Honeymoon cruise or land tour in Europe?

[olafLover]

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[mousefan73]

the sweet spot for europe is early Fall and spring.. May-Aug is crowded and more expensive.. Winter can be cold, dark, wet and depressing.. I live in Germany and would love to be in FL right now!! but the nice thing about European cities is that you forget the weather as you are busy running around seeing things..
IMO, Paris, AMS, and LON in one week is insane... unless you are flying but even flying from CDG to AMS will take you 4 hrs seeing city center to airport you need to plan alone one hour.. Here a high speed train is faster. The only way to do LON is to fly from either CDG or AMS... it's simply too far for one week other ways.. I would do Paris and AMS and drop LON... Paris and London alone are worth a week each.. AMS I say 2 days.. your done...

 

[dcassetta]

I have actually lol. I love all things Disney, not sure future hubby loves it as much as me, but he likes it. He's been to Paris before for work, I've never been. I might be able to talk him into going, is it something we could take one day out to do or is more time needed there?

We have to go to Amsterdam, it's pretty much his only request because it's where his family is from and he wants to show me around. He lets me have my way with almost everything so I figure I should fit this into the schedule

It's like Disneyland, 2 parks within walking distance of each other. You could easily do a day trip from Paris to see one of the parks, but they have several resort hotels also.

 

[FSU Girl]

I studied abroad in Paris. My experience was that all of the tourist attractions were open, though sometimes with shorter hours. (Smaller crowds more than made up for that. We waited in line more than an hour to climb Notre Dame in the summer. In the winter, you just walk up). Versailles is open during the winter. The hours are on the website. If you are going to Versailles, then you definitely need more than 2 days in Paris. One full day will be eaten up by Versailles. FYI, it's easy to get to on the metro and we did not need to pre-book our chateau tickets in the winter. We just walked up and bought them.

I still have not been to Prague. So many places to see, so little vacation time. It must have been a cool place to study abroad.

Prague was amazing, I'd really love to fit that into my honeymoon but it's no where near anything else I want to see. Having less of a crowd to deal with would be really nice.

Add me to the list that would go to Europe in the winter! I've done Paris in the winter and while it was cold we didn't mind, and most of the cafe's have overhead heaters so you can still sit outside and sip your cappuccino while all bundled up, it's actually one of my favorite memories from our trip. Also as others have said there are great deals on flights that time of year, you can seriously get a flight for half the cost as compared to the summer.

Also we did three Europe cities in a week. Left home Friday night, arrive in Paris Saturday morning, stayed three nights, then flew to Venice, stayed two nights, then train to Rome and stayed three nights and flew home on Sunday back to work on Monday. Was it as relaxing as a cruise, no but we had a blast and would do it again.

Personally we did our honeymoon on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise in November, we got the premium drink package to make it all inclusive and loved everything about that cruise. I know you are worried about them chartering it but that's rare. We actually found out that our cruise had an American Girl doll group on it. It was funny but worked out great because that meant less adults in the adult only spaces since the cruise was full of families with little girls.

Good Luck!

WBI

I actually really like cold weather, future hubby not so much. Dressing in warm cute clothes sounds really nice to me. I think with some planning I could figure out how to fit everything into a small time frame.
There are two Celebrity cruises that interest me, but they also are the only ones with 2019 schedules out yet so I haven't really been able to compare anyone else yet.

Versailles in winter is MUCH better. Virtually no lines and 1/10 the crowd. Also, it's very easy to pop over to DLP from Paris on the train (35 minutes) directly to the front gate of DLP. Winter hours will be shorter. You can definitely do DLP in 1 day, esp. if you just do DLP and not the Studios, which is just next door. We have park hopped on a long summer day and did both. V would be a full day, as well as another day for DLP, plus a day to see P. So, with that plan, 4 days in P. You could do L+P or A+P, but not all 3 in a week. With V+DLP on the agenda, I think that winter would be fine.

I reallllllly want to go to Versailles. I've always thought it looked beautiful and I've been watching the TV show and can't wait to go. I've gone on google maps and done a little walking tour of the palace which was fun. The really low crowds also sound amazing.

Not sure I understand the logic to this. What the difference between booking now vs later with regard to charters? Do you feel like you're going to jinx yourself?

From what I've been reading the charters happen before people purchase their flights. IDK, might not matter much, I just feel like the cruise a year out is more stable to not disappear.

 

[FSU Girl]

This really just sums up the difference between Europe and America for me. We are by law obligated to take 2 consecutive weeks of holiday each year. This rule is enforced by the companies themselves, because they believe it to be healthy to be away from work for a while each year.
This summer we took a 9 hour train ride in which we never left New York State, if we'd take a 9 hour train ride in Europe, you'd pass at least 4 countries... We don't consider Amsterdam an Paris to be close

I wish work in America thought like that. I get grief when I take a week off. This will be the longest I've ever taken off before, but I figure it's harder to say no when it's a honeymoon.

the sweet spot for europe is early Fall and spring.. May-Aug is crowded and more expensive.. Winter can be cold, dark, wet and depressing.. I live in Germany and would love to be in FL right now!! but the nice thing about European cities is that you forget the weather as you are busy running around seeing things..
IMO, Paris, AMS, and LON in one week is insane... unless you are flying but even flying from CDG to AMS will take you 4 hrs seeing city center to airport you need to plan alone one hour.. Here a high speed train is faster. The only way to do LON is to fly from either CDG or AMS... it's simply too far for one week other ways.. I would do Paris and AMS and drop LON... Paris and London alone are worth a week each.. AMS I say 2 days.. your done...

I'd love to do fall, but we are getting married in November so unless I have the honeymoon first that can't happen lol. I loved going to Germany, I went to Dresden for the day when I was studying abroad. It was really fun it was during the world cup and Germany beat England that day so it was crazy.
I would rather do trains than planes, since I'm afraid of flying and getting to and from Europe is enough for me. I wish I could take a month and really explore, but my boss would have a few words to say about that.

It's like Disneyland, 2 parks within walking distance of each other. You could easily do a day trip from Paris to see one of the parks, but they have several resort hotels also.

I'll be experiencing Disneyland for the first time in February. It would be fun to add another Disney park to the list. I just don't think he'll go for it since we are getting married at Disney he might be Disney'd out for a little bit.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Add me to the list that would go to Europe in the winter! I've done Paris in the winter and while it was cold we didn't mind, and most of the cafe's have overhead heaters so you can still sit outside and sip your cappuccino while all bundled up, it's actually one of my favorite memories from our trip. Also as others have said there are great deals on flights that time of year, you can seriously get a flight for half the cost as compared to the summer.

Also we did three Europe cities in a week. Left home Friday night, arrive in Paris Saturday morning, stayed three nights, then flew to Venice, stayed two nights, then train to Rome and stayed three nights and flew home on Sunday back to work on Monday. Was it as relaxing as a cruise, no but we had a blast and would do it again.

Personally we did our honeymoon on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise in November, we got the premium drink package to make it all inclusive and loved everything about that cruise. I know you are worried about them chartering it but that's rare. We actually found out that our cruise had an American Girl doll group on it. It was funny but worked out great because that meant less adults in the adult only spaces since the cruise was full of families with little girls.

Good Luck!

WBI

We did a similarly short, somewhat crammed trip like this in August, 3 nts/2 nts/3 nts for hotels, but it was the week leading into Labor Day weekend so we had Monday at home to recover.

I worked til noon on Friday, we flew out Friday evening to London, stayed right across the river from Big Ben at the Marriott so we walked around on our own that first day.
Day 2 Did a small group tour to Stonehenge/Bath/Lacock with Lilly from English Bus (super!!)
Day 3 did a 7 hour private tour of London.
Day 4 we flew to Paris then went up in the Eiffel Tower (booked tix from home for 4 hours after flight arrived, just in case) Our hotel was 1 block from the ET so easy wandering that afternoon too.(Stayed at the Residence Charles Floquet, which was perfect location on a quiet street, with views of ET from our LR/DR and bedroom).

Day 5 was incredibly long but soooo worth it, a private day trip to Normandy/Omaha Beach/Sainte Mere Eglise. omg, Every American should see this. So much history and WW2 artifacts. omg what our military boys endured back in those days for the sake of freedom, you can't help but cry. I'm not a WW2 buff but ds20 is into all history so the Normandy day was mostly for him and I'm so glad we did it!! I could have spent a week there.

Then day 6 was a 7-hour walking tour of Paris which our amazing guide extended 2 more hours on his own. (Olek, from My Private Paris, just beyond words!) At the end of that we had scheduled ground transfers to DLP. At the time I booked, DLP was offering "buy 2 nights, get 2 nights free" but we couldn't spend 4 nts at DLP so we only got 1 nt free. Tickets for each day that we're there were included with our package at Newport Bay Club, a short walk to parks. So we squeezed in a few rides on our evening of arrival (this day I hit my all time record for # of steps counted on my phone, over 27,000!) We had 2 full days to enjoy parks on Friday & Saturday, flew home Sunday and unpacked/did laundry Monday.
It was a crazy week and even though we hit the ground running and every day was packed with very little down time, I have zero regrets. I know I want to return some day but compared to our Med cruise in 2013, I know I really prefer land touring for Europe. We enjoy staying in the hotels, seeing all the iconic attractions lit up at night, and simply being able to walk the streets, buy some groceries, getting to know our way around our neighborhood.

Keep in mind with a Med cruise, let's say for Rome, it's an hour drive in each direction from port to Rome so there's 2 hours cut off your time in port. We did private tours with Rome In Limo and even though they got us back in plenty of time before the all aboard time, it's still a nagging feeling all day that we can't miss the ship. So it was awesome to sit in Palo as we sailed from Civitavecchia but that was about as rushed a vacation as possible. By the 3rd night we were so exhausted from touring, we stopped going to the shows and pretty much just vegged after dinner.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be so long. Once I get on a roll it's hard to stop.

OP, good luck finding something that works for you.

 

[mousefan73]

Know it’s OT and It’s not my biz. But I think it’s time you start looking for a new job, bossgor company that allows more than one week of vac year Or a week at a time.I don’t know your situation but that would be a red flag for me then flexibility. Or are you just too afraid to ask

 

[jdb in AZ]

Since you aren't locked in to a particular month, have you thought of going to Amsterdam during the tulip festival? the Keukenhof gardens are amazing. https://www.european-traveler.com/netherlands/keukenhof-tulip-and-flower-gardens-south-holland/

 

[FSU Girl]

We did a similarly short, somewhat crammed trip like this in August, 3 nts/2 nts/3 nts for hotels, but it was the week leading into Labor Day weekend so we had Monday at home to recover.

I worked til noon on Friday, we flew out Friday evening to London, stayed right across the river from Big Ben at the Marriott so we walked around on our own that first day.
Day 2 Did a small group tour to Stonehenge/Bath/Lacock with Lilly from English Bus (super!!)
Day 3 did a 7 hour private tour of London.
Day 4 we flew to Paris then went up in the Eiffel Tower (booked tix from home for 4 hours after flight arrived, just in case) Our hotel was 1 block from the ET so easy wandering that afternoon too.(Stayed at the Residence Charles Floquet, which was perfect location on a quiet street, with views of ET from our LR/DR and bedroom).

Day 5 was incredibly long but soooo worth it, a private day trip to Normandy/Omaha Beach/Sainte Mere Eglise. omg, Every American should see this. So much history and WW2 artifacts. omg what our military boys endured back in those days for the sake of freedom, you can't help but cry. I'm not a WW2 buff but ds20 is into all history so the Normandy day was mostly for him and I'm so glad we did it!! I could have spent a week there.

Then day 6 was a 7-hour walking tour of Paris which our amazing guide extended 2 more hours on his own. (Olek, from My Private Paris, just beyond words!) At the end of that we had scheduled ground transfers to DLP. At the time I booked, DLP was offering "buy 2 nights, get 2 nights free" but we couldn't spend 4 nts at DLP so we only got 1 nt free. Tickets for each day that we're there were included with our package at Newport Bay Club, a short walk to parks. So we squeezed in a few rides on our evening of arrival (this day I hit my all time record for # of steps counted on my phone, over 27,000!) We had 2 full days to enjoy parks on Friday & Saturday, flew home Sunday and unpacked/did laundry Monday.
It was a crazy week and even though we hit the ground running and every day was packed with very little down time, I have zero regrets. I know I want to return some day but compared to our Med cruise in 2013, I know I really prefer land touring for Europe. We enjoy staying in the hotels, seeing all the iconic attractions lit up at night, and simply being able to walk the streets, buy some groceries, getting to know our way around our neighborhood.

Keep in mind with a Med cruise, let's say for Rome, it's an hour drive in each direction from port to Rome so there's 2 hours cut off your time in port. We did private tours with Rome In Limo and even though they got us back in plenty of time before the all aboard time, it's still a nagging feeling all day that we can't miss the ship. So it was awesome to sit in Palo as we sailed from Civitavecchia but that was about as rushed a vacation as possible. By the 3rd night we were so exhausted from touring, we stopped going to the shows and pretty much just vegged after dinner.

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to be so long. Once I get on a roll it's hard to stop.

OP, good luck finding something that works for you.

Thanks for this it is super helpful and I'm going to look into some of the hotels and tour guides you mentioned. I actually prefer trips that are nonstop doing things I can get bored easily, so I don't really like having much down time.

A Mediterranean cruise is probably at the bottom of the list. I've done it twice and for some reason he doesn't really have much interest going to any of those places. Being super far from the ports is a downside there. We'd be booking excursions through the cruise, it makes me feel better knowing it's a lot less likely to be left behind. It actually happened when I was in Naples, when we were returning to the ship we got stuck in rush hour traffic and were an hour late. The boat waited for us to get back and as we walked on they were packing up to set sail.

 

[FSU Girl]

Know it’s OT and It’s not my biz. But I think it’s time you start looking for a new job, bossgor company that allows more than one week of vac year Or a week at a time.I don’t know your situation but that would be a red flag for me then flexibility. Or are you just too afraid to ask

It's actually a pretty good company to work for. I think it might just be the industry standard, because my last two companies were the same way. The first one was way worse. Any time we took off they made us feel like our job wouldn't be waiting for us to come back. At my current job most people don't take more than a week if that, but we are allowed to use all our vacation time. I think they just prefer it spread out more. I've already prepared my boss that a long time off request will be coming.

 

[FSU Girl]

Since you aren't locked in to a particular month, have you thought of going to Amsterdam during the tulip festival? the Keukenhof gardens are amazing. https://www.european-traveler.com/netherlands/keukenhof-tulip-and-flower-gardens-south-holland/

Thanks for this! I had no idea and I'm sure future hubby would love this I'll have to show him.

 

[olafLover]

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[FSU Girl]

Just be prepared for it to be really busy! Each year there are traffic jams all around Lisse to get there. No offence, but you don't seem like the public transport type, but there are no trains going anywhere near, so you'll have to take a bus (either tour or public) (which will be in said traffic jam). It is really pretty and worth the trip

When I was in Europe I took a lot of trains. In South Florida public transportation doesn't really exist, having a car is pretty important. We'll do some research and see what we need to do.

 

[olafLover]

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[FSU Girl]

We usually prefer to do everything ourselves. Rent a car or use public transport, but I think, from Amsterdam to de Keukenhof, I'd book a tour, maybe one with only transport. Renting a car is a pain in Amsterdam and like I said, public transport there isn't that good. Only if you'd like to do Zaanse Schans (museum village with traditional houses) or Kinderdijk (a whole lot of windmills), maybe on the same day, it could be useful to rent a car for that one day.

I've never driven in a foreign country before. Do they have Uber in Amsterdam?

 

[fredandkell]

I wouldn't hesitate to go to Europe in the winter. Have you thought about a river cruise? They run in the winter just fine. See https://www.uniworld.com/en/river-c...hristmas-markets/2018-nuremberg-to-frankfurt/ (click Cruises - Holiday Cruises at the top to see full list) or https://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2017/christmas-markets - there's also Tauck and Viking. Personally I'd love to do a Danube Christmas cruise.

 

[FSU Girl]

I wouldn't hesitate to go to Europe in the winter. Have you thought about a river cruise? They run in the winter just fine. See https://www.uniworld.com/en/river-c...hristmas-markets/2018-nuremberg-to-frankfurt/ (click Cruises - Holiday Cruises at the top to see full list) or https://www.amawaterways.com/destination/europe-river-cruises/2017/christmas-markets - there's also Tauck and Viking. Personally I'd love to do a Danube Christmas cruise.

I looked into the river cruises, I'm just not sure I'd love them. I'm used to the big cruise ships with all the entertainment and I don't know how I'd feel about these little boats. A christmas cruise would be nice, but I have to have the honeymoon in 2019 so I get my vacation days back. I'll have used most in 2018 on the wedding stuff.

 

[olafLover]

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[FSU Girl]

I'm not really sure what the current status is. I know Uber tried to start in the Netherlands, but our taxi law made it illegal. They might have made some changes and it could be there, but it's not really big. If you rent the car at Schiphol you won't have to drive in the city and it's not that difficult, but for me it's not a foreign country , if you need any help with the driving rules, let me know. We love renting a car abroad or take our own car somewhere (it's a relatively new car, but it's been in the city center of Paris 4 times already, we're a bit crazy like that)

What type of driving rules would be different there? I have a feeling if we rent a car I won't be getting to do much driving, he likes being in charge lol. It'll give me time to take lots of pictures so I won't mind.

 

[olafLover]

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