My first cruise.

[Calton]

Hello to all.

 

We are going on our first cruise in August, on the Thomson Dream. I was hoping for any tips or do's and dont's has we are cruise virgins. The cruise is the Mediterranean Medley and i was wondering what the best sights to see would be.

 

Many thanks

 

Calton.

[WeeCountyMan]

What's your itinerary ? Many ports of call can be visited DIY.

 

Lots of experienced cruisers here to advise.

 

As for the do's and dont's - can I suggest you be more specific, because that's a very open ended question.

[kruzseeka]

Here is Jan's thread from some time ago - quite long but with lots of really good ideas and suggestions which should help you get a insight into the world of cruising.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1171965&highlight=5+things

 

Lots of help available on here s i'm sure there will be plenty of advice on your ports:

 

I'll have a better look later but think Toulon is one of your destinations. If so, we did the half day trip to Cassis which was very good indeed - a scenic drive and charming old fishing port.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Cassis+pictures&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

 

Barcelona is an easy DiY - not sure of your other ports. If you let us know what your preferences are for spending your days in port, we can give you some advice. :)

[Calton]

We will be calling at Livorno, Rapallo, Villefranche, Toulon and Barcelona. We were told Pisa is worth a visit.

[Calton]

What i mean by do's and dont's.

 

Tipping, around the pool and just general rules to observe with other passengers.

 

Thanks

 

Calton.

[Langtoncouple]

When at Toulon don`t miss the cablecar Telegraphique. You get combined tickets plus the bus ticket at the tourist office in town and its so cheap and not at all busy. Views are fantastic and theres a nice little bar up on top plus a naval museum close by.

[kruzseeka]

Barcelona is easy to DiY - you either berth at the bottom of Las Ramblas or get the shuttle there. You can get about the city via the Metro - very cheap or there is a HoHo.

 

Villefranche is a lovely little place with a nice beach and cafes and it's easy to get the train into Monaco or Nice from there. You tender in but the station is not far - it will be on your port map.

 

From Rappallo we did the Portofino trip which was very good but Rappallo seemed to be a nice place too - but we doidn't really have time to look around it.

 

We went to Pisa from Livorno by train and really thought it was a good day out. It only takes about 15/20 minutes but you have to get up to the station from the main square. I'll look up the details if you want to DiY.

[Calton]

Thank you kruzeeka. That would be great. thanks to all who have replied. Some good tips.

 

Calton :)

[hall4me]

we are on the same cruise but on the ist june we will be on all the trips i think its livorno that has the wine trip also villafranche for monaco and of course barcalona

keith & catherine

[kruzseeka]

Thank you kruzeeka. That would be great. thanks to all who have replied. Some good tips.

 

Calton :)

 

 

Hi Calton,

 

Here is a copy of something I posted previously:

 

 

We went to Pisa from Livorno on the train - quite convenient. Catch the No.1 bus from the square in the centre of Livorno (P.Grande) to the station. Look up the train schedules from the Trenitalia site before you go but they run reasonably frequently and if I remember correctly only take about 20 minutes.

 

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v

/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080 a3e90aRCRD

 

You could do with printing off a Pisa map before you go as it's about a 15/20 minute walk from the station to Miracle Sq but we thought Pisa lovely - much more to it and much nicer than we had imagined.

 

I think there was a shuttle bus into the P. Grande but I think it depends oon where you berth as you can walk into the centre too.

 

I have also found a couple of links which I found very helpful to read before we went regarding Pisa itself and getting there. It even talks you through buying the train tickets and we even looked up the main square and looked around using Google Earth so we knew what the area looked like and felt more confident about striking off on our own. But Pisa isn't far from Livorno and the trains failry frequent so we felt we had plenty of time to get there and back without too much worry.

 

http://www.mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com/pisa-train.html

 

http://www.mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com/pisa-italy.html

 

I've added this link too - it's about getting to Florence (much more problematic - further afield and changes of trains involved - we elected to do the Thomson transfer to Florence as didn't fancy this as a DiY although some do it) but it has a really good section on getting the train tickets, pictures of P. Grande and it's relevant o Pisa of course - it's just that you would stop in Pisa and not carrying on to Florence so the first bit's the same.

 

http://www.mediterranean-cruise-ports-easy.com/travel-to-florence.html

 

 

I'm glad I found this site again - I'd forgotten about it but it's got some good info on there on a number of ports. I must book mark it again!

 

Hope that helps. Happy planning! :)

[Calton]

Thats brilliant, thank you. :)

[Doc2410]

Thats brilliant, thank you. :)

 

What dates are you onboard Calton?

[popeye1964]

Hello fellow cruisers my wife and I are going on Thomson dream in September cruising the med any type of advice really greatfull our itinery is med melody

[senor pedro]

We will be calling at Livorno, Rapallo, Villefranche, Toulon and Barcelona. We were told Pisa is worth a visit.

 

 

Hi Carlton,

 

Anyone cruising with the Dream will love it..I guarentee.

We cruised on the Dream 3 years ago before the recent refit/upgrade and it really was lovely. Spacious, marvellous attentive staff.

 

Villefranche was our fav.

A tender to shore. Villefrance is stunning in itself, but just a short journey along the coast (45 mins in coach) is Monaco. DO NOT MISS!

 

Enjoy.

 

We are looking towards next years cruise and I want to go back on the Dream.