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7 Mediterranean Cruise Traps Too Many Cruisers Fall Into!
Aug 9, 2025
I am just back from a Mediterranean cruise on Sun Princess from Barcelona to Naples. As on all my cruises, I was delighted to chat to followers of my channel and new travellers I met, unfortunately not all of whom were having the perfect cruise. Why? Because too many had made mistakes that I have seen time and time again on the 25 Mediterranean cruises I've been on to date. So, I decided to put this together to help anyone planning a Mediterranean cruise to as avoid these traps and mistakes. For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * TeePublic Store: https://tipsfortravellers.dashery.com * Teespring Store: https://tips-for-travellers-youtube.creator-spring.com * Fourthwall: https://gary-bembridge-1-shop.fourthwall.com Book Cruise Port Excursions * Venture Ashore: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/excursions * Shore Excursions Group: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/shoreexcursions
View Video Transcript
0:00
I'm just back from a Mediterranean
0:01
cruise on Sun Princess from Barcelona to
0:03
Naples. As on all my cruises, I was
0:05
delighted to chat to followers of my
0:07
channel and new travelers that I met.
0:09
Unfortunately, not all of whom were
0:11
having the perfect cruise. Why? Because
0:14
too many had made mistakes that I have
0:16
seen time and time again on the 25
0:19
Mediterranean cruises I've been on to
0:21
date. So, I decided to put this together
0:23
to help anyone planning a Mediterranean
0:25
cruise to avoid these particular traps
0:28
and mistakes that I see people doing.
0:30
Welcome aboard. I'm Gary Benbridge and
0:32
here's the seven things you need to
0:34
watch out for if planning a
0:35
Mediterranean cruise. A key mistake
0:38
making Mediterranean cruisers not going
0:40
to plan is cruisers not being on the
0:42
right itinerary for them or by finding
0:44
it too short. Something several I spoke
0:46
to on Sun Princess were finding. Most
0:50
Mediterranean cruises tend to be seven
0:51
nights long. Some run from the same port
0:54
and back, while others have a seven
0:56
night cruise running backto back with
0:58
another on different routes, enabling
1:00
cruisers to put two cruises together to
1:02
create a 14- night cruise that does not
1:04
repeat ports. For example, my son
1:06
Princess cruise was seven nights from
1:08
Barcelona to Naples, but then had
1:10
another seven night cruise tagged onto
1:12
that with different ports that ended in
1:14
Athens. Also, most cruisers who get
1:16
frustrated on Mediterranean cruises have
1:18
not appreciated. There are three main
1:20
routes to consider. The first is the
1:22
Western Mediterranean, which is what I
1:24
recommend for any first-time to the
1:26
region because over a week you visit
1:28
multiple countries and experience a
1:30
range of cultures and visit many iconic
1:33
places. Western Mediterranean cruises
1:35
could include Barcelona, Marseilles,
1:37
Nice, Monte Carlo, Florence, Pisa,
1:40
Chinatere, Rome, Naples, Parmad, Miora,
1:43
Gibralta, Iba and so on. The second key
1:46
itinerary is the Eastern Mediterranean
1:47
and the Greek islands. This is a
1:49
beautiful itinerary and is perfect for a
1:52
second Mediterranean cruise. Places cord
1:54
on could include Sicily, Malta, various
1:57
Greek islands, Athens and Kusadasi and
2:00
Istanbul in Turkey. The third key
2:02
itinerary is the Adriatic which is one
2:04
of my favorite itineraries. These
2:07
usually operate between Venice and
2:09
Athens calling it places like Croatia to
2:12
see Drovnik and Split uh Cotor in
2:15
Montenegro and some of the fabulous
2:18
Greek islands. However, I often see that
2:20
even if people choose the best option
2:22
for them, they do not spend enough time
2:25
on the detail of that it tiny and to
2:27
miss out on seeing places that are best
2:29
or better suited to them. For example,
2:32
many people on that Sun Princess had
2:33
chosen it because it was their first one
2:35
in the region. They picked it because it
2:36
was a western Mediterranean cruise
2:38
correctly, but it was not necessarily
2:41
the best use of their seven days as it
2:44
only caught on Gibralta, Marles, and
2:46
Laspetsia, which is the gateway port for
2:48
Florence and Pisa. And then it had three
2:51
sea days. So, they didn't get to see
2:54
that many more places because they could
2:57
have seen up to three more ports if
2:58
they'd gone on another itinerary instead
3:00
of having three sea days. On my previous
3:03
western Mediterranean cruise to this
3:05
one, I was on Norwegian Viva and people
3:07
on that got to see many more ports. We
3:09
saw Rome, we saw Laspetszia again for
3:11
Florence and Pisa, Monaco, Palmer and
3:14
Ia. So as a first timer, choosing a more
3:17
port inensive cruise will mean seeing
3:19
more of the Mediterranean in the same
3:21
time. This leads me to the second big
3:24
reason many Mediterranean cruisers do
3:25
not go to plan, which is people not
3:27
thinking through that some ports on
3:29
itinerary they will not get to see or
3:32
explore at all. Too many people I meet
3:34
miss out experiencing major and iconic
3:36
ports by not building in a pre and post
3:40
day in the imbarcation or disembargation
3:42
ports. So even though these major ports
3:45
are listed on the itinerary, they think
3:47
they're going to see them, they do not
3:48
actually get to see anything of them.
3:51
Let me give you the example of that sun
3:53
princess cruise. It started in Barcelona
3:55
and it ended in Naples, the gateway to
3:57
the historic Pompei, Herculanium, the
3:59
Maui Coast, Capri Island and so on.
4:01
However, without say in both of those
4:03
cruisers saw none of the sites I met
4:06
several people frustrated that they
4:07
hadn't built them in and they were
4:08
missing seeing those two places. I see
4:11
this on every Mediterranean cruise I've
4:12
been on, including people embarking or
4:15
disembarking in Rome, Athens, Venice,
4:18
Istanbul, Genova. As there's also the
4:21
ability to do Mediterranean cruises out
4:22
of the UK, with Southampton being the
4:25
common port, you'd actually need a pre-
4:26
or post day in London to see anything of
4:29
my home city. Many of these
4:31
Mediterranean cruise imbulcation and
4:34
disembarkcation ports, including
4:36
Southampton, have another big issue that
4:39
I see leading to many Mediterranean
4:41
cruises not going to plan. But before
4:43
that, I just wanted to mention my
4:44
favorite free-touse online resource that
4:46
I use to track and record all my cruises
4:48
like the San Princess one called the
4:50
Cruise Globe available at the cruise
4:52
globe.com or via their iOS or Android
4:55
app. Here you can see that some Princess
4:58
Cruise. Here's the one I mentioned on
5:00
Norwegian Viva, but it shows up all my
5:02
other Mediterranean and worldwide
5:04
cruises as well. So, what I do is I now
5:06
input every cruise I've been on, and
5:08
then they use AI satellite tracking
5:10
data. It shows me exactly where my
5:12
cruise actually went. I can also see
5:14
then how many countries I visited,
5:16
ships, and lines I've been on. I can
5:17
even replay my cruise route. It's
5:20
completely free to use at the cruise
5:22
globe.com. They've introduced a live
5:25
tracking function so you can now follow
5:27
cruises while they're underway. I can
5:29
input all my future cruises so it
5:30
automatically adds them once done and so
5:33
on. So back to that issue about why so
5:36
many Mediterranean ports mean people
5:38
cruises do not go to plan. Many do not
5:42
appreciate that many ports on a
5:43
Mediterranean itinerary are far from the
5:45
places and sites often hours away. Those
5:48
used to cruising in the Caribbean and
5:50
Alaska are used to cruise ships docking
5:52
close to the town and very close to the
5:54
sites with lots of things to do close
5:57
by, often simply within a short walking
5:59
distance. This is not true of many of
6:02
the Mediterranean ports. And the cruise
6:04
lines actively disguise this. In cruise
6:06
line published itineraries and root
6:08
maps, they usually show in bold or first
6:10
the name of the attractive iconic port
6:13
or place like say Rome, Florence,
6:15
Venice, and then in brackets behind it
6:17
the name of the actual port. So glancing
6:20
at your itinerary, it looks like you'll
6:22
be docking right by these famous places,
6:25
but bear in mind you're not. Here are
6:27
the main ones that you should watch out
6:29
for if planning a cruise. Venice is one
6:32
of the most complex as there are several
6:34
ports that you may be at based on your
6:36
ship size. If on a very small ship like
6:39
a Seadream yacht or a Windstar ship,
6:42
these are the only ones able to dock
6:44
within Venice at the San Basilio cruise
6:47
terminal. Slightly bigger ships of up to
6:49
about a thousand passengers like Viking
6:51
Seaborn Region and Azamara are likely to
6:53
dock at the Fusnia cruise terminal in
6:56
Margarand.
7:00
But all the rest will be docking in the
7:02
Ravena or Trieste which are about 2
7:04
hours drive from Venice. Another port
7:08
people get thrown by is Rome where
7:10
shiptock in Chvia which is around 1 and
7:14
a half hours away based on traffic. If
7:16
your itinerary says you're going to
7:18
Florence and Pisa, you dock in Laspetsia
7:20
or Levero which are up to 2 hours away.
7:24
If you think you're docking in Athens,
7:26
you're not. It will be in Pereus, which
7:27
can be up to about 45 minutes when
7:29
traffic is bad. If you think you're
7:32
sailing to and from London for your
7:34
Mediterranean cruise going from
7:35
Southampton, well, actually that's 1 and
7:37
1/2 hours away. But it's also important
7:40
to understand that unlike the Caribbean
7:43
and Alaska, quite a few Mediterranean
7:45
ports are actually unattractive working
7:48
container ports with little of interest
7:50
around them at all. In some such as say
7:53
Laspetszia on my last Sun Princess
7:55
cruise, we even had to get a shuttle
7:57
from the ship to the port gates because
7:58
walking within the port was not allowed.
8:01
While in Marles, as it's a commercial
8:03
port far out of town, there was nothing
8:05
in the area. So, taking a shuttle bus
8:07
into town was required cuz it was some
8:10
distance away. So many people I meet on
8:12
Mediterranean cruises are disappointed
8:15
by not researching and planning for
8:17
ports before the trip. On the upside, by
8:20
the way, for those that have not done
8:22
much planning, many ports now do have a
8:24
hop- on hop off bus, which will come
8:25
right to the ship as an option. But for
8:28
many ports, to get the most of them,
8:30
you're probably going to need to book
8:32
excursions. Whether that's a cruise on
8:33
excursion or independent providers like
8:36
ventureshore.com,
8:38
via.com or shore excursionsgroup.com.
8:42
Those are some of the leading providers.
8:44
By the way, if you do explore those
8:46
different options and you decide on
8:47
short excursionsgroup.com,
8:49
use TFT5 at the checkout and you'll get
8:51
5% off their tours. But as I mentioned,
8:54
there's quite a few that you can look
8:55
at. Also, I found things do not go to
8:57
plan for many used to cruising in the
8:59
Caribbean, Alaska, because they expect
9:01
to find lots of tour operators actually
9:03
at the ports. So, they can sign up there
9:05
and then to tours. This is not as common
9:07
in Mediterranean ports. This also mean
9:10
that Mediterranean cruise line
9:11
excursions from the ship do fill up
9:13
fast, so you should research, plan
9:16
ahead, and book them before boarding.
9:19
Not staying on top of things is another
9:20
reason some Mediterranean cruisers go
9:22
horribly wrong, including not even being
9:25
allowed to board them. This is by not
9:27
keeping up to date with the constantly
9:29
changing rules, requirements, fees, and
9:32
costs affecting Mediterranean cruise
9:34
itineraries. There are three key things
9:37
to look out for and they do keep
9:39
changing. First one I saw disrupt a
9:42
cruise just before I went on some
9:43
princess. That is new requirements
9:45
coming into force to enter a country.
9:48
Carnival Miracle was boarding a
9:50
Mediterranean cruise that ended in the
9:52
UK. But boarding was shambolic because
9:54
many people had not got the newly
9:56
introduced UK ETA electronic travel
9:59
authorization and were being refused
10:01
boarding. The ETA is now required to be
10:04
allowed to enter the UK. Europe is
10:06
rolling out a similar one called ETS,
10:10
though it's being postponed into 2026,
10:12
but if cruising from then on, you need
10:14
to check if one is going to be needed
10:16
based on the country that you're coming
10:17
from. So, always check on your local
10:20
government travel advisory site as that
10:22
will tell you if you need anything based
10:24
on your passport. If flying to Europe
10:26
for Mediterranean cruise, you will also
10:27
be affected by the new EU EEES entry
10:30
exit system, requiring people not from
10:33
an EU country to have their photograph
10:34
and fingerprints taken when they enter.
10:37
The second thing to keep a lookout for
10:39
is countries and ports on Mediterranean
10:41
cruise itineraries introducing new fees
10:44
or restricting the number of ships that
10:46
can call on them. Now, some countries
10:48
and ports did this abruptly last season,
10:51
meaning some lines had to change iteries
10:53
at short notice, dropping and changing
10:56
ports because when they of course
10:57
planned and launched the routes a couple
10:58
of years ago, those restrictions were
11:00
not in place. For example, Greece
11:03
brought in fees and limits on ships for
11:06
Santorini and Mkos, while Palmer and Aba
11:09
cut the number of ships allowed per day.
11:11
So, cruise lines had to abruptly change
11:13
plans. The third is ports bringing in
11:16
visitor fees to explore the sites. The
11:18
most significant to date is Venice who
11:21
have a fee in the peak months on certain
11:23
days which must be paid to enter and
11:25
explore the city in advance. Now I'll
11:27
leave a link to the site with details
11:29
how you pay in the notes of this. But
11:32
some of the ports are considering this
11:34
too. This leads me to the next reason
11:35
why for some people their Mediterranean
11:37
cruise does not go to plan. Ports are
11:40
bringing in those limits because they
11:41
are being overrun. Not just by cruisers,
11:44
but by all tourists. Many when booking a
11:47
Mediterranean cruise don't appreciate
11:48
how hot, humid, and busy the peak summer
11:51
months of July and August are. Many
11:54
European countries effectively shut
11:56
their factories, close down the
11:58
businesses, and people all go on
12:00
vacation in July and August, making the
12:02
sites, the restaurants, and the beaches
12:04
in Europe really, really packed. This
12:07
time of year, it will also be between
12:09
30° C to 40° C. That's 87 to 104°
12:13
Fahrenheit. It's very humid and many
12:15
people going on Mediterranean cruises
12:17
find this rather challenging. A common
12:19
reason and one I saw in some princess
12:21
that many Mediterranean cruises do not
12:23
go to plan is simply because people are
12:25
on the wrong line or the wrong ship.
12:27
It's basically every cruise line has
12:29
ships in the Mediterranean during the
12:31
season. The choice is enormous. It
12:33
ranges from large resort ships from the
12:35
likes of Royal Caribbean down to small
12:38
luxury yacht lines like Seadream. But
12:41
being on the wrong line oral ship in the
12:43
Mediterranean could ruin a trip. For
12:45
example, some Princess is a new mega
12:47
ship from Princess. It's a different
12:49
ship to the other Princess ships. It's
12:51
aimed at younger cruisers. It's aimed
12:53
more at families. It's more boisterous
12:55
and it's not as relaxed as their other
12:58
ships. So, I met many regular Princess
12:59
cruisers who were on some Princess that
13:01
were not really enjoying the ship in the
13:02
trip, but they could have gone to the
13:04
Mediterranean on a different and older
13:06
Princess ship that better matched their
13:07
needs.
13:09
It's really important to think about and
13:11
check the line and the ship will really
13:14
meet your needs in the Mediterranean
13:15
beyond just the ports it's calling on
13:17
before you book. One watch out though is
13:20
that in those peaks months particularly
13:21
July and August even lines which are
13:23
usually more adult focused will have
13:25
many more families on those months even
13:27
the ultra luxury ones. So bear that in
13:29
mind because if you prefer a more adult
13:31
only cruising for the Mediterranean then
13:33
you do need to choose an adult only line
13:35
at the peak times like Viking or Virgin
13:37
Voyages or you could sail in the
13:39
shoulder months out of school holidays
13:40
like June, September, October. I do have
13:43
many people asking me about cruising the
13:45
Mediterranean out of seasons so autumn
13:46
and winter. There are very very few
13:49
options with Europe based lines like MSE
13:51
cruises and Costa running a couple of
13:52
itineraries but choices very limited
13:55
because the season really runs from
13:57
April to October. I've mentioned a few
14:00
areas where not researching and planning
14:03
could make Mediterranean cruise not go
14:04
to plan, but there are a couple more
14:06
that I really must stress. Ships get
14:09
full in the peak months. So if you want
14:10
a specific cabin, for example, for
14:12
accessibility needs, solo, a family room
14:14
for kids, booking way in advance is
14:17
absolutely essential. Secondly, flight
14:20
costs to and from Europe get really
14:21
expensive the closer to departure gets.
14:24
I met a couple of people on some
14:25
Princess who'd left their flight booking
14:27
late. It had absolutely blown their
14:29
budget apart. As you get ready to plan
14:31
your Mediterranean cruise, I spoke about
14:33
the importance of getting the ports
14:35
right. So, join me over in this video
14:37
where I talk about the best and the
14:39
worst ports when choosing your
14:41
Mediterranean cruise. See you over
14:43
there.
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