Which European itinerary?

[tigger2002]

Which European cruise would you recommend? We have been to the Caribbean, east and west, and Alaska. I think the northern cruises would be too much like Alaska unless they go to Russia.

Which cruise did you enjoy the most?

We have not ruled out doing one of the transatlantic cruises.


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[GPaLarry]

Last Sept. we did a B2B Med./WBTA and loved both. Each cruise we do is unique and trying to pick the best is like selecting your favorite child. The Med. involved long days because the ports, except for Naples, are far from the ports. We packed a lot into each stop so that we were gone from 7:15 am 'till about 5:30 each night. The WBTA gave us a chance to relax with special activities/presentations/tours not found on most cruises. We have done the Baltic Capitals cruise, too, with Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, etc. It was awesome and, again, unique. We have done the Caribbean three times, Alaska and EBPC. One Northern European cruise we have on our list goes around the UK. We'll see where the new ships are assigned.

 

[Mommb]

My family has done 7-night Disney cruises in the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Dover-Barcelona repositioning (as well as in the Caribbean) and enjoyed them all for different reasons.

If you have not visited Rome, Naples, and Florence but would like to, I would recommend the Med cruise. As the previous posted said, this cruise does require lengthy transit if you want to get to Rome and Florence, but those cities are definitely worth seeing at least once in your life.

If you want something less hectic, go with the Baltic. The main areas of Tallin, Helsinki, and Stockholm are all right close to the port, and all have unique sites. The port at St. Petersburg is industrial, so getting somewhere interesting does take a little while, but as with Italy, it's well worth the time.

We did the Dover-Barcelona repo cruise mainly because my husband wanted to see Portugal. Lisbon and Cadiz were interesting (and many main sites were walking distance from the port), but didn't have the wow factor of the cities we saw on our other European cruises. We did get a wow factor from Mont St. Michel in Normandy, although it was a drive of a few hours from the port in Le Havre which is also in the vicinity of the landing sites from D-Day. Disney offered excursions to Paris, but that would require an even longer drive.

We did not do the Northern European cruise to Norway, but that itinerary does sound similar to Alaska.

If you want the ship as much as the sites, a Transatlantic would work.

Really, you can't go wrong with any of the options. Just think about what sounds the most appealing to you.

 

[BadPinkTink]

There have been 2 British Isles 12 day cruises , one in 2016 and just recently in July 2017. People really seem to enjoy them. There are ports in England, France, Ireland and Scotland. The 2017 cruise had a better mix of at sea and port days.

The one I plan to do eventually is the previous mentioned Med cruise. I have been to Rome, Florence and Venice before, so so me Im not that interested in the ports, but more about just being on the ship and going to places I havent been to

 

[jdb in AZ]

What time of year are you planning to go? Italy has warmer weather than northern Europe, so I would plan accordingly. We were hot in Paris, and St. Petersburg -- even the major European cities don't have enough A/C.

 

[aggiedog]

A Baltic cruise - generally Tallin, Stockholm, Helsinki, SPB, Copenhagen +/- a few others - is very different than Norway (which is often compared to an Alaskan cruise but also as "very different" in what you actually see. Do Norway if you want scenery, majestic fjords, quaint towns, etc. Do the Baltic if you want history, culture, etc. Med cruises have the culture and history as well, with more sun (on average.) The Med is much warmer. Duh, but that difference can be pretty large. We just got back from a Med cruise on another line and I've decided I'm only going North for summer vacation for now on. Coming from Texas, I want a break from the heat.

 

[Piperflowers]

My family has done 7-night Disney cruises in the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Dover-Barcelona repositioning (as well as in the Caribbean) and enjoyed them all for different reasons.

If you have not visited Rome, Naples, and Florence but would like to, I would recommend the Med cruise. As the previous posted said, this cruise does require lengthy transit if you want to get to Rome and Florence, but those cities are definitely worth seeing at least once in your life.

If you want something less hectic, go with the Baltic. The main areas of Tallin, Helsinki, and Stockholm are all right close to the port, and all have unique sites. The port at St. Petersburg is industrial, so getting somewhere interesting does take a little while, but as with Italy, it's well worth the time.

We did the Dover-Barcelona repo cruise mainly because my husband wanted to see Portugal. Lisbon and Cadiz were interesting (and many main sites were walking distance from the port), but didn't have the wow factor of the cities we saw on our other European cruises. We did get a wow factor from Mont St. Michel in Normandy, although it was a drive of a few hours from the port in Le Havre which is also in the vicinity of the landing sites from D-Day. Disney offered excursions to Paris, but that would require an even longer drive.

We did not do the Northern European cruise to Norway, but that itinerary does sound similar to Alaska.

If you want the ship as much as the sites, a Transatlantic would work.

Really, you can't go wrong with any of the options. Just think about what sounds the most appealing to you.

Doing the Baltic cruise next summer. Good info on the ports. Of course the big appeal for us is St Petersburg. Any advice on port excursions there? We have a 7 year old daughter.

 

[aggiedog]

Our first cruise was a Baltic and we did half DCL excursions and half I arranged after some research on TripAdvisor. We all decided the DCL ones paled in comparison to our "private" ones. The ones I arranged were smaller, more flexible for what we wanted to do, made better use of port time, and were generally much cheaper. We are lucky that we travel in a party of 8, so can get truly private tours for reasonable prices. You can do that also, but it will be more expensive per person. Many companies also offer small group tours, where you would be 3 or maybe 8 or 12 in a large van. Still much better than waiting for an entire tour bus at a potty stop.

Definitely look at a private tour for SPB - TJ, Alla, Best Guides, and Anastasia all have good reviews. We used TJ and they were very easy to work with. Don't worry about the visa issue in SPB, any reputable tour company will take care of it and it is just a form they email you to print out and hand to passport control on the pier. Our cost per person was less than a DCL tour, for a tour twice as long. We were one of the first ones off the ship, and got back about 10:00pm. We were able to get lunch at a fast food blini shop, and dinner at a great mom and pop restaurant.

We did a food walking tour in Tallinn, as my kids are foodies. We loved it, but not sure if your dd would be into that.

We did do the DCL reindeer excursion in Helsinki, because I wanted to see reindeer. This was our first DCL cruise, and I signed in at midnight to check in and get excursions, and I got the last 3 spots on the reindeer excursion. Not sure what your status is, but consider checking in ASAP if there are specific DCL excursions you want. FWIW, the reindeer were nifty, but it was a long tour bus ride up into the woods to see them, with a guide who droned on and on. We didn't see any of Helsinki.

DCL offered free shuttles into Stockholm and Helsinki. Old Town Tallin was walking distance away. SPB you can't go anywhere unless you are with a tour or have done your own Visa thru a Russian consulate.

 

[o&smom]

For anyone wanting to see reindeer, they are at the Skansen outdoor museum in stockholm. This is very near to the Vasa museum across the water from old town. I was thrilled to see them there.

 

[aggiedog]

We did get to feed and pet them. That was awesome. Worth it to me, but it was a lot of bus riding for actual reindeer time.

 

[DCSWO]

Doing the Baltic cruise next summer. Good info on the ports. Of course the big appeal for us is St Petersburg. Any advice on port excursions there? We have a 7 year old daughter.

If you are talking about the 9 Aug cruise, there is a thread started here: https://www.disboards.com/threads/august-9-2018-northern-european-cruise.3583682/
There are also some good trip reports out there from past cruises. I am still working on our port activities.