Med. Cruise

[Bcshur]

My husband and I just booked our first Med. cruise for June 26th!!! We are beyond excited as this is our last hoorah before children. Does anyone have an input as to things we should absolutely not miss? Just a little background info, both are late 20s whom LOVE wine. We are thinking a Tuscany excursion for sure! Any input would be great. We're typically beach bums so this Med. cruise is all new to us. :)

[Bcshur]

Oh also, my husband and I are looking to find some delicious one of a kind wine. Our question is, how do we bring it back to the US? We're not even sure if we can.

[GMoney]

Western or Eastern?

[Bcshur]

Western Med. We're going to Italy, France, and Spain.

[meaclasact2]

We've been on several Med cruises. Let us know what ports you will be visiting.

[Ashland]

Oh also, my husband and I are looking to find some delicious one of a kind wine. Our question is, how do we bring it back to the US? We're not even sure if we can.

Yes you can bring bottles in your checked luggage..consider checking Amazon for "Wine Diapers" a great way to assure they get home with you in one piece and no spillage.....The other option is to ship them but that would probably be expensive....Enjoy your cruise we did the western med (RCI Liberty out of Barcelona) and loved it...Also if you're going to do any tours consider using RomeInLimo when in Italy one of the favorite private tour companies on these boards and recommended very highly. We used them for our Rome port and included a private guide for the Vatican. AMAZING !!

[Bcshur]

Rome, Naples, Barcelona, Villefranche, Mersilles, and Florence. I know these spellings are way off! My apologies.

[hansolosmom]

We did the Med this summer & absolutely loved every port! We did the other side, started in Rome & then hit up the Greek isles & Turkey.

 

Florence is absolutely amazing! We loved the Uffizi & just the whole area. I could take or leave Pisa but my dh & teens loved it.

 

Rome is amazing. If you're stopping there I'd do a private tour, either on your own or try & get a group on your roll call. You will see so much more that way.

 

Naples - Amalfi coast & limoncello! Also Pompeii - just depends on your interests.

 

I researched for almost a year before our trip. Use the ports of call section on this board. I also used Rick Steve's - both his guide books and website.

 

For bringing wine back there are 2 choices. You can buy it there & bring back some bottles with you on the plane or have wineries ship you some (depending on where you live). The wineries, even the little ones are used to shipping so it's no issue for them to send it & quite often they'll give you a discount on multiple bottles. We bought 6 bottles of limoncello & the discount for buying multiple bottles pretty much paid for the shipping.

[hansolosmom]

Just saw your post with ports

 

For Naples I highly recommend Guiseppe De Toro - we had a fantastic day with him & his prices are reasonable. It's him & his wife that run the tours, very nice guy. We had the most fantastic lunch that day - drinking wine, fresh food & looking over the Med. It was like being in a movie.

 

Rome - the port is actually an hour from Rome itself. Many people will say you can do it on your own & to take the train up to Rome. I would really go with a private tour (our cruise started & ended in Rome so we did it on our own, but we had 5 days there before the cruise) but I would pick up a guidebook and see which sites you're most interested in seeing & then pick out a private tour. I know tons of people use Rome in Limo.

 

I will warn you the prices are hefty for all the Italian tours. We had done the Baltics a few years before so I was expecting expensive but I was surprised at the costs, but all the tours were well worth it!

Edited March 9, 2014 by hansolosmom

[meaclasact2]

You are going to have an incredible time...every one of those ports is wonderful...the food and wine are incredible. If you have never been to any of these places before I would suggest you take tours or...get a good book (I love Rick Steves' books - he has enhanced all of my visits)...and go out on your own. The only place I would not recommend going out on your own (again with a good tour book) would be Florence...it's a long ride into the city and there is just too much to try and do on your own.

 

The best thing to do is to do some research. Cruise Critic has some wonderful information - go to the ports of call section.

 

Villefranche is one of the most incredibly beautiful spots we have ever visited. Walk along the waterfront after you get off the tender...there are wonderful cafes where you can just sit, have something to drink, and watch.

 

Have a wonderful time! :)

[Bcshur]

Thank you so much everyone! Your input is truly appreciated. During the cruise we will be celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary in France so we are looking for something completely amazing to do there. Both my husband and I are teachers and living in Northeast Pennsylvania we have had many snow days so we were limited to booking kinda last minute because we didn't know when we would be in school until. Now that we just booked I feel pressured to do as much research as possible.

[CyberTag]

We purchased the wine diapers before we went and put the wine in our luggage on the way home. I believe we brought back 4 bottles of wine, but can't recall the exact amount allowed per person. We visited our roll call and hooked up with other passengers on our cruise and shared private excursions through Rome in Limo. They were awesome and I highly recommend using them over the ships excursions.

[PCWalton1]

Rome, Naples, Barcelona, Villefranche, Mersilles, and Florence. I know these spellings are way off! My apologies.

 

We did something similar for our first cruise back in 2010. There is a link to the review I wrote in my signature below (sorry the pictures are missing). You will have a great time with that itinerary. :)

[NorbertsNiece]

Villefranche is lovely. Grab a bus or train in to Monaco..... seriously very cool. You'll be tendered in Villefranche.

 

 

Florence you could head for the Leaning Tower..... we did Pisa and Florence on our own.... RCCL provided the transport and we walked about on our own....

 

[mrobstad]

Rome, Naples, Barcelona, Villefranche, Mersilles, and Florence. I know these spellings are way off! My apologies.

 

For these ports, I'd try on my roll call to get a group of 8 together and use Rome in limo. You will find lots of positive info on the ports boards about RIL. We did everything with them, including the Amalphi coast and Tuscanny. Not to be missed is lunch at La Tagliata in Positano!

[AF-1]

Royal Caribbean offers a wine tour thru Tuscany. You would take this tour instead of going to Florence. However, Florence is beautiful. When we did the same itinerary; some of our friends did the Tuscan wine tour; my wife and I did Pisa and Florence; oh we did a private tour and did not use Royal for this city. We used a company called Rome in Limo.

[meaclasact2]

Villefranche is lovely. Grab a bus or train in to Monaco..... seriously very cool. You'll be tendered in Villefranche.

 

 

Florence you could head for the Leaning Tower..... we did Pisa and Florence on our own.... RCCL provided the transport and we walked about on our own....

 

 

Ahhhh these photos bring back such wonderful memories! We sat and watched life pass us by at the cafe with the large greeen canopy - third one in (best coffee I've ever had..EVER!):). And Ponte Vecchio? Bellisimo....some of the most stunning jewelry I've ever seen...beautiful craftmen(women)ship!

 

OP - you are in for one fabulous cruise!

[meaclasact2]

As I stated in one of my earlier posts, as far as I'm concerned you cannot go wrong investing in Rick Steves' books...he even has one for Med cruises - which we used and after our first "self tour" the book paid for itself.

 

However I would also recommend that you try to catch his shows on public TV...we went to Slovenia two years ago and precruise caught an episode he did on Piran - that's the tour we took (with the ship) and we loved it (and had the best green apple gelato!).

 

Just a thought....:rolleyes:

[NorbertsNiece]

Ahhhh these photos bring back such wonderful memories! We sat and watched life pass us by at the cafe with the large greeen canopy - third one in (best coffee I've ever had..EVER!):). And Ponte Vecchio? Bellisimo....some of the most stunning jewelry I've ever seen...beautiful craftmen(women)ship!

 

OP - you are in for one fabulous cruise!

 

Thanks! I adore Florence..... it's an open air museum.... each corner revealing more art.... I'm a gelato type of girl.... gotta love Italian ice cream..... ;)

[gingernm]

Naples, do the versuvius and wine tasting tour!

 

Superb going to top of volcano looking into crater which still has smoking vents!

 

Then onto a private vineyard where you get a meal and various wines to sample!

 

Not being a particular lover of wine I can say they were very nice, bought 3 bottles of rosse.

 

One note is that RCI will take your wine purchase off you when returning to the ship, they will return them on the last evening of your cruise.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

 

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[krev]

This post is getting me really excited, we are booked for a 16 night Central Med cruise in Sept. Southampton to Rome and back. Can't wait! Any recommendations is certainly appreciated. We have always booked excursions through the ship but will look into the Rome in limo tours. Our itinerary is Gibraltar, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Livorno, Cagliari, Malaga, Cadiz, and Lisbon.....whew!

 

 

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[meaclasact2]

This post is getting me really excited, we are booked for a 16 night Central Med cruise in Sept. Southampton to Rome and back. Can't wait! Any recommendations is certainly appreciated. We have always booked excursions through the ship but will look into the Rome in limo tours. Our itinerary is Gibraltar, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Livorno, Cagliari, Malaga, Cadiz, and Lisbon.....whew!

 

 

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One thing I can tell you...you are going to love it...and be exhausted too...but in a good way. Cagliari is where I saw my very first Roman ruins in Pula (all roads lead to Rome) and real live pink flamingoes (unlike the ones I have in my garden - who never change position ;) or move for that matter). Barcelona is a walking city - Las Ramblas is a long people avenue - filled with all sorts of wonderful things to see....make sure you have at least one cup of Spanish hot chocolate and some tapas too. In Cadiz we took the excursion to Seville...wonderful tour. Make sure you see the Barbary Apes in Gibraltar and DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT have anything that even resembles food in your possession when you are near them..it will be unceremoniously taken from you by the very strong very quick apes! Livorno is the gateway to Florence...we skipped Pisa and spent our excursion time in Florence...wonderful gelato! Magnificent art...breathtaking is an appropriate description. Rome? There are not enough descriptive words to adequately describe Roma!

 

Have a wonderful time...and if you're not in shape with walking...start doing it now to build up your endurance...this is the kind of exhaustion everyone should experience at least once in their lives!

 

CIAO!

 

:D

[AF-1]

Krev, You can use Rome In Limo in both Rome and Livorno. We used them when we did 12 night Med cruise. This company is great. They will pick u up at ship; they have air conditioned vans; stocked with bottled water; they will take you to atm machines if you need cash; make bathroom stops, get close to all the action, where the large buses park blocks away. Anyway you have a great itinerary.

[NorbertsNiece]

This post is getting me really excited, we are booked for a 16 night Central Med cruise in Sept. Southampton to Rome and back. Can't wait! Any recommendations is certainly appreciated. We have always booked excursions through the ship but will look into the Rome in limo tours. Our itinerary is Gibraltar, Barcelona, Nice, Rome, Livorno, Cagliari, Malaga, Cadiz, and Lisbon.....whew!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

My first RCCL cruise was on Indy from Southampton. Similar itinerary. We were in Cagliari on a Sunday.... it was closed.... there were massive queues for the Hoho. Suggest a beach day if you're there on a Sunday!!

 

Being novices we took a RCCL tour around Gibraltar and had a very close encounter with the Barbary Macaques!! Great fun and very interesting. You can probably pick up a private tour for less money. But we loved it!

 

Barcelona we did on our own. Grabbed a cab at the pier and went to the Cathedral. Then Parc Guell. Lots of walking and wonderful architecture.

 

Actually I think it would be easier to just link you to my first ever blog.... they got better.... this in the days before I posted pics to the blogs...

[hansolosmom]

As I stated in one of my earlier posts, as far as I'm concerned you cannot go wrong investing in Rick Steves' books...he even has one for Med cruises - which we used and after our first "self tour" the book paid for itself.

 

However I would also recommend that you try to catch his shows on public TV...we went to Slovenia two years ago and precruise caught an episode he did on Piran - that's the tour we took (with the ship) and we loved it (and had the best green apple gelato!).

 

Just a thought....:rolleyes:

 

Amen to this. Anywhere we didn't do an 'official tour' we used Rick Steve's. We pretty much did both Rome and Venice using his podcasts. I bought his Med book and tore out the sections which matched up our ports of call. They've been showing the Rome, Venice, Florence shows here for pledge drive & it's making me miss Italy :(

 

If we would have only been in Rome for 8 hours I would have used a tour guide like Rome in Limo.

 

Then in Naples because we wanted to see both the Amalfi coast and Pompeii we thought a guide would be best so we used Giuseppe De a Toro, who was cheaper than Rome in Limo & we had a great time.