Western Mediterranean port guides

[hazmat1]

We are doing a Western Med on the Liberty out of Barcelona. Does anyone have the port guides issued by RCCL? We are trying to decide whether to go with RCCL or private tours versus walking around the ports on our own. Ports include:

 

Provence (Marseilles), France;

Villefranche (Nice), France;

La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy;

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy;

Naples (Capri), Italy

 

Thanks in advance

[N41EF]

Just did this cruise two weeks ago. We walked around the first three ports, on our own. Did RCL's "Best of Rome" and then "Mt Vonsuveous hike and Pompeii".

 

I don't know that the ship gave out the "shop here" maps like most do in the caribean. Mst ports had maps available as you left the ship terminal.

 

The rome trip was excellent, but almost too much information. Mt V was a tough hike, not for the week knee'd. Pompeii is impressive, wish we had spent more time there.

 

Watch the "morning show" each morning for tips on what is going on. There is a port show on each evening to get tips on seeing things yourself.

 

Several ports had the "petite train" that took you to city center to walk around.

 

We had a BLAST on this cruise!

[hazmat1]

Thank you for the information. We also have the best of Rome tour booked through RCCL. I'll keep plugging through the forums for ideas

 

I'm definitely looking at the train to Monte Carlo and would like to see the tower in Pisa on my own. Any advice on doing this.

 

 

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[kirian]

I was in 3 of the ports you listed while aboard the Serenade last fall. I detail them pretty thoroughly in my review, but here's the short and sweet version :D:

 

La Spezia - DIY. Walked to the train station (about 20-30 min). Took train to Cinque Terra (Vernazza and Manarola). Strolled through towns on our own. Absolutely beautiful!

 

Civitavecchia/Rome - DIY. Walked to train station (about 10 min). Took train to Rome and switched to Metro. Did 3rd Ring Guided tour of the Coliseum (purchased tickets ahead of time online) and walked the Forum using Rick Steves' free audio guide. The Forum was particularly fabulous (truth be told, I liked it more than the Coliseum :eek:)

 

Naples (we docked at Salerno, not Capri) - only place we did an RCCL tour. Mt/ Vesuvius and Pompeii. Agree 100% with everything the previous poster mentioned about this tour.

 

If you are interested in the "super" detailed version of our experiences in these three stops, swing on by the review (link is in my signature).

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!!!!!

 

Melissa

[maggieq]

We used rccl for Monaco and Monte Carlo

We used Rome in limo for Florence and Rome

We used rccl for Toulon - waste of time

Rccl for Naples - we went to Capri

 

All in all, an amazing cruise

[FLACRUISER99]

I use Toms Port Guides. http://www.tomsportguides.com/

[griffy116]

Check out Bob's Limo and Joe Bananas. We've used both of these companies and they were GREAT. We used them for two cruises in the Med and were never disappointed in either company. We would use them again in a heartbeat.

[robint]

We are doing a Western Med on the Liberty out of Barcelona. Does anyone have the port guides issued by RCCL? We are trying to decide whether to go with RCCL or private tours versus walking around the ports on our own. Ports include:

 

Provence (Marseilles), France;

Villefranche (Nice), France;

La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy;

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy;

Naples (Capri), Italy

 

Thanks in advance

 

We went in July.

Villefranche--we just wandered around the city. The Citadel has some beautiful gardens and little museums (all free); the Volti museum is really cool for the setting if not the art.

 

Rome/Pisa/Pompeii: We used Rome in Limo for all three and got people to join us on our roll call.

For Pisa, absolutely buy the tickets that allow you to climb the tower if you can physically handle it; it was an amazing experience. Then we went to Vinci to see the Da Vinci museum which I would say was not worth it.

For Pompeii, we climbed Mt. Vesuvius (tough, but well worth it!), and then hired a guide through RIL to take us through Pompeii.

For Rome, buy the tickets beforehand that allow you to do the underground tour of the Coliseum; we got so much more out of it and we skipped a HUGE line.

 

We didn't go to Marseilles.

[hazmat1]

I use Toms Port Guides. http://www.tomsportguides.com/

 

 

Great site. Very informative. One of the best I've see so far. Thank you

[John&LaLa]

We did 12 day med out of Barcelona a few years back. Best tour was Amalfi coast by boat. Lots of limoncello and straticella. Spent 8 grand on a table in Sorrento, must have been the limoncello:o

 

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[RustyHull]

Thank you for the information. We also have the best of Rome tour booked through RCCL. I'll keep plugging through the forums for ideas

 

I'm definitely looking at the train to Monte Carlo and would like to see the tower in Pisa on my own. Any advice on doing this.

 

 

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We took train to Monaco. Easy. Station 5 mins from tender up some steps.

Trains approx every 20 mins. Have a great time.