Honeymoon cruise or land tour in Europe?

Haha, that's how we do it too. I think the main difference is we don't keep our lane. You have to drive on the right and only overtake on the left. From what I gather, our speeds are a bit higher, but we use Kilometers, so it is difficult to compare. Our high way speed limit is 130 km/h unless stated otherwise (around 81 miles/h). We do have really good signage, so it should be doable
Oh well then future hubby will be in heaven because he loves to drive fast. No problems there lol
 
Don't think it was mentioned, but you should check out Rick Steves books on Europe to help you make a decision on where to go and when. Any library or book store will have them. Of course, once you start digging into the history, charm and beauty of Europe and its people, you will realize that you can't do it all in a week or two. You folks are young enough that multiple trips there over the years should be possible. That's how we are doing it. I was stationed in Germany for 31 months with the Army many years ago. I visited 17 countries during that time and still didn't see it all. Discovered Barcelona on a DCL B2B last year and wished I had visited there earlier. But there are other parts of the world to see...to say nothing of 50 states here at home. Look at your interests (hiking, dining, churches/cathedrals, forts, ruins, etc.), decide what you can afford, narrow down the list to what is practical time-wise and go for it. For your anniversaries you can always go back for more.
 
Don't think it was mentioned, but you should check out Rick Steves books on Europe to help you make a decision on where to go and when. Any library or book store will have them. Of course, once you start digging into the history, charm and beauty of Europe and its people, you will realize that you can't do it all in a week or two. You folks are young enough that multiple trips there over the years should be possible. That's how we are doing it. I was stationed in Germany for 31 months with the Army many years ago. I visited 17 countries during that time and still didn't see it all. Discovered Barcelona on a DCL B2B last year and wished I had visited there earlier. But there are other parts of the world to see...to say nothing of 50 states here at home. Look at your interests (hiking, dining, churches/cathedrals, forts, ruins, etc.), decide what you can afford, narrow down the list to what is practical time-wise and go for it. For your anniversaries you can always go back for more.
I've actually been recording his tv episodes on some of the places I'm interested in going to. The UK and Baltic cruises look interesting. If we do a cruise it will probably be one of those locations. I love going to Europe this will definitely not be the last time I go.
 
I'm not sure which direction you're leaning, but I love Europe in the winter. I was in Tuscany in early February and it was so much better then when we were there in July. Less crowded, much better weather, etc.

As for driving in Europe, at least in Italy, many cities have zones where rental cars are not allowed - at all, not even to drive thru. You will receive a ticket thru the rental agency. That can make navigating challenging sometimes. I can't speak to other countries. I know that driving thru Provence seemed to be no problem this summer, but some of the roads were tiny, so get a good GPS.

Rick Steves has guided tours as well, if you wanted to go that route. I had a friend take one and he speaks highly of it.

I do not think 3 European cities in 1 week would be ideal. You'll waste a lot of time in transportation between them, time that could be spent poking around cafes or museums. I wouldn't want to do a week in Europe to turn around and get on a cruise in the Caribbean either. That would be like planning and packing for 2 different vacations, not to mention dealing with jet lag twice on the trip. If you want to go that time of year, I'd plan two weeks in Europe. That would make 3 cities much more doable.

Really, the world is your oyster, you have so many choices. I would just adjust your expectations that you can't do everything, and that you'll have to leave something for another trip (my biggest problem, too!)
 


I'm not sure which direction you're leaning, but I love Europe in the winter. I was in Tuscany in early February and it was so much better then when we were there in July. Less crowded, much better weather, etc.

As for driving in Europe, at least in Italy, many cities have zones where rental cars are not allowed - at all, not even to drive thru. You will receive a ticket thru the rental agency. That can make navigating challenging sometimes. I can't speak to other countries. I know that driving thru Provence seemed to be no problem this summer, but some of the roads were tiny, so get a good GPS.

Rick Steves has guided tours as well, if you wanted to go that route. I had a friend take one and he speaks highly of it.

I do not think 3 European cities in 1 week would be ideal. You'll waste a lot of time in transportation between them, time that could be spent poking around cafes or museums. I wouldn't want to do a week in Europe to turn around and get on a cruise in the Caribbean either. That would be like planning and packing for 2 different vacations, not to mention dealing with jet lag twice on the trip. If you want to go that time of year, I'd plan two weeks in Europe. That would make 3 cities much more doable.

Really, the world is your oyster, you have so many choices. I would just adjust your expectations that you can't do everything, and that you'll have to leave something for another trip (my biggest problem, too!)
But I want to do everything :) I think you're right that doing Europe and a Caribbean cruise in the same trip would be too much. The driving in Europe sounds stressful I think we'll just rely on public transportation. I love Italy, I can't wait to go back, but I don't think we'll be going there on this trip.

I can be pretty indecisive and since I have such a long time to plan I feel like I'm going to change my mind a lot. I'm curious to see what my honeymoon trip turns out to be.
 
@FSU Girl have you thought about Iceland? It's kind of the in place to go right now and depending on where you live you can get cheap flights. It'll be different with more outdoors than history but you still get both. Plus you can do the blue lagoon, which would be pretty cool honeymoon thing.

I haven't been but just wanted to add more options to your indecisiveness! lol

WBI
 
@FSU Girl have you thought about Iceland? It's kind of the in place to go right now and depending on where you live you can get cheap flights. It'll be different with more outdoors than history but you still get both. Plus you can do the blue lagoon, which would be pretty cool honeymoon thing.

I haven't been but just wanted to add more options to your indecisiveness! lol

WBI
Oh Iceland is definitely on my radar. I've been wanting to go there for years. We're trying to figure out how to fit it into any of our plans. The problem with it, its so far from everything else. I had looked into some cruises that go there, but I don't like the other ports as much so probably wouldn't do that. I have heard if you fly Iceland Air you can do a long layover for like a day or two on your way somewhere else which could possibly work.
 


Yes, with Iceland air you can have a maximum of 7 day lay over without extra costs. It's a good airport to fly from and a good lay over (for the other way)
Do you think it would be possible to have it be a one way flight? I'm thinking we are probably going to fly into and out of different countries so having one way flights will make more sense.
 
Yes, Iceland air is one of the few airlines which the one way tickets aren't ridiculously priced. That's why we used them after the Transatlantic cruise this summer. An other to look at is Norwegian (for the other one way you'll need)
My parents flew Norwegian over the summer and said it was really nice and pretty cheap too. The last time I cruised in Europe my plane ticket was more than my cruise.
 
I would do a river cruise in winter. There are several that go to the Christmas markets in the cities along the Danube and Rhein. The ease of cruising and getting to see the holiday sights. We came so so close to doing the Adventures by Disney river cruise over Christmas, but there was no Vienna Boys Choir Christmas concert next year, which killed it for me.
 
A caveat for river cruising is that the night life, etc, is pretty slim pickings. The ship is much, much smaller, and there are no production type shows. There may be a presentation, chamber music, etc, after dinner in the lounge. It would be a much more sedate cruise than on DCL. That said, there is a river cruise line or two that are starting to cater to younger travelers.
 
I would do a river cruise in winter. There are several that go to the Christmas markets in the cities along the Danube and Rhein. The ease of cruising and getting to see the holiday sights. We came so so close to doing the Adventures by Disney river cruise over Christmas, but there was no Vienna Boys Choir Christmas concert next year, which killed it for me.
I think a Christmas river cruise would be fun, but I can't go in December, it would have be in January when they probably stop all the celebrations? I won't have enough vacation days to have my wedding and a two week honeymoon in the same year. My vacation days renew on January 1.

A caveat for river cruising is that the night life, etc, is pretty slim pickings. The ship is much, much smaller, and there are no production type shows. There may be a presentation, chamber music, etc, after dinner in the lounge. It would be a much more sedate cruise than on DCL. That said, there is a river cruise line or two that are starting to cater to younger travelers.
I think this is why we wouldn't really like a river cruise. We like going to the shows and enjoying the entertainment on the bigger cruise ships. I'm not a huge fan of just sitting around and having an after dinner drink. And aren't the ages on the river cruises usually 50 and up?
 

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