Planning an Luxury Mediterranean Cruise
While a lot of people vacation to the Mediterranean during the summer, you might not want to jump on that particular bandwagon. A Luxury Mediterranean Cruise is popular in every season except winter, but Fall and Spring cruises tend to be less crowded, cheaper, and significantly more comfortable with regards to temperature. The Mediterranean frequently heats up into the upper 90’s during the summer—and being in the middle of a crowd in 90 degree weather is not fun.
Expect to travel anywhere from Italy to Beirut, depending on your itinerary, with the biggest port cities being Venice, Athens and Istanbul—there is every likelyhood that your cruise will start and end at one of these three cities. Plan on having some of the appropriate currency handy, but don’t worry too much about the exchange rate—cruises catering to US visitors keep things priced USD.
If you’re looking to capture the atmosphere of the Mediterranean, consider cruising with Costa to save yourself a lot of potential trouble. Otherwise, expect your cruise ship to have a good deal of North American and British influence—in other words, social faux pas’s aren’t likely.
Turkish ports of call have recently been added to many cruise liners’ itineraries; keep an eye on the political situation before you get off on a port in Turkey. It isn’t that Turkey is any more or less dangerous than other countries along the eastern Mediterranean, but let’s just say there’s a reason Turkish ports weren’t always on the list. Really, think about it.
A Luxury Mediterranean Cruise has itineraries focused either on the beaches and parties, or on culture and history, though there is almost always a healthy mix. Be aware that some cruise lines are specifically about one or the other.
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