edinburgher

it is also possible to walk or go by public bus between the two and you can always get the ferry back to Portofino from SM. The short 15/20 minute crossing has beautiful views so I highly recommend you take the ferry at least one direction. We really liked SM. A most attractive resort town with some lovely walks along the waterfront and several sights to visit. We found lots of info on Tripadvisor and others. The streets around the Church of SM ( a 2 minute walk from the waterfront) have interesting buildings with some being coloured. Also has a really good selection of restaurants and cafes, and as an added bonus is less expensive than very pricey Portofino. Having explored the historic centre and the waterfront, we also walked up to the "Villa?" via the gardens from the town, explored all the top area then came back down the staircase to emerge by the tiny Fisherman's chapel next to the waterfront. I think you will enjoy whatever you decide to do.

What a pity the ferries are not running on the day you visit as they are inexpensive, offer wonderful views, and follow regular scheduled timetables to some Cinq Terre villages and to pretty Portofino,also worth a short visit although it is tiny. (you didn't say but is that where you are tendering into?) The views from the water are beautiful. If your visit is coinciding with a major public holiday or a strike of some description, you may have difficulty finding alternative transport. to CT. Should you need to change your plans and drop the idea of CT, you can also walk, public bus, or taxi between Santa Margherita and Portofino as spending time in both SM and P would still offer you an enjoyable day, but you could of course also consider using the train to visit a CT village or two. .

Doubtful that many stores will be open, but do check to see if there are any Sunday markets or craft fairs in the city. And VERY occasionally in some ports around the world, there may be some stallholders to be found quayside. Ssomething else to check might be local museums which are open on Sundays as many museums have an attached gift shop area and we have often found that these gift shops offer good quality souvenirs. which are "slightly different from the usual".

Some lines offer the occasional "themed" menu eg "Greek night/Italian night/French night/Spanish night/Indian night, but not usually in the MDR or any of the speciality restaurants. They are more commonly found in the buffet restaurants sometimes in a special area, so it is worth checking your daily newsletter for a mention, or swinging by the buffet once the evening menu has been posted outside, or you could ask staff if or when there may be such an evening scheduled.

Have you joined a Roll Call for your sailing? It may be worthwhile asking on there if anyone would be interested if you were to organise a tour. Give the details of the itinerary, timings and cost. Alternatively, try searching for any distillery in the vicinity of Invergordon as there may be one or two you could visit without doing a longer tour. If it helps, Invergordon has a train station.

Never done one so sorry, no to that, but I do know there are tours of street art which can be booked. I expect info on these can be found online, together with reviews from tourists who have done these and reading them would help you decide which to go for.

.Only trying to help.I was only a suggestion if you are still struggling to find a driver closer to your dates and needed a "Plan B" or even a "Plan C" if you are REALLY stuck. Not your preference but better than nothing at all. And if no driver can be found, nor even a taxi at the airport, there is at least a "Plan B" which others may not have. You could consider the navette/shuttle from the airport to St Charles and take the train to Cassis with a taxi from the train station there to your hotel. In case you need this "PlanB", the airport to train station navette/shuttle stops right outside the upper level of the station, with only a few steps from the shuttle stance to the entrance door, possibly a dozen or so, flat with no steps. Through the door are the ticket machines and platforms. At the airport, it leaves from Stance 6 outside the terminal and you buy your ticket from the little ticket office next to the stance, unless it is either very late or very early and the ticket office is closed, in which case you pay the driver. Given how busy the city is likely to be, could be worth remembering there is that option. You may have more luck finding a driver or taxi to take you from Cassis to the port as there MAY be less demand from Cassis. If you have already booked your Cassis hotel, may be worth contacting them to ask if they know of a local person who could do this, and you never know, the same person or another might be willing to make the quite long journey to the airport to collect you and drive you to Cassis, but given the distances expect it to cost. Such bad luck to have a major event ongoing at the time of your visit.

I should have also included Vallauris in the above. Vallauris, Biot, Antibes are all in "Picasso country" and those smaller towns and villages are still worthy of a visit and may be quieter than some of the more touristy bigger names. Mougins has been a long time "foody destination" but worth checking current info as there may have been changes post pandemic.

There are two possible port locations for Nice, with a third option for (I think) only the largest ships being tendered into nearby Villefranche. You could check cruise calendars on the official port websites for Nice and/or Villefranche to be sure you know which will be your docking or tendering location. Once you know that, it will be easier to make plans.

This is a major FAQ over on the French Ports Forum. To do or not do? Is it worth the long journey time V the short time in the city.? Should I/we do the excursion or the "on your own" option instead.? What will I/we actually see? You could bring up all the past threads with this question by using the SEARCH tool under your username on the French Ports Forum and reading them might help you decide. This is the forum you should use/search for best info https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/462-france-ports/

That is often the #1 drawback for cruising versus a land based trip. Too much to see, not enough time, so you have to be selective and prioritise the sights/sites which are of most interest to you, not to others, and which will comfortably fit your timeframe.On a positive note, should you return a second or even third time and had some unfinished sightseeing, you can simply pick up where you left off and with the research having been done for the first visit, there should only be minimal research thereafter perhaps only checking that opening times, locations, timetables have not changed in the interim. However, you said this we are planning a few ports just going ashore but in an earlier posting you said To coordinate the ships time in port, where the tour starts and how to get there and back in enough time has been a major pain for us the last few months when almost all excursions were not avsailable. Given the logistical and timing challenges you were facing trying to book public tours more suited to tourists on land based trips, tried to help by suggesting you drop plans for public tours in your ports and look for alternative means of getting around, and would still encourage you to do that if only to remove your stress thereby allowing you to begin to actually enjoy your port research as planning your days to match your own interests should be part of the overall enjoyment of the trip.

If you have no mobility issues, you could walk down the path and avoid the cable car- or take a donkey ride if you can bear the thought of the poor beast.

Many cruise pax enjoy watching from their ship all the comings and goings both down on the dock and indeed on their own ship, as crew and shore staff prep the ship for arriving or leaving a port. It is one of the elements of cruising which sets it apart from a land trip, and if it will be your first cruise you might enjoy watching.. We personally also enjoy watching the pilot arriving and leaving and there is always the possibility of spotting "pier runners" especially at Caribbean ports.but could care less about a "sailaway party" In addition, ship prep aside, some ports have a wonderfully scenic arrival or departure which really should not be missed, including as examples Malta and Kotor Montenegro. Venice used to be another. If you care to list your ports, those of us who have sailed in or out can suggest sailaways you might want to experience, with or without the "party" element which is your personal choice.

Honningsvag first time we took a shorex to the North Cape and it was a clear day. When we did a sail by later in the evening it was cloudy and there wasn't much to be seen. Tour bus also stopped for a short time at a "traditional" Sami camp.Our second visit we only enjoyed the "sail by" which was clear that time and didn't revisit the North Cape, instead explored the town which has little to offer, although we did see a small number of wild reindeer running along one of the streets.

We only visited one time and the weather was absolutely miserable with heavy rain throughout the day. Only went walkabout (actually sloshed about!) due to the weather. The town is famous for iron ore, but mostly famous for its naval connections, especially during WW11 when the Arctic Convoys sailed from there to Russia. With an ice free port it was an important strategic port and should you have an interest, much of the naval history of Narvik and the Arctic Convoys can be found online There are memorials to sailors all around the town, and before we set sail from Narvik, our Captain said a few words in memorium of all the sailors who lost their lives before dropping a wreath into the sea.. There is a quite famous scenic railway journey from Narvik to a town across the Swedish border which in the past was used to transfer iron ore. it is apparently a favourite with visitors although our own abiding memory of Narvik is of rain. Hope you have better luck than we did.

We have visited Tromso? (difficult to be sure that is where you are going from your spelling) 3 times. One time we were docked out of town close to the Botanical Garden and took a public bus from the main road outside the port to reach the centre and returned the same way. The other twice we docked right in the centre. Should this be you, step ashore and you will find yourself already there. It is a pleasant enough town to visit with a number of interesting sights including a several museums, some with a mostly polar exploration emphasis should that interest you, Polaris, the Arctic Cathedral and others. It is also a pleasant town to stroll around and there is a historic area(only a few buildings) beside one of the museums. I cannot remember exactly which museum nor which historic buildings. which isn't very helpful I know., but DH thinks it was by the Polar Musum. Have a look at the Tromso Tourist Info website for suggestions and any others such as Tripadvisor. There should also be some self guided walks to be found if you google. And if you dock outside of town, you might want to cross over to the Botanical Garden, the most northern in the world which is open 7/7 and entry is free. There is certainly more than enough in Tromso to keep you busy for a day.

There is a dedicated "sticky" for Palma at the top of the Spain Ports Forum which you would find interesting to read and any questions you might have about Palma are likely to have been asked and answered on it. It is this one https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2697012-palma-de-mallorca-diy-new/page/16/#comment-65463769

Well yes, agreed it does take time and best started a long way out, but why are you trying to book as many tours for two persons as you are indicating you are, when there are so many others ways you could sightsee? Do you only ever go ashore if you can tour? Is it a language issue which holds you back orcruising very remote areas with little or no infrastructure? (Just trying to advise)

OOPS Senior moment. Only now noticed I confused eastern and western not once but twice. . Substitute eastern for western on the first quote, and western for eastern on the second.

From Cannes, Grasse is also an option and you could include smaller but attractive villages such as Valbonne, Opio, and Mougins, also Biot which has already been mentioned.

From Cannes, Grasse is also an option and you could include smaller but attractive villages such as Valbonne, Opio, and Mougins, also Biot which has already been mentioned.

You will already know that it could be tricky given the crowds expected in the city during that period. I can suggest a slightly different option which could be worth considering for one of your transfers if you are struggling. There are frequent shuttle buses (navettes) which run7/7 between the main station (Gare St Charles) and the airport from very early morning until late at night. From the airport you could consider a taxi to the port and there should be info on that option on the airport website or on the Marseille port website(there is a section with cruise pax info) or elsewhere online. I do not know as have never done that, but the airport to port distance is probably no further than from the city to the port at Fos and may actually be a little shorter.

If no specific recommendations, by using the search tool you could pull up all previous threads and posts about Zakyinthos and read through them in the hope that a recommended company might be found in them..

I found a private boat tour (up to 6 passengers) for Zakynthos on Viator and Trip advisor. Do remember that Viator is only a "middleman" not a tour operator, so it is unlikely that you will know the name of the actual tour operator ahead of time. And if you have any questions or issues you will probably have to go through Viator.

There is also the lovely Paseo del Parque just across the street from the port gates. And at the western end of the park and across another street there are more gardens. Our shuttle bus dropped us at (I think) a plaza called Marina? very close to the eastern end of the gardens and to the historic centre. There was also Tourist Info there.We paid for the shuttle as we were docked at the furthest location from the port gates. Lots to see and do in Malaga, so for a first visit you should find enough to fill your day without leaving the city. Actually too much, so you need to read about the city attractions to help you decide which interest you most.