Carnival Freedom- Mediterranean cruise

Hi
This is my fifth cruise coming up Sept/07. We just booked Carnival Freedom
for Sept 10/07 for a Grand Med. I'd just like people's opinion about Med
cruises.My hubby has been really wanting a Med cruise but I personally
prefer doing Europe on land as there's so much more time to see sights and I
see it as a "waste of a good ship" since we'll probably be out by 8 am and
not back until an hour prior to departure. For me part of the cruising
experience is enjoying the ship.

Roseanne

--
The Seven Dwarves of Menopause are living at my house: Itchy,Bitchy,
Sweaty,Sleepy,Bloated,Forgetful & Psycho

foggydoggy wrote:
Hi
This is my fifth cruise coming up Sept/07. We just booked Carnival Freedom
for Sept 10/07 for a Grand Med. I'd just like people's opinion about Med
cruises.My hubby has been really wanting a Med cruise but I personally
prefer doing Europe on land as there's so much more time to see sights and I
see it as a "waste of a good ship" since we'll probably be out by 8 am and
not back until an hour prior to departure. For me part of the cruising
experience is enjoying the ship.

I absolutely adore doing the Med by ship. It's one of the best reasons
to do a cruise. Your luggage, room and waiter follow you everywhere,
and each day is a new adventure with little or no bother on your part.

My older brother loves it so much, he's done the Med five times on
Princess.

I've done parts of Europe by bus, and it was awful by comparison. Yes,
you saw more land, but boy I hated packing/unpacking, getting up early
and traveling on their time schedule, etc.

Now, in opposition, I'm planning on doing a two-week stay in Italy in a
villa next time, because I also like that style of vacation. But a Med
cruise is a great way to see many countries easily.

Kev

"foggydoggy" wrote in message
...
Hi
This is my fifth cruise coming up Sept/07. We just booked Carnival
Freedom
for Sept 10/07 for a Grand Med. I'd just like people's opinion about Med
cruises.My hubby has been really wanting a Med cruise but I personally
prefer doing Europe on land as there's so much more time to see sights and
I
see it as a "waste of a good ship" since we'll probably be out by 8 am and
not back until an hour prior to departure. For me part of the cruising
experience is enjoying the ship.

On our 12 day Med cruise that was true, we didn't see enough of the ship, we
didn't see enough of the ports. It was still great fun. And we had spent
two weeks in Italy before getting on the ship. If you can do that...we got
our fill of late dinners in bustling piazzas and morning cappuccinos in the
local bar, day trips on the AutoStrada, shopping in the supermercatos etc.
The ports we wanted to spend a ton of time in we either did before or after
the cruise, or went back to on a later vacation. But the cruise itself was
wonderful for 1) my parents, who found eating out in or shopping on their
own outside of the US overwhelming 2) my kids who after two weeks were
craving pancakes for breakfast, and 3) my husband and I, who after two weeks
of worrying about where to eat and how to get places and what to do next
could just go with the flow.

Hi, Foggy,

Like you, I still vote Euro by land as my first choice; with that said,
we've really enjoyed both Euro cruises we've done. The Baltics cruise took
us to so many places we probably would never have considered for a land
trip. And relevant to your trip plans, when we did the Med cruise, while we
were introduced us to a few new places we'd love to go back to explore by
land, the bonus of that journey was returning to some familiar favorites.
You, too, may have visited some of the stops on that itinerary. For example,
we had been to Rome by land several times. So the long port day stop was
particularly delightful, as we didn't feel pressed, as first-timers do, to
squeeze all of the usual sites into one whirlwind day. Knowing the city and
how to get around, we easily visited one or two select attractions we wanted
to see at a casual pace and spent the greater balance of a glorious day just
doing 'When in Rome' stuff. (Some travelers skip Rome altogether and explore
spots outside the city/along the coast...I love Rome so much, I couldn't do
that, but it's certainly an option.) Similarly, when you make the Livorno
stop, you have the freedom to forego Florence if you like and devote your
day to exploring one of those Tuscan villages you've always wanted to visit.
Lucca's hot right now...the NY Time just ran a great feature on it...but
there are so many attractive choices. You get the idea. The flip side is, if
this IS your first visit to Rome, Florence or any of the other fabulous
spots on the usual Med itinerary, then wow! what great places you'll be
privileged to see, and you'll get a wonderful taste of them in a day and
likely be inspired to plan a return land visit. And like the other poster
said, there's a lot to like about coming "home" to your own bed, dinner
table, etc. every night. May I suggest you visit the Europe board at Cruise
Critic to start collecting port excursion ideas. For experienced travelers
in particular, I think touring by yourself or securing your own private tour
guide for the day is a very appealing (and less costly) option vs. going
with the ship's excursions.

As for your concern about not having much time to enjoy the ship, that's a
valid consideration. You can tell by the daily line-up that you will have
only a day or two at sea, and the port day arrangements won't give you much
time ship time at all. More, you will be off running around so much, when
you are onboard, finding the energy to do much more than veg will be a
challenge! This will be one of those "I need a vacation from my vacation"
trip, for sure. But, gosh, the Med is such an intoxicating, exhilirating
part of the world...IMO...I can't imagine you will mind "the waste of a good
ship." (In that vein, I've decided that factors like which cruise line, ship
and even cabin are very low priority for me when booking sightseeing
cruises. I pick based on itinerary first and cost second, saving my $$$ to
make the most of port explorations. By contrast, when I take those
fun-in-the-sun vacation cruises, I am more choosey about line, ship and
cabin because the shipboard experience will be a huge component of my
overall trip enjoyment. YMMV)

Love your signature line--I know those dwarves well, LOL.

Have fun with your year of planning & anticipation!

Diana Ball
Austin, TX