I took a cruise to Europe and it was NOTHING like I expected: here's why

What's it like to cruise to Europe with Royal Caribbean? It can be a whole lot different than a Caribbean cruise. Jenna gave cruising Europe a try this year, but the experience wasn't entirely what she expected: here's why.
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[@scottmilo2971]

I have been fortunate over my lifetime to enjoy both land-based tours and cruises in many parts of Europe. Each type of travel has its own advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, A cruise vacation to Europe is good idea for those travelers visiting Europe for the first time. A 10 or 14 day voyage through the Mediterranean or northern Europe allows the traveler to get a taste of each area and later can revisit their favorite spots during a land based vacation.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

I agree! I didn't expect to enjoy France much on my cruise there but I'm already planning to go back on a land based trip.

[@enmarietalens960]

Hi there guys, hoping if you can shed light on visa checking and how strict they are on it? I hope I’ll have my European visa in time, will have my British visa in time which is the first stop. Thank you from Australia ❤

[@cherireynolds7261]

Taking our first international cruise next June and I'm thankful for her honest opinion. Can't wait.

[@fredopere7134]

I did a Western Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona in October 2022 with my wife and 3 boys aged 13, 12 and 9. With kids who typically have a shorter attention span a cruise is a great way to see Europe. As was mentioned in the clip it gives a taste of what it's like. Now my wife and I plan on doing a land based trip to Rome. Both cruises vs land vacations are great viable options. The choice depends on your circumstance and mood

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Glad you guys had a nice cruise!

[@JaniceM0908]

Loved our cruise from Barcelona, stopping in Florence, Rome and Naples. Our favorite was our excursion to the Amalfi coast.

[@paulinecallahan6888]

Thank you so much for this. We are planning our first ever cruise to Europe this information is v helpful ❤

[@manueldominguez5336]

I do believe that cruising the Caribbean is very different than cruising in Europe. The Caribbean for us (my wife and I) is to relax and just be at the pool and the beach. A European cruise is to explore places that we have not visited before. It allow us to decide the places that we will go in a ground trip later on. We "visited" Rome in a Mediterranean cruise before the pandemic. It is our plan to visit Rome in a ground trip later on so we can see what we missed the first time. I do agree that is feasible to cruise many destinations that ate close the the port, others require more time and a ground visit is the best approach.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I agree! Caribbean cruises are more for relaxing whereas Europe cruises are busier and full of walking around and exploring new places.

[@KissesFromCanada]

Yes, this is exactly why I wanted to do this. You unpack once. You don’t carry it all with you. With kids in tow, sometimes just a tiny taste of culture at a time seems like a good introduction!

[@davidcoombes9298]

Great video with balanced viewpoints on the different ways to travel. Thank you.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

You're welcome!

[@rovermiles1]

I'm so glad you guys made this video. I brought this up in the comments of another video. It truly is a value proposition and allows people to see the country from the sea, which is way different than viewing it via an airport or land travel. 10:16 - I think that if you plan your trip appropriately, you can always plan to return to certain cities for a longer visit. For example, you can depart at Rome and spend days there before going home. Thanks for the great content and happy holidays!

[@livingmybestlife7391]

We are visiting Europe for the first time via symphony of the seas in May. We will be going on The western Mediterranean itinerary. Super excited and we feel this is a great way to visit Europe. Really enjoyed your video Jenna.

[@sylviat8461]

Love this! You are a natural behind the camera and narrating!!!!! We just booked a cruise to Portugal and the Canary Island in Feb 2024! Can’t wait! We lived in Europe for 3 years with the military so this will be quite different.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

Thank you! That cruise sounds amazing!!

[@adiasmom]

My family and I had the best cruise in Europe. We had lots of stops and got off at most ports and really enjoyed each place. We loved the fast pace and the comfort of the ship

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

I'm glad you guys had a nice cruise. Thanks for watching!

[@FraserAtSea]

Being based in Europe, I did my first ever cruise in the Caribbean, followed by Europe the following year. I couldn't believe how different the two experiences were - like different worlds!

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

They are totally different! But both offer great experiences

[@wilburhill2299]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

You're welcome!

[@billroettgen7099]

Really nice vlog in all ways - thanks much.

[@PiaAdora]

Great video! You’ve made me even more excited about my upcoming European cruise. 100% agree with you about amazing food in the European ports and the joys of only having to unpack once!

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Have fun and thanks!

[@tioriccopuravidatrader121]

My wife and I are taking the April 30, 2023 - Enchantment of the Seas repositioning cruise from NYC to Rome, Italy including other port of calls for about $32/person per day. Then when we get to Rome we spend 3 more weeks in Italy(Sardinia, Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan). If you have to pay money for airfare to get to Europe and then pay for fast pace-cruise it gets expensive and exhaustive. ... In my opinion take a repositioning cruise and add a "land" vacation after you get to Europe. If anyone else is going on this cruise let me know below. We are also considering taking a cruise from Trieste (Venice) to see the Eastern Med at the end of our Land vacation June 26th (2 - cruises in one trip - yeah )

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

That sounds amazing!

[@KissesFromCanada]

How do you book your cruises? Airfare?

[@itr0863]

That’s an awesome suggestion. Thank you for that tip.

[@tabithagarcia1246]

That was a great report!!!🎉

[@DsnyLuv]

This was perfect!❤

[@JustinMorales796]

Great job Jenna! Ive been always concerned about transiting to much to see a port. You may have sold me on the Greek isles

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Glad you enjoyed it! I definitely recommend the Greek Isles. Plus, if you start or end the cruise in Italy, you can always spend a few days visiting places like Rome and Venice on a land-based portion of the trip.

[@ainsleyhilton22]

Awesome info “J”👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tombyrne6433]

I was lucky enough to go with my parents on the Golden Odyssey to Europe/Asia in the 1970's, it to this day is one of the most amazing sets of ports ever over 12 nights. I was so lucky as a kid. My last cruise was 20 years ago to the Eastern Carribean on Navigator, after previous cruises on Voyager and even earlier Sun Viking (one of the first three RCCL ships) to the other major Caribbean itineraries. I am so excited to go back to Europe on Odyssey of the Seas. When I saw it listed as Quantum Ultra class (always wanted to go on one) and Europe I was sold. My wife has never been to Europe. This should be an awesome cruise in 2024. First Balcony too along with first pre-stay!

[@travelingbeyondboundaries]

Cruising is my favourite way to travel! I'll be taking my daughter on her first cruise this summer (Bahamas) and I'm looking forward to taking her to Europe in 2024. My daughter has special and medical needs and cruising allows us to travel while having her needs met. The only downside is that she isn't toilet trained (and won't be any time soon) so there are very few ships that have a baby pool she can go into, none that I've seen outside of the Caribbean/Bahamas.

[@sherrygiordano6478]

Thank you for this video ! Im excited.. myself and my husband are cruising on the odyssey of the seas in may 2023 -10 day Rome , Greece, turkey and several more stops ! I’ve cruised before but never had to fly internationally, as I live in Florida! So I have a lot to learn and prepare! Again thank you for the videos , there very helpful! 🛳️⚓️

[@ellieb445]

Hi! I’m going in August this year to this same one you mentioned! How was it ?!!!!

[@sherrygiordano6478]

@@ellieb445 it was fantastic! I think turkey was beautiful!! You will enjoy the cruise!

[@ellieb445]

@@sherrygiordano6478 thank you for your quick response! I’m very excited!

[@harperwood3562]

Fantastic!

[@xpgamingpro9409]

im going on a cruise in janurary and love your vids!

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Thank you! Have a great cruise!

[@MagarBoy47]

My wife and I just booked a European cruise next year and we are super excited about it.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Have a great cruise!

[@jonathantitus2629]

Interesting video with lots of insightful points. We have done cruises, river cruises, and land based and have found all to be good. One thing we have realized about RC cruises is that it is really hard to beat the value. Our plans are to cruise next month, then do land based the next two years, and then probably do another cruise--I guess you can say we like variety and for us it is really as much about the destination as the mode of travel.

[@jlizardi5013]

Refreshing. Sharing it on my FB page. I have done two in the Mediterranean and they were the best I have done. Remember that if you have the time you could arrive or depart days after the cruise from cities that required extra time to be enjoyed (i.e. Rome, Barcelona, Athens).

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@carolynstoner5315]

We have a Mediterranean cruise planned for this summer. It will be my husband, daughter, & I. We will be getting into Barcelona 3 days early to alow for down time from jet lag as well as give us some time to explore the city since we have never been before. This will be our first ever cruise and we decided to cruise because it felt like the most family friendly way to travel (for example: if the food seems too weird/exotic to my daughter I don't have to worry about her not eating because I know there's pizza & chicken nuggets when we get back on board). Super excited!

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Have fun!!!

[@lesleyzed1653]

Plan to spend several days before and/or after in those embarkation and disembarkation ports. That way you still get a land tour experience and time to enjoy Rome, or Barcelona, or Venice etc.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

I totally agree!

[@tombyrne6433]

Yep doing three nights in Rome pre-cruise

[@AudreyMealiff]

10 months until our Croatia and Greece cruise! Can't wait. Were you on Explorer, Jenna? Great vlog 👍

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I was on Rhapsody and Anthem! Rhapsody was Greece and the Adriatic so probably a similar itinerary to your cruise next year!

[@AudreyMealiff]

@@RoyalCaribbeanBlog Awesome. A friend of mine did that Rhapsody cruise recently and loved it.

[@jonflomerfelt9031]

We had a great time on our Western Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona. We flew in 5 days before the cruise. Would definitely do it again or thinking about a trans Atlantic cruise to Barcelona.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Glad you had a nice cruise!

[@MegansiCast]

I took an 8 night Norwegian fjords cruise in July 2018. One of these days when I take a land vacation there, I'll just have to make the comparison!

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Norway sounds incredible!

[@sylviejones9833]

Best thing for us is to find cruises that start at cities where we want to spend a bit of time before or after the cruise. We still get the cruise experience and we get some time in cities we've not visited before. One of our next cruises starts in Athens and ends in Venice. We have plans to stay a couple of couple of extra days in both those cities before and after our cruise to take advantage of the time we have there.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

That is where my Greek Isles cruise started and ended! I loved having extra time to spend in those cities.

[@jeffreylevin9616]

Your very brave..Your living the life I wanted to live. Hope to go on my first cruise soon. Gonna join a dating site and then hopefully I will find someone to do such cruises like your talking about. My how life has passed me by. No more.

[@davidterry4980]

We did our first 2 cruises this year. Our Cozumel trip was all-about-the-ship and it's activities with just one day spent in Cozumel. Our 2nd cruise was to Spain, Italy and France and this trip was all about the ports with very little time (except dinner, sleeping and breakfast) spent on the ship. We loved both cruises for very different reasons. Rome was our favorite destination - you definitely want a tour guide you get you into all of the best places in the shortest amount of time. The rest of the cities we visited we did our own thing without tour guides and those were fun as well.

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

I totally agree that Europe cruises are all about the destination! In the Caribbean I feel it's more important to pick a cruise based on the ship

[@tinkerpinkrose]

i can’t wait to go on my western european cruise cruising out of barcelona in October

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

That will be so much fun!

[@Alhubers]

I would love to see RCB do more international cruises!! Europe cruising is my favorite - I also love to tack on a land-based trip before/after my cruise. We recently spent 4 days in London before our Canary Islands cruise and 4 days in Paris before cruising from Rome.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

We will be covering Australia cruises next year!

[@bridgetwoodward8031]

When you spent 4 days in Paris, what airline and airport did you use?

[@allievogs95]

@@bridgetwoodward8031 We flew into CDG on Delta and then flew from ORY to FCO on EasyJet direct. It was very cheap!

[@michelleb749]

The best way is to combine a land trip with a cruise. We spent 4 days in Italy before boarding our Western European cruise.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I agree!

[@dzonikg]

This is how i do..i am from Serbia so i go by car and spend 5-6 days first in Italy .. i will go in April west Mediteran but i booked 7 days before cruise..first Venice,then Bolognia ,then Sirmione (on lake Garda ) where i will be 3 night and then 2 nights Genova..i still did not plan on way back will i go somowhere but there is so many places i could visit

[@winniethebubbly]

Really wanna go on an Scotland/ireland/iceland cruise

[@erikagholston6610]

I hope to do a European cruise in a couple of years. If I don't before I retire then I will definitely go on some when I have more free time.

[@davva360]

Not only do you have a small amount of time in a port, some of the ports are not really close to where they say they are. Rome is not a coastal city, neither is London or Paris, so when they say London you have to realize you are in Southampton and at least an hour or two from London. There are exceptions of course like the Greek Islands but you do have to consider that when you book.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

It's definitely important to consider travel time from port to city before booking a European cruise!

[@dzonikg]

Civitavecchia which is that port city near Rome is also nice city to walk and spend a day..and even for that day you want see it all..you really dont have to go to Rome ..Rome is really not for 1 day ...its better to flight to Rome ,spend 3-4 days there and then cruise from Civitavecchia

[@nataliajimenez1870]

@@dzonikg Exactly! Combining land and cruise vacations is the best way to do the Western Mediterranean

[@cruisecrazy7066]

Every day a different country. And you bring your hotel and your dining room with you. The ONLY way to tour.

[@lindseymcgowan5964]

I loved this video! My main concern with a European cruise is the language barrier. Did all the ports you traveled to speak a lot of English or did you have to use an online translator? Thank you in advance! 😄

[@helciobmello]

Cruising Europe sounds great, but is it better to fly there or to board a transatlantic cruise instead? There seems to be no RCCL transatlantic cruises on December, January and July, when I am on vacation.

[@livingweirdestherc6644]

I would love to cruise Europe

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I highly recommend it!

[@abrown4green]

We have done two very long Royal cruises. Literally amazing! We have done Europe by rail and car as well, but cruising is the way to go 14 night Nordic cruise 12 night Mediterranean cruise

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Those itineraries are a dream! :)

[@captainpatrickward4868]

Is buffet has drinks? What is the advantages of refreshments packages

[@Tom-zc5dp]

If you do 2 cruises visiting the same ports, you have like 16 h/port 😉

[@ericchristensen7959]

Europe Amazing! We have not been there yet. Truly Want to! But as I said to my better Half, we can do at least 3 cruises in the Caribbean just Air Fare Alone. Ahhh maybe some day! Just Jealous!

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Off-season airfare (May, September, October) usually has some nice prices!

[@RRLV434]

How was the rhapsody of the seas? I know it is one of the older ships in the fleet.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I enjoyed it! It's nothing fancy but was perfect for a port-intensive itinerary. It can go to ports bigger ships can't access, so as far as Royal Caribbean ships, it offers some of the best itineraries.

[@enmarietalens960]

Does anyone know how strict the cruise staff are to check visas?? I’ve got my British visa but not sure if I’ll have the European visa in time😢 SOS IN NEED 😢😢❤

[@captainpatrickward4868]

Which is better or do I need both Cafe select coffee card or the refreshment package does that offer the same fir coffee card???

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

If you get the refreshment package you won't need the coffee card because the refreshment package includes coffee and nonalcoholic drinks!

[@captainpatrickward4868]

@@jennadelaurentis4232 thank you

[@captainpatrickward4868]

@Jenna DeLaurentis is drinks available in buffet included what is refreshments package advantage

[@stevenfoster9402]

What software do you use to edit the videos?

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Adobe Premiere

[@stevenfoster9402]

@@RoyalCaribbeanBlog thank you

[@mariahsmusicarts2210]

Did I miss what time of year she cruised?

[@zxnuc]

What ship do you recommend for European cruise and is feb- march ok????

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

Royal Caribbean doesn’t offer European cruises in February or March

[@wellardsmith3629]

You mentioned many times, you cruised "to Europe". My unstanding was, you cruised "around Europe" or "to several different European nations."

[@ChiViT1991]

I noticed alot of Americans complain...about food, the time...the language..etc...Americans can sometimes think everything is supposed to contour to us....not....we're so spoiled.

[@jameswilson5165]

Never been and thought it was a lot more expensive than that.

[@RoyalCaribbeanBlog]

I was impressed by how affordable it was considering all that was included!

[@edimig64]

Find it difficult to book a cruise to Europe: Spain and France would interest me. If we live in South Florida is there a way to book airfare & cruise together? Not sure where to go to book Spain & France cruise from Barcelona I guess…….. Tired of Caribbean cruises

[@edvaira6891]

I’m curious about something a bit odd, Jenna…you seem to have a very slight accent in your narration; by any chance, are you originally French Canadian (Quebecois?)…I grew up about an hour south of Montreal in upstate New York and I noticed a very familiar (and delightful) lilt in your narration…

[@jennadelaurentis4232]

I'm from Ohio!

[@edvaira6891]

@@jennadelaurentis4232 okay… guess I was just hearing old echoes of nice childhood summers spent up north in Quebec… may I say, however that you made a perfectly entertaining video!

[@osarmejia]

👁👁👍

[@verrinotaylor5361]

I don't like what she said 6:02 to 6:10, so only in the caribbean ? it can happen anywhere miss. I watch this channel this the only video i did enjoy. Matt please fix this.

[@peterbercich2152]

This video would have been much better if it was a objective review of a vacation. All I kept hearing her say was iii. So it was a very subjective video. Let's hear more about the cruise unless about yourself