western med - start in Rome or Barcelona?

[alaska_planner]

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.

 

i always arrive for a cruise a minimum of 2 days in advance and usually 3 or 4....i am very risk averse....

so for a thursday cruise, i would be there no later than tuesday and given my worst case scenario personality, there is no way i'd book a 10 am flight on disembarkation day... i would probably take the night flight back home..

[alaska_planner]

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

 

 

i'm looking forward to reading your med review Andrew, as well as following along on your allure cruise..

aren't you super lucky to be doing a B2B!!!!!!!!!!!!

we sailed on the allure a few years back....eastern caribbean...

it was fantabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

such a wonderful cruise...i would have LOVED to do a B2B!!!!!

[happy trailer]

i always arrive for a cruise a minimum of 2 days in advance and usually 3 or 4....i am very risk averse....

so for a thursday cruise, i would be there no later than tuesday and given my worst case scenario personality, there is no way i'd book a 10 am flight on disembarkation day... i would probably take the night flight back home..

 

If Harmony stays on the same schedule as Allure did for Dani, and doesn't disembark until 7, then I agree that the 10AM flight would be out of the question. I was on Rhapsody. We were scheduled to arrive before 6, IIRC, and I had read reports of people being let off the ship as early as 6. I arranged a 6:15 pickup, and was on line about a half hour before that (and was soon joined by many others). Turned out that they didn't let us off until 6:30. My driver was waiting for me, right outside the luggage area, and we were on our way within minutes, and with no traffic that early on a Sunday, I was at FCO before 8.

[A&L_Ont]

i'm looking forward to reading your med review Andrew, as well as following along on your allure cruise..

aren't you super lucky to be doing a B2B!!!!!!!!!!!!

we sailed on the allure a few years back....eastern caribbean...

it was fantabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

such a wonderful cruise...i would have LOVED to do a B2B!!!!!

 

Beth, we did our first B2B last year on Allure in March and it was great. We have an 8 year old so he can still miss 5 days of school without much trouble. This year with the timing of Easter he is only missing 4 days of school with the B2B. We have one booked for next year too, but we might only do 1 week.

 

The strange thing is last year around day 12 or so we were kind of ready to go home.:eek: I think if our DS wasn't with us we would have wanted to go home sooner. I think this year we won't have that feeling.:D

[impatientlywaiting]

loving the olive oil discussion!!

 

If you're a lasagna lover, lasagna made in Rome will be tomato based but lasagna made in Florence will be béchamel based (i.e., no tomatoes at all)! My daughter-in-law was born & raised in Florence, Italy and the things I've learned about the different regions of the country is amazing! When she ordered for us in Rome the waiters knew immediately that she was from Florence by her accent! Their accents all sounded the same to us! She compared it to our accents here in the US - the south versus the east coast versus the west coast!

[ken_nyc]

We have a 10:00am flight on debarkation day from Barcelona through ChoiceAir (Air2Sea) and that was the only flight for that price on that day.

[alaska_planner]

If Harmony stays on the same schedule as Allure did for Dani, and doesn't disembark until 7, then I agree that the 10AM flight would be out of the question. I was on Rhapsody. We were scheduled to arrive before 6, IIRC, and I had read reports of people being let off the ship as early as 6. I arranged a 6:15 pickup, and was on line about a half hour before that (and was soon joined by many others). Turned out that they didn't let us off until 6:30. My driver was waiting for me, right outside the luggage area, and we were on our way within minutes, and with no traffic that early on a Sunday, I was at FCO before 8.

 

We have a 10:00am flight on debarkation day from Barcelona through ChoiceAir (Air2Sea) and that was the only flight for that price on that day.

 

 

no way would i ever cut it that tight...

as i said, i'm far too much of a worst case scenario type person for that.. :)

Edited February 27, 2016 by alaska_planner

[alaska_planner]

Beth, we did our first B2B last year on Allure in March and it was great. We have an 8 year old so he can still miss 5 days of school without much trouble. This year with the timing of Easter he is only missing 4 days of school with the B2B. We have one booked for next year too, but we might only do 1 week.

 

The strange thing is last year around day 12 or so we were kind of ready to go home.:eek: I think if our DS wasn't with us we would have wanted to go home sooner. I think this year we won't have that feeling.:D

 

it's funny how we were so careful not to take our kids out of school...

until our younger one was in 6th grade....we figured it was our last opportunity so i told the principal of his school that we were taking him out for 3 weeks (in november/december)....we were going to the states, disney world and to detroit to visit family (and so the kids could see snow - jokes on us, it was an unseasonably warm winter with no snow until new years and a very unfrozen lake my parents live on - so no skating either)..

anyway, the principal said, "i can't give you permission for that"...

i said, "i'm not asking permission, i'm telling you he won't be here for 3 weeks, just informing you so you won't wonder where he is"...

it was his last year there, he'd already been accepted into his next school, so we figured now was the time...

(our daughter was in middle school and also in a position to not be bothered by the 3 weeks out)...

so off we went....had a spectacular time with 3 weeks at WDW, and another week in detroit with the kids and their schooling none the worse for wear...

and now that they're 31 and 28 (married and with kids), it clearly hasn't made one bit of difference that they missed school.....

 

have a great time on your cruise!!!!!!!!!!!

 

..

Edited March 8, 2016 by alaska_planner

[Tee & Chilli]

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. I was leaning toward Barcelona as I'll be traveling solo.

 

Can someone share a budget for this type of sailing?

Flights, hotels in Rome and excursions?

 

Thanks

[Illmaxict]

Barcelona!!! I've lived here for past three years, if you can arrive early and get a day or two to explore, it's well worth it

 

 

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[denatravels]

Barcelona!!! I've lived here for past three years, if you can arrive early and get a day or two to explore, it's well worth it

 

 

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Given the timing of this thread, I suspect the decision is already made.

I've spent 3 days in both Barcelona and Rome. Both are fabulous!! Both need a return visit. But given the logistics to getting to the sites on a port visit, you can have a much better port day experience in Barcelona than wasting time getting to Rome.

I embarked from Rome last year-- I originally was going to take the train but was having back issues. Traveling solo on the cruise made private transportation SEEM very expensive (it wouldn't have been if it were multiple people). I used A shared service from Bob's Limo for 65 euros. Another group from a nearby hotel was charged 80 euros for three people. They were on time and the car was clean. A group sitting in my hotel was waiting for another private car service that never showed up.

 

 

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[alaska_planner]

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. I was leaning toward Barcelona as I'll be traveling solo.

 

Can someone share a budget for this type of sailing?

Flights, hotels in Rome and excursions?

 

Thanks

 

have you been to rome before?

[Illmaxict]

Didn't notice the date!!

 

 

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[Tee & Chilli]

Nope..never been to Rome. I'm debating between a round trip or Transatlantic. This thread answered some of my questions.

Thanks