The route
Perhaps this is one of the main criteria by which to choose a cruise at all. Among the most popular travels in the Mediterranean Sea. First of all, because it is much easier and cheaper to fly to a European city than anywhere else in Tokyo or Havana.
Planes start from one city and finish their way either in the same port or in another city or country. For example, you can go on the route of Marseille, France, Port Mahon (Menorca), Cagliari (Sardinia), Valletta (Malta), Messina, Naples, Genoa. Or start sailing in Palma de Mallorca, visit Barcelona, Marseille, Savona, La Spezia, Civitavecchia (Rome) and return to Mallorca.
There are plenty of route options to choose from.
For summer cruises the Mediterranean Sea and Northern Europe are the best, and in winter the Caribbean islands and Cuba are the ideal place for rest.
And it is possible and even necessary to leave in cities! Most often the ship spends the night at sea, and in the morning you wake up at a new point. Parking in the port can be both 5-6 hours and 12-14 hours.
What to do at this time depends only on your desires:
1) You can stay on the ship. No one will kick you overboard. But it’s a little strange to be on a liner when Nice or Barcelona comes off in front of you.
2) You can buy an organized tour of the city.
3) You can go to the city on your own.
It is best to see in advance how far the port is from the city center and how to get there. If it’s simple, you can go on your own. If you need to go far, make connections, etc., then take an organized tour.
The ship…
A day at sea is the only way to fully enjoy the entertainment on the ship. Otherwise, imagine, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. you are walking somewhere in Rome, and almost certainly after that you will have the only desire – to rest in your cabin or maximum, sitting in a bar.
What is on the ship? A fitness centre, swimming pools, a spa, numerous bars and clubs, shops, cinemas and show programs are the minimum services. Each cruise company tries to surprise travelers, luring on board their ship with some chips.
There is a shopping street, a street with bars, an open-air amphitheatre with an evening aqua show, a 10-storey slide, a surfing simulator, an extreme bungee, a central park, a children’s water park, a Bionic Bar, where robots make cocktails, a spa, children’s areas, an art gallery, a casino and much more.
What’s in the cabin?
The cabins on the liner are divided into several types. Inside cabin, cabin with window, cabin with balcony and suite. Most tourists prefer a cabin with a balcony. Wake up to the sound of the sea is a dream for everyone. But if you’re going on a cruise for a few days, then the inner cabin will be fine, because there is so much to see on the liner and you want to see everything.
I confirm! To meet the dawn on the balcony of your cabin is unforgettable. And though this type of accommodation is more expensive than on the inner deck, I still advise not to save money.
The rocker.
Whatever the huge liner is, you’ll still feel like you’re at sea. Even in the calmest weather. It won’t inconvenience you, but you’ll feel like you’re swaying lightly. Even when you go down to the shore, you will be “carried on the waves” for a while.All cruise ships are equipped with rocking stabilisers, so you won’t feel a lot of hesitation. If you’re swamped, you’ll always get the swing pills at the reception.
Dress code and atmosphere
Any girl/girl/woman will definitely love the cruise! It is easy to feel like a princess on a liner. On the way to the ship everybody says hello, wishes you a pleasant trip, finds out if everything is okay and offers any help. By the way, the staff on the ship is specially selected from different countries to communicate with Russian travelers in Russian, with German – in German, etc.
In the daytime you can walk around the ship as you wish – shorts, jeans, t-shirts. In the evening, too. But you want to dress up yourself. To go to the aqua-show in a cocktail dress, to a dinner in a chic restaurant you will need a dress in the floor, and in the bar you can put on your highest studs and the most mini! Well, you realized that you can wear all your things on the ship, which have been waiting for years for the right reason. A cruise is a real case.
What’s included in the price?
The price of the cruise itself is not the final amount of your expenses for a sea voyage. Meals are included in the price of the cruise. But on about the third day you will already be in a restaurant with a buffet, and in a la carte restaurant, and you will probably want something new, such as Japanese cuisine. And that’s all for an extra fee.
It is better to decide on the shore (in the literal sense of the word) how many drinks you will consume. And if you are an avid coffee lover or in the evenings planning to have fun, it is much more profitable to buy a package of drinks in advance. The cost starts at about 15 euros per person per day and depends heavily on the range of included drinks.
Currency depends on the cruise company. If it is an American cruise line, like the Royal Caribbean, then it is better to take dollars, and if the European line, like Costa or MSC, then the euro. We advise you to put a deposit on your account at the very beginning of the cruise, and at the end of the cruise you will get the rest back. You can make a deposit with a credit card, but you will get it back in cash.
So how much is all this worth?
The total amount is based on the following costs: airline tickets, the cost of the cruise itself, all the necessary additional services and those that you need (drinks, excursions or independent walks around the cities).
Budget cruises include journeys of 300 euros or more per person for 7 nights. The average cost of a cruise is from 700 to 2000 euros per person. Cruises worth more than 2000 euros are considered luxury cruises. There are also thematic cruises, for example, expeditionary cruises, whose cost can exceed 20,000 euros.
In fact, cruises are quite a budget type of recreation, especially if you want not only to have a rest near the sea, but also to visit new cities and countries. If we take into account the cost of flights, accommodation and meals, a week cruise is the best combination of comfort and economy to visit the cities of the Mediterranean.