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Mediterranean Cruise and/or Holy Land Cruises?
Has anyone done either? I'm especially interested in Holy Land Cruises but since those are few and far between, I'm also looking at just "normal" eastern Med cruises (Greece, Italy etc). So far, the only one I've really looked at is Royal Caribbean International bc they do Holy Land too. Does anyone have any recommendations for cruise lines? Any tips? The absolute soonest we would travel is Oct, but it'll probably be in 2010 instead.
I've never cruised anywhere before so I'm clueless. All I know is that I'd rather spend more and go to the Mediterranean rather than a Caribbean cruise. Is it better to pay more and have a view or are inside cabins just fine? Do you have enough time to get off and really see lots of stuff?
Sorry for all the newbie questions 
Re: Mediterranean Cruise and/or Holy Land Cruises?
Cruisecritic.com is a great resource for cruisers. The message boards are particularly helpful. We just got back from a Western Mediterranean cruise on NCL and we had a great time. We went with NCL because they have "Freestyle Cruising," where you do not have a set dining time. We loved the flexibility: some nights we ate dinner early, but others nights we didn't eat until 10. We had a balcony room, which was awesome. I've stayed in an inside cabin before, and after having the balcony, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to an inside or oceanview room.
When choosing a cruise, I would pay close attention to how close the area attractions are to the actual port. Our cruise stopped somewhat near Rome (Civitavecchia) and Florence (Livorno), but we had to travel over an hour to actually get into the cities, which really ate into our port time. While we enjoyed the trip, all the extra traveling was exhausting at times. For our next cruise (yes, we are definitely cruising again!), we'll choose an itinerary where the port cities ARE the main attraction, like some of the Greek ports, for example.
Hope this information is helpful! Good luck!
Thanks! I'll definitely check out that site!
Good tips on the ports/locations. The thing that worries me is that on the Holy Land cruise, I'd want to go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem which are about an hour and half from the port. (and see both in ONE day) Not terrible, but I worry about having enough time. I'll have to keep that in mind for sure. Thank you!!
Unfortunately, I haven't done either the Med or Holy Land via cruise (although I'm doing the Med next summer on Celebrity). However, to answer your questions on cruising in general: I'd say a room w/ a window is worth the upgrade (if you can)-- b/c the inside cabins are really, really dark (day and night). A balcony is nice, but often having a balcony means you have a smaller room. So to me, the window is a good compromise b/w no view and a balcony.
Also, if you know you're going to do port stops and you're on a ship with 2 dinner seatings (RC does this), I'd go with the LATER seating. The later seating gives you time to get back from exploring and freshen up w/o being rushed.
Enjoy!
I would recommend researching the ports and really base your choice on itinerary first.
It depends on the ports and what you want to see as to if "you can really see everything" in one day. For example we've had some ports like Katakolon - where the main highlight there is Olympia, and seeing the ruins from the first olympics. So we had an entire day to just tour Olympia and found that was plenty of time. We also went to Izmir, Turkey, where the main highlight is seeing the ancient city of Ephesus, and again we felt we were able to see everything in depth. However a cruise port like Naples - its impossible to see everything in one day - Pompeii, Vesuvius, Amalfi Coast (Sorrento, Positano, etc) , Capri, so you have to pick and choose what you want to see.
Also October is a great time to go. We have been in spring, summer and fall, and found late October was fantastic and the crowds were so much smaller.
Of all the cruises we have done the Mediterranean was our least favourite. We were exhausted every day and felt like we never got to see even close to what we wanted to see. So we know for sure we will be going to back to the majority of places we stopped. At the end of it, it just seemed like a waste of money. Don't get me wrong we did have fun but it won't rank up there as one of our favourite vacations.
We started in Venice then went to Croatia, Corfu Greece, Sicily, Rome, Cartegena Spain, Cadiz Spain, Maderia Portugal and then the Bahamas (we crossed the Atlantic obviously). We ended in Florida.
We also spring for a balcony as we like the extra space and enjoy sitting out there for breakfast or with a drink before dinner.
I haven't done a cruise, but I did a tour of the Holy Land, and just wanted to warn you that Jerusalem and Bethlehem in one day is going to be very rushed, and you will have to be very selective about what you want to see. There is just so much to do in Jerusalem! I think we spent a half-day in Bethlehem, and several days in Jerusalem. It may be worth it for you if the rest of the trip is what you are looking for, but I'm afraid you might wind up frustrated if those places are really an important part of your trip.
Steps on My Spiritual Journey
I actually wouldn't recommend the "standard old med cruise" because it's too rushed. The most common itineraries do Florence and Rome, and I think they're both worth more than a short port day (and it is short, because of the travel time). If you do want to do a cruise, I would suggest doing the Greek Islands and/or Turkish coast, because they're smaller ports and more easily accessible by ship.
PS - I don't know if it's on your radar, but there's also the cruises of the Baltic or the Norwegian coast, which are fantastic options for cruising in Europe. It's not really a tropical beach climate, but there's some beautiful scenery and a lot of small cities that are great for exploring in a port day. We did the Norwegian coast last year (pics in bio) and are hoping to do the Baltics next summer.
Just came back from Midetteranian cruise 2 weeks ago that went to Rome, Florence, Naples, Malta and Cannes out of Barcelona. Yes it was rushed but at least I got the opportunity to see all of these places and decided which ones we wanted to come back to (Rome). With only 9 days we had available, we wouldn't see this much on land vacation. If you can, find a cruise out of Rome, there is so much to see there that 1 day is really not enough.
I was just in Israel for 3 weeks to visit family. If you only have 1 day, I'd do Jerusalem only. Reading some of the cruisecritics.com, i thought the ship arrives to Haifa and leaves out of Ashdod on the next day? If so, it's really 2 days so you may have time for Bethlehem (haven't been there so not sure how all that works).
Don't waste $$ on balcony, get ocean view or obstructed view. You are not on the ship enough to enjoy it. Excursions cost more $$ in Europe so use your money that way.