bananacarrott

Thank you for the advice. With some further research I think I may risk it and leave from another port and do Cinque Terre from La Spezia. I was worried about weather and want to do the trains and ferry plus some hiking and think I may have found a tour that is inexpensive and ticks most of the boxes. I will save Valencia for another trip and stick with the first itinerary with La Spezia and Barcelona!

Yes they are both MSC cruises and time in port is a huge factor as is the cost. Thank you for your input - I am having a hard time making the decisions. The aquarium in Valencia was a huge draw for me for something different as I worry my daughter at only 11 is going to get bored of sightseeing large cities.I have never been to Ibiza and agree with you about Marseille.

Thank you for the replies thus far. I should have provided more information. I have been to Rome before and would likely skip it on this trip all together if not it being a port of call on the cruise. I researched which ports of call are easiest to get to (flight, public transportation, etc.) and eliminated my start/end point gradually by this. I have never been to Cinq Terre and I like to mix up my travel with some hiking, boat rides, and other various activities or excursions and figured if I was travelling in/out of Genoa I would be able to take my time in Cinq Terre without the worry of returning to the ship. For Rome I was going to take the train into the city and do a half day tour with my daughter. I completely understand it is not best seen in less than a day. We do not plan to go inside the Vatican, but thank you for the information. I am aware of theft having lived in Europe for a number of years and hope to prevent it as best I can. This cruise will only be our second - we recently fell in love this past January. At under $200 a night where we have food and accommodations I added it to our Europe trip as it seems win/win with the exception of time constraints in ports. I have it narrowed down to 2 similar cruises and am trying to make an informed decision. Thank again 🙂

I am travelling in May with my 11 year old daughter. After 5 days in Paris we will do a cruise. I have narrowed my itinerary down to 2 options, both with a start/end in Genoa as I believe 7am-6pm in La Spezia is too short of a time frame to see Cinq Terre. Any advice on this from Genoa is also appreciated and if I am wrong and that time frame is good I am willing to be corrected 🙂 I was envisioning one of the hikes, possibly a boat ride to see it from the sea. Anyways, advice on ports of call is appreciated! Day 1 Genoa Day 2 La Spezia, Italy 7h00-18h00 Day 3 Civitavecchia, Italy 7h00-19h00 Day 4 Sea Day 5 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 9h00 - 23h00 Day 6 Barcelona, Spain 8h00 - 17h00 Day 7 Cannes, France 8h30 - 17h30 Day 8 Genoa Day 1 Genoa Day 2 Civitavecchia, Italy 8h00-18h00 Day 3 Palermo, Italy 10h00-18h00 Day 4 Sea Day 5 Ibiza, Spain 11h00 - 23h00 Day 6 Valencia, Spain 7h00 - 16h00 Day 7 Marseille, France 13h00 - 19h00 Day 8 Genoa