my husband and myself are going on a cruise to the mediterranean
It's our first cruise and our first time to Europe. we want to do everything on our own and need some advise on what to make a priority. we love to eat good food and don't mind walking a lot. we have to be back on the boat everyday pretty much by 5 ??? help?
here are the ports and it is a Disney 11 night # Ajaccio, Corsica # Barcelona, Spain # Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome) # La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa) # Naples, Italy (Pompeii) # Tunis, Tunisia # Valletta, Malta # Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice) we are also arriving a day early to spend a full day in Spain? we need a good hotel that is close to the port and cheap !!
kristin
fullerton, ca usa 2/8/10
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You are asking a pretty broad question and, unfortunately, some posters might rip on you for taking a cruise. But it can be a very economical and convenient way to see a lot of Europe quickly. A high percentage of your fellow travelers on the cruise will be independent travelers like yourself. While ship's excursions are expensive, they do take care of everything. Therefore, if you are traveling independently then you have to do all that work yourself. Which means -- guide books, DVDs on each port, google every port -- a lot of homework. Well beyond what we can do for you here. Join the cruisecritic.com board for your ship and cruise dates. That will establish links with other passengers who will be doing what you want to do.
In short, when you hit the port you will need a basic understanding of what you want to see and do in that area, basic understanding of public transit, tour options, a good map, and I think, most importantly, the nearest TI. TI is where you can obtain good, inexpensive local tours. Cruise ships always have a port orientation prior to each port with good information but not a sub for doing your homework.
After you have done some of your homework. Come back with specific question related to that port.
thanks for the info will do !!
Arthur Frommer has a great article on how to plan on cheaper shore excurstions by doing them yourself rather than buying the expensive ones through the ship.
Read it at Trim cruise costs with do-it-yourself shore excursions.
This is the usual reference to the Frommer's article but be aware that Mr. Berger's comments have a number of inaccuracies. I am always surprised Frommer didn't catch the errors or the poster who constantly references that article.
As Frank (Centennial) has suggested, connect with cruisecritic.com. You can get information on each port by clicking onto "ports" on the orange band at the top, finding your cruise region and then your ports. There is also a message board where you can post questions and perhaps arrange to meet up with other passengers on your ship (if that floats your boat, so to speak).
On our last cruise, I browsed the activities for each city on tripadvisor. We found some great excursions - usually 50% off what the cruise was charging because we booked directly on the activity/sites website.
On tripadvisor.com, just "search" the city you are going to and then click on "Things to do"
I have a love hate relationship with cruises. I love only having to pack and unpack once. You get the opportunity to see where you want to return and explore more than a half of a day or if you are lucky a full day. What I don't like is too much good food! Something else to consider is that not all the ports are close to the city you are going to, ie, Florence, Rome are about an hour and a half away from the port. So that's 3 hours RT. I suggest a tour for the ports that are far away. If you dock in the city itselsf or very close to the city, you can do that on your own. Often times, the cruise ship will have buses taking people back and forth as a service. Rememeber to if the tour bus is late for whatever reason, they ship will wait for the bus. That is not the case for people going out on their own. As a first timer, I highly suggest taking the tours to the big cities. You could also consider private tours. All in all I like cruises. I do prefer self travel these days as I have been traveling a lot. You will enjoy your trip I am sure. For a Barcelona hotel, google it and stay close to Las Ramblas, main street. Only you know what works for you. I have spent days looking for an apt in Prague because I was looking for something particular. Happy Travels!
Go to the cruisecritics.com forums. you will get tons of help there.
As Arthur Frommer, the master says...
Having come off a cruiseship with 2,000 or more passengers, why in the world would you want to stuff yourself into a motorcoach with some 40 other passengers to go touring a port city? Who wouldn't value the opportunity to go wandering on his or her own, independently, free-spirited, using public transportation — or his or her own two feet?
And a quote from Carolyn Spencer Brown, Editor in Chief of CruiseCritic.com
Q. Are shore excursions worth the expense?
A. No. The only time you should even bother with a shore excursion is if it’s a very complicated day trip. Let’s say you go to Naples and you want to go up to the Amalfi Coast; I’ve heard more stories about people who’ve missed the ship because they don’t get back on time because of traffic or they get lost. Generally, you can do whatever it is the cruise line is doing cheaper and, in most cases, getting a better experience, on your own.
See www.shoretrips.com, www.portpromotions.com for purchasing shore trips much cheaper than you can from the cruise line.
all this info has been so helpful!!! thank you so much!! but more advise is always needed and appreciated
Ms. Brown apparently doesn't know up from down -- Amalfi being south of Naples and all.
Small technicality -- left, right, up, down who cares if the posting is accurate or if the reference is correct along as it is another posting and it reasonably close. The earlier posting contained the information that it was a five minute walk to the train station in Naples from the harbor. Of course, anyone who has been in Naples knows that it is much more than a five minute walk and it is not an area that you would want to walk through anyway. So why don't we all stick to posting what we know and not what someone else might say. Might improve the quality of some postings.
The point I was trying to make, although perhaps too subtly, was that, if you're going to rob something just to make a post, at least have enough knowledge to make sure it stands unblemished in its new context.
Ms. Brown is undoubtedly a very intelligent person and contextually her comment could have referred to a change in altitude or a direction from where she was standing when she made the statement.