DianaMB333]

Hi
2023 is the year that we have planned to go to Europe (initially France/Spain on sight); the travel party is a grandma, a couple, a girl 7 yrs old and me (aunt).

I have been to Europe before but the others haven’t… so I’m curious is the 9 nights cruise (France, Greece, Italy) starting in Barcelona, is a good way to visit the touristic spots in a relaxed way… or would it feel too rushed?

Thanks!

 

[Geomom]

I thought a cruise was a great first trip to Europe--we did a Baltic sea cruise from Copenhagen. My oldest daughter went to Germany at age 17 on a school trip, the rest of us had never been before. We arrived 3 days early and explored Copenhagen on our own, boarded the ship and enjoyed 'sampling' 4 more countries over the next week. It's great to just unpack on the ship and get transported to different places, and have the comfort of a familiar environment at night on the ship.

 

[princesscinderella]

I depends on how far the tourist excursion sites are from the port. We had 2 hour each way bus trips on our British isle cruise in some ports. It was nice unpacking once and not having to worry about transportation or arrangements. All I did was book the excursions.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Personally I think it's a great way to see Europe for the first time, but I may be biased as that is how my family and I saw Europe for the first time! We did the DCL transatlantic, and then a mediterranean cruise on MSC. I viewed it as a great way to get a taste of Europe. It is, however, somewhat rushed. You don't have much time in each port and a port like Rome (Civitavecchia) requires a drive into the city of at least an hour or so. It did give us an idea of where we would like to go in the future, plus my kids were fairly young and I wasn't sure I wanted to figure out all the logistics of several days in any particular city.

 

[Engineman02]

Has its positive points and negative. On the positive, you get to visit quite a few different cities/locations, usually in a number if different countries, in a short time, without having to worry about transportation between or where to stay. The bad is you only have a limited time to see the sites, and may have to choose what you do because of timing limitations. Also, found it is long days, with constant moving around while in port, so is exhausting during that time.

 

[Kennywood]

I once mentioned to someone about visiting Hawaii. She recommended a cruise because you would be able to see the highlights of the various islands. Then, if you saw something you really enjoyed, you could go there for a longer vacation.

I think the same principle would apply to visiting the various European countries.

 

[pjacobi]

Europe is a continent, not a group of small islands. How do you cruise the Alps?

-Paul

 

[Engineman02]

Europe is a continent, not a group of small islands. How do you cruise the Alps?

-Paul

They recently installed wheels on the ships. Only problem is the narrow roads.

 

[Kennywood]

Europe is a continent, not a group of small islands. How do you cruise the Alps?

-Paul

If I have to explain the difference between "Europe" (your post) and "European countries" (my post), I can't help you.

By the way, I referred to it as a "principle", not a direct correlation.

 

[ninergrl6]

I think cruising is a great way to get a taste of places for the first time, and if you love them you can spend more time there on future trips. Yes, it can feel rushed if you plan long port days, but you also don't have to worry about transportation from city to city, which is a huge stress relief. In 2016 I spent 2 weeks exploring France, Scotland, and England on my own and then spent 2 weeks on a cruise that stopped in England, Scotland, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark — the cruise was MUCH more relaxing even though we hit more cities than I visited on my own.

 

[soniam]

I guess I am the dissenting opinion. However, I have not done a European cruise yet. We prefer to spend a significant time in one place/city/country and really get to know it and get a feel for it. We usually like to go for 2-3 weeks at least. A city is somewhat doable in a week. We like to see how the locals live. I have been against going on a European cruise. However, we are doing one summer 2023, mostly because it has Greek Isles and Turkey. I think islands, except Hawaii, are good for cruising. Also, I don't know that I would want to stay for a significant period in Turkey, but this cruise could change that. We don't mind cruising the Caribbean, partly because the islands are fairly small. They tend to not have a lot of museums or cultural things to do, generally. I know there are exceptions. They are kind of about the beach and ocean for us. Whereas, Europe is about the people, food, culture, museums, etc, for us. The transportation thing isn't an issue for us. We love taking trains and driving in Europe.

 

[StarSeven7]

I guess I am the dissenting opinion. However, I have not done a European cruise yet. We prefer to spend a significant time in one place/city/country and really get to know it and get a feel for it. We usually like to go for 2-3 weeks at least. A city is somewhat doable in a week. We like to see how the locals live. I have been against going on a European cruise. However, we are doing one summer 2023, mostly because it has Greek Isles and Turkey. I think islands, except Hawaii, are good for cruising. Also, I don't know that I would want to stay for a significant period in Turkey, but this cruise could change that. We don't mind cruising the Caribbean, partly because the islands are fairly small. They tend to not have a lot of museums or cultural things to do, generally. I know there are exceptions. They are kind of about the beach and ocean for us. Whereas, Europe is about the people, food, culture, museums, etc, for us. The transportation thing isn't an issue for us. We love taking trains and driving in Europe.

I agree with this as well. I’ve spent a lot of time in Europe and you would miss so much trying to see it from a cruise! We are doing a RC cruise to the Greek Isles this summer - it will be my kids’ first time in Europe and we’re combining the cruise with a land portion in Croatia. I decided on the cruise because it goes to a lot of Greek islands that I’m interested in traveling to, but it would be hard to combine into a single itinerary. We’ve been to Greece before, island hopping, and you really need to pick islands that are on the same ferry line to avoid flights, so a cruise visiting islands from different ferry lines sounded fun! I might do one in the future as well visiting areas that I would like to travel to but don’t want to do a ton of flights to connect. I think a cruise can be good for that. But I can’t imagine only having a few hours to spend in Rome!!

 

[Dug720]

What I have found the best about cruising in Europe is it gives me a taste of the cities/areas the ship visits so that I can see where I would like to go back for a land-based visit before I invest a ton of money in a land-based visit somewhere I don't know if I'll want to stay for longer.

 

[Marthasor]

I think if you are traveling with a younger child, a cruise is a good choice. We took our DS on his first Europe trip when he was 7 (Central Europe, land vacation) and, though he enjoyed it, it was a lot for him - lots of museums and talking about history and culture that he really didn't understand at the time - we also moved hotels quite a bit on the trip and that was a bit of a stressor as well. The next year, when he was 8, we did a Disney Magic Norway/Iceland/Scotland cruise and he loved it. It was a nice way to see some beautiful ports, but it also allowed him the opportunity to just chill in the kids' club in the evenings and sea days and hang out with some kids his own age.

 

[Mommb]

Whether a cruise is a good introduction to European countries depends on your goal. If you want to get a strong sense of a country or area, spending a few hours in a port won’t do it. If you want to show people (especially a child) what different parts of the world are like, a cruise that visits several different areas will do that.

As others have mentioned, a way to accomplish both goals is to spend several days in a city before or after a cruise. My family has done that with Disney cruises from Barcelona, Copenhagen, Rome, and London (before leaving from Dover). We cruised in Europe every 2 years starting when my kids were 10 and 14. Both of them appreciated learning in schools about places that they had visited. We tried to mix in the major sights with smaller places that were more kid-friendly (Maritime Museum in Barcelona, Post and Telephone museum in Copenhagen, City Museum of London).

In larger ports (such as Rome), you can see only a few places, so you will need to choose between seeing 1 or 2 places (e.g. the Coliseum or the Vatican) in depth or seeing many places for a short time each. If you want to see a lot of places, I highly recommend a private tour. With a large group, the cost will be comparable to ship excursions but you will have more control over the itinerary and the pacing.

My favorite aspect of the cruise was that I did initial planning to choose what activity to do in each port, and then didn’t need to do much more once we boarded the ship. Sometimes we needed to find a place for lunch in port, but dinners and after-dinner options were easy.

 

[rlk]

I'm more of a 'visit one or two places and explore" type, but my husband insisted on taking two cruises in Europe. The compromise was to find cruises that began and ended in different counties so that we could spend more time in at least two locations.

Our first was a Med cruise starting in Barcelona and ending in Venice. We got to spend 5-nights pre-cruise in Barcelona and 4-nights in Venice after the cruise. We also took a cruise that started and ended in the same location in Germany. We spent a week in Paris prior to the cruise and spent 4- nights in Berlin after.

 

[AquaDame]

Came in to say no, but the 7 year old and grandma in the party gives me pause. The particular itinerary you mentioned covers a lot of ground to boot which would help the grandma AND knock a bunch of things off her possible bucket list with ease... the 7 year old would get a kick out of Disney. Cruising in Europe isn't my preferred way, but if everyone would be back... its not a BAD way!

 

[Intr3pid]

Certain parts of Europe are great on a cruise - Greek Isles, Adriatic Sea, Baltic Sea, Norway/Iceland, etc. And more so if you have less time and more kids and can visit Europe only once every few years.

Here is my detailed take on it from a previous post:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...intensive-disney-cruise.3836726/post-62963087

The best overland parts of Europe aren't "cruise-able" anyways - such as Switzerland, Germany, Austria, most of France, and central European countries. We head to Europe in the summers, and our larger plan is always half land and half cruising. There is no reason you need to do only one or the other.

 

[DCLMP]

Europe is a continent, not a group of small islands. How do you cruise the Alps?

-Paul

There are river cruises that give you a good taste of the Landlocked countries.

 

[DCLMP]

I like cruises you don't have to pack and unpack. Hotels are boring especially for kids, cruise ships have a lot to do. The ship has good air conditioning, European hotels, and businesses...not so much. It's nice if you cruise out of an interesting embarkation port. You can spend a few nights exploring a city and then get on a ship.