Enjoying Your Mediterranean Cruise

You have saved for some time for a trip of a lifetime, but it won?t be worth anything if you don?t plan ? plan the holiday itself, and plan to enjoy yourself! If you are thinking about planning and booking a cruise around the Mediterranean, read on to discover the best vacations and what to expect!

Of course, the first part of planning is budgeting for your cruise, it is important to give you an idea of how to stay financial while you?re floating! Trying to pick a cruise liner? You can?t go past Carnival cruises. Carnival cruises gives you an idea of what to expect from one of the biggest cruise liners in the world. In fact, Carnival is beginning to cruise the Mediterranean in 2007-2008, with cruises between five and twelve days on offer. The links above should get you on your way to planning a great holiday!

The Mediterranean Sea (the sea after which the ?Mediterranean? is named after) is bordered by Europe (Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey), Asia (Turkey, Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel) and Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco), as well as some other countries. This gives you a huge variety of customs, culture, food, people, scenery, architecture and art to sample ? all in a relatively small area.
Many cruises stop at the ports located in Spain, France, Italy, Monaco, Greece, and Turkey as well as the islands of Malta, Crete and Sicily. Some also stop in the Southern ports of Morocco, Tunisia, Valetta and Israel, to name but a few. There are many ports, meaning you?re never short of somewhere different to visit ? and every place is completely different.

The great thing about cruise vacations is that you can visit all these places without unpacking your suitcase ? see Alexandria in Egypt (and on to the pyramids of Giza), to Pisa in Italy. Come back to the boat for dinner, and then a day or three later, 14th century buildings in Dubrovnik in Croatia and maybe a second century Roman bath in Varna, Bulgaria. You stay in the one room, in a floating hotel (and let?s not forget the boat?s facilities) and go ashore when it docks (or not ? fancy a sleep in and a late lazy breakfast?).
April to November is the prime time for Mediterranean cruising, while the sun is out and the weather is mild. Although, Winters are just as beautiful, making most of the year an ideal time to cruise this spectacular part of the world.

Don?t think that just because you catch the ferry to work and back every day you know what a cruise is like - if you are planning a long cruise, there are things you need to know about being on a boat for a long time. Planning properly will help you prepare for what?s in store (besides fun!).