edinburgher

Tarragona is another possibility. An easy train journey. Info and images can be easily found online. Sitges is even closer but no point in going to a beach resort in November.

This was replied to back in February. See post #2 and especially read the link to the previous thread as full info can be found on it. twolittleboys, That very steep walk up in possibly hot or even very hot sunshine must have been quite the experience, and I wonder what ages your kids were at the time, as you are, I believe, the only person who has described the climb as "easy to do".

As you gave no clue as to what your "private tour" will involve only you know. If it is a scenic island tour, you could ask to be dropped off not at the ship, but in Corfu town itself which you could explore with your remaining time. Or go for a swim on a nearby beach. There should be tourist information and ideas found online.

I only saw this one after I replied to your other one. As our time there was more organised than we are used to, and because we did not have a full day there having come from Ajaccio, you could also look for ideas on tourist information websites, Tripadvisor, YouTube and any others which appear when you search online for Bonifacio Tourist Information. I hope there are fewer people in Upper Bonifacio on your visit than there were on the day we visited.

I cannot recall the exact description as it was a shorex, but "our" boat was docked beside others offering similar boat trips at the very end of the harbour, itself attractive with many cafes, restaurants etc. and close to where the coach had to drop us off.

sorry, cannot help on beaches as I don't recall seeing one, and you will know why when you see it. We visited on a shorex from Ajaccio. Bonifacio is spectacularly located, with an upper town high on the cliffs and a lower town around the small harbour area. As part of our shorex we had an included boat trip from the harbour and it was extremely scenic. We then went to the upper town using the little tourist train and explored once up there. Streets in the upper town are steep and very narrow, so much so that the crowds visiting at the time we were there made it difficult to walk around or even to stop to look at something. There are spectacular views from up there but without the little train to get us there, I doubt we would have opted for the very steep climb. Some of the crowds had come over from Sardinia using the ferries to visit for the day, but others must have been visiting from other locations on the island, as were we. Should you decide against a beach day, I highly recommend you take a boat tour as it was one of the best we have taken anywhere. There were wonderful views of Bonifacio when leaving and arriving back, and we visited calanques and rock formations. We very rarely take a shorex, preferring to sightsee independently but we made an exception for this one and were not disappointed as Bonifacio is really scenic. You may need to do some homework to find information on beaches or small coves close to the town, so Google (and Tripadvisor and others) may be your new friends.😀

It is usually only NCL which docks out of town at Ward Cove and my understanding is that they run shuttle buses, and there should also be a public bus which together with a taxi, would give you three options to return.

If you google your hotel and check the result for a hotel booking website, (something like booking.comalthough there are others), you will see it on a map. Usually on the left side of the map there are little boxes you can tick, one for hotels, one for restaurants, one for things to see or do. Tick those which you want and you should be able to see restaurants and things to do close to your hotel. The restaurants you see nearby can be checked on eg Tripadvisor or other review sites to help you decide. If it is Via SANTS hotel rather than Via SANDS hotel you will be handy for one of the main train stations although you would be unlikely to use a train on a one day visit.

Google the name of the street and it should appear on a Google map. You will see it maybe a half or full block behind the Vieux Port. I hope you allowed time to get there from the port at Fos?

Unless it is a clear bright day, no point in climbing up if the views are obscured by clouds or rain as it is the 360 degree views which people go up there for. You don't say when you will visit, but it is generally adviseable to pre-book your entry time to Edinburgh Castle to avoid a potentially long wait. No need to worry about finding pipers. LOL You will see --and hear --bagpipers throughout the city centre and Old Town. maybe the floral garden and stairs Almost but not quite. It is not a floral "garden" but a rather beautiful floral clock which has a different theme each year. As it is seasonal, on your date it may or may not be on view. Apologies for some muddled quotes/spacing below.

I looked for the location and it appears to bej ust off the Vieux Port so a nice central location convenient for most of what you might want to do/see after the tour. As for getting there and sightseeing suggestions, this thread would be of particular interest, especially post #7. Ignore the thread titles. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2997346-princess-excursion-is-sold-out-thinking-of-booking-viator-marseille-shore-excursion-city-sightseeing-tour-of-marseille/#comment-67174663 And this one(again ignore thread title) https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2982828-marseille-with-kids/#comment-66694666

Only visited Kotor twice, each time onboard a ship. and the arrival and departure into/out of Kotor are a huge part of the attraction which would be totally missed on a land trip. It is one of the most scenic in the world and many passengers are up on deck as much as an hour before arrival to get maximum enjoyment. I imagine a day trip to Kotor from Dubrovnik would mean travelling in a bus or car for much of the day but have no idea how long it might take as we have never done that. On the other hand we have visited Cavtat on three of our seven visits to Dubrovnik as we love it there and it gets us away from the very high heat and the crowds in Dubrovnik. Cavtat is super easy to DI and you could do boh ways by bus, or both by little shuttle boat or one way by bus, the other by boat. There is a lovely partly shaded walk perfect for very hot days around the peninsula alongside the sea, or you could swim or sunbathe, plus lots of cafes and bars around the harbour. Tripadvisor for images and reviews.

You could be the one to start a RC and see who joins you on it.😀

have you tried simply googling the name of the beach as it would be unusual not to find online descriptions of facilities, fees etc.

should you get few or no helpful replies (Symi can only take very small ships and yachts) have you tried googling something like "Symi beaches "or even "beaches close to (whatever the name of the main town where you will dock") And/or you could contact the local tourist information office and ask them as staff will be local and should know the answers.

Not forgetting RUM!!😁 There are various restrictions with conch shells and it would be prudent to read what the restrictions are before buying any.

I should have mentioned that unless you are travelling with only hand luggage, you will need to wait for your luggage at baggage reclaim, probably have to go through Immigration, plus make the journey from the airport to the port which is quite large, and depending on how many ships are in that day, yours may be berthed further from the entrance.

No tour is actually need for Warnemunde unless you want to travel quite a distance away to a sight which appeals to you personally. At Warnemunde ships dock next to the small train station which you only need walk through, cross the little bridge and you are there. Warnemunde is actually the seaside suburb of Rostock, and many passengers will choose to visit the historic centre of Rostock in the morning and stroll pretty little Warnemunde in the afternoon. Past threads about Warnemunde can be found here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=warnemunde&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=116 Without coming across as rude, with such a large number of ports on your itinerary, if you do not already know how to, I suggest that you learn how to use the quick and easy search tool as you can bring up past threads in seconds and choose which to read for information and suggestions. Go to the correct georgraphc forum,which in your case will be mostly the N Europe and Baltic Sea forum Do not go to an individual thread, simply stay on the main forum. In the empty SEARCH BOX under your username, input the name of each of your ports in turn. The dropdown next to the empty section should read "this forum", then hit the little spy glass. Within seconds, all past threads containing that name will appear ready for you to choose which to read. And with as many ports as you have, there is no way that anyone could retain that amount of info in their heads, so I suggest you have a document for each as you can "copy/paste" and add information as you go along, deleting what you do not need at the end, whilst keeping what you do need. I would also suggest that to avoid confusion, as you have so many, you only research one port at a time, only moving on to the next once you have finished the one before. And for each, also look for images and info on the usual websites, ie, local Tourist Information websites, Tripadvisor, YouTube, Frommer's, Fodors, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves, and any others which appear when you search "( name of port town) Tourist Information" to help you decide which options in each location appeal to you personally. There is also a very extensive "pinned" thread at the top of the forum which has an enormous amount of content about the Norwegian Fjords and that would also be a good research source.Again, you can use the search tool within that one thread. By self researching, you can plan each port call to suit your own interests and save $$$$ at the same time. On such a busy itinerary you can probably save $$$$!😁 Despite the amount of planning homework you will need to do, it reads like an amazing itinerary 😀

All of these ports can be easily explored independently unless there is something very special which appeals to your interests which would require a tour of some description. You have some really scenic ports on your list, with the possible exception of Zadar which for us personally was a little underwhelming. Lucky to have Rovinj listed as not so many lines call there It is super pretty and we absolutely loved it. From Dubrovnik, you could visit Cavtat on your second day. Reading past threads about each would be helpful and I suggest you do that if you have not already done so. I suggest you learn how to use the fast and easy search tool as it is a an amazing research source. To get you started I have done it for you as I assumed from your questions that you had not already done so.. Choose which to read from the following results. Hvar https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=hvar&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Zadar https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=zadar&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Rovinj https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=rovinj&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Korkula https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=korcula&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Piran (most visit from Koper) https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=piran&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Dubrovnik. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=dubrovnik&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Cavtat https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=cavtat&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

I would also recommend a small amount of cash. Depending on the countries you will visit, if you have euros, you could spend them in every country which has them as its currency.

if you have not already done so, reading past threads should help with info and ideas for sightseeing. Choose which of these past threads to read https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=ravenna&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464

I suggest you cross post your question on the MSC forum, as MSC passengers will know what the latest embarkation time might be, because with some lines it is a minimum of two hours before sailing as the manifest (and any other necessary paperwork) needs to be notified to the relevant authorities. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/ FWIW, I personally would stress about cutting it as fine as that, because any delay for any reason along the way might cause you to miss your sailing. I think it would be prudent to have a "plan B" and you could ask MSC if you missed the ship in Athens, would you be permitted to board at the next port, wherever that may be. Note that this option may or may not be possible.

In addition to the Olympic Torch arrival event, I should have added that Marseille will host a number of OLYMPIC SAILING events between JULY 28 and AUGUST 8, also several OLYMPIC FOOTBALL matches between JULY 26 and AUGUST 6. I cannot advise if these multiple events will impact on port calls, but it may be prudent to be cautious with private tour bookings just in case.

And for most cruise passengers, no city tour is really needed as there are so many varied activities and sights in close proximity to the cruise shuttle drop off point.

Should your itinerary include St Kitts, you could buy Caribelle Batik, hand made locally. You can visit on site to watch some being crafted, and on the day of our visit there were highly coloured and patterned items hanging out to dry on lines in the very pretty gardens. It is not inexpensive, but genuinely local and handmade. Their items can probably be found in retail outlets elsewhere in the Caribbean.