I decided to write about our Europe Cruise from June 16 - July 1, 2013. I'm not sure that enough can be said to reinforce how critical research and planning are to a trip of this size. We hit 9 countries in 15 days!
Our itinerary began in Iceland. How we ended up in Iceland is an artifact of said research. I was looking for business class airfare at a reasonable price - an oxymoron, right? Not so much! Iceland air has great prices on business class airfare; granted 'business class' on Icelandair is more reminiscent to 'first class' on domestic flights and not the cushy reclining seats offered by the mainstream airlines. It was, however, exactly what we were looking for - extra leg room, wider seats (so you can tuck your legs up), and foot rests so there is some level of elevation for your legs. Food and service was great, as was the 'Saga Lounge' access at the airports. The clincher; Icelandair offers all passengers to other Icelandair destinations in Europe a Stopover in Iceland – up to seven nights – at no additional airfare. The appeal - Fire and ice, volcanoes and glaciers - these are the inescapable dichotomies of life on this North Atlantic island - home of the Northern Lights (which I will see someday) and the awesome Midnight Sun (which we saw this trip).
Once we landed on the destinations, research, research, research! How do you narrow it down when you want to "see everything"! What do we really want to do and see - prioritize a list each destination? What experiences are we interested in? What restaurants do we want to try? What tours are available - both from within the cruise lines and externally. What are the must see things, what are the 'been there, done that' things? I'd heard that external tours are typically smaller, more intimate tour groups that add an extra level of flexibility and personalization in your overall experience. When do the external vendors make sense and when do you want to stick with the cruise tours? In our experience, long tours that push the boundaries of your time in a country are probably best served by the cruise line - mostly because, if the tour runs over the time allotted, the cruise line is responsible for ensuring you are back on the ship prior to departure. I must also add, we booked through AAA for our trip from start to finish and we used only AAA recommended tours or tours from the cruise line itself.
Be sure to plan on dedicating 80-100 hours or more when coordinating a trip where you want to see and do as much as possible. Also, don't forget about general logistics - passports valid at least 6 months after your trip, registering with the Department of State, providing copies of your passports to someone at home, taking copies of your passports with you in the event the real deal is lost or stolen, immunization requirements, etc...
Upcoming posts will detail the individual countries and ports we saw along the way.
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