On Monday the 11th of June I’m off on my next trip- this time a cruise round the Mediterranean with my family and friends. This will be my 11th cruise and I’m really excited about it. We’re flying from Edinburgh to Venice to join Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. I sailed on the Grandeur in September 2011 and, as she’s just been refurbished, I’m really looking forward to checking out all the changes and improvements.

Grandeur of the Seas- our home for 11 nights

Here’s the itinerary for our 11 night cruise:

• Venice, Italy (overnight) – so excited to have dinner and drinks in beautiful Venice!
• Kotor, Montenegro
• Day at sea
• Athens, Greece
• Kusadasi, Turkey
• Bodrum, Turkey
• Mykonos, Greece
• Santorini, Greece
• Day at sea
• Split, Croatia
• Venice, Italy

I’ve been spending the last few days planning what we all want to see and do in the different ports we’re visiting. Whilst we’re in Venice I’m dying to travel to Burano, as it looks like a picture perfect little area with adorable colourful houses.

I’ve never been to Split, Bodrum or Kotor, so if anyone has any good tips or advice on things to see and do there I’d love to hear them!

Onboard Grandeur of the Seas in September 2011

I’ll still be online while I’m on my cruise as I’ll be testing out a TripButler mobile wifi, or mifi, device for the duration of my trip. I’ll also be real-time blogging on TravMonkey where you can keep up to date with all of my tweets, Instagram posts and Foursquare check ins. You can also follow the hashtag #tmCruise on twitter and Instagram.

Part of my aim in real-time blogging and the posts I’ll be writing after my trip, is to crush the misconception that cruises are just for middle aged married couples. I love cruising, and have met some lovely people, both old and young, on my previous cruises. I’ve had some great nights in different ship’s nightclubs and then dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn to explore a new port. Cruising really can be exactly what you make of it.

 Have any of your ever been on a cruise? Would you go on one? Share your thoughts with me below in the comments!