Marseilles, pvt tours

[Mailgirl]

Has anyone done a private tour in this port, open to suggestions.:)

[hubofhockey]

I will post more later on. My recommendation would be a tour that includes Arles, Les Beaux, and the Pont du Gard. We just did this with Provence Tours (also goes by Provence Reservation) and we loved each area/site. Incredible day. Price was €480 for 6 to 8 people. We had six. Our guide was Margeline and she was very good as well. I'll post photos later. Les Beaux was so different from any place I have ever seen. Others whom we were on our cruise took a train or bus to Aix and said it was a great city as well.

[Mailgirl]

I will post more later on. My recommendation would be a tour that includes Arles, Les Beaux, and the Pont du Gard. We just did this with Provence Tours (also goes by Provence Reservation) and we loved each area/site. Incredible day. Price was €480 for 6 to 8 people. We had six. Our guide was Margeline and she was very good as well. I'll post photos later. Les Beaux was so different from any place I have ever seen. Others whom we were on our cruise took a train or bus to Aix and said it was a great city as well.

 

Thank you so much, I can't wait to see the pictures.

[hubofhockey]

Thank you so much, I can't wait to see the pictures.

 

I have to do them from home. I can't do them from the office. I hope I can upload them. I have some good shots of the ampitheatre in Arles, the Pont du Gard, and some in Les Baux. But you have to really see Les Baux in person to get a true feeling of how everything is built into the stone. Les Baux surprised me more than other place we visited this time around. Taormina is another good one if Messina is on your itinerary.

[hubofhockey]

Some of my photos from Provence Tours tour of Arles, Les Baux, and Pont du Gard. All were taken from my iPhone.

 

 

 

[hubofhockey]

Mixed the pictures up a bit.

 

Pictures 1 and 2 are from Arles. The first is the famous garden painted by Van Gogh. The second is the ampitheatre, which was modeled and designed to be a smaller replica of the Colisseum in Rome. But it was never destroyed. It is in use today.

 

Picture 3 is from the stone city of Les Baux.

 

Picture 4 is another of the Van Gogh garden.

 

Picture 5 is the Pont du Gard.

 

Picture 6 is another from Les Baux.

 

Provence Tours / Provence Reservation's replaced Saint Remy for the Pont du Gard at my request. Margerline, our guide, thought it was a good suggestion and liked doing our tour. I think our kids might not have liked Saint Remy and, to be honest, I really wanted to see the Pont du Gard. It is an amazing structure. In truth, we lost an hour because Carnival moved our port times and our port day in Marseille one day up and it forced me to scramble just to keep our tour in place.

[hubofhockey]

 

One more outside the Arles Ampitheatre.

[Mailgirl]

Mixed the pictures up a bit.

 

Pictures 1 and 2 are from Arles. The first is the famous garden painted by Van Gogh. The second is the ampitheatre, which was modeled and designed to be a smaller replica of the Colisseum in Rome. But it was never destroyed. It is in use today.

 

Picture 3 is from the stone city of Les Baux.

 

Picture 4 is another of the Van Gogh garden.

 

Picture 5 is the Pont du Gard.

 

Picture 6 is another from Les Baux.

 

Provence Tours / Provence Reservation's replaced Saint Remy for the Pont du Gard at my request. Margerline, our guide, thought it was a good suggestion and liked doing our tour. I think our kids might not have liked Saint Remy and, to be honest, I really wanted to see the Pont du Gard. It is an amazing structure. In truth, we lost an hour because Carnival moved our port times and our port day in Marseille one day up and it forced me to scramble just to keep our tour in place.

 

 

Thank You for sharing your pictures that looks like something we may want to see.

[emarismom]

Ljberkow,

I will be sailing on the Carnival Magic next summer with my huband and kids(they will be 13,16). Anyway I have read many of your posts from your recent cruise and would be very grateful if you could tell me what you did in each of the ports. It seems from what I have found that you did extremely careful planning and many excursions on your own, which is what I want to do.

[hubofhockey]

Ljberkow,

I will be sailing on the Carnival Magic next summer with my huband and kids(they will be 13,16). Anyway I have read many of your posts from your recent cruise and would be very grateful if you could tell me what you did in each of the ports. It seems from what I have found that you did extremely careful planning and many excursions on your own, which is what I want to do.

 

Sure, for some background, we did a more comprehensive Med cruise in 2010 on the Ruby Princess which included some repeat ports. That was without the kids. So, we wanted to repeat things which we thought were important to the kids and do some new things which we couldn't do in 2010. We were more bold in 2011 and wanted to do more on our own for many reasons, including the cost. I assume that you will be booking the Breeze as the Magic is going to be in Galveston during the summer as the new Breeze takes over the Med routes. My overall plan considered the fact that the Med is hot. Kids need to have some fun and will melt down if you try to ram all culture, museums, and history at them. That led us to some important choices on our vacation. You know your kids best.

 

Monaco: Repeat port for us. We had very little time in port last summer and had a longer port day this summer. We took the bus to Nice for only €1 each. We went to the Cours Saleya, had brunch there, walked through the Old City and along the water to the Hotel Negresco, a former palace and we took the bus back and went to the Oceanographic Aquarium & Museum in Monaco. Last summer, we visited the Chagall Museum in Nice without the kids.

 

Livorno: We would have taken the taxi to the train station for our day in Florence. But our driver guide company from 2010 (Papillon Service) offered us a van and driver for 8 for €500 euros and for €250 for our family (invited four others from roll call), we took the nice van travel. But it was really a day on our own. We did get a ride to Michaelangelo's Plaza with the great views. The driver guide then had us skip the line as we went right to the Accademia to see the original David. We next went to the square to view the Duomo and we walked up Giotto's Bell Tower, whcih is a bigger climb than the Leaning Tower of Pisa and offers great views of the Duomo. After, we went to the leather market as my wife and daughter did some shopping. We had lunch at Ristorante Toto near the Ponte Vecchio bridge. In the afternoon, we went to the outdoor plaza which had all of the outdoor sculptures (includes copy of the David not anything close to the original). The best kept secret after that was the Bargello Museum at €7 per person, which is a museum for sculptures with a great focus on Roman mythology which our kids love. Note, last year, we used Papillon for a combination day in Pisa and Florence. If your kids want to climb the Leaning Tower, you might want to do it. We wanted to focus on Florence and the kids understood.

 

Civitavecchia to Rome: Much debated on Cruise Critic is how to do Rome. There are those on Cruise Critic who swear by Rome in Limo. We had used a driver guide company last year and had a great time on the one hand and felt a bit empty on the other hand. Please take the train and buy the BIRG ticket for €9 travel all day. We caught an early train and booked a walk of Ancient Rome with Roman Candle Tours. It was a great move and walking tours are a bargain compared to a day in a limo. This is a walk with a professional guide of the Forums and Temples of Ancient Rome followed by a guided tour of the Colosseum. They limit the walks to 10 people and your kids can ask the guide questions throughout the tour. Very interactive guide. We then took a taxi to Piazza Navona, had lunch on the side street that has Blue Ice gelato store and then walked to the Pantheon and saw that and then to Trevi Fountain to Spanish Steps to a taxi back to the train. It was a great day.

 

Naples: This is a tough port to decide what to do because of the choices. Last year, we used AP Tours and a roll call excursion to Pompeii (with a licensed guide) and Positano and Sorrento. Pompeii is a great take for anyone. It's a wonder. But we thought our kids would get very bored very fast with Positano and Sorrento and we wanted to go to Capri. With five consecutive port days, Capri was the better call. We booked Gianni's Boat for a 3-hour boat ride around the island and into the grottos where we all could swim. We joined a family of three from the roll call whom we did many things with. It was an outstanding move. After the boat ride, we took the funicular to Capri Town and enjoyed our walk there. Gianni's prices are good. The hydrofoil from Naples to Capri round trip is €34. Great day!!!!

 

Messina: This port was new to us and after reading reviews here on CC, we booked Mario Astone for both Mount Etna and Taormina. Original cost for four was €320. We added on the family we did the boat ride with and the price dropped to €65 per person. Mario delivers a nice tour and Taormina with the Ancient Theatre still in use is beautiful with great views and so is the town.

 

Mallorca: Missed this port due to a strike. We had a beach day planned at Palma Nova. Headed to Marseille a day early. I will note that Carnival will not be doing this port in 2012 and will be doing Dubrovnik and making itineraries longer and including Venice, which we love.

 

Marseille: I figured this would be our only chance for a while to really see Provence and getting to the places we wanted to see without a driver would have been problematic. I found Provence Reservation. For up to 8 people in a van with a licensed guide was €480. We didn't want a packed van and invited two others from the roll call to join us to keep the price down. Incredible day and Les Baux stole the show. Arles was also great and the Pont du Gard is quite a site. It was a busy and great day. Our driver also drove through Avignon on the way back and that would have been a great place for a stop as well. But our day was packed.

 

Barcelona: We would never dream of doing an organized tour in Barcelona. It is great to see on your own. With kids, the Hop on Hop off buses though, are great and relaxing. I actually recommend with kids and also recommend 2-3 pre-cruise in Barcelona. See the Gaudi sites (our stops included Casa Batllo, Casa Mila, and Parc Guell). We also did the funicular along the water (rip off!!!), Ramblas, Gothic Quarter, beach, Magic Fountain show, and more. I highly recommend two restaurants which are not tourist traps. (1) Cerveceria Catalana, and (2) Mariscco. In 2010, without the kids, we took in a show at the Palace of Catalan Music and had dinner at 4Cats and Tenorio. But the two restaurants this year blew those two away for very similar prices.

 

Have a great time on your trip. Lots of tough choices. Planning is the key to any Med cruise vacation. So many have helped me here. I hope I can help others.

[emarismom]

Ljberkow,

 

Thank you so much for the long and detailed information.

 

We won't be docking in Monaco.

 

In Livorno I plan to get some type of excursion to Pisa and Florence. Pisa is the one place that my 15 year old has said he wants to visit, so that is a must. I will be contacting Papillon Service. I will probably climd the tower as the kids are interested in it. Would it be redundant to climb the Duomo in Florence on the same day? Will probably skip the museums as both kids say they are "sick of museums" from many of our previous trips.

 

Rome we will definately take the train in using the BIRG tickets!! Our day here is long, 7am-9pm so we will have plenty of time to explore on our own.

 

Naples- This is one I am really confused about. I had been planning on going by train to Pompeii, then returning to Naples to explore for a while before returning to the ship. This will be our 4th straight port day and I know my kids will be craving the ship by this point. I just feel it will be a real waste not head to the Amalfi Coast while we are there. Will have to really weigh the options here.

 

Messina- We will be there on a Sunday so trains are not running. I will contact Mario to arrange a tour. Do you recommend Mt. Etna? I know it is a long drive.

 

Mallorca- This is a port where I may let my kids stay on the ship while my husband and I explore. Probably won't opt for a beach day as we live in Miami and the kids are not big on beaches, they prefer pools.

 

 

Marseille- Your pictures are amazing and are what really got me curious as to what you did in each port. Originally I had been planning on taking a Ferry to Chateau D'if then going to see the Notre Dame Cathedral. Now I may get a tour similar to yours. Was this a tour that Provence Reservation regularly offers or did you custom it yourself.

 

We will also be going to Venice and Dubrovnic, both of which we will be doing on our own. All of this is so overwelming! Thank you so much for your help!

[hubofhockey]

Ljberkow,

 

Thank you so much for the long and detailed information.

 

We won't be docking in Monaco.

 

In Livorno I plan to get some type of excursion to Pisa and Florence. Pisa is the one place that my 15 year old has said he wants to visit, so that is a must. I will be contacting Papillon Service. I will probably climd the tower as the kids are interested in it. Would it be redundant to climb the Duomo in Florence on the same day? Will probably skip the museums as both kids say they are "sick of museums" from many of our previous trips.

 

Rome we will definately take the train in using the BIRG tickets!! Our day here is long, 7am-9pm so we will have plenty of time to explore on our own.

 

Naples- This is one I am really confused about. I had been planning on going by train to Pompeii, then returning to Naples to explore for a while before returning to the ship. This will be our 4th straight port day and I know my kids will be craving the ship by this point. I just feel it will be a real waste not head to the Amalfi Coast while we are there. Will have to really weigh the options here.

 

Messina- We will be there on a Sunday so trains are not running. I will contact Mario to arrange a tour. Do you recommend Mt. Etna? I know it is a long drive.

 

Mallorca- This is a port where I may let my kids stay on the ship while my husband and I explore. Probably won't opt for a beach day as we live in Miami and the kids are not big on beaches, they prefer pools.

 

 

Marseille- Your pictures are amazing and are what really got me curious as to what you did in each port. Originally I had been planning on taking a Ferry to Chateau D'if then going to see the Notre Dame Cathedral. Now I may get a tour similar to yours. Was this a tour that Provence Reservation regularly offers or did you custom it yourself.

 

We will also be going to Venice and Dubrovnic, both of which we will be doing on our own. All of this is so overwelming! Thank you so much for your help!

 

Glad I could help. For any vendors, feel free to say that Len B recommended them to you.

 

For Papillon, please request from Sharon (business manager) to have Roberto be your driver guide. Roberto owns the company and he has driven us the past two years. His english is very good and he knows that part of Italy. The Florence/Pisa tour also includes a stop at a vineyard/farm/winery. It can be worthwhile. But if you do it, you lose close to an hour in Florence. The day is short as it is. Great tour either way. We had Florence on a Sunday and the Duomo was closed for climbing and that's why we climbed Giotto's Bell Tower. If you are climbing the Leaning Tower, you should skip the climbs. I highly recommend seeing the Bargello Museum. It is worth an hour, especially if you and your kids enjoy sculptures and mythology. The whole Pisa vs skip Pisa is a tough one. My wife and I did it last year and we wanted a full day in Florence, including a nice lunch. If you include Pisa, just grab a sandwich for lunch.

 

We had the same hours for Rome and that's why it is even more beneficial to do it on your own. We did take the 4:39 pm train back. We could have taken a later one. But we were pretty tired and it was a long day. We left the ship at 7 pm and were back on the ship a little before 6:20 and got a later dinner.

 

Messina - By all mean, contact Mario.

 

Rome - You could do all on your own. But I highly recommend a small group walking tour from a licensed guide. They are not too expensive and worth it and they will help you skip lines. We liked Roman Candle because they limit tours to ten people max and the guides are great. It was fun and educational and a little structure in your day can be a good thing.

 

Naples - Pompeii is great and would be a 90-minute tour. But it's very hot in the summer and there is no shade. Many people combine it with a trip to Positano and/or Sorrento. Positano is beautiful. I felt our kids would be bored. Capri was what the doctor ordered for the kids, especially the 3-hour boat ride with Gianni's Boats. If you decide on that, let me know and I can get you Gianni's contact info.. The boat ride, the swimming in the grottos, and the rest followed by a funicular ride to Capri town made for a great day.

 

You asked specifically about our day in Provence and the structure of the tour. When I was figuring out what to do, I ran various scenarios by Hank, one of the many regulars whom I solicit Med travel advice from. The standard tour included Arles, Les Baux, and Saint Remy. I thought the kids might not enjoy Saint Remy and asked about the Pont du Gard. No ships tours go there. Hank recommended and I took his advice. Our guide, Margeline, thought it was a great add and agreed it was better replacing Saint Remy with the Pont du Gard. It is impressive. Margeline drove us through Avignon along the streets on the way back. We felt like we didn't want to invest 20-25 minutes in the Pont du Gard Museum (long story but we lost an hour because Carnival changed our port day AND our port time :mad: and we had to scramble at the last minute). So we used the time to see Avignon. But you may have longer and maybe the chance to visit the museum at the Pont du Gard. Of course, you can skip the museum.

 

Venice is great even if you do nothing more than just walk down to the Rialto Bridge, spend some time in St Mark's Square, and grab a gondola ride. We were lucky to begin our cruise there and spent two days. Have a great cruise and I'll be happy to answer more questions about our DIYs, vendors, or even the ship. My only tip on the ship is that if the Spa Balcony rooms are available and don't cost too much more, book one, especially if you are a non-smoker who wants to avoid smoke. We had 12023 which fit four of us just fine and the spa benefits, including free use of the T-Pool and the thermal suites were needed and used after long port days. :cool: We enjoyed the ship and Carnival certainly makes a Med cruise affordable. We weren't crazy about the entertainment on the ship and Carnival entertainment can be cheesy. Last tip is to get anytime dining. Eat on your schedule and not theirs. Needed for any Med cruise.

[CruisingGoddess]

We used SSK Dreamliner for 2 tours: Villefranche/Nice/Eze and Toulon/Marseille/Aix-en-Provence. You can read my full review and photos here:

 

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/europe-2009/

 

Hope that helps!

[emarismom]

Ljberkow,

 

Thank you so much for the help!! It is greatly appreciated. Today my son did tell me he wanted to go to some beaches in Europe, of course it has less to do with the beaches and more to do with the dress code on European shores:eek:. So I may consider the Capri option, but I really wanted to see Pompeii. After three days of touring, we all may be in need of some relaxation. Please send me the contact information for Gianni's Boats.

[emarismom]

CruisingGoddess,

 

Your trip looks amazing!! I enjoyed reading through it and especially the pictures. Everytime I see different pictures and reviews. I change my mind about what I want to do!!

[hubofhockey]

I am not sure how well your itinerary lends itself to beaches. So, you may want to take advantage of Capri and the swimming available from Gianni's boat. We also went to the beach in Barcelona. The Carnival pools are kind of lame. But your kids will enjoy the waterslides.

 

giannite@hotmail.com

 

I would recommend the three-hour boat tour. As I wrote on another thread, his boat can fit 12 people. But we had 7 (teamed up with another family on the roll call) and I wouldn't go higher than that. Three hours for 2-4 people was €180. When we added a family of three for seven, the price was €210. So, you may want to add another family. I would book early with Gianni. He seems to be the preferred boat tour guy among Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor users. He was also nice enough to provide sodas and beer for us. My last advice on the day in Capri is to avoid eating lunch at Caffe Augusto (Gianni's meeting place). Their gelato is good. But grab a quick bite from a street vendor and get something in Capri Town in the afternoon. Below are prices for 2-4 people.

 

______2 HOURS TOUR OF ISLAND: ( BASIC BUT VERY NICE)

YOU CAN'T MISS A WONDERFUL AND COMPLETE BOAT TOUR ( 2 HOURS ) OF CAPRI, A VERY LOVELY TIME DURING WHICH I'LL SHOW YOU ALL THE BEAUTIES, ALL THE INTERESTING PLACES OF CAPRI COAST:WE 'LL VISIT THE GREEN CAVE WHERE YOU CAN ALSO SWIM INSIDE, THE FARAGLIONI, THE WHITE CAVE WITH ITS MYSTERIOUS STALACTITES AND THE "VIRGIN" STALAGMITE, MARINA PICCOLA , CALA DEL RIO, THE LIGHTHOUSES, PUNTA CARENA, THE BABY BLUE GROTTO, THE URCHIN ROCK, THE SAINTS CAVE, THE CORALS CAVE AS A THROAT OF A WHALE, THE TURTLE ROCK, MONACONE, THE SAILORS CAVE, THE RED GROTTO, TIBERIOUS' LEAP , THE EMERALD ROCK , THE NATURAL ARCH, ANACAPRI COAST, TRAGARA BAY ,

VILLA MALAPARTE SIRENS ROCKS ETC............... I'LL SPEAK ABOUT LEGENDS, FAMOUS HOUSES, MITHYCAL FIGURES OF THIS MAGIC ISLAND...

WE ALSO ARRIVE OUTSIDE THE BLUE GROTTO WHERE IF YOU WANT TO GO INTO, THERE IS A TICKET OF 11,50 € TO PAY AT THE BOAT OFFICE OUTSIDE THE CAVE, ( YOU CAN ALSO SKIP IT BECAUSE I'LL SHOW YOU TWO CAVES OF THE SAME COLOUR WITHOUT PAYING)

 

PRICE : TOTALLY 140 € GASOLINE INCLUDED

 

_____3 HOURS TOUR OF ISLAND : ( HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

THE SAME TOUR OF ISLAND MADE SLOWLY WITH AN HOUR TO STOP FOR SWIMMING IN A BAY WHERE THE WATER IS CRISTALLYNE .

PRICE : TOTALLY 180 € GASOLINE INCLUDED

[emarismom]

Do you think it would be possible to see Pompeii in the morning and do Gianni's boat in the afternoon? That would be the best option for me. Could I take the train to Pompeii for 90 minutes to two hours and return to Naples with enough time to take the 3 hour tour?

[hubofhockey]

Do you think it would be possible to see Pompeii in the morning and do Gianni's boat in the afternoon? That would be the best option for me. Could I take the train to Pompeii for 90 minutes to two hours and return to Naples with enough time to take the 3 hour tour?

 

I think it's doable. You would have to take a train from Pompeii to Sorrento and then catch a hydrofoil from there. It makes your day a bit more hectic and you would not have time for Capri Town. All you would get would be the boat ride around the island. We thought of doing it. But that day wasn't about making anything more hectic. We wanted a relaxing day without rushing around and making tight transfers between hydrofoils and trains. If you really want both Capri and Pompeii, I saw someone on another thread on the Italy boards recommend a tour by Johnny's Tour Service. He has his own boat and would get you to both Pompeii and Capri. I think that is rather unique and something worth looking into. But I was happy with my day with Gianni and also seeing Capri town. Good luck with your choice.