Provence (Marseille), France

We are on the Oceania Riveria from Venice to Barcelona leaving on 24th July. Was wondering if anyone could tell me what there is to do in Provence and where the ship docks and how far into the city, is it in walking distance.

Also I was told Marseille is further away and you need to catch a bus to see the city. We would like to see it all and only in port from 8am to 6pm. Could anyone recommend even a private tour guide they have used before or any information would be a great help.

We are on the Oceania Riveria from Venice to Barcelona leaving on 24th July. Was wondering if anyone could tell me what there is to do in Provence and where the ship docks and how far into the city, is it in walking distance.

Also I was told Marseille is further away and you need to catch a bus to see the city. We would like to see it all and only in port from 8am to 6pm. Could anyone recommend even a private tour guide they have used before or any information would be a great help.

for Marseilles, try Marseilles Provence Greeters. They are volunteers that show you the city. We were very impressed. We booked it for 4 of us and were very happy to make a donation (only cost).

We took a cab from the new dock (which is where I suspect you would dock, but not sure) and it was around 20 euros. There was a shuttle/ bus as well as well.

There is lots to see in Marseilles if you haven't been.

Here is a link to the port of call board for France.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

If you page down you'll see there are many active threads on Marseille on the linked board. You can also put Marseille in the search box and many more threads will come up that you can read through. Some will definitely recommend tour guides if your desire is to go outside the city into Provence.

Marseille has a Petit Tourist Train that functions like a hop-on hop-off bus to see sites within the city. The city can also be used as a jumping off point for tours to Arles, Les Baux, Aix, Cassis and some other towns in Provence. Aix is also easily reached by train if you wish to DIY.

A good bet on Cruise Critic is the ports of call section.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

Your main problem is finding out where you are docked.

Check this sticky for info on port shuttles.

Or check this site about the Marseille cruise port.

You can also go to the Roll Call for your cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=420%22

Another section on CC:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=167

Some other port guides:

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Marseille-06-28-2013.pdf

From Tom's Port Guides.

http://www.whatsinport.com/Marseilles.htm

http://cruiseportwiki.com/Marseille

Enjoy!

I hadn't realized that Tom got a port guide up and running for Marseille. Looking through the PDF link above - it is excellent! Thanks for the heads up Tansy.