Pleas help! Mediterranean port excursion ideas

I am traveling to Rome in May and taking NCL 7 night Western Mediterranean cruise leaving from Civvitavecchia. It will be myself (44 y/o female) my 69 y/o mom and my 22 year old daughter traveling. It is our first cruise and first trip to Europe. I am completely overwhelmed by options for excursions at each port. I just know we want to see the highlights of each area but don’t want to spend a fortune. The cruise excursions are way too expensive. I want to keep it mid price range and skip anything not worth the money. Please help!

We used AP tours in Naples and had a wonderful day at Pompeii, positano and sorrento. They were very good! Take a look at their web site for some ideas and information.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We used "Rome in Limo" -Rome, Naples - they were excellent to work with.

On our roll call - Several of us got together & shared a tour

Much less expensive. Have fun planning

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I loved it but I guess it all depends what your interests are - I'd love to go back & explore more

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I am traveling to Rome in May and taking NCL 7 night Western Mediterranean cruise leaving from Civvitavecchia. It will be myself (44 y/o female) my 69 y/o mom and my 22 year old daughter traveling. It is our first cruise and first trip to Europe. I am completely overwhelmed by options for excursions at each port. I just know we want to see the highlights of each area but don’t want to spend a fortune. The cruise excursions are way too expensive. I want to keep it mid price range and skip anything not worth the money. Please help!

We used Romeinlimo tours for Rome, but you may not need a tour there as it is your departure port, they were excellent, small group! We also paid extra for the Vatican guide which was well worth it as we by passed many of the big queues.

Regarding Naples, we did Herculaneum on a ship tour and were pleased we chose that over Pompeii.

In Florence we caught a private shuttle (taxi) to town, stopping at Pisa on the way. It is another long trip. This was not guided so we all did Florence on our own then met back up for the trip back.

In Barcelona we did a private tour, about 7 of us in a van. What ever you do don't miss the Gaudi architecture.

Also, are you on the CC roll call for the cruise as lots of people will be doing private tours and will post vacancies.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Go immediately and get a copy of Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports. You must do your homework for a trip to Europe. The time you put in before will be paid back tenfold! Your group will have to decide what sites are the most important in each port. You will NOT be able to see and do it all in one day. Less is more! Pick one or two main sites and then immerse yourself. Driving by a bunch of places with a quick photo stop is counterproductive to what it's all about. Don't be afraid to go off the beaten path and pick someplace or something that really speaks to you.

Go immediately and get a copy of Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports. You must do your homework for a trip to Europe. The time you put in before will be paid back tenfold! Your group will have to decide what sites are the most important in each port. You will NOT be able to see and do it all in one day. Less is more! Pick one or two main sites and then immerse yourself. Driving by a bunch of places with a quick photo stop is counterproductive to what it's all about. Don't be afraid to go off the beaten path and pick someplace or something that really speaks to you.

Rick also has some utube videos which are well worth watching. And we also viewed videos of other excursions to get a feel for a place.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Agree about Rick Steves guide to ports. Useful resource.

Also join your roll call to join tours that fellow travelers are organizing.

And lots of resources online. A good one is Tom’s Port Guides.

https://www.tomsportguides.com

Cannes is a very easy port to DIY, taking the train to Nice. Alternatively, you could take the bus or train to Antibes, which is a very nice, unpretentious, Riviera town. The port boards here on CC can provide instructions and the Rick Steves book also has public transpiration hints for the French Riviera.

For Palma, the city has a website with some suggestions for walks through the town, depending on your interests. Just take a taxi or ship shuttle into town...it’s not far. Barcelona is also a port that could be easily done as a DIY with a little research.

Doing those DIY, might save some money for organized tours for your Naples and LIvorno stops. Check your roll call to see what people are doing there.

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Loved Pompeii, but my college degree was in Anthropology. Make sure if you go do it in the morning if possible, it is so hot! I also took an umbrella to keep the sun off my head and was so glad I did!

Here is another company that has tours in several med ports

https://italytours.eu/

Go to your roll call here on cruise critic. I have used italytoursharing.com 5x and rome in limo 2x. They are both similar and highly rated here on cruise critic (these are shared). If you want a private tour, use Joe banana Limos (excellent- I've used a couple times but it is more $ cause its private).

I love italytoursharing.com tour out of Naples going to sorrento and positano and stopping for lunch at a family restaurant. In Rome, I recommend the Rome Highlight tour (without the vatican- just cause of time). Then if you go to Livorno port, the Florence tour with a winery and stop at Pisa is awesome or cinque terre. If you sign up for 3 tours, u get a discount too. Go to your roll call and get people to join your 3 italytoursharing.com tours. Pick the 3 you like and go from there. Its really easy. You will be surprised how many people join you.

Loved Pompeii, but my college degree was in Anthropology. Make sure if you go do it in the morning if possible, it is so hot! I also took an umbrella to keep the sun off my head and was so glad I did!

Another possibility is Herculaneum. Smaller than Pompeii but very interesting. Possibly easier with limited time. My sisters are using AldoLimos - you can join a tour from the ship without having to organize it yourself. I have taken an Amalfi coast trip with them and loved it.

https://www.aldolimos.com

Besides joining the roll call for your ship and your specific departure, there is also a discussion area on ports of call. Ask there but after you have read a bit, probably.

Some people just book ship's tours for everything. It certainly is easy. But you can have smaller groups, cheaper and customized or personalized tours if you spend some time on it. Worth doing!

Frances

Go immediately and get a copy of Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise Ports. You must do your homework for a trip to Europe. The time you put in before will be paid back tenfold! Your group will have to decide what sites are the most important in each port. You will NOT be able to see and do it all in one day. Less is more! Pick one or two main sites and then immerse yourself. Driving by a bunch of places with a quick photo stop is counterproductive to what it's all about. Don't be afraid to go off the beaten path and pick someplace or something that really speaks to you.

I do have this book and also have been viewing you tube videos. Still very overwhelming trying to decide what to do and what tour company to use, do I book ahead or day of? So many questions lol.

Rick has an overview of "do it on your own" and "perhaps need a tour". Start with that in your guidebook.

If you need a tour OR want a tour, likely you will want to book it ahead of time.

Have you looked at your roll call yet?

And here's the link for the Ports of Call board on Cruise Critic: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

Rick has an overview of "do it on your own" and "perhaps need a tour". Start with that in your guidebook.

If you need a tour OR want a tour, likely you will want to book it ahead of time.

Have you looked at your roll call yet?

And here's the link for the Ports of Call board on Cruise Critic: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

There are only 8 people on roll call so not much help there so far.

Check for the roll call leaving 3 days earlier Barcelona. In 2014 we used romeinlimo highly recommend. We gathered people for our Florence and Cannes excursion with those joining in Rome. You must book ahead the pay cash, euros, at time of tour that's how romeinlimo worked. Happy planning all part of the adventure.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Forums mobile app

have had good experiences with joining up with other people from cruise critic on the roll call to do excursions together...but with only 8 people so far likely not happening

for your cruise public transit (ie train or bus) are valid options. train schedules are online...we did Pisa and Florence on our own using the train. planned so we could miss the return train we planned on and still had 1 train to get back in time. walk from the station to tower of Pisa was doable but may be more than you want to do. googlemap it so you know the actual distances.

if you want to do the Ufizzi in Florence you probably need to get tickets in advance. lines for tickets can be insane.

my strategy for cruise excursions in Europe is to normally do a hop on hop off bus to get an overview of the city. not enough time to go inside stuff if you want a sense of the city. but if you want to do say the Vatican..focus on that and everything else is gravy

have fun..planning is all part of the fun

This is a port intensive sailing.

It’s also your first cruise and first trip to Europe. The ship itself is a vacation and so you’ll want to take advantage of the ship and all it has to offer.

Sometimes train stations can be a bit overwhelming. Add some jet lag, accidentally making your way to the wrong platform and then sprinting up and down stairs to get to the right one... and you could get pretty stressed trying to do too much in a day.

Florence is a fabulous city but can be overwhelming in itself on your own with a time constraint. Especially trying to make the connections public transportation, timing extras such as the Ufitzi... I’d prefer Lucca for a first visit/intro to Tuscany. It’s a wonderful walled charming city. I recently read about a government sponsored bus trip from Livorno to Pisa, see the leaning tower, then Lucca, have some lunch, see the sights then returns to port. Catered to cruise passengers. Florence is a long way from Livorno and basically a VERY full day.

You are probably paying quite dearly for the cruise. Perhaps talk to Mom and daughter and see if you guys want to take it easy, doing something that’s free or not 10 hour days in port and enjoying each other’s company with some pampering onboard an empty ship, or near empty.

If you guys decide on one splurge perhaps a group shared private tour. Or perhaps just a nice meal in a seaside town. Some companies have groups you can join. So someone has already reserved and committed but they are willing to share 3 more spots to make it less expensive.

The first time I visited Italy was with my dad and daughter. He was on a mission to see an immense amount and I melted down. On exhaustive trips all the history can start to become a blur. You know everything you’re seeing is incredible but at the same time it’s overload.

The daughter will probably meet new friends onboard. People that age tend to group together pretty quickly on a ship. I’d probably play it by ear if you can live with missing out a little here and there. There’s truly no way one can see it all. Good luck with planning, or potentially planning to not plan. Sounds like a wonderful vacation.

We used "Rome in Limo" -Rome, Naples - they were excellent to work with.

On our roll call - Several of us got together & shared a tour

 

Much less expensive. Have fun planning

 

Ditto for Rome in Limo, wonderful company and definitely get a couple other couples to share small intimate tours with and share the cost. We were very happy with this company.

You need to do some research to narrow down your options. Once you know what you want to do, Pompei via train or in a tour, come back and people can give you specific options. Otherwise you are just going to get recommendations for what people did. But what I did with two kids may not be the best fit for you...

Also the level of fitness will make a big difference. Can your mom walk long distancs? Maybe break up long 8 hour days with local shopping Stops near the ship. In order to see what works for you check out some guidebooks ( often you can get some free from the library- even a few years out of date gives the basics,just check prices and opening times).

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Embarrassed to admit that I did not know all that much about Pompeii.....and it was the last visit on our LONG excursion (booked thru NCL) but we were truly overwhelmed with the history and astonished at this lost civilization. For us, it was TOTALLY worth it! But again, we also had seen Sorrento and Positano earlier in the day. For me, the part that they could skip is the visit to the Limoncello factory! All else was great!

For me three great site to use for info

1. https://www.tomsportguides.com/

2. https://www.gpsmycity.com/

3. https://www.rometoolkit.com/

Happy reading.

I've read this thread with interest. We did a variation of this cruise a couple of years ago. I was determined not to use the NCL excursions as they were expensive. We were a party of seven with an age range of twenties to seventies. I had researched private tours etc. and found that they were actually very similar in price per person to the NCL offerings.

So we did everything DIY. This meant taxis in both Naples and Livorno. In Naples we went to Pompeii, the taxi waited 3 hours, we then went to a Limoncello factory, and then got a tour of Naples for about one and a half hours with commentary mixed with the odd phone call to his wife, from our driver Mario (he was really very good) this cost us about 30 euros each plus entry to Pompeii and we picked up the taxi on the quayside. We arranged the price first and no payment was made until we got back to the quayside. In Livorno we picked up a mini bus on the quayside, drove to Pisa and were picked up two hours later and driven back to Livorno. Again a price was agreed beforehand and again it worked out about 30 euros each.

We did Rome on our own but as this is your departure port that probably won't be relevant. Barcelona was our departure port so the same applies. We did Marseilles rather than Palma so that means I have no advice. This leaves Cannes. Get a tender as early as possible. Jump on the little road train at the entrance to the harbour, it was 10 euros and gives you a lovely drive along the front past all the swanky hotels and shops, get off have an ice - cream a paddle on the beach, then back to the ship for the afternoon to take advantage of all the port day discounts etc.

My advice though would be to take NCL tours in both Naples and Livorno. They may be expensive but they are worry free, no chance of missing the boat, or getting lost, the docks in Livorno are huge and you berth right in the middle. This is your first cruise and first time in Europe and if you take the NCL excursions it just takes that worry away and allows you to enjoy the trips.