Back-To-Back Cruises to Explore Europe
10 Back-to-Back Cruises to Explore Europe on The Carnival Pride
In Fact, I booked 10 back-to-back, and 1 side-to-side cruise to explore Europe. Ok So I guess that is 11 cruises within Europe.
I know it sounds excessive and probably was, but the offers were too good to pass up. We had never traveled to Europe, so I decided the best way to explore Europe on a very small budget would be to take advantage of the casino deals the cruise line was giving me and use them in Europe.
What is a Back-to-Back Cruise?
Is when you book multiple cruises on the same ship and when one sailing ends the next one starts. You stay on the same ship – hence a back-to-back cruise.
Tip- When doing back-to-back cruises try to keep the same room.
What is a Side-to-Side Cruise?
A Side-to-Side cruise is when you leave one ship and move over to another ship. Typically, you would transit between the two ships the same day at the same port.
In this case, we are actually having to fly to catch the next ship. We have to fly from Rome to London. From London we will catch the next ship which is a transatlantic sailing.
How Did I Decide to Go to Europe?
I was looking for itineraries that we had not done before. Since we are in the USA we do a lot of Caribbean cruises. I decided I would look at Europe.
The first search I conducted was to look for a transatlantic cruise. I found one that was leaving from Tampa Florida. Unfortunately, the sailing dates would not work for our schedule.
I looked a little further out into the summer months and found that the Carnival Pride was going to be in Europe. There I found a great itinerary that was leaving from Dover, UK. The dates were perfect!
And that is how it began!
Planning For That Many Cruises
There is a significant amount of planning to do when you plan to spend that much time on a cruise ship and traveling to multiple locations. We would plan to visit 19 countries in 115 days. Included in the 115 days is visiting the some of the same locations over and then several sea days.
When you are cruising you have limited time at each port of call, so it is important to make the most of each of your stops.
Booking Cruises & Airfare
We started with a few of the cruises and then I continued to add on to the list of dates. We used a Carnival rep to handle all of the bookings for us.
For the airfare since we were flying international but only one way, we booked our airfare with Carnivals Fly to Fun.
If you have any travel delays Fly to Fun will assist you with catching a flight to catch the ship.
Fares on Fly to Fun were much cheaper than we could find on our own.
Our tickets were only 1 ways since we were taking a transatlantic back to the USA.
Why Would You Do 10 Back-to-Back Cruises?
Well to be honest, I wanted to see Europe and I found that there were several itineraries that would be unique; before you know it I booked 10 cruises on the Carnival Pride.
So Yes we booked TEN Cruises on the Carnival Pride!
What Itineraries Are You Doing in Europe?
The first sailing we would join the pride in Europe would be the Itinerary to Norway. (note: we will add links to each Port as we complete our visits).
9 Day – Norway itinerary
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Bergen, Norway
- Alesund, Norway
- Molde, Norway
- Olden, Norway
- Skjolden, Norway
- Haugesund, Norway
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
12 Day – Baltic Itinerary
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Copenhagen
- Warnemunde, Germany (Berlin)
- @ Sea
- Tallinn, Estonia
- Helsinki, Finland
- Nynashamn, Sweden (Stockholm)
- @ Sea
- Kiel, Germany (Hamburg)
- @sea / Gothenburg, Sweden (mechanical issues did not stop)
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
9 Day – Europe Itinerary (Scotland/Ireland)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Kirkwall, Scotland
- Storoway, Scotland
- Belfast, Ireland
- Holyhead, Wales
- Cork, Ireland
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
12 Day – Europe Itinerary (Ireland/Iceland)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Dublin, Ireland
- Belfast, Ireland
- @ Sea
- Reykavik, Iceland
- Grundarfjordur, Iceland
- Akureyri, Iceland
- Seydisfjordur, Iceland
- @ Sea
- Kirkwall, Scotland
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
9 Day – Europe Itinerary (Scotland/Ireland)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Holyhead, Wales
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Belfast, Ireland
- Liverpool, Ireland
- Dublin, Ireland
- Cork, Ireland
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
12 Day – Europe Itinerary (Ireland/Iceland)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Dublin, Ireland
- Belfast, Ireland
- @ Sea
- Reykavik, Iceland
- Grundarfjordur, Iceland
- Akureyri, Iceland
- Seydisfjordur, Iceland
- @ Sea
- Kirkwall, Scotland
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
9 Day – Europe Itinerary (Ireland)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Dublin, Ireland
- Belfast, Ireland
- Liverpool, Ireland
- Cork, Ireland
- Holyhead, Wales
- @ Sea
- Dover, UK
9 Day – Europe Itinerary (Ship moves to Italy) (Spain/Portugal)
- Dover, UK
- @ Sea
- La Coruna, Spain
- Leixoes (Porto) Spain
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Seville, Spain
- Malaga, Spain
- Cartagena, Spain
- @ Sea
- Rome, Italy
10 Day – Europe Itinerary (Rome/Greece)
- Rome, Italy
- @ Sea
- @ Sea
- Mykonos, Greece
- Kusadasi, Turkey
- Santorini, Greece
- Athens, Greece
- Katakolon
- Messina, Italy
- Naples, Italy
- Rome, Italy
9 Day – Europe Itinerary (Rome/Greece)
- Rome, Italy
- Naples, Italy
- @ Sea
- Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Kotor, Montenegro
- Corfu, Greece
- Messina, Italy
- @ Sea
- Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy
- Rome, Italy
15 Day – Transatlantic (Princess)
- Southampton, UK
- Paris / Normandy, France
- @ Sea
- Bilboa, Spain
- La Coruna, Spain
- @ Sea
- Lisbon, Portugal
- @ Sea
- Azores Island, Portugal
- 6 days at Sea
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
Why Would You Want to Repeat Itineraries?
Actually, repeating the same itinerary is a great way to explore the area. Unlike when you stay on land, when you take a cruise each port of call is limited by when the ship arrives and departs. Therefore, when you stop at a port over and over again you are able to see and experience different things.
Are You Retired?
No, I am not retired. I work remote and a lot of the time, I work remote from a cruise ship while I travel. (I will have other blogs regarding the work / life balance).
Tips
- When doing a back-to-back – try to keep the same room.
- You don’t need to pack the kitchen sink – there are stores available.
- Europe is typically a once in a lifetime cruise for most travelers.
- Book Excursions Early
- If you are able to do more than one excursion in port – go for it!
- Maximize your experience – Find sailings that offer the maximum amount of time in a port of call.
- Be Prepared to Pay higher dollars for Excursions.
- If you cannot afford to pay for excursions – that is OK, there is plenty to see by walking these cruise ports.
- Don’t let finances stop you from making this a destination.
I hope this inspires you to go out and live life – see the world and travel via a cruise ship!
Coming soon – I will be posting new blogs about each destination on the itinerary’s listed in the post.
In the meantime – check out my other blogs and subscribe!
