2011 Western Mediterranean -cruise line/ports

[wassuup]

My husband and I are wanting to take a cruise to Spain, Morocco, Monaco, France, Italy & Sicily. I am not sure if any cruise lines go to all of those locations. Does anyone know which ships go there? We are thinking of going in the fall of 2011, Sept, Oct or Nov. Are those good months to go to Europe? We are looking at all cruise ships and will want a balcony (at least). It will be our Anniversary so I'm looking to splurge, plus it's a bit more than a year away so we have plenty of time to save.

Thank you to all who can help us. It's a bit of a job to go to each and every online cruise line and look to see if they have the itinerary we want. I have contacted a travel agent also.

Hope all is having a wonderful Easter.

Thanks again!

 

[ShipMaven]

Holland America has offered such an itinerary the past few years.

Late summer/fall is a wonderful time to cruise the Mediterranean - here's a sample itinerary on HAL Noordam. She calls in Tunisia, not Morocco...

Itinerary

Date

Day

Duration

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 25SEP11SUNDEPART 5:00PMPIER: CIVITAVECCHIA PIER 12B OR 25 CHECK IN STARTS AT 0100P Livorno (Florence) Italy 26SEP11MONARRIVE 7:00AM DEPART 8:00PMMonte Carlo, Monaco 27SEP11TUEARRIVE 8:00AM DEPART 5:00PMTENDER REQUIRED Barcelona, Spain 28SEP11WEDARRIVE 12:00PM OVERNIGHT Barcelona, Spain 29SEP11THUDEPART 11:00PMPalma de Mallorca, Spain 30SEP11FRIARRIVE 9:00AM DEPART 6:00PMAt Sea 01OCT11SATAT SEA La Goulette (Tunis), Tunisia 02OCT11SUNARRIVE 8:00AM DEPART 5:00PMPalermo, Sicily, Italy 03OCT11MONARRIVE 8:00AM DEPART 5:00PMNaples, Italy 04OCT11TUEARRIVE 7:00AM DEPART 6:00PMCivitavecchia (Rome), Italy 05OCT11WEDARRIVE 7:00AM PIER: CIVITAVECCHIA PIER 12B OR 25

 

[wassuup]

Mary Ann thank you so much. It is so hard to find an itinerary you like online. I am looking for a travel agent. The cruise you just described is terrific! Is Holland a good cruise ship? The only ship we have been on is Carnival.

 

[ShipMaven]

Noordam is a beautiful ship - I've yet to hear any complaints about her. I have many friends who have cruised on her in the Mediterranean - both Western Mediterranean (the itinerary I gave you) and Eastern Mediterranean. If you can spare 20 days, Holland America also offers the combined Western and Eastern itineraries on Noordam. Noordam is the newest of HAL's "Vista Class" of ships. Here is the direct link to information on her...

http://www.hollandamerica.com/cruise-vacation-onboard/Noordam

Holland America is a very reputable premium cruise line. They are part of the Carnival family so if you've cruised with Carnival, you will qualify for past passenger fares on Holland America. Just be sure to tell your Travel Agent that you've cruised on Carnival.

Best wishes...and a belated welcome to Cruise @ddicts!

 

[Parrot Mom]

CHECK OUT Celebrity in Europe.. don't think you can incorporate ALL THESE ports at one time, but you can surely make a dent in them. They have a new ship called the Silhoutte which will be doing many of those ports for the summer.. but I would NOT recommend you cruise in the summer because of the heat, humidity, lack of a/c at many site...but the early fall is just perfect.

 

[BruinSteve]

You could always come along with us...

We'll be on the brand new Oceania Marina for the August 10, 2011 sailing...
The itinerary goes to Spain, France, Morocco, Italy and Monaco...(No Sicily)...but probably a different variation than what you might be thinking of:

Aug 10 London (Dover) 6:00 p.m.
Aug 11 Paris (Honfleur) 9:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.
Aug 12 Saint-Malo, France 8:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.
Aug 13 Lorient, France 9:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Aug 14 La Rochelle, France 8:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.
Aug 15 Bordeaux, France (Le Verdon) 8:00 a.m.
Aug 16 Bordeaux, France (Le Verdon) 9:00 p.m.
Aug 17 Bilbao, Spain 7:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
Aug 18 La Coruna, Spain 8:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.
Aug 19 Oporto, Portugal 8:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.
Aug 20 Seville, Spain (Cadiz) 1:00 p.m. 10:00 p.m.
Aug 21 Casablanca, Morocco 9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
Aug 22 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea
Aug 23 Barcelona, Spain 7:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.
Aug 24 Monte Carlo, Monaco 12:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m.
Aug 25 Florence/Pisa, Italy (Livorno) 8:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.
Aug 26 Rome, Italy (Civitavecchia) 6:00 a.m.

Yes, it can be a little pricey...definitely a "splurge"...
But it is a great cruise line...
This is a brand new 65,000 gross ton ship with only 1,200 passengers on board...The food and service is outstanding...

Oceania also does this one on the Insignia--a 30,000 gross ton 700 passenger ship:

Oct 29 Barcelona 7:00 p.m.
Oct 30 Provence (Marseille) 8:00 a.m. 10:00 p.m.
Oct 31 Monte Carlo 8:00 a.m. 11:00 p.m.
Nov 01 Florence/Pisa (Livorno) 8:00 a.m.
Nov 02 Florence/Pisa (Livorno) 8:00 p.m.
Nov 03 Rome (Civitavecchia) 7:00 a.m. 8:00 p.m.
Nov 04 Sorrento/Capri 8:00 a.m. 11:00 p.m.
Nov 05 Amalfi/Positano 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Nov 06 Taormina (Sicily) 8:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.
Nov 07 Corfu 10:00 a.m. 7:00 p.m.
Nov 08 Bari 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Nov 09 Split 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Nov 10 Ravenna 8:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m.
Nov 11 Venice 8:00 a.m.
Nov 12 Venice

No Morocco...but you do pick up Sicily and more Italian ports...

Azamara has sister ships to Oceania's smaller ships and runs a similar operation...but I don't see any of their Fall 2011 quite matching your desired destinations...

I love Celebrity...and, IMHO, they afford you the best value--great food and service, very spacious, uncrowded ships...and reasonable prices...We're doing our fourth Celebrity Europe cruise this July...I don't see any of their itineraries that quite match your port choice, but I would take a good look at what they do offer and see if anything strikes you...Celebrity is the first place I usually look...

As to time of year, I have been in Europe at various times of the year...
I know a lot of folks think August is too hot...personally, I enjoy it...the weather is virtually identical to home for me (I live in Southern California)...it's hot, but fairly dry...nothing like East Coast US heat...September/October MAY get you a little cooler temperatures--but, often, September can be just as hot as August...And the problem with going in late October/November is that you may actually run into bad weather...In Mediterranean climates, the rainy season, what little there is of it, generally runs between Mid-October to Mid-April...though, often you'll get moderate weather even during this time (though we've been caught by some pretty nasty rain/wind/cold in Barcelona and the south of France in November and August...but, really, it can be the luck of the draw...It virtually never rains between mid-April and mid-October...So, usually, IMHO, the BEST time of year to go is May/June...I can't do it because my wife works for the school district, so, if we are going to do a "big" cruise, it's July/August...and our anniversary is in July and Beth's birthday is in August...So, when we go, we'll be celebrating both (Our 30th)...We'll be in a suite for that Marina cruise!!!