I don't think I'm alone in saying I've spent way too much time convinced that real travel has to be a struggle.
After 6 months travelling Europe across 16 countries and 55 cities, budget flights, rental cars, overnight buses, and the kind of multi-country itinerary planning that takes longer to organise than the trip itself. I've stood in queues at 5 am, missed connections by 4 minutes, and once spent an entire afternoon in a Lyon train station eating vending machine sandwiches because a strike wiped out my route south.
Many seasoned travellers want the “authentic” experience — and I get it.
There have been times I'd finally arrived at that specific viewpoint or that perfect bistro I'd been chasing, only to be too burnt out from the logistics of getting there to actually care about the experience.
I've also learned that finding the cheapest way to travel around Europe and actually enjoying Europe are not always the same goal.
The truth is that travel is a series of decisions. Every hour you spend wondering where you're going to eat, how you're getting to the next city, or whether you've blown your daily budget is an hour you aren't actually on holiday.
I once spent 40 minutes in a Croatian harbour town trying to get my eSIM for Europe working well enough to book the ferry I was already supposed to be on. That's not a travel story — that's just friction. And friction compounds across a long trip until the whole thing starts feeling like a project you're managing rather than a holiday you're having.
But cruise holidays offer a genuine way out of that cycle. They are essentially a way to outsource the boring stuff so you can get the discovery back — and after everything I've tried across Europe, that's not a small thing.
5 Reasons Why You Should Take A Cruise Across Europe
1. Your Base Camp Moves With You
MSC Cruise Europe
The most exhausting part of any multi-country tour is the constant packing and unpacking. You never really settle in because you're always 3 days away from another check-out time. But when your hotel moves with you, that friction just disappears.
On MSC all inclusive cruises, the foundations are sorted. You have a class-leading room, from smart interior cabins to balcony suites, that stays put while the world around you changes.
One morning you're pulling into Bilbao, the next you're watching the limestone cliffs of the Amalfi Coast slide past from the same chair you had breakfast in.
According to the European Cruise Council, Europe welcomed over 7 million cruise passengers annually, making the Mediterranean the second most popular cruise region in the world after the Caribbean. There's a reason so many experienced travellers have quietly switched.
Whether you're pulling into a port in Bilbao or watching the limestone cliffs of the Mediterranean slide past, the peace of mind comes from knowing your base camp is already where it needs to be.
2. There's Plenty To Discover Onboard
Cruise in the summer
A big misconception is that a ship is just for sitting around.
In reality, the scale of a modern vessel like this is designed to give you more options than a land-based resort ever could.
MSC's newer ships in the Meraviglia and World class carry between 4,500 and 6,700 passengers and stretch to over 330 metres in length — among the largest passenger vessels ever built, according to Cruise Critic's fleet database. The top deck is essentially an adventure hub. You have aqua parks with waterslides that are massive hits with younger travellers, plus multiple pools and sea-view power walking tracks.
If you're the type who decompresses by staying active, there are fully-equipped gyms with personal trainers and courts for tennis, volleyball, basketball, and squash.
If the sun gets too much, the amusement area has everything from bowling lanes to a cinema, which you can access with an MSC Fun Pass. The evening entertainment is just as high-energy, with over 6 different Broadway-style shows a week. This setup is a lifesaver for family cruises, especially since infants under 2 years old travel free of charge.
With dedicated Kids Clubs available, it's one of the few ways to have a high-end trip where the adults actually get to find their own space in the spa or on the sundecks.
3. You Can Skip The Restaurant Search
Mussel Seafood on a cruise
Is this you? It's 9 pm in a foreign city, you're starving, and you're scrolling through endless reviews trying to find a table that isn't a tourist trap. It's the ultimate holiday mood-killer. On an MSC itinerary, that entire process is eliminated.
Standard inclusion means you have access to the main restaurants and an expansive buffet that runs from breakfast through to late-night snacks. The buffet is built for variety, with a Mediterranean pasta station, a meat carvery, a wellness corner, and a dedicated kids' area.
In the main restaurants, dinner features Mediterranean and international culinary highlights that change regularly. While water and juices are always available at the buffet, you can customise things with drink packages that cover beverages in the bars and dining rooms throughout the week.
For context on what you're replacing the average cost of eating out in Western Europe for a mid-range restaurant sits at EUR 15–25 / USD 16–27 per person per meal, according to Numbeo's Europe cost of living index. Across a 7-night trip with 2 meals out per day, that's a food spend of EUR 210–350 / USD 228–381 per person before drinks — most of which is already covered in your cruise fare.
4. You Can Scale Up Your Experience
For anyone who wants to completely remove the “noise” of the world, the MSC Yacht Club is the place. This is an exclusive area of luxury suites that functions as a private sanctuary. It has its own lounge, restaurant, sundeck, and pool, all serviced by a 24-hour butler and a dedicated concierge.
In the Yacht Club, the all-inclusive cruises philosophy is at its most refined. It includes the premium drink package and unlimited Wi-Fi as standard, along with unlimited access to the thermal suite in the spa. It's for the person who wants to see the world but also wants a quiet, sophisticated home base to return to every night.
5. It's Easy To Get Started
Travelling with a backpack!
When booking an all-inclusive cruise, you can get peace of mind before you even hit the water. Fly & Cruise packages from airports like London Heathrow or Manchester bundle the flights, the transfers, and the cruise into 1 reliable loop. It removes the stress of navigating a strange city alone or worrying about missed connections.
By picking a path that handles the essentials, you give yourself the freedom to actually be present.
You've done the hard version. The early trains, the budget hostels, the days where half your energy went into logistics before you'd seen a single thing worth seeing. None of that was wasted — but at some point the point of travel stops being the effort and starts being everything else.
A European cruise is what happens when you let go of the idea that difficulty equals authenticity. Sort your international eSIM before you board so you're connected from the first port without thinking about it, then book the cabin, wake up somewhere new, and let that be enough.
