Thomson Mediterranean medley. Excursion or private?

Hi

I am going on a Mediterranean cruise for the first time with family and friends. Age group is 13 to 76.

Can you please advise if we should do excursions provided by the ship or should we plan the excursions on our own? Bearing in mind the cost of ship excursion is expensive for 7 people over 7 days.

Below is the list of ports we are going to visit.

Your help and advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Tom

Day 1Palma - MajorcaDay 2Day at SeaDay 3Calvi* - CorsicaDay 4Livorno (For Florence And Pisa) - ItalyDay 5Villefranche* (For Monaco And Nice) - FranceDay 6Marseille - FranceDay 7Barcelona - SpainDay 8Palma - Majorca

Calvi in Corsica is a good beach day. You will most likely take a tender too shore. Follow the coastline via the marina (very pretty, not hilly, a 15 mins easy stroll) will get you there. You cant get lost, and don't need a taxi. 15 Euros will get you 2 x sunbeds and umbrella. cafes selling snacks and drinks. Water is crystal clear, very calm flat, (need to walk out a bit before it deepens).

Thank you. Hopefully I will get advise on other destinations before our cruise on 22nd Aug.

Calvi is a very pretty little place and it's great to just wander around. Plenty of shops and restaurants in the town, however we did find it pretty expensive - south of France prices

Livorno - have you decided where you want to visit? Many people visit Florence but we wanted somewhere quieter so decided on Lucca and then Pisa. We took a shuttle bus into Livorno and then a no. 1 bus to the train station (if there are a few of you it would probably work out cheap to share a taxi to the station). We booked return train tickets to Lucca and then took a train to Pisa Centrale where we changed for Lucca. The train stops right outside the city walls, it's a beautiful city and you can just wander around or walk or cycle around the walls. There are lovely restaurants for lunch and shops to wander. We took an early afternoon train back to Pisa (getting off at Pisa S. Rossore) this is a 10 minute walk to the Field of Miracles but you have to get the train back to Livorno from Pisa Central which is quite a walk so worth taking a taxi from the Leaning Tower to the station. You will need to ensure you leave plenty of time to get back to the ship but the train was only around £5 per person so very cheap and we decided that if time got short we would take a taxi back from Pisa. We got back to the ship around 5pm and didn't sail until 8pm. Alternatively if there are several of you, you could perhaps negotiate a taxi for the day. Good luck

Thank you dronnygirl. We would like to visit Florence so are there many trains from Pisa? And wud we have enough time to visit Pisa and travel by train to Florence to return to ship by 5pm?

If you do not want to travel to Pisa or Florence, Livorno itself is very pretty. We went on a boat trip there with a running commentary about the various buildings. It may not suit your 13 rear old though.

Thank you dronnygirl. We would like to visit Florence so are there many trains from Pisa? And wud we have enough time to visit Pisa and travel by train to Florence to return to ship by 5pm?

Florence is in a different direction to Pisa - Pisa is 30 minutes by train whereas Florence is around 90 minutes. Not sure how long you are in port but you could do Florence by train if you have a long day and ensure you don't leave it too late to return. Check Trenitalia timetables for info. However, as there are quite a few of you I would definitely Google private hire from Livorno to Florence as you could get a good deal - not used them myself but see Nicola Scovenna on Tripadvisor, there are some very good reviews. Good luck!

If you do not want to travel to Pisa or Florence, Livorno itself is very pretty. We went on a boat trip there with a running commentary about the various buildings. It may not suit your 13 rear old though.

Thank you

Florence is in a different direction to Pisa - Pisa is 30 minutes by train whereas Florence is around 90 minutes. Not sure how long you are in port but you could do Florence by train if you have a long day and ensure you don't leave it too late to return. Check Trenitalia timetables for info. However, as there are quite a few of you I would definitely Google private hire from Livorno to Florence as you could get a good deal - not used them myself but see Nicola Scovenna on Tripadvisor, there are some very good reviews. Good luck!

Thank you. Any advise on other excursion?

Calvi is good to do yourselves if you want to stay in the town.

Florence is a 3 hour round trip on the train and there's a lot to see so you need to watch the times. Pisa on the train is easy and Lucca as well. Bus numbers etc in an other reply earlier. Marseilles is again easy on your own, if you can get the HOHO or little train for a ride round (can get busy).

Barcelona off the ship catch the free shuttle into the station and you are at the bottom of Los Ramblas stroll up to the square and grab a HOHO 2 different tours available.

Kev

Calvi is good to do yourselves if you want to stay in the town.

Florence is a 3 hour round trip on the train and there's a lot to see so you need to watch the times. Pisa on the train is easy and Lucca as well. Bus numbers etc in an other reply earlier. Marseilles is again easy on your own, if you can get the HOHO or little train for a ride round (can get busy).

Barcelona off the ship catch the free shuttle into the station and you are at the bottom of Los Ramblas stroll up to the square and grab a HOHO 2 different tours available.

 

Kev

Thank you

Hi cannot wait for you to let us know what it's like, we go on same trip in October

Hi. Returned from the cruise last night. Very impressed with everything and we all enjoyed the cruise.

I would recommend that you include a drink package as otherwise the drinks are £4 each. Majesty ship is good but does look old and tired. We had an outside room which had a window but the tender boats had blocked the view. So if you are allocated a room on deck 8 this could be a problem. All staff are very helpful which made the cruise experience memorable.

Food was very good, plenty to choose from and plenty to eat at all times. Even the fussiest person would find something to eat.

I was nervous about the excursions however here are my recommendations..

Day 1Palma - MajorcaDay

We boarded the ship at 3 and just found our way around.

Day 2Day at sea

We enjoyed the breakfast, shows, lunch and dinner and of course had plenty to drink.

Day 3Calvi* - Corsica

We got dropped off at the port and Calvi is walking distance. We managed to walk all around and spend time on the beach in 4 hours. We also went to the top of the hill where we saw house of Christopher Columbus. Also at the same time we enjoyed the great views.

Day 4Livorno (For Florence And Pisa) - Italy

We wanted to do Pisa and Florence and the ship excursion price for both was £82 each. So for 7 of us this would have cost us total of £574. However I found a 8 seater taxi just on the outside of the ship which took us to Pisa and Florence for total of 260 Euros. The taxi journey started at 9 and we returned back to the ship at 4.30pm.

Pisa was ok as not much to do but we found Florence beautiful. Taxi driver drew us a map which we followed so managed to walk and see all places.

Day 5Villefranche* (For Monaco And Nice) - France

We walked to Villefranche train station in 10 mins and bought a return ticket for 7 of us for 70 Euros. This journey included travelling to Monaco and Nice. We did Monaco first as its furthest. Once in Monaco we did a little bus/train tour of the city which I highly recommend. Jump on a local bus as the driver will advise you where to catch this tour bus from. Bus ticket will cost you 2 Euros each. Once we finished the tour we caught the bus back to Monaco station and train to Nice Ville. Make sure you get off at Nice ville.

We didn't like Nice at all. Streets are dirty and not much to do. We spent 30 mins in Nice and caught the train back to Villefranche.

Day 6Marseille - France

We used the ship's shuttle service for 7 Euro each to Marseille as the port is 15 mins away. Taxi was going to cost us more. Once in Marseille we used the little bus/train which shows you all of Marseille for 9euro each. Must get off at Notre Dame de la Gard church for spectacular views. As this is a hop on hop off tour it will not cost you extra.

Day 7Barcelona - Spain

As soon as you come out of the port there is a hop on hop off bus stop. We bought the tickets for red and blue bus for 29 Euros each. Do both routes as it covers all of Barcelona. We did half of the red route and got off just where the blues route crosses. Did the whole blue route and finished the second half of red route.

Day 8Palma - Majorca

We didn't get off the ship even though our leaving time from the ship was 5.15 pm. We had to vacate the room by 8am which was annoying but ok. The luggage has to be packed and left out side the room the night before so have a hand luggage for final bits.

All in all a pleasant experience, in future I would go for a room with a view or may be a balcony. I would also choose a cruise which had more days at sea but I suppose on 7 day cruise it's not possible. We did get tired as we had late nights and had to be up early to fit everything in.

We took part in a game show in Royal fireworks which I highly recommend. It's on at 9.45pm every night.

Musical shows in the jubilee was not my cup of tea but most people loved the shows.

Captains night was ok. I may have had high expectations but I found it a waste of time. I personally would not go again and did find many others who didn't go.

Hope my experience helps others.

Tom

Have been on Majesty twice and it's not my favourite Thomson ship as I'm not keen on the layout but decided to do the western Med for the first time Sept 19th for 2.weeks Although we have been to a number of ports of call by land your review Kamp013 was very useful thankyou

We didn't get off the ship even though our leaving time from the ship was 5.15 pm. We had to vacate the room by 8am which was annoying but ok. The luggage has to be packed and left out side the room the night before so have a hand luggage for final bits.

All in all a pleasant experience, in future I would go for a room with a view or may be a balcony. I would also choose a cruise which had more days at sea but I suppose on 7 day cruise it's not possible. We did get tired as we had late nights and had to be up early to fit everything in.

So pleased you enjoyed your cruise - the first of many no doubt! All the cruise companies we have used have to vacate rooms by 8am as the crew have limited time to get all the cabins ready for the newbies. You can pay a small fee to keep your room which we have sometimes found useful.

One of the reasons we choose Thomson is that they don't have many sea days, we like to see as many places as possible. Many other cruise lines have more sea days so are an alternative, but we usually find that some of the places are only small so just have a short wander around on those days.

So pleased you enjoyed your cruise - the first of many no doubt! All the cruise companies we have used have to vacate rooms by 8am as the crew have limited time to get all the cabins ready for the newbies. You can pay a small fee to keep your room which we have sometimes found useful.

One of the reasons we choose Thomson is that they don't have many sea days, we like to see as many places as possible. Many other cruise lines have more sea days so are an alternative, but we usually find that some of the places are only small so just have a short wander around on those days.

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Thanks we go in October but at the moment not planning any trips, your details help a lot.