western med - start in Rome or Barcelona?

[alaska_planner]

I agree with this post. But, if you deem everything as equal I would vote for Barcelona. We love Barcelona. The airport is much closer and much easier to get around. If I remember right, the cab fare, for two was around 35 euros from the airport to down town. Because of the distance and not knowing the ins and outs, for doing Rome, we took the cruise line shuttle and it was about $90 p.p. There are probably cheaper ways. We found the airport in Rome much bigger and a bear to get through it.

I would air fare to be cheaper to Barcelona also.

 

airfare for us is slightly cheaper to rome (we're closer to italy than spain), but not all that much to sway me if there were other compelling reasons..

 

i just looked at the airfare - of course being the summer it's a zillion times more than right now!!....in august, airfare for us is about $600 roundtrip per person..

to rome it's about $500 (for the evening flight - the morning flight out of rome is much cheaper, but we won't get there in time for it). so not that much difference..

Edited February 24, 2016 by alaska_planner

[happy trailer]

I've taken cruises starting in both Rome and Barcelona, and either city would be a great choice, but since you've never been to Barcelona, I'd lean toward starting your cruise there, as it's a super fun city with loads of things to do for all ages.

 

Before my cruise from Rome, I had been concerned about the distance to the port, but it turned out to be no big deal- I organized transport with two couples from our roll call, and we spent the ride happily chatting. In Barcelona, I shared a cab with a roll call member from the hotel to the port. The difference between the two ports was that it took only about 15 minutes and about $15 pp to get to the port in Barcelona; from Rome to the port took a little over an hour and around $40 pp (the pp price goes down with more people).

 

Last year DH and I had planned a cruise on Allure for the same reason you're cruising Harmony- to relax and enjoy the ship (we wound up having to cancel that cruise). We choose the Barcelona r/t because we wanted to spend a few days in the city. We decided to not book any excursions, either private or through the ship, and instead spend leisurely days walking around the port cities in the morning, and then enjoying an empty ship the rest of the day; we especially decided not to go into Rome for the day the ship stopped in Civitiavecchia because we knew we'd be there on a future trip.

 

BTW, I didn't think the Rome airport (FCO) was any problem. The shuttle was a bit quirky, but no big deal- a touch nostalgia for our own original airport ;-). If you fly ELAL, then you can skip the huge crowd for the security check by going to the far right, and showing your passport; that easily saved a half hour or more of waiting around.

 

I did notice a difference in cabin price between embarking in Rome and Barcelona, but as you know, there's not much difference in airfares to both cities.

 

HTH!

 

Ruth

[alaska_planner]

You will love the food in Barcelona and Spanish olive oil is better than Italian imho.:)

 

Just a side note: not all Italian olive oil is the same. The flavor depends on the region the olives are grown in. We once spent a month in Italy tasting olive oils from the toe of the country to the far north. It was very interesting--liked the oil from around Sorrento/Naples the best.

 

loving the olive oil discussion!!

[lovesthebeach2]

We had booked a med cruise while onboard over a year ago, and originally chose Harmony........ but quickly changed it to Brilliance because since most passengers boarded in Barsalona our choice of cabins was very limited and we thought that getting to the port from the airport in Rome would be too hard. Plus it was only a 7 day and didn't hit all the ports we wanted. The Brilliance is exactly what we wanted, it gets all the ports, we picked the room we wanted, the airfare wasn't too bad and the 12 day is less than the 7 day on Harmony.

[alaska_planner]

I would vote for Rome because you would then be able to spend several days, pre- or post-cruise, to see and do all there is. The Vatican, St Peters, the Colosseum, etc. It's an amazing city.

 

The port of Civitavecchia is also an easy 60-minute train ride with four stops from Roma Termini. Approximately five € one way.

 

With that said, Barcelona is equally as amazing!

 

i see you're going in july - i assume boarding in rome?

 

i'm definitely leaning towards boarding in rome.....it actually works out for timing - flying in on tuesday or wed, boarding on thursday..disembarking on thursday, flying out thursday night at 9:30 to arrive home at 2 am friday morning..so in time for the weekend at home..

 

works pretty well....expensive, but it works...now to convince DS (with the kidlets) that they should come with us on a cruise this summer...

DD is the one who pointed out to me that the harmony is in europe this summer and suggested a harmony cruise last night, so she and her husband are already on board (so to speak) :)

Edited February 24, 2016 by alaska_planner

[alaska_planner]

We picked Rome for embakation for the exact reasons Bob stated.

 

The trip from Rome to the cruise port took us just under 1.5 hours with a driver going 140 km/h the entire time we were on the open freeways. We only had normal traffic for Rome and we left at 11 in the morning. As others mentioned the trip from the cruise port to the Rome airport was about 50 minutes once we left the port.

 

definitely a convincing argument about rome being better for embarkation due to the long distance from the port....i feel like an idiot that i didn't think of that!!! :eek:

[Clarea]

definitely a convincing argument about rome being better for embarkation due to the long distance from the port....i feel like an idiot that i didn't think of that!!! :eek:

I would not feel like an idiot, many folks don't realize the distances involved for some of the Med port stops. That's why you post here, to get a bunch of opinions.

[KiwiGal117]

As you will see from my signature, we are doing this cruise and chose Rome for departure, for a number of reasons, in particular because our travel friends have never been and Italy is on the bucket list. However, another sway in the favour of Rome (and my memory of the details is somewhat hazy as we booked ages ago, so I may get this wrong - I'm sure someone will clarify if I did) is that when you cruise out of Spain, you pay Spanish VAT whereas if you cruise out of Rome, the Italy VAT isn't as all encompassing, and in any event is lower. This is an expensive cruise, so may not bother you, but with all else being equal, you may want to go with Rome.

Edited February 24, 2016 by KiwiGal117

[alaska_planner]

Like other have said, Barcelona is a very easy port to do in one day and see many highlights.

Rome - you'd spend at least 3 hours traveling to & from.

We started in Rome for this very reason, arrived 2 days before, and left one day after the cruise.

We used for (private) transfers Civitavecchia Car Services, reliable and value for money, from airport to hotel, hotel to pier and vv, and then again to airport. You don't pay in advance,and they wait for you at the airport.

In Barcelona, we managed to see a lot during a one day stop, and for us, it was enough.

Also, the embarkation and disembarkation in Rome was a breeze.:)

 

I've taken cruises starting in both Rome and Barcelona, and either city would be a great choice, but since you've never been to Barcelona, I'd lean toward starting your cruise there, as it's a super fun city with loads of things to do for all ages.

 

Before my cruise from Rome, I had been concerned about the distance to the port, but it turned out to be no big deal- I organized transport with two couples from our roll call, and we spent the ride happily chatting. In Barcelona, I shared a cab with a roll call member from the hotel to the port. The difference between the two ports was that it took only about 15 minutes and about $15 pp to get to the port in Barcelona; from Rome to the port took a little over an hour and around $40 pp (the pp price goes down with more people).

 

Last year DH and I had planned a cruise on Allure for the same reason you're cruising Harmony- to relax and enjoy the ship (we wound up having to cancel that cruise). We choose the Barcelona r/t because we wanted to spend a few days in the city. We decided to not book any excursions, either private or through the ship, and instead spend leisurely days walking around the port cities in the morning, and then enjoying an empty ship the rest of the day; we especially decided not to go into Rome for the day the ship stopped in Civitiavecchia because we knew we'd be there on a future trip.

 

BTW, I didn't think the Rome airport (FCO) was any problem. The shuttle was a bit quirky, but no big deal- a touch nostalgia for our own original airport ;-). If you fly ELAL, then you can skip the huge crowd for the security check by going to the far right, and showing your passport; that easily saved a half hour or more of waiting around.

 

I did notice a difference in cabin price between embarking in Rome and Barcelona, but as you know, there's not much difference in airfares to both cities.

 

HTH!

 

Ruth

 

i'm definitely leaning to embarking in rome.....

i hadn't considered the time to port issue, but there are other reasons...

 

for one thing, i love italy and always wanted to take the kids there...it never worked out when they were young, so this is a bit of a do-over...

i've never been to barcelona, but i have been to madrid and the costa del sol, and wasn't much impressed by anything there....and italy is just beautiful...so that's a reason to spend a bit more time there..

 

but it also seems to work out for timing....

we could leave for rome say on tuesday...that would give us tuesday/wed/thurs for a bit of sightseeing..(such as one can do with a 2 year old and 9 month old)

 

board the ship on thursday....

then at the end of the cruise, take the 2130 elal back home the same day as disembarkation...that would get us back home well before shabbat...

of course, not ideal traveling with toddlers in the middle of the night, but it would get us home...

 

as for the allure, we took an allure cruise a few years back (out of ft lauderdale)....we had to be in the states for a wedding....i said that if i had to go then i was damn well going to get us onto the allure (which i'd been lusting after for a while before that)...it was FANTASTIC....absolutely a fabulous cruise!! wonderful ship!! great crew!!! etc etc!!!!

if the harmony cruise is even only half as nice as the allure cruise was, it will be outstanding!!!!

Edited February 24, 2016 by alaska_planner

[dani negreanu]

 

but it also seems to work out for timing....

we could leave for rome say on tuesday...that would give us tuesday/wed/thurs for a bit of sightseeing..(such as one can do with a 2 year old and 9 month old)

 

board the ship on thursday....

then at the end of the cruise, take the 2130 elal back home the same day as disembarkation...that would get us back home well before shabbat...

of course, not ideal traveling with toddlers in the middle of the night, but it would get us home...

 

Speaking of ElAl flights -- we flew the ElAl afternoon flight on Tuesday (the morning flight is at the ungodly hour of 5AM, don't sleep much at night - u get in Rome at 8.30AM, cannot check in at hotels so early...), and decided to take the Friday noon flight back to Tel-Aviv instead of Thursday evening, much more relaxed than during the night. But we don't keep shabbat, so YMMW.

[happy trailer]

Speaking of ElAl flights -- we flew the ElAl afternoon flight on Tuesday (the morning flight is at the ungodly hour of 5AM, don't sleep much at night - u get in Rome at 8.30AM, cannot check in at hotels so early...), and decided to take the Friday noon flight back to Tel-Aviv instead of Thursday evening, much more relaxed than during the night. But we don't keep shabbat, so YMMW.

 

I agree about the early flight on the return, but I flew home directly from the cruise, which ended on a Sunday. But going to Rome, we did that morning flight. I'm not a fan of that early morning time, but we made arrangements for our arrival in Rome that worked out great- Rome Cabs have a pickup option that includes a tour of the city. The driver was waiting for us when we cleared customs, and I had been in touch with our hotel earlier in the week requesting an early check in, if possible. We had a delightful driver who gave us an extended tour. We arrived at our hotel around 11:30, and only had to wait about half an hour until our room was ready. We wound up collapsing for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but woke up refreshed in time for an enjoyable evening walkabout.

 

Beth, if you can manage to self disembark with your luggage, and are willing to be up and on line by 6AM, you can arrange to have a driver meet you at the port, and will have no trouble making the early ELAL flight home (I think it was actually at 10AM?). I was literally the first one off the ship, and the driver was waiting for me. I made it to the airport in plenty of time (even had lots of time time to browse the airport stores before going to the gate). Breakfast and a nap on the plane, and back at home by late afternoon. I highly recommend it!

[Lyneham1]

I would vote for Rome because you would then be able to spend several days, pre- or post-cruise, to see and do all there is. The Vatican, St Peters, the Colosseum, etc. It's an amazing city.

 

The port of Civitavecchia is also an easy 60-minute train ride with four stops from Roma Termini. Approximately five € one way.

 

With that said, Barcelona is equally as amazing!

 

One thing to watch out for if you do decide to go from Rome and take the train. On the weekends (and especially on a Sunday) it seems like most of Rome wants to take the train to the beaches (which are close to the cruise port) in the mornings so if you are not boarding at Rome Temini but one of the other Rome stops then you just won't fit on the train. It should be OK to board after about 12:30.

[Trixie21]

We are going this same cruise and embarking in Rome. We have been to Barcelona for a few days prior to a previous cruise ( virtually the same itinerary! ) so chose Rome this time so as to spend a few days pre cruise staying in Rome. It is impossible to see rome in a day ( we tried on the previous cruise ) - this time we are intent on enjoying harmony and all she has to offer as we have been to the ports before. Getting to and from Rome to civitivecchia is not difficult - I found a number of reputable companies on cruise critic and as there are 4 of us the cost was not that bad. Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we intend to!

[A&L_Ont]

definitely a convincing argument about rome being better for embarkation due to the long distance from the port....i feel like an idiot that i didn't think of that!!! :eek:

 

I would not feel like an idiot, many folks don't realize the distances involved for some of the Med port stops. That's why you post here, to get a bunch of opinions.

 

As Clarea said you get a multitude of opinions and no need to feel foolish. There is a wealth of info here to learn from.

[Zou Bisou Bisou]

thanks..

i was just trying to price out the round trip rome..

and it's so weird...

i'll need 3 staterooms...

so i had no problem with the first two - two people in each one..

but then i got to the family with two kids (infant and toddler)..

and the cost was astronomical...

so i tried putting one baby in with two couples (splitting up the kids between two rooms of adults)..

and then the system tells me that there are no rooms for two guests..

when clearly there are, as i'm able to reserve 3 of them as long as i deep-six the infants...

so strange..

 

well...i'll just have to keep crunching the numbers...

 

as for airfare - probably about the same for us....we're on the european side of the atlantic....so barcelona/rome isn't much of a difference..

 

there are pros and cons to each city.....i don't recall ever being in barcelona so that might be interesting......

on the other hand, having the sea day on day 3 vs the last day seems better to me.....dunno,......decisions decisions....

 

You would remember Barcelona, hahaha. Spend a couple of nights in Barcelona, you won't regret it.

[yuvraj]

I agree with other posters. Depending on which city you want to spend time in most. Both are great places to visit and deserve several days pre-cruise stay.

 

From a convenience point of view, the port is within the town so a short taxi ride from whichever hotel you choose to stay. Rome is some distance away and you will need to organise a transfer.

 

In my experience you can get cheap hotel deals in Barcelona. Hotels I have stayed in : Sagrada Familia, Travelodge, Holiday Inn. Much harder to find reasonable prices in Rome.

 

I believe Barcelona embarkation will cost you less but base your decision on your budget and which city you would like to spend most time in.

 

I live in UK so done many Med cruises, all with Barcelona embarkation. However, next one will be from Rome as I want to spend more time there.

[alaska_planner]

I would not feel like an idiot, many folks don't realize the distances involved for some of the Med port stops. That's why you post here, to get a bunch of opinions.

 

 

no question about it, the port time is a very convincing argument...

probably trumps everything else....

who wants to waste over 2 hours of a port stop on transportation..

Edited February 25, 2016 by alaska_planner

[alaska_planner]

Speaking of ElAl flights -- we flew the ElAl afternoon flight on Tuesday (the morning flight is at the ungodly hour of 5AM, don't sleep much at night - u get in Rome at 8.30AM, cannot check in at hotels so early...), and decided to take the Friday noon flight back to Tel-Aviv instead of Thursday evening, much more relaxed than during the night. But we don't keep shabbat, so YMMW.

 

the afternoon flight to rome is a very good suggestion....i hadn't realized there is one....

if we go with only adults, then it will be the early morning flight to give us some more time to tour..

but if we take the kidlets, then the afternoon flight is far wiser!!!!

[alaska_planner]

I agree about the early flight on the return, but I flew home directly from the cruise, which ended on a Sunday. But going to Rome, we did that morning flight. I'm not a fan of that early morning time, but we made arrangements for our arrival in Rome that worked out great- Rome Cabs have a pickup option that includes a tour of the city. The driver was waiting for us when we cleared customs, and I had been in touch with our hotel earlier in the week requesting an early check in, if possible. We had a delightful driver who gave us an extended tour. We arrived at our hotel around 11:30, and only had to wait about half an hour until our room was ready. We wound up collapsing for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but woke up refreshed in time for an enjoyable evening walkabout.

 

Beth, if you can manage to self disembark with your luggage, and are willing to be up and on line by 6AM, you can arrange to have a driver meet you at the port, and will have no trouble making the early ELAL flight home (I think it was actually at 10AM?). I was literally the first one off the ship, and the driver was waiting for me. I made it to the airport in plenty of time (even had lots of time time to browse the airport stores before going to the gate). Breakfast and a nap on the plane, and back at home by late afternoon. I highly recommend it!

 

you're right -it's at 10 am....that's an interesting approach!!

[alaska_planner]

One thing to watch out for if you do decide to go from Rome and take the train. On the weekends (and especially on a Sunday) it seems like most of Rome wants to take the train to the beaches (which are close to the cruise port) in the mornings so if you are not boarding at Rome Temini but one of the other Rome stops then you just won't fit on the train. It should be OK to board after about 12:30.

 

the cruise out of rome is on thursday, so maybe won't be too bad...

although i plan on taking a car service for us....we'll need a big van for the 8 of us...maybe a bus :eek:...

[alaska_planner]

We are going this same cruise and embarking in Rome. We have been to Barcelona for a few days prior to a previous cruise ( virtually the same itinerary! ) so chose Rome this time so as to spend a few days pre cruise staying in Rome. It is impossible to see rome in a day ( we tried on the previous cruise ) - this time we are intent on enjoying harmony and all she has to offer as we have been to the ports before. Getting to and from Rome to civitivecchia is not difficult - I found a number of reputable companies on cruise critic and as there are 4 of us the cost was not that bad. Hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we intend to!

 

i figure we'll get off the ship in naples, florence, and barcelona...

we'll definitely stay on the ship in provence and probably palma da majorca

so that will give us the sea day, plus the 2 skipped ports days to enjoy the ship...

[alaska_planner]

As Clarea said you get a multitude of opinions and no need to feel foolish. There is a wealth of info here to learn from.

 

absolutely!!! these boards are amazing...it helped immensely in planning our alaska cruise last year!!! (and what an amazing trip that was!!!)

[alaska_planner]

I agree with other posters. Depending on which city you want to spend time in most. Both are great places to visit and deserve several days pre-cruise stay.

 

From a convenience point of view, the port is within the town so a short taxi ride from whichever hotel you choose to stay. Rome is some distance away and you will need to organise a transfer.

 

In my experience you can get cheap hotel deals in Barcelona. Hotels I have stayed in : Sagrada Familia, Travelodge, Holiday Inn. Much harder to find reasonable prices in Rome.

 

I believe Barcelona embarkation will cost you less but base your decision on your budget and which city you would like to spend most time in.

 

I live in UK so done many Med cruises, all with Barcelona embarkation. However, next one will be from Rome as I want to spend more time there.

 

my inclination was to board in rome, but i posted here to hear if there were other reasons i didn't know about (like as it turned out - the port distance)..

[dani negreanu]

Beth, if I may --

 

I would even think about taking the 10AM flight to Tel-Aviv on disembarkation day. We really wanted to make it, instead of spending another day and night in Rome (not that we "suffered" in any way), but it was paying for another transfer and another hotel night, which we could do without.

The night flight - at our advanced age - we're not doing night flights anymore.

If I'm not having a "senior" moment, the disembarkation from Allure in Civitavecchia was at 7AM and not 6AM. You'll be travelling at least an hour to the airport. The security line - you never know.... That's cutting it very close.

Our son is a FA with ElAl, and another son worked as a student as a security man in the their planes. I know how it works, don't risk it....

Re: Barcelona -- I'd booked tickets in advance for the Sagrada. Worked out very well. Took the HOHO bus to c Gaudy's houses. Returned by taxi to ship, not expensive. It was a Sunday - not much traffic. Palma - there was a shuttle running continuously from ship to center 5 Euros return pp, we spent a leisurely morning looking around, sipping a coffee and using free wi-fi, very pleasant city.

[A&L_Ont]

absolutely!!! these boards are amazing...it helped immensely in planning our alaska cruise last year!!! (and what an amazing trip that was!!!)

 

Hi Beth.

 

I have a cruise review 90% completed from our Allure western med sailing last June with the same ports of call that you will see on Harmony. I am going to post it towards the end of the March. We are sailing a B2B in March and when I return I will be start posting and finishing it. It will have tips, tour guides and photos etc. We did stay on board for Marseilles, but got off at all the other ports. Palma was beautiful and relaxed. If you skip a port it is a hard choice to make, a break day is nice.

 

I will be doing a live review of the B2B on Allure this March. It will have periscopes, photos and fun so if you need a distraction keep your eyes open for it March 11-12.

 

Andrew