What I Wish I Had Known Before Going On European Cruise

[BadPinkTink]

I'm a first time cruiser from Europe but I know most people who do the DCL routes in Europe are from America and many have sailed multiple times with DCL on the Bahamas and Caribbean routes. I'm curious to know what all you American cruisers wished you had known about cruising in Europe and the difference between sailing out of Port Canaveral and The Mediterranean or Dover.

Ok, yes I know I'm bored , I am booked on the 2021 Norwegian Fjords cruise and trying to get motivated to update the thread in the cruise meets section

 

[fredandkell]

The Magic from Barcelona was 50% American. Lots of Europeans and a healthy sprinkling of Middle Easterners. I thought debarkation and embarkation was much easier there than in Port Canaveral.

ETA: they actually announced the 50% Americans number and if I remember correctly they said 20% Spaniards.

 

[BadPinkTink]

The Magic from Barcelona was 50% American. Lots of Europeans and a healthy sprinkling of Middle Easterners. I thought debarkation and embarkation was much easier there than in Port Canaveral.

ETA: they actually announced the 50% Americans number and if I remember correctly they said 20% Spaniards.

thanks, I have always wondered about the % on the European cruises.

 

[dclpluto]

European cruises are so very much. better. Only did a few one med and two transatlantic cruises. Scheduled for a 10 night Northern Europe cruise next year but of course I don’t see that happening.

 

[yowcruiser]

Depending on the cruise...

• Frozen show instead of Pirates Night and fireworks (it will be the case on your cruise)
• Value Added Tax may be applicable on purchase of goods and drinks onboard - This applies only to cruise that arrive and depart and only visit ports that are in the EU or have agreed to tax harmonization with the EU. This would apply on a closed loop from Barcelona with stops in Italy and France. It would not apply to a cruise that has a stop in Russia or Iceland for example
• They can be quite serous about food allergies for port adventures. During a tour two years ago in Norway, they put everyone with food allergies on the same bus (a snack/lunch was included) to prevent any issues
• Port arrival and departure times can be all over the map, and sometimes will conflict with Main dining. Dining times are also slightly later on European cruises

 

[Kirsty_Lou]

I have sailed the Med and Northern Europe a number of times now out of Barcelona and Dover. Always found it very pleasant. The number of UK guests on our last Norwegian Fjords cruise was about 80% I think, but it did leave from Dover. It was a bit different from the ones sailing the med but I adore the scenery on the Norwegian ones. It is my joint favourite with Alaska!

 

[Lilac36]

We did the Magic from Barcelona last year. There are significantly less young American children on our cruise when compared to a Caribbean cruise. People don't necessarily want to pay for transatlantic flights and an expensive cruise that their kids might not remember or appreciate. My cruise was about 80% over 14 years old. Disney also did a great job of providing Adult Only excursion options.

Also, the port excursions are long. We had a 10 hour excursion on our last day and got back with barely anytime to shower and change for dinner for the Main Dining seating. Because the excursions are so long, we barely spent anytime on the ship and were exhausted on our 1 day at sea. When it came time for the Livorno port, I was so happy that we had already been to Florence because it meant we could have a "light" excursion to Pisa which was only 4 hours because it meant we could relax on the ship a little.

All the excursions we did were amazing and I am so happy we did them. Most of our tour guides were friendly, knowledgeable and spoke clear English. We only had 1 who had perfect English vocabulary, but her speech pattern and accent were difficult to understand so we really had to concentrate.

This should also go without saying, but if the guide says to meet up at a certain time, you definitely need to be on time. We had a situation on Monte Carlo where 2 people held up a bus and because the buses can only pick up groups in a specific area in a very specific procedure, it had to wait for these two people. Unfortunately, that bus couldn't leave and prevented other buses from being able to load their passengers so hundreds of guests were crowded in a tunnel in Monte Carlo on the side of the road waiting for two very rude guests who didn't seem to think what they did was a problem.

 

[Travel60]

I have not done Disney cruise in Europe but have sailed other lines there. So, not sure if same is true but we found European cruises and people to be dressier (or perhaps just more put together) than other cruises. Very few "jeans and tees", no shorts. If people wore jeans it was with a dressy top and maybe a scarf or coordinating sweater or jacket. Lots of black outfits. Nice shoes (few big white sneakers). Again, maybe it was a cruise line difference, not a location difference.

 

[braysmommy]

We have done multiple Transatlantic cruises and the Med once. We researched a lot on trip advisor and blogs to find tour companies to book private excursions with or did ports on our own. We don't like DCL port adventures and I like the planning aspect of it so it works for us. You can usually find others on your meet page to help share the expense of a private tour depending on size of your family. Some will say you could be left behind if not on DCL excursion which could happen but with planning we have never come close to missing the ship. Compared to Caribbean cruises filled with relaxing days the European cruises are often port intensive with long days off the ship. By the end of our Med cruise we were tired but enjoyed every minute of it!

 

[Joel0917]

People don’t get up early and try and get chairs at the pool. Very late arrivals for those. That was different. In the Caribbean Cruises I’ve had to be out there at 730 in sea days and get a chair. Agree with port excursions going past main seating. We cut our Rome tour an hour short via private driver. We were spent and didn’t want to wait for second seating or other food.

 

[DCSWO]

We are doing the Norwegian Fjords Cruise next year as well! We did the Northern Europe out of Copenhagen and we were onboard before 1145 which was nice. That cruise definitely felt more laid back than the Bahama cruises. It was also our first trip on the smaller ship so that is also a different vibe than the Dream/Fantasy. With the Norway cruise being in September, I would anticipate a lower percentage of kids - at least American kids - due to school schedules. The trip reports I’ve read from people departing out of Dover seem positive. With everything going on in the world, I’m actually glad we gave 13 months to go.

 

[jrabbit]

Med:
Ports = Amazing (Knew That)
Days = Long (Knew that too!)
Totally Exhausted - Didn't expect that, but with the high summer temps and humidity, should have expected it
DCL taking care of us after those late excursions - Yep, and it was expected.

Northern Europe
Temperatures way more comfortable - so we were not wiped out at the end of the day
Daylight: Coming out of the late show (we had early dinner seating) - it was still daylight - we were a quite a bit farther north than where we live - and way different than the Caribbean cruises sunset time

We were on a different cruise line for a med cruise about 10 years ago and most of their ship wide announcements were in 8 different languages. I think the DCL sticks with English and Spanish

Med Cruise in January - was WAY surprised at how cold it was up on deck while we were sailing ... it's the "Med" and it's always warm there .... right?!!!

But after 20+ DCL cruises, there usually isn't much of a surprise any more. Just Pixie Dust!!!

 

[Kirbo]

Honestly, I wish I'd realized how little time we'd be on the boat. We did one Med cruise on DCL and I think it wasn't really worth it to do DCL (for us). We had just done a transatlantic and loved it but the Med was so different. The port days were so long and we'd be late and hot and sweaty for dinners each night and skipped the shows as we were all beat (we'd just seen them on the TA, so it wasn't a huge loss, but still...). We've done WBPC, EBTA, the Med, and two week long Mexican Riviera cruises and although we loved all of them, we wish we'd done a cheaper line for the Med and just paid for a floating hotel.

Disney didn't do anything wrong, it was just that we spent so much time in port the boat didn't matter much and on DCL you're paying a premium to be on their boat.

That said, I'd probably pick DCL if money weren't a consideration as they are an excellent cruise line.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm curious to know what all you American cruisers wished you had known about cruising in Europe

One "I wish I had known....." is that, in ports, the public toilets (WC, whatever else it may be called) often take money to use them. It's a good idea to have a few coins in your pocket when off the ship.

 

[bcwife76]

Loving all these tips! We have the 10 night Northern Europe cruise booked next August, just crossing our fingers it sails, otherwise we will rebook for 2022.

 

[brentm77]

One "I wish I had known....." is that, in ports, the public toilets (WC, whatever else it may be called) often take money to use them. It's a good idea to have a few coins in your pocket when off the ship.

Dumb question deleted.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

For the cruise that leaves Rome and heads to Greece, does anyone have recommendations on getting local currency? The first time you are in Greece will be when you step off the ship.

ATMs work well.

 

[xavier2001]

For those saying you don’t spend much time on the boat, is it worth the Disney premium for Europe? One of our fav things about a Disney ship is ship time, if off touring 10 hours a day, would a cheaper cruise line be sufficient?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

For those saying you don’t spend much time on the boat, is it worth the Disney premium for Europe? One of our fav things about a Disney ship is ship time, if off touring 10 hours a day, would a cheaper cruise line be sufficient?

Probably. But, for me, even a little Disney is better than none.

 

[ScooterScott44]

We have done a couple of european cruises and one key difference that I noted was with the ports. Many of the ports seem to be more industrial and isolated from our experience. (Sorry haven’t done the Med, just northern Europe, Britain and Transatlantic). In the Caribbean, Alaska and Mexico there are areas in and around the port that are walkable. Expect for Oslo, or if you get the right port in Cork, expect to bus to a more pedestrian friendly area or just book an excursions.