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Author: Durant and Cheryl Imboden Have you ever:
- Put off a European vacation because you lack the patience to plan an itinerary, haul yourself and your belongings from city to city, and cope with foreign languages along the way?
- Considered an escorted tour, but rejected the idea because touring with a group seems too much like a class trip?
- Wished you could visit places like Corsica, Dubrovnik, or Estonia that sound intriguing but aren't convenient to reach?
- Complained about the need to unpack every night and pack again the next morning?
If your answer to any of these questions is "yes," it's time to consider touring Europe on a ship or boat.
The idea of cruise-based travel is simple: You sail along Europe's coastline or inland waterways, stopping frequently for shore excursions. It's like staying in a moving hotel that takes you around Europe--you unpack once at the beginning of the voyage, and you never have to touch a suitcase again until it's time to leave the ship. And when you're finished with each day's sightseeing, you can return to the familiar cocoon of your cruise vessel for dinner, conversation with your fellow passengers, and a good night's sleep.
Four ways to cruise
European cruises fall into four categories:
Sea cruises
Dozens of ships offer cruising in the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the North Sea, and other coastal regions of Europe. These vessels are similar in concept to the transatlantic ocean liners of yesteryear, and they carry anywhere from 100 to 3,000 or more passengers in cabins and suites. Many newer ships offer private balconies, and nearly all have amenities such as swimming pools and nightly entertainment.
River cruises
On the Rhine, the Danube, and other great rivers of Europe, luxurious cruise boats glide past the local scenery and stop often to allow sightseeing on shore. These boats are low in profile, to fit under bridges, and they typically carry 50 to 200 passengers. (See our illustrated Viking Burgundy and Casanova reviews.)
Barge cruises
From the 1800s through the mid-20th Century, small barges hauled freight over a vast network of canals and secondary rivers in Europe. Today, many of those barges have been converted into luxury cruise vessels. Because the typical "hotel barge" carries only 6 to 12 guests, barge cruising is more intimate than a ship or a riverboat. It's also slower-paced, with daytime stops and overnight mooring at small villages.
Yacht cruises
A few companies offer cruises aboard large sailing yachts in the Mediterranean and Aegean. These "soft adventure" cruises appeal to sailors and would-be yachtsmen.
Because most first-time cruisers prefer seagoing ships, mainstream cruising--especially "port-intensive" cruising--is the focus of this article.
Port-intensive cruising
To tour Europe by ship, you'll want to book a "port-intensive" cruise that offers frequent opportunities for shore excursions. A good example would be our Silver Whisper Mediterranean cruise with Silversea Cruises. The 12-day itinerary had only two "sea days"; the other days were spent visiting ports in Greece, Italy, and Croatia. In all, we visited eight ports, not counting Athens (our embarkation city) and Civitavecchia, the seaport for Rome.
Silversea provided optional shore excursions that ranged from Greek ruins to a "Gondola Serenade" in Venice. (One of our favorites was a trip to Mt. Etna in Sicily, where we took a bus to the volcano and ascended lava fields in a four-wheel-drive vehicle.)
Typically, a port-intensive cruise is designed so that ports are visited during the day and the ship sails for its next destination in the late afternoon or evening. Sometimes, however, the ship may stay overnight in a port. On our Athens-to-Rome cruise, Silversea's Silver Whisper arrived in Venice at 9 a.m. on a Monday and remained there until 11 p.m. Tuesday. This gave passengers and crew ample time for sightseeing and shopping in a city where even the most fleeting orientation visit requires more than one day.
A typical day with Silversea Cruises
We began each day on the Silver Whisper by stepping out on our veranda to watch the ship's arrival in port. Then we had a light breakfast in our cabin, or--if we weren't in a hurry--we went topside for a more substantial breakfast in the open air.
On days when we'd booked excursions, we headed for the gangway or tender at the appointed time (usually between 8 and 9 a.m.) and went ashore. Most tours lasted only half the day, giving us time to wander around the ports on our own before it was time to sail.
We frequently returned to the ship at midday, had lunch in the ship's air-conditioned buffet or restaurant, checked our e-mail in the Silver Whisper's computer room, then went ashore for a few more hours in the Mediterranean's summer heat. Many of our fellow passengers took a less strenuous approach: They changed into swimsuits and headed for the pool, where they ate hamburgers and sipped cold drinks while working on their tans.
The ship usually sailed around 6 p.m., giving passengers time to shower, visit the bars for cocktails if they were so inclined, and enjoy a leisurely dinner before the night's entertainment. After the show, we usually spent time on deck before returning to our cabin, but the casino and bars were open late for the nightlife set.
On "sea days" (days when there was no port call), we sampled a few of the morning and afternoon activities from the Silver Whisper's daily schedule. Lectures, trivia-team competitions, golf instruction, bridge tournaments, water polo, needlepoint, fitness classes, port briefings, and spa treatments were just a few of the options listed in the daily Silversea Chronicles newspaper. Some activities were combined with afternoon tea at 4 p.m., which helped to replace any calories that we'd used up while sightseeing in port.
Not all ships are like the Silver Whisper, of course; a few smaller vessels may offer a limited range of activities, while a 3,000-passenger "megaship" may be more suited to a resort vacation than to a port-intensive tour of Europe. But the basics are common to nearly all ships: A cabin, plenty of food, bars, lounges, and open decks where you can enjoy views and fresh air from the sea as you cruise between ports.
Shopping for a cruise
Destination.
If your objective is to tour Europe by ship (rather than to go cruising for cruising's sake), you'll need to begin by selecting a region. The busiest cruising area is the Mediterranean, where most lines have ships operating from spring through fall. The Baltic is another popular region, with many cruises heading east from Scandinavia to St. Petersburg, Russia during the summer months. You can also book cruises along the western coast of Europe (with port calls at major cities like Amsterdam, Bordeaux, and Lisbon) or the British Isles. If you'd like to go farther afield, look for a cruise that includes the Faroes, Iceland, Spitzbergen, Madeira, or the Canary Islands.
Cruise line.
Next, you'll have to pick a cruise line and ship. Some lines, like Silversea and Windstar, have relatively small ships that emphasize intimacy and are well suited to port-intensive cruising. Others, such as Princess and Norwegian Cruise Line, feature "megaships" that carry 1,500 to 3,000+ passengers and are best described as floating resorts.
Price category.
A cruise line's "per diem," or price per day for each passenger, can vary from less than two hundred dollars or euros to nearly a thousand in a standard cabin. A cheaper line is the obvious choice if you're on a tight budget, but things get trickier as you move up the scale. In the medium- to high-priced categories, you'll need to compare things such as:
Cabin size and amenities. A standard cabin on an upscale ship may be comparable to an extra-cost suite on a mass-market vessel. Fortunately, it's easy to compare cabin sizes and layouts by visiting the cruise lines' Web sites.
What's included. On most cruise lines, the price includes your cabin and meals in the main dining room. (Air fare may also be included.) You'll pay bar prices for drinks, and some vessels levy an extra charge for meals in specialty restaurants. Tipping is another expense. Silversea and Seabourn, two high-end cruise lines, go to the opposite extreme by including tips, drinks, and luxury items such as French Champagne and Russian caviar in the fare. Other companies lie somewhere in between: Holland America claims that tipping isn't required (though most passengers do tip), but you'll still pay for drinks in the bar and wine with dinner.
Note: Even on "all-inclusive" ships, you'll be expected to pay for hairdressing, spa treatments, and optional shore excursions.
Special deals.
Most cruise lines offer discounts for early booking. If you're flexible, choosing a less popular itinerary or departure date can pay off in substantial savings. And if you're able to use frequent-flyer miles for air transportation, you can request a "cruise only" fare.
Where to book.
Unlike the airline industry, the cruise industry still relies heavily on travel agents. Many cruise lines won't even sell directly to consumers--and, just as important, a cruise travel agent will be able to help you get the best possible fare and cabin.
Final thoughts
Before you book a European cruise, give some thought to your travel goals.
Touring Europe by ship is not a substitute for an extended stay in one city or region. You won't get to know Rome or Paris on a day trip from Civitavecchia or Le Havre, and you'll have less contact with the locals than you would if you were traveling independently and staying in small hotels, pensions, apartments, or cottages. If you want to immerse yourself in the local culture while traveling by sea, consider building your own slower-paced itinerary with European ferries.
On the other hand, cruising is a wonderful way to travel under the following circumstances:
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You want to sample a variety of countries, cities, towns, or islands before making plans for future vacations.
In closing, we'd like to make a confession: Before our cruises with Renaissance, Silversea, Oceania, and Viking River Cruises, we tended to look down our noses at cruise vacations. We're now hooked on cruising--not as a substitute for independent travel, but as a change of pace that lets us relax while visiting European ports as sailors, traders, and invaders have been doing for thousands of years.
Online Booking
Book Your Cheap Cruise Online at: www.cruisedirect.org
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