edinburgher

You will be dropped off at a point which is fairly central and told what time the coach(es) will be leaving, so up to you to be back on time and to arrange your free time whichever way you choose.

In our experience of European trips on land, "free entry days" to normally paid attractions are the most crowded with long lines to enter, also big crowds around the most popular exhibits, so if the line is very long when youarrive there you may want to reconsider, although there is always a slim chance you may be lucky.

Sorry to disappoint, but you won't be able to "squeeze in all the best places" on one day port visits, especially given the distances to Rome and Florence/Pisa as your travel time will further reduce sightseeing time. Even without distance being a factor, (as Barcelona port is more or less in the city), Barcelona merits a stay of several days or even a week, as do Rome and Florence. Do you have pre-or post days in any of your cities as that would give more time to explore? You will need to read read and read more about each of your port calls then decide out of the "best things" which are of most interest to you personally, bearing in mind you will need to exclude more than you can include. Many many online sources for all online, including the official Tourist Information websites for all, guide books, YouTube, Tripadvisor and more, and many Americans find Rick Steves Med ports book helpful. And do look at your shorex options too even if you don't want to do one as they will give you an indication of what might be possible in the timeframe. You can also look at the very top of forums such as Italy for the "pinned" threads which have FAQs you might find helpful to read. these are threads which do not move as they are for reference. there are three at the top of italy forum, including one re transport between Civi and Rome. And I note you are new to CC (welcome) and may not know how to search for previous threads. Taking Sete as and example, (as I suspect this is your destination, not Montpellier) go to the France Ports forum, the general one not an individual thread, and in the empty search box under your username, insert the word Sete then hit the spy glass. Within seconds all previous threads containing that name will appear ready for you to read. Repeat for other ports each time going to the correct forum eg the Spain ports forum or the Italy Ports forum, depending on the country where each port is located. Some will have many many results, so you need to choose which to read, others will have very few. You should also be able to access info on trains, either online, or by searching for past threads with the relevant words. Lots of very basic research to simply get you started, but hopefully you won't be travelling until 2024 and have the time to do it. And do join the Roll Call for your cruise as you can exchange ideas and information with other pax on the same sailing, and sometimes join small private tours someone may have arranged should that option appeal.. As you didn't give your ship name or travel date, you will need to look for it yourself by going to the Viking Ocean Roll Calls forum, then searching for your ship and travel date as someone may have already begun one. Although most Cruise Critic forums can accessed without being logged in, you must be logged in to access Roll Calls..

Should be fun trying to either dock or tender into Montpellier. Are you certain you got the name correct or did you mean to instead write Sete?

Thank you.There are definitely worse places to live. Pleased you enjoyed your visit, and you never know, you may return some day.

is this your one and only suitcase and you are continuing with small backpacks or carry on bags only? If it is one of two or more, you could pack less for this trip with eg one suitcase each or one between two plus a couple of carry ons or small backpacks, and there is always the option of using onboard or ashore laundry services more often than you usually do, which would probably be less costly than the cost of shipping.

Cruise lines don't always follow the same method of tendering on all their ships. It may depend on the number of passengers and the shoreside tendering facilities available. As your querstion is specific to Royal Caribbean, suggesting that you cross post on the RC forum where others who may have done this in summer this year will possibly see it, or you could ask (Villefranche aside) what their usual schedule of tendering priorities is.

We only watched a couple of the earlier ones before giving up on it. And yet the Italians love babies and small children. Go figure.

I do appreciate your help and thoughts. thanks for your appreciation although I don't think I helped much. There is still the option of a beach within the town itself.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that taking a taxi there, wherever "there " is, might work well,but you need to be certain of getting back to the ship so you ideally need the option of another form of transport should there not be taxis near the beach you plan to visit, or an arranged one not appear,although you could always phone for one if you have taxi tel numbers on your phone., When cruising a Plan B is always good to have.

Spotting you are UK based did you watch any of that recent rather dire Channel 4 or 5 programme called something like "The Cruise", filmed on a Princess ship. One episode had a family with two young kids in tow, and in Naples they went to a cooking class to make pizza which they then got to eat Kids appeared to enjoy the making as much as the eating. Naples is the home of pizza and it might be something worth considering. Probably because people just don't tend to take toddlers on holiday to these places! When ours were small we only went on (usually Spanish) packaged beach holidays until they were older as ours were happiest spending all of the fortnight either on the beach or in the pool. One in the morning the other in the afternoon, and they often made friends and enjoyed the kids clubs and entertainment.

Should it prove difficult to reach, there are beaches actually in the town itself which may be worth considering for ease of access. I expect you already have, but if not, try googling something like "Zadar beaches"

You may not need a tour at all and could save money if you are prepared to spend a little time researching online as you could take the train from Genoa to Santa Margherita, (a little less than an hour)spend time in this attractive seaside resort, (look for tourist info websites and Tripadvisor as examples of info sources)then walk, public bus, taxi or take the very short but super scenic ferry ride(15/20 minutes). to Portofino.(again tourist info and images online) There are also multiple past threads for Genoa, Santa Margherita and Portofino which you could search for as they are full of info and tips. Go to the general Italy Ports forum, not an individual thread, and in turn, insert each name in the empty search box under your username before hitting the little spy glass. Within seconds results will apear listing all previous threads containing that name and you can decide which to read. Sorry, but I have zero info or knowledge of Rapallo but again, there may be previous threads or posts you could search for.

You could also consider taking the short train journey from la Spezia to Santa Margherita (Ligure) which is an attractive seaside resort, and from there you can take a walk, or bus, or taxi, or the short but beautifully scenic ferry ride to Portofino which isn't CT but well photographed regardless. There are many past threads with info and tips on this option, and others including PortoVenere. As usual, access them using the empty search box under your user name then hitting the little spy glass. You could also search for Portofino and Santa Margherita in turn. And only search on the general Italy ports Forum, not an individual thread. This is an example of one result you might want to read, just ignore the reference to driving as it quickly morphs into suggestions without driving.. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2911139-la-spezia-anything-to-do-within-a-short-drive/#comment-64723978

Have you tried googling something along the lines of "Naples for kids"? (or a different city or town name) Worth a try and you may get some interesting ideas in the results.

Ours docked at the commercial port although the shuttle bus dropped us off and picked up only a few steps from the Sea Organ, so as mentioned above,a very easy stroll to the centre

The little tourist train chugs up there so need to walk. It is described in the first link on post #3 above.

Kotor is lovely and perfect for an enjoyable stroll around this pretty town. And as mentioned above, the sail in and out is spectacular so be up on deck a good hour or 90 mins before scheduled arrival time. Tthere is a steep, very steep, hill you can climb or go along to even tinier Perast and take the short ride over to our Lady of the Rocks.The boatmen wait at the edge of the sea alongside the road so you cannot miss them. It might be useful for you to read past threads about each of the ports you are asking about as there are tps and info to be found. The easiest way to find them is to go to the empty search box under your user name on the GENERAL "Other Med Ports" forum, not an individual thread and insert the name of one of your ports before hitting the little spy glass. All previous threads containing that word will appear ready for you to choose which yo read. Same method will work for your other ports too. As an example, here are the results for Kotor; https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=kotor&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 i am not convinced that a boat trip is necessary as some will sail the same route either in part or in full you will arrive and depart along so if tempted, check the details carefully. If you see the word BOKA (another name, probably the official one, for the Bay of Kotor) you will be doing it twice already.. Ships don't always dock or tender into Zadar, you may be out at the cargo port and shuttle in. Zadar is very different from Kotor but again, there are usually shorex on offer. SEARCH results for Zadar here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=zadar&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Koper itself doesn't offer much to occupy your time (maybe an hour or so) so I personally recommend you look at a tour or go along to Piran,.but there are usually tours on offer to Lake Bled or Ljubljana or a combo visiting both and both are attractive destinations.. Another option is to visit teeny tiny Piran, a really picturesque little town not far from Koper. Results for Koper; https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=koper&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 And for Piran (there will be some crossover with Koper): https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=piran&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149 Hoping you find at least some of the above info useful. We love the Adriatic itineraries.and did a few to cover as many of the ports as possible. Enjoy.

sjmbruce, I only now noticed I didn't "quote" you on my post #6 which means you would not have been notified that there had been new posts added to your thread, and unless you randomly checked would not know they are here. Reading them might be worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Better to have than not have if they are needed. I think you were lucky not to experience the pesky flies. By the way, they are flies not mosquitoes and they don't bite but they are a nuisance. See my other post directly above this one.

The link was maybe the one I also read. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2966684-ncl-star-icelandgreenland-review-july-2023/#comment-66196820 Having visited both Iceland and Greenland, I found it very interesting and the author also mentioned the flies and the head nets they took with them(I think chapter 6 in the table of contents). They are inexpensive, weigh next to nothing and take up almost no space, all good reasons to pack them even if they are unused as not everyone experiences them. (in addition to the port-specific information documents 😉) We really do find these invaluable especially as we are DIYers and cannot hold that amount of specific info for multiple ports in our heads! I hope you find they also work well for you.

tammyjw305, thanks for posting the link to your blog as I enjoyed reading it having visited both Iceland and Greenland although not with NCL. We fell in love with icebergs on our first Greenland itinerary and booked a second 2 or 3 years later which gave us different ports.

Should you get no info on the car seat question, you could try posting on the dedicated Palma thread pinned at the top of the Spain Ports forum as roger b lives there and keeps a close eye on posts to that thread. It is this one; https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2697012-palma-de-mallorca-diy-new/page/17/#comment-65473993

Thanks for that. Pleased you thought it a useful tip for port info, although I had omitted to say that we do a Word document for each port, not one for all of them. On arrival at each port we simply take out the page(s) relevant to each. as otherwise there was too much information to remember.

Taxi tours are popular on Corfu. Best to book ahead of time though to agree a route and pricing, also that your driver will speak english. Corfu is a really scenic island and local drivers know the routes and the nicest scenery, also how much can fitted in around your time in dock with tiume to spare. When you internet search something like "Corfu taxi tours" you will find that some results are for taxi companies with several vehicles and drivers rather than for a lone driver with his own vehicle. We ended up with either 3 or 4 taxis shared with fellow pax arranged through our Roll Call and had a lovely few hours.