A Mediterranean Cruise is an epic adventure with lots of details to plan in advance. Many Mediterranean Cruises are a week or longer and you have to think about the flight, language barriers, luggage, and how to fit as much sight-seeing as possible into a short span of time! We took a Mediterranean Cruise on Royal Caribbean that was a 12 day round trip from Barcelona, Spain. But most of the tips below are general to cruising the Mediterranean and not specific to any itinerary or cruise line.
Check out these top 10 tips for cruising the Mediterranean!
1. Arrive at least one or two days early!
This is probably the most important Mediterranean Cruise tip because it is the one that can set your cruise off on the right or wrong foot from the beginning. Arrive at least one day early for your cruise. If you have time, give yourself even more time to sleep off the jet lag and get ready for your adventure, while exploring a fun new European city!
At minimum give yourself a day or two to make sure you make the ship! Overseas flights are notoriously unreliable. Don’t stress yourself out like that.
2. Choose your itinerary carefully
Do you want to sail the eastern or western Mediterranean? Spain? Italy? Turkey? Most of the itineraries will be very port heavy so expect to be on the go. This is not going to be the most relaxing cruise, but if you want some sea days then choose an itinerary with them. Some Mediterranean itineraries don’t include any sea days.
3. Some embarkation cities are easier than others
We have already established you are getting to the port a couple of days early, so think about the logistics of how you are getting from the airport, to a hotel, to the ship. I think it would be a lot of fun to stay in Rome for a few days before a cruise, but the port for Rome is a full hour away from the city. Venice is a beautiful and unique city but everything is super expensive and you’ll be loading your luggage up in a water taxi to get it to your hotel and then to your cruise ship. Not that either of those are a deal breaker. Just know what to expect.
Barcelona is a very easy city to embark from. It’s not super expensive, public transportation is easy and the port is *technically* in walking distance from the city center. (I would not advise walking it with luggage.)
Again, not that I would not choose a cruise out of the cities that are more difficult or expensive, it’s just important to know what you should expect.
4. Plan your days to battle travel fatigue
There are some days on your Mediterranean cruise that you will want to make the most of every single moment you are in port. These days will be long, probably hot, and most likely exhausting.
Don’t plan multiple long, extensive port days in a row. If you are doing a full whirl-wind tour of Rome don’t plan the full whirl-wind tour of Florence the next day. Make sure you have enough days to just get off the ship and wander around the city.
5. Research the ports you need a shore excursion and the ones you don’t
Some ports will be easy to walk off the ship and explore. Some just need a quick ride into town. But book an excursion in Rome. Remember for pretty much all cruise lines – they guarantee they hold the ship for you if you are late coming back from a shore excursion you booked with them.
Rome has a lot of traffic and is an hour from the port. I highly recommend doing a ship excursion there. But in other ports you will dock right next to the city and you can walk or just take a quick transport into town.
6. Don’t forget to eat
This is probably my favorite Mediterranean cruise tip! Sometimes it’s easy to say “I already paid for the food on the cruise ship, I’ll just go back and eat it.” But one of the best experiences in Europe is getting to experience their cuisine. Make sure you eat local foods. The restaurants are likely going to cater at least a little to tourists – you’re in a major tourist city. It’s ok. Just don’t order a cheeseburger!
7. It’s also ok to not get dressed up and go to dinner once you’re back on the ship
It’s ok to just roll back on the ship and go to the buffet. Don’t wear yourself out completely. Remember that there will be another port tomorrow and it’s ok if you need to relax.
8. It will be hotter than you expect
The Mediterranean is pretty far south and most Mediterranean cruising takes place in the summer. Plan accordingly. Make sure you plan for cool clothes and hats.
But also be aware if you plan on going into churches in Europe many of them have a dress code. Women cannot have shoulders or knees exposed and in some places men cannot wear shorts either. I recommend a very light-weight scarf in your purse (or just tied around the outside) that you can use to cover your shoulders. Capris or a knee length skirt can help you stay cool, but still be allowed in the Vatican.
9. Plan for a lot of walking…and a lot of hills
The first time I visited the Mediterranean Sea, the thing that surprised me the most was the mountains that surrounded the beach. Here on the eastern coast of the United States both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic have no elevation anywhere near the ocean. It’s just flat. That is not true in Europe so expect to see hills and mountains. Expect that many of the best places to visit in the port cities will involve you walking up those hills. And even if the terrain is flat, you’re still going to do a lot of walking. Just think of it as a way to work off the calories from the buffet.
10. Plan, but be flexible
Everything is not going to go exactly as planned. No matter how well you plan and no matter how many Mediterranean cruise tips you read, there will be a hiccup somewhere.
We thought we were docking in Naples for one of our ports and ended up in Salerno. Once we found out I did some quick research in my guide books and online while we still had service and came up with some ideas of what to do. It ended up being one of my favorite ports because it was manageable and felt like a real Italian town instead of the big tourist cities! Expect things may not go exactly as planned due to weather or other factors outside of the cruise line’s control.
Remember you are on vacation! Have fun! Relax and enjoy it!
What to read for more Mediterranean Cruise Tips:
What is included in the price of a Royal Caribbean Cruise?
