Central Med Ports of call help.

[jojo67]

Hi,

 

we are looking to book a central med cruise next summer & despite searching on this site & buying Fodor's European Ports of Call I have been unable to find out much info on the ports for this cruise. Ports are: Oporto, Cephalonia, Dubrovnik, Venice, Split, Corfu & Gibraltar. We will be a party of 5 (2 adults & 3 children) so believe DIY will be our best option. I would appreciate any advice on how easy these ports are i.e. do they dock close to onward transport or close to the resort, do P&O lay on a free shuttle bus, any must see/must do trips or tours. I would also be interested in one or two beach suggestions as I would like to plan a couple of beach visits for the children. We are all happy to walk, so anything within walking distance of the ports would help too.

 

Thanks in advance :)

[robanddiane]

Venice is our favourite port with a fantastic sail in/out. Use the shuttle from the ship to St Marks square and just enjoy walking to the rialto bridge etc. You will probably get lost in the alleyways but just follow the signs and you will be fine. Dubrovnik we got the port shuttle to the old town and walked right round the walls. Gibraltar will have loads of 8 seater mini buses at the ship doing the rock tours, this is the best way to see the caves, siege tunnels and apes as the drivers are very knowledgable and give good value as the price quoted includes the admission fees.

[Merlin7]

Dubrovnik, Split, Venice and Gibraltar are easy to DIY.

 

The shuttle in Venice may only be to the nearest point to catch a vaporetto, which you have to pay for.

 

Dubrovnik, it was a free shuttle.

 

Split, easy to walk around.

 

Gibraltar, a small charge for the shuttle into town or walkable for the young and fit!!!

[jeanlyon]

Don't be fooled by the ship shuttle. Walk for 5-10 minutes from the Port and catch the People Mover - it's 1 Euro each - it takes you to the Vaporetto stop in about 5 minutes.. There you can buy an all day Vaporetto ticket to go anywhere at all, even the outer islands. The ship shuttle is £11 or £14 The vaporetto all day ticket which also takes you up or down the Grand Canal is 14 Euro.

[jeanlyon]

Gibraltar very easy to do on your own. Walk into town, get the cable car up to the top to see the apes. Dubrovnik - wonderful. easy to walk the walls and DIY.

[jojo67]

Thank you everyone. Any advice on Cephalonia or Corfu anyone? It's good to hear that I won't be facing P&O excursion prices x 5 at every port. Were there any recomendations for a good beach stop?

[cclarke12]

Thank you everyone. Any advice on Cephalonia or Corfu anyone? It's good to hear that I won't be facing P&O excursion prices x 5 at every port. Were there any recomendations for a good beach stop?

 

There is a shuttle bus into Corfu town. However, get up early to get it as by the time we returned around 11.30am there were hundreds in the scorching heat waiting for the shuttle bus at the cruise terminal. Not sure when you are sailing but last August people on Azura were late risers which meant big queues for shuttles after 10am ish.

[jeanlyon]

We queued each time we wanted to get back on Azura, once when it was very hot. 20 minutes. Awful

[bee-ess]

Regarding Venice - if you get the ships transport to St Marks Square you will miss the best value trip in Venice namely the vaporetto from Piazzale Roma to St Marks Square along the Grand Canal. The ships transport will not go along the Grand Canal. You can buy a 1 day ticket and use the Vaporetto to go anywhere in Venice or surrounding Islands. You can walk to Piazzale Roma in about 15-20 mins from the ship.

Also don't miss the sail in and out of Venice - another fantastic view.

[jodanuke]

Corfu. Unless the shuttle is free get a bus for about 1 euro. Just outside the port right by the 10 euro taxis...

[jenny wren]

..... You can walk to Piazzale Roma in about 15-20 mins from the ship.

Also don't miss the sail in and out of Venice - another fantastic view.

 

There is now a people mover train from just outside the port entrance to Piazzale Roma for 1 euro each way....:)

[bee-ess]

..... You can walk to Piazzale Roma in about 15-20 mins from the ship.

Also don't miss the sail in and out of Venice - another fantastic view.

 

There is now a people mover train from just outside the port entrance to Piazzale Roma for 1 euro each way....:)

 

Thanks for that, didn't know about that. We usually walk but haven't been for a couple of years.

[kevinyork]

When we were there last May the people mover wasn't running to the port however we could see the stations both at the port and piazalle Roma. As the port station required few minutes walk to the left and then when you added the wait for the train on top we figured that those able to would probably be just as quick walking the short distance to piazalle Roma.

[jenny wren]

For the people mover station you turn RIGHT at the port entrance...I'm sure there will be others using it....opened last April apparently and is really easy to use ticket machine at entrance and driverless above ground train which just runs from multi storey car park to port to Piazzale Roma and back again for 1 euro each way...you can see the rail from the ship...:)

[jeanlyon]

Yes, as I said earlier, it was running last September and it was so easy. The ship waterbus is a total ripoff

[jojo67]

Thanks everyone, some really useful advice :)