Up next in 10
I explore the 6 Mediterranean cruise traps and blunders that cruise passengers fall into when thinking of cruising in the Mediterranean. Inspired by when a friend of mine wanted to cruise the Mediterranean for the first time and I saw all the mistakes she was about to make.
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0:00
it all started with a message i got from
0:02
a great past work colleague winnie she
0:05
was looking for a mediterranean cruise
0:06
for a week in july on a mid-side ship in
0:09
a balcony cabin that might sound pretty
0:11
simple but in that one simple request it
0:14
was clear she was about to fall headlong
0:17
into five blunders that trip up so many
0:20
cruise passengers in the mediterranean
0:22
i'm gary bembridge here's what those
0:24
blunders are and here's what i told
0:26
winnie the very first era she made was
0:28
thinking that there is a
0:30
mediterranean cruise it's so much more
0:33
complicated and trips up many people i
0:35
told winnie she needs to ask herself why
0:38
she's going
0:39
what she wants to see and do and that
0:41
will ensure that we can make sure she
0:43
doesn't go on the wrong mediterranean
0:45
cruise there are three main
0:47
mediterranean itineraries that she
0:49
should consider the one that i recommend
0:51
for first timers like winnie is the
0:53
western mediterranean these call on
0:56
spain france and italy they depart
0:59
usually from ports like barcelona civil
1:01
ceviche near rome and genoa and they
1:03
call on ports like marseille
1:05
the french
1:09
review for florence and nice la spezia
1:12
fortunquitere and some even go down to
1:14
naples to visit pompeii and capri some
1:17
also call on islands with fantastic
1:19
grand architecture like vallette malta
1:22
and palmer de maloka
1:24
this itinerary is perfect for
1:26
first-timers like winnie because you get
1:28
to see most or many of the really famous
1:31
mediterranean cities and also sites in
1:33
just one trip the itinerary and the
1:36
excursions they focus pretty heavily on
1:38
exploring local culture historical sites
1:41
museums architecture culinary and
1:44
wineries i suggested to winnie that if
1:46
she enjoyed a western mediterranean
1:48
itinerary and wanted to go on another
1:50
one her next should be an easter
1:52
mediterranean one this is probably my
1:55
personal favorite of all of the cruises
1:58
departing mostly from ports around
2:00
venice and perez near athens these visit
2:02
italy croatia montenegro greece and
2:05
sometimes they even go to turkey the
2:07
most popular ports include split
2:09
dubrovnik kofu and greek islands and
2:12
ports like catacolon santorini and
2:15
mykonos now while the itinerary and
2:17
excursions also focus on culture
2:20
historical sites museums architecture
2:22
they do tend to be a little bit more on
2:24
the active side i said to any if you
2:25
want to return to the mediterranean
2:27
after that itinerary i then recommended
2:29
a more southern and greek islands
2:31
itinerary especially if you wanted to
2:33
have more of a beach mixed with ancient
2:36
sites and experience now mostly sailing
2:38
out of perez near athens the islands
2:41
visited very very much based on the size
2:43
of ship so smaller ships call on more of
2:46
out of the way islands as well of course
2:48
going to the large and best known ones
2:49
like santorini roads and mykonos while
2:52
those three mediterranean cruise options
2:54
tend to be seven nights long and meet a
2:56
request for a week-long cruise there is
2:58
a really big blunder that many people
3:00
make as i have in the past that i also
3:03
needed to warn her about next first
3:06
whatever week-long itinerary she books
3:08
will always include one or two must-see
3:10
cities that she thinks she will see but
3:13
actually won't see at all for example i
3:15
showed her the seven night western
3:17
mediterranean cruise i was about to go
3:19
on the advertised itinerary prominently
3:22
calls out barcelona and rome as two
3:25
ports but they are where i embark and
3:28
disembark now if i hadn't booked a
3:30
pre-stay in barcelona and a post day in
3:33
rome i would see nothing at all of those
3:36
cities other than of course glimpses
3:38
from the bus or the taxi window while
3:40
being transferred between the airport
3:42
and the ship to see the cities where
3:45
when he embarks or disembarks i strongly
3:48
encourage her that she must add stays
3:50
there or she won't see anything of those
3:53
fantastic ports second most
3:55
underestimate how tiring a week-long
3:58
mediterranean cruise can actually be if
4:00
you have sea days for wanting to relax
4:03
because they're going to call into ports
4:05
pretty much daily she'll be out
4:07
exploring most of the day and enjoying
4:09
the dining and entertainment well into
4:11
the evenings she'll be flying in so
4:14
likely tired and jet lagged another good
4:16
reason of course for having a pre and
4:18
post stay and thirdly this is all
4:21
magnified as quite a few mediterranean
4:23
ports are far from the advertised city
4:26
or sites which means many other
4:27
excursions could be eight to ten hours
4:30
long every day look at my upcoming
4:32
cruise as an example the itinerary is
4:34
advertisers provence marseille florence
4:37
pisa liverno and rome tituccia on
4:41
eastern mediterranean ones you might see
4:43
venice ravena or trieste olympia
4:46
catacolon and pereas athens
4:49
the time to get to places advertised
4:50
like this on the itinerary can take a
4:53
really long time rome for example can
4:56
take up to two hours each way based on
4:58
traffic from trevichevecia florence one
5:01
and a half to two hours each way from
5:03
laverno venice which most ships cannot
5:05
sell into anymore use raverna or trieste
5:08
which are two hours drive away even
5:11
places like olympia from catecholan
5:13
ginkitari from la spezia can take up to
5:16
an hour or more each way so with winnie
5:20
understanding the issues around week
5:21
long trips
5:22
i wanted her to now tackle her plan to
5:25
cruise in july a blunder so many people
5:28
make the mediterranean cruising season
5:30
runs from april to october although a
5:33
handful of ships will sail year round i
5:36
warned winnie that going in july in
5:38
august is a mistake for five key reasons
5:43
first it gets hot and sticky very
5:47
secondly it's peak season and extremely
5:50
busy with both crews and land-based
5:53
travelers some mediterranean countries
5:55
including france spain and italy for
5:57
example they close their factories and
5:59
close many businesses in those months
6:01
and everybody goes on vacation mostly in
6:03
europe
6:04
it's really hard to get into places
6:07
there's crowds
6:08
everywhere third it is the most
6:11
expensive time of the year to go
6:14
fourth as of school holidays families
6:16
will be cruising now even online that
6:19
usually don't have kids will have kids i
6:21
told winnie this is really really
6:23
important because many ships will be
6:25
sailing way over capacity now when ships
6:29
declare occupancy it's based on what's
6:31
called lower births which means two
6:34
people per cabin and doesn't count
6:36
things like sofa beds pull down beds and
6:38
other places where people can sleep so
6:40
for example
6:41
when i was on an msc cruises merivillia
6:44
a couple of years back they told me
6:46
their official capacity was 4500
6:50
but in july and august they often have 6
6:52
000 passengers because kids are sharing
6:55
cabins with their parents now while
6:57
other ships may not be kind of as
6:59
dramatic as that all are likely to be at
7:02
higher capacity when families are on
7:04
board
7:05
fifth i warned her this is the prime
7:08
scam and pickpocket season due to the
7:11
peak and justin crowds
7:12
to be honest with you every time i've
7:14
been in venice barcelona and rome in
7:17
that peak july always time people of the
7:19
ship have had wallet stolen bag snatch
7:22
and backpacks opened so i suggested
7:24
winning instead looks at the shoulder
7:26
season june and september are especially
7:29
great months though may and october work
7:31
as well everything's open it's great but
7:34
not stifling weather and since when he
7:36
doesn't have to go in school holiday
7:38
time and is going with a friend of hers
7:40
they'll have a less costly and much less
7:43
crowded trip now when he said that she
7:46
wanted to go on a midsize ship but i
7:47
worried she was falling into another
7:49
trap here too i suggested she step back
7:54
as there are a few considerations before
7:56
settling on ship size and another
7:58
blunder that a couple of people that
8:00
i've seen make
8:01
this enormous line and ship choice in
8:04
the mediterranean so first i suggest we
8:06
cut out the number of lines she should
8:08
consider
8:10
based first of all on a budget pretty
8:12
much every cruise line ranging from the
8:15
most inexpensive like say msc norwegian
8:19
carnival and royal caribbean through to
8:21
the most expensive cruise lines in the
8:23
world like region seven seas seabourn
8:26
silversea they all cruise here and they
8:27
basically offer the same itineraries and
8:30
ports so for example winnie could book a
8:33
seven night mediterranean cruise next
8:36
june for two people on msc sea view in
8:39
their cheapest balcony cabin for one
8:40
thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars
8:42
that's 125 dollars per person per night
8:45
or she could book a very similar seven
8:47
night region seven seas voyager cruise
8:49
in their cheapest balcony where one
8:51
night would cost the same as that entire
8:54
msc seven night cruise that's a
8:56
staggering twelve thousand six hundred
8:58
dollars for two people for a week or
9:00
nine hundred dollars per person per
9:02
night i also need to think about what
9:04
she wants those remaining lines that
9:06
we've got left after that to add to her
9:08
trip as the ports and places are largely
9:12
going to be the same
9:13
does she want a deep immersion into
9:15
mediterranean history and culture for
9:17
example then i would suggest she looks
9:20
at lines like viking which have multiple
9:22
daily lectures with an onboard resident
9:24
historian that may be best
9:26
or perhaps does she want lots of late
9:28
night partying big glitzy theater shows
9:31
a really relaxed dress code then maybe
9:34
msc norwegian cruise lines carnival or
9:36
royal caribbean for example would be
9:38
best or perhaps does she want a more
9:40
familiar british experience with dressy
9:43
formal nights and live orchestra
9:45
ballroom dancing then perhaps cunard is
9:48
going to be the one for her cruise to
9:50
avoid the trap of going on the wrong
9:52
cruise line and getting the most from
9:55
her budget when he agreed to drop a list
9:58
of what she really wanted from the ship
10:01
and the line now ship size of course is
10:04
a valid consideration that she should
10:05
have when he had said that she thought a
10:08
mid-sized ship because she heard they
10:10
would it would basically be less busy it
10:12
would have fewer cues but more because
10:14
she'd heard they would go to more
10:17
interesting ports in the mediterranean
10:19
the size of the ship is less critical in
10:21
terms of what ports they call them than
10:22
some other regions in the world now
10:24
definitely smaller ships can go into
10:26
more out of the way ports but that
10:28
really applies much more in greek island
10:31
itineraries than it does in the western
10:33
and eastern mediterranean it's not as
10:35
significant on those two itineraries on
10:37
these most the crew sports tend to be
10:39
used by all both big and small ships so
10:42
i suggested that she focus much more on
10:44
the experience she wanted rather than
10:46
the ship size alone the experience she
10:48
wanted on the ship not the ship's size
10:50
now the next era when he almost fell
10:53
into but i think she got it right in
10:54
many ways by chance was that she was
10:56
looking at a balcony cabin when he said
10:59
online people were recommending to her
11:01
that she'd take a balcony cabin because
11:03
of the scenery to see while she was
11:05
sailing in the mediterranean i don't
11:08
think that is true first of all she's
11:10
going to be selling at night and then
11:12
she's going to be well at sea and the
11:14
only time that she'll be close enough to
11:16
view scenery is it sail in and sail out
11:18
both of which she may want to be out on
11:20
deck for
11:21
i told her to choose a balcony
11:23
over an inside or ocean view cabin only
11:26
if she rated the upside and the
11:29
experience worth the extra cost i always
11:31
choose a balcony when cruising in the
11:32
mediterranean or pretty much anywhere as
11:35
i like being able to step out into the
11:37
fresh air sit there in the evenings when
11:39
sailing out and of course for the floor
11:42
to wall windows and all the extra light
11:44
i pointed out
11:46
on her cruise she will likely have no or
11:49
few sea days so she's not going to use
11:51
the balcony on a sea day for example to
11:52
relax
11:54
and also because many of the
11:55
mediterranean ports particularly in the
11:57
western mediterranean are working ports
12:00
and not the most attractive ports the
12:02
views sitting out on even on port days
12:04
is not going to be that thrilling or
12:06
exciting now talking to winnie she liked
12:09
me decided she wouldn't be getting a
12:11
balcony for the views because she felt
12:13
an insider ocean view may feel a little
12:15
bit too claustrophobic thinking about
12:17
the cabin experience that you will enjoy
12:19
in the mediterranean absolutely is the
12:22
best way of avoiding the trap of falling
12:23
into booking something for views for
12:25
example that may not be there or
12:27
choosing a cabin that reduces your
12:29
enjoyment a cheaper cabin may not be
12:32
good value if you find it stifling or
12:34
claustrophobic if you found these
12:36
mediterranean cruise
12:38
tips interesting why not watch this
12:40
video where i look at the traps that
12:42
most people fall into on caribbean
12:44
cruises starting with the one i did on
12:46
my first caribbean trip see you over
12:48
there
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