My husband and I are planning for our first trip to Europe May/June 2018 (duration 3-4 weeks). We thought we'd try a Spain/France/Italy cruise in the middle. Maybe begin and end the trip in Paris. Any advice on when to book or any other advice on must sees!

Hailey
We did a great trip on Holland America for 24 days in SEptember and just loved it. We went on cruise critic and got some tours that were less expensive and had fewer numbers. We just loved it.

Had you ever been on a cruise prior to your 24 day trip? We haven't cruised yet either.

We have been on a cruise to mexico, caribbean, and alaska. That was definitely our longest.

I am doing a 10 Mediterranean Cruise September, 2017, leaving and returning from Rome. We visit Italy, France, Spain, Malta. Using the Norwegian Cruise Lines, will follow this post and will keep you posted.

Sounds fantastic!

Did a similar NCL. A great time

Did this in October. Rain every day but I chose to start in Italy and then took a cruise from Rome for 7 days . its rare but Norwegian lets you disembark in Rome, Naples or Barcelona. The cruise was a great was to see allot in a short time. I've driven through Europe and this was much better and it was very inexpensive $899 CDN for cruise and $730 cdn return or flight on delta

Yes, I think we'd enjoy driving too but I thought for the first time it might be nice to see a lot in a short time. We'll see what happens!

Driving is very expensive with the European fuel costs and the toll roads.

Good to know!

We usually book vacations 6 months in advance but i notice cheap cruise deals for May/June 2018 already!

Yes and no.....I know with ncl (norweigan cruise lines) there was this sweet spot at about 7 months out....where we got the cheap price and added incentives!

We did a 12 day Mediterranean cruise ( 10 ports) last Sept. with NCL started in Venice, finishing in Barcelona. We arranged private tours before we left at all of the major ports ( like Athens, Rome, Florence, Pompeii tours etc) which was money well spent as on the cruise, time in port is usually 9 hrs so investing in a private tour guarantees you'll see the sights plus you get a day with a guide to answer every question you have. We opted to spend two weeks in Germany first instead of going to Paris. Would highly recommend including Germany. It's very beautiful and the people are very friendly. Plus there's beer

Hi Lois, we went on our first cruise last October (7 days). We started in Venice and had stops in Dubrovnik, Santorini, Olympus, and Kusadasi (Ephesus). It was a smaller ship (2000 passengers) and honestly a relaxing break from our usual self-directed vacations. We sailed with Royal Caribbean and were pleased with the whole experience. They have lots of western Mediterranean options which would fit with your Spain/France/Italy request.

We booked our flight to Paris for May on January 1 on Icelandic Air. We got a screaming deal, $589 each all in. It was only a 2 day sale. You have to watch for them.

We just watch prices for a while to know what a deal actually looks like. We've missed a few along the way by not recognizing them just yet. But we've also gotten some amazing deals based on airline seat sales. Our last trip was five adults plus an infant to Lisbon. Flight and a stunning modern apartment for 2 weeks for under $5000! klm has some amazing sales sometimes but you have to be ready to act fast!

We drove from Nice to Brussels via the alps. We ended up on a small highway that went through small towns between Nice and Zurich. It was beautiful and I'm so glad we didn't take the autoroutes!

I've done that and would recommend doing the cruise at the end.

Book early to get best seats on the plane

Too bad it's not may/june this year... air transat has a deal from Montreal to Venice,Italy right under $600...direct floght! it's pretty cheap considering you can fly there for maybe 250$ and enjoy a bit of Montreal before your Euro trip! Toronto also has great deal for Venice. For cruises, you better book early if you want to get what you want. Last minute doesn't quite work with Cruises.

That's a great deal.

Hailey, now that you're on this page you will get notifications about those sales! That's the reason I joined this page. Last September and two times since there was a sale Edmonton to Paris return for $484.00 all taxes included!!!!