[DimondAngels]

We are planning on doing a European Cruise this fall and would like some tips on the best cruise lines that visit
Italy. A 10 to 12 day cruise would be nice.
Kevin

[Arctic Fox]

Don't forget that a number of cruise lines end their Mediterranean season in Rome, then steam across to Florida (for two weeks) for the start of their Caribbean season. So, if you want to avoid flying back, you can have a one-week Med. cruise followed by a two-week transatlantic cruise.

[valuemkt]

Pretty open ended question. In addition to "Italy", are you interested in Western Europe ports .. or the Greek islands ? Several years ago we took a 10 or 11 day Princess out of Venice .. visited Rome, Florence, Naples .. Athens .. Malta, Monte Carlo and ended up in Barcelona.. It's a destination vs "relaxation" type cruise. There are others that touch Italy and then do Croatia and more of the Greek Islands .. like Santorini. Next is the cruise line . Have you cruised before, do you like really large ships that target all ages ? Or would you prefer a bit of an upscale that focuses more on the active 50 plus crowd (that doesnt have water slides and kids programs)? To survey your possibilities look up vacations togo dot com .. you can put a number of variables in to narrow your choices and get an idea of the price differentials. Also read the fine print, as some include international airfare, tips, drink packages .. others have the upscale restaurants included at no up charge etc .. For mass market look at Princess and Celebrity .. maybe Royal .. for a cut above look at Oceania

[Tom C]

We toured Italy with Viking. We consider them the best for river cruises. We are not ocean cruisers, but we did like their trip and would recommend them above others. We tour to learn, walk the areas and see new things and relax in the evening. We don't care to stand in long lines for food, we like it brought to our table. VERY FEW kids, if any, on Viking (we consider that a plus).

[DimondAngels]

Thank you for the great advice.. We do have plans to visit Spain and Greece along with Italy.
We are looking for a upscale and smaller ship that caterers only to adults. I looked at Viking Ocean cruises which look great but $12K for a 13 day cruise
w/air is over my budget.

[kellyjam]

Originally Posted by DimondAngels

Thank you for the great advice.. We do have plans to visit Spain and Greece along with Italy.
We are looking for a upscale and smaller ship that caterers only to adults. I looked at Viking Ocean cruises which look great but $12K for a 13 day cruise
w/air is over my budget.

We are taking this cruise in late July. seems to fit your bill.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/detai...rior&shipId=OS

[suebu]

Look at Emerald Waterways who is similar to Viking cruises, at considerably less money, for the same size "long boats" and often offering reduced airfare from the US along with other incentives. They started competing with Viking in 2014 with a fleet of new ships (boats), cabins appear to be the same size, same amenities, and their rates include the gratuities which Viking does not. I know a few couples who have traveled both Emerald and Viking, and comparing their experiences were similar, but prices were very different. I haven't looked at their itinerary but you may want to see if it has what you're looking for. good luck!

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by kellyjam

We are taking this cruise in late July. seems to fit your bill.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/detai...rior&shipId=OS

We are big fans of Holland-America Line. Their ships rarely have more than a handful of children on board, and if you are going in the Fall while the schools are in...

Unfortunately, our favorite ship (Prinsendam) doesn't have much involvement with Italy this year, but check out September.

Lines you may wish to avoid are those such as Costa and MSC where all of the ship-board announcements are made in six different languages, which can become very tiresome and invasive.

[Rollie]

You may want to check out Celebrity. They are similar to Holland.
We did them out of Rome several years and it was the best trip we’ve ever done.

Rollie