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Insider's guide to cruising Europe
Guide to choosing an itinerary and other lessons learned
 Jacques Brinon / AP file People walk past the Latina Cafe, near the Champs Elysees in Paris. Paris is the home of some of the best nightlife and evening activities on the planet, including great sites for vibrant teenagers looking for nights to remember. |
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Having spent six weeks this summer cruising on three different ships, we learned a few "hard knocks" lessons on getting the most out of cruising Europe.
The first was that visiting Europe via cruise ship was easily the most intensive sightseeing cruise experience ever. In the Caribbean, sure, there's history, but you can also mix and match laidback beach outings and boat trips (and not feel guilty). Alaska, most definitely, is all about the wilderness, but much of it can be passively explored -- from a seat on everything from a dog sled to a helicopter.
Popular European cruise itineraries offer a head-spinning array of choices. The first piece of advice? A day per port is by no means enough time to see anything, much less everything. The best way to stay sane is to treat each day as a "sampler" -- if you like it, plan to return for a lengthier stay another time. And if you don't -- and trust me, there will be ports that don't ring your chimes -- the good news is you haven't invested time and money in a long stay.
Europe's such a big place that on Cruise Critic we've divided it up into four basic regions (though you'll find that many itineraries will combine various ports from these regions). By and large though, here's a quick (and hopefully helpful) guide to choosing an itinerary:
Eastern Mediterranean: These cruises primarily feature ports of call in Croatia, Greece and Turkey. Embarkation and disembarkation points are commonly located in places like Piraeus (for Athens), Venice and Istanbul.
Western Mediterranean: These itineraries focus on Italy's west coast (with port-of-call stops that service cities like Rome and Florence), France's glittering Cote d'Azur, coastal Spain (from Barcelona all the way east to Cadiz/Seville) and Portugal (Lisbon).
British Isles and Western Europe: On these cruises -- which quite commonly do pull from various regions such as the Western Mediterranean and Northern Europe -- you'll sail to places like Belgium (Brugge/Brussels), Amsterdam, Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris/Normandy and Hamburg. The most common embarkation point is London (Dover, Harwich, Southampton and Tower Bridge).
Northern Europe: There are two distinctly different types of itineraries in Northern Europe. The first is Norway's west coast, where the prime attractions are its gorgeous fjords. Cruises often turn around from Copenhagen or London. The second is the Baltic region, one of Europe's major centers of art, culture and history; key destinations there include Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Copenhagen. Common ports of embarkation/disembarkation include London, Copenhagen and Stockholm.
Other lessons learned on our European cruises?
Wear comfortable shoes (pack several pairs) and plan on walking. A lot. Those charming cobblestone streets (ubiquitous throughout Europe) are hard on feet.
When shopping for a specific cruise, look carefully at the itinerary to see if there are any days at sea. You will appreciate the occasional "day off" between bouts of frantic sightseeing in port.
Strategize your sightseeing by varying activities. If Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam are on the docket three days in a row, intensive city tours in each place will be overwhelming (and get monotonous). Look for the occasional alternative -- in Belgium go to medieval Brugge instead; if Paris doesn't appeal, take advantage of the proximity of its port (Le Havre) to major attractions in France's gorgeous Normandy region. The Baltic cruise is another region where it's a good idea to try out more "innovative" explorations because many of the Scandinavian cities, in particular, feel somewhat similar. Try a walking tour of Oslo, a kayaking-the-canals approach to Copenhagen, and just hanging out in easy-to-maneuver Stockholm.
Avoid sightseers' guilt. You only have a day in each destination (with a few exceptions -- cruise lines often offer overnights in Venice and St. Petersburg). You can't see everything so narrow down your choices -- and if you're tired of museums and just want to have a long lunch at a sidewalk cafe, well, that's a great experience too.
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