Which ports would you "pass" on?

[Keith1010]

Yes, good idea to pace yourself.

 

Ports early walkable include:

 

Cadaz, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Gibraltar, UK Territory

Lisbon, Portugal

 

Most are in walking distance or just a short ride (a few minutes) from the port.

 

Lots of great ports on your itinerary.

 

Keith

[ozcruizer]

I could pass on Marseille. It's a nice little port town and they have beautiful soaps ... but if you need a resting day, I'd choose this one. JMHO.

 

We did a private tour to Avignon from Marseille and saw other scenic spots! We thought it was very good! I might pass on Sardinia - we went there and it was probably the most ordinary port of all. I can't comment on all of the ports but the Mediterranean (we did 22 days) was probably the busiest cruise we've ever taken. We found we were really hanging out for sea days in the end :D

[sail7seas]

The ship might be docking in the center of Lisbon which makes it easy to do a self-directed walking tour. I find Lisbon to be an intriguing city. Each time we went, I found there to be an interesting feel to it that I haven't experienced elsewhere. I like Lisbon.

[kazu]

Most of these ports offer so many options. The following can be done on your own in a very relaxing manner to give you the chance to pace yourself.

 

We really enjoyed our day in Marseilles. We used Marseilles volunteer meet organization and had a great time.

 

Cadiz - if you opt not to go to Seville from there, you can have a very nice relaxing day here. Gorgeous town..

 

Cartagena - very nice and easy to do on your own,

 

Monte Carlo - if yu want to bypass the lovely spots that are so close, you can explore Monte Carlo on your own. A small trip outside takes you to some

Beautiful spots though.

 

Malaga is a great city with things that can appeal to many. Think Picasso, gorgeous squares to relax in, etc.

 

I don't think I would skip any ports. It's a matter of pacing yourself so that some days are more relaxing and not overly long.

 

Have fun planning :)

[OlsSalt]

One thing to remember about any of the Mediterranean cruise ports is sea travel was the only real transportation for centuries, so all these towns were basically the only center for commerce, wealth, monumtal architecture and population concentration.

 

Lisbon's Plaza Commercio - a vast square now mainly empty but surrounded by important buildings was where the riches of the New World were on display, which was about as exotic as things got after 1492.

 

Some books I liked that drive home this major importance of Mediterranean port cities are: The Middle Sea - History of the Mediterranean, and 1491, and 1493.

 

And then almost overnight sea power was replaced by rail and auto transportation in the mid-1800's, and so many of these cities lost their important and exclusive role. Some made successful transitions to tourism and others are still haunted by their stately ghosts in varying degrees of repair and access.

 

Others expanded into the new, much larger industrial port commerce which shares none of their former charm as wealthy cultural centers of trade, so now one has to dig a little deeper to find the glories of their past.

 

But all of them have rich histories for those willing to step back and appreciate their centuries of existence, important existence to the entire history of Europe.

[knittinggirl]

I don't know much about your itinerary, but we'd skip the tender ports unless you have a hard burn to see something at one of the tender ports.

[Tampa Girl]

I don't know much about your itinerary, but we'd skip the tender ports unless you have a hard burn to see something at one of the tender ports.

 

So, which are the tender ports?

[knittinggirl]

So, which are the tender ports?

Any port where the ship doesn't pull up to the dock. You need to board a boat, often the lifeboats, and head for shore. Depending on how far away the ship is from shore, it can take 20-30 minutes each way. Often you sit in the boat waiting for them to fill it up before moving.

 

 

There's also the problem of a waiting line at the dock. In Maui, they had a long line to board and a man fainted. I've read that even if you have priority boarding due to being in a suite or enough stars, you don't get priority boarding on land. I think the long lines happen when you're one of the last people to arrive before the deadline. We haven't seen a long tender line, but we've had to wait to re-board a few times when they decided to change gang planks while people waited.

 

Holland America doesn't show tender ports on their itineraries, but you should be able to see them in the original cruise receipt. As I said, you could lose as much as an hour on or waiting for the boat, that you're not seeing sights.

Edited March 5, 2016 by knittinggirl

[kazu]

Any port where the ship doesn't pull up to the dock. You need to board a boat, often the lifeboats, and head for shore. Depending on how far away the ship is from shore, it can take 20-30 minutes each way. Often you sit in the boat waiting for them to fill it up before moving.

 

 

There's also the problem of a waiting line at the dock. In Maui, they had a long line to board and a man fainted. I've read that even if you have priority boarding due to being in a suite or enough stars, you don't get priority boarding on land. I think the long lines happen when you're one of the last people to arrive before the deadline. We haven't seen a long tender line, but we've had to wait to re-board a few times when they decided to change gang planks while people waited.

 

Holland America doesn't show tender ports on their itineraries, but you should be able to see them in the original cruise receipt. As I said, you could lose as much as an hour on or waiting for the boat, that you're not seeing sights.

 

 

I would beg to differ as skipping a port just because it is a tender port can mean missing a lot.

 

Tender ports are indicated on the itinerary - easy to spot. Just look for the symbol (translation of all symbols are on the right hand side of the itinerary that you see on the HAL website.

 

OP, Monte Carlo can possibly be a tender port and it may not. It depends upon the number of ships in port that day and who the harbour master assigns the dock too.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hflors]

Wow!!! Thank all of you who have responded so far. I thought it would be pretty cut and dried on which ports to "pass on" and which are must sees, but I now can "see" that it will be more difficult than I had thought, though reading that some we will be able to "walk about" on our own may be the way to go.

 

I know the port in England and France seems strange, but our final port is Rotterdam. From there dh and I will most likely take a train to Switzerland for a few days.

 

thanks Georgie"s girl for your comment, but since our post cruise will be in Zurich I think any more touring of Rome will need to be another trip.

 

Thanks you Fire Eater for your detailed comments on the various ports.

 

The wonderful part about all of this is that we are going to go to the MED on a cruise and we can take all the comments here from experienced cruisers and be better for all this information before hand. And make our choices based on first hand information. Rather than from someone trying to sell a book or shore excursions.

 

Thanks and if anyone thinks of anything else please post it. I will be watching this thread.

 

BTW: Don't worry when I get back I will write a review and let everyone know how we got on!

[knittinggirl]

We've had some very bad tender transferring experiences due to rough seas. Sea is calm when we went out, but not upon returning. On the Ryndam, the waves almost made us crash head on into the side of the ship. We did crash into that platform we're supposed to step onto, and heard something snap. All the crew's smiles disappeared, and for a while we thought we'd be spending the night in port. In Maui, the sea was so rough, people were falling on the stair moving down from the second deck on the tender. The funny thing about Maui, is they have a docking port, but I think only NCL uses it. Other ships are probably too large.

 

We told the crew we weren't going ashore in Icy Strait Point because it was a tender port, and our new itinerary now shows us docking. When the ship was in Bar Harbor, we'd been there several times, and chose to remain on the ship. Here we sat in the Concierge Lounge, when the Captain walked by and asked why we were not ashore. We told him. I bet he didn't care for the lost shore excursion income.

 

There are reasons to go ashore on a tender port. I would probably do it for any Venice stops, because they don't want the big ships in there.

Edited March 5, 2016 by knittinggirl

[Hlitner]

Monte Carlo and Gibraltar are ones we would skip on this cruise.

 

Great ports: you won't want to miss Lisbon, Rome and Barcelona.

 

Small ports like Cadiz and Cartegena (LOVE both) can be walked around easily in a morning or afternoon - give your self a short day!

 

While we agree about skipping Gibraltar, we would never recommend skipping Monte Carlo...or at least the port :). DW and I do not particularly like Monte Carlo, but we do love the south of France and have spent a lot of time there on cruises and land driving trips. We look at Monte Carlo as a "gateway" port to get to places like Eze, Nice, St Paul de Vence, Antibes, etc. From the port it is relatively easy to walk to the local bus stop (you can get the #100 bus to Nice) or take a local bus/taxi to the train station. And if you do not want to take the train west to places like Nice, you could go east to Menton. Lots of options here.

 

Hank

[iancal]

On a recent land trip we parked the car and walked over to Gibralter. Did a tour, then left two hours later. Drove into the white hill villages. If we were on a cruise stop at Gibralter we would rent a car and do this.

[cormike1]

We are doing a 24-day port intensive Med cruise in Sept. from Barcelona to Venice. I first looked over all the tours HAL had to offer. We are not museum people usually unless it is to see the Mona Lisa or David, etc. but would not spend hours looking at art by the "Masters". With that said we try and do walking tours of the city if it is old with great architecture. I then read about all the ports on Cruise Critic "Ports" and that changed my mind on quite a few of the cities and what we wanted to see. Please take the time to read up on the ports as you might find it will change your mind to. There are quite a few you can do on your own or a city tour that last a few hours and then go back to the ship for the afternoon. That is what we are trying to do. Good luck researching!

[Cornishpastyman1]

Dh and I are booked on a cruise next year to the Med. The number of stops is mind boggling.

 

Hi

 

What a superb itinerary ! I have always found any port to be interesting for at least 6 hours, so I can't suggest which you should miss, but in case it helps you narrow it down, in my signature below are playlists for videos from my cruise days at :

 

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

Cadiz, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Marseille, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/Pisa (Livorno,) Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia,) Italy

Gibraltar, UK Territory

Lisbon, Portugal

Vigo, Spain (Santiago de Compostela)

 

Good luck - if you need an easy beach day, of those Cadiz fits the bill very well. All the best, Tony

[catl331]

My fave of all is Barcelona..best to do hoho and get off at the market and then see the Sagrada. I always thought it was ugly but close up and with a tour guide I find Gaudi is a genius.

 

Also Sunday can make a port boring. We were in Cadiz on Sun. Stores etc. opened in the afternoon. We did take a HoHo earlier in the day--certainly no crowds etc.

 

In Florence one has to make an appointment to see David in the Ufitzi but there is a copy at some plaza. If this is the only time you may be on the Med. I say see it all. We did find Monaco boring.

[cruisemom42]

 

There are reasons to go ashore on a tender port. I would probably do it for any Venice stops, because they don't want the big ships in there.

 

Not sure what you are referencing. :confused: There is no tendering at any of the Venice docking locations currently, nor is tendering contemplated if they move the ships to a different location eventually.

 

 

In Florence one has to make an appointment to see David in the Ufitzi but there is a copy at some plaza. If this is the only time you may be on the Med. I say see it all. We did find Monaco boring.

 

The David is not in the Uffizi, it is in the Accademia. Both require tickets in advance if you don't want to spend hours standing in line. The copy is found in the Piazza della Signoria, in the place where the original once stood.

[mek]

Just another thought - may ports have shorter half day tours. Why not do throw some of those in the mix to break up long days?

[Marseydotes]

We have been on three Med cruises. The first one was a doozy because we thought we may never have a chance to get back there! So, we hit the bricks (cobblestones) running and saw as much as we could!

Yes, it was exhausting and it took a week to recuperate fully. But, I would do it again given those circumstances. Think it over.

But now our priorities have changed. We look more to getting a "flavor" of the place rather than must-see sights. We may or may not return. That's o.k.

So, take a tour if you feel it covers important things to you. (We never do ship tours--only private ones that are cheaper and follow OUR priorities.) half- day tours are great, especially if you can then sit at a cafe close to the port and enjoy some quiet, leisurely time soaking up the atmosphere.

My suggestions, for what it is worth:

Florence--my favorite place in the world (art, history, culture, architecture)

Rome--history and history and history

Cadiz--the finest wander and eat town

Lisbon--beautiful and mysterious

If necessary, I would probably skip Gibralter and Monte Carlo (unless you use it as a stepping-off port for Eze or one of the other small old towns)

Skip any tour that takes you shopping! You will have many opportunities to buy--don't pay money just to go shopping!

[z80yyz]

Cadiz is very walkable from the port. Tapas bars, the parks to right of port (just follow the road), even the old fort at far end. All doable at a slow pace in a short day.

 

Lisbon is a gem. We used We Hate Tourism Tours for a fabulous tour of Lisbon and Sintra with a few stops along the way.

 

Barcelona, use the HoHo buses.

[mskaufman]

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

(one day at sea)

Cadaz, Spain

Malega, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Marseille, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/Pisa (Livorno,) Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia,) Italy - a must see for dh

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - will probably pass after the long day in Rome.

(one day at sea)

Gibraltar, UK Territory

Seville Spain

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Vigo, Spain

(one day at sea)

Portland, England

Paris (le havre) France

 

 

We will be going on our third Med cruise this summer and have been to, and will be going to a number of these places. The good news is that not every port involves an all day tour and you can spend more time relaxing (if you want) than you might think. Rather than starting out with which ports to skip, I would start with identifying the ports you really want to see. Since this is your first trip to Europe there is a lot to see. Here is my recommendation of what to check out.

 

Malaga - It is a bit of a hike but the trip to Granada/Alhambra is very worth it

Barcelona - Do not miss - Has become DW's favorite. Watch out for pick pockets but we are going back this year.

Marseille - Another poster said you can skip this. I agree about Marseille, but a trip to a Provencal town (such as Aix) is very nice.

Florence - On a first trip to Europe recommend seeing Florence, especially if you might not get back

Cita - You already spoke about Rome

Gibraltar - Here is a port that you can spend part of the day at the Rock or shopping - Does not have to be an exhausting day. However, I don't think I would skip it all together.

Seville - Do it

Lisbon - Never been but I would certainly not spend the day on the boat.

Le havre - Another day to get off the boat to either Paris or Normandy

 

Personally, I would love to do this cruise. It is a great itinerary and I would be off the ship every day.

[Alberta Quilter]

Just another thought - may ports have shorter half day tours. Why not do throw some of those in the mix to break up long days?

 

I very much agree with this. I have to balance the days for my DM who recently turned 80. For our upcoming cruise, we alternate long days with short days followed by 5 sea days to rest up.

 

When we did the Med three years ago, of course, she wanted to see as much as she could. Sometimes, we couldn't help but have two long days in a row but we really did try to balance them with shorter days/tours (we did a mix of HAL and private tours). We did miss one touring day when she crashed and burned on the last full day of the 21 day cruise. Fortunately, we only had a DIY excursion planned so it was easy to skip. Unfortunately, it was to Capri which she really wanted to see.

[Cqis]

Fire eater,

I love your post. We are sailing in Oct.2016. We have been to all of the ports previously except, Barcelona, Venice and Monte Carlo. We are so looking forward to these ports..

Antonio Gaudi and his works have been a dream of mine since high school (now 70). Your description of the Sagrada Familia makes me wish I was sailing tomorrow.

[fire eater]

Cqis, I am happy you enjoyed my ramblings.

 

When you go around to the back of the Basilica, look up quite a way and you will find a carving of people (which may be a representation of the nativity of Christ?). One of the architects (after Gaudi) included Gaudi in the group.

 

I wish we were sailing tomorrow, too!

fire eater

[HELENPSL]

Not sure if you plan to go with a tour or on your own. One thing I would strongly suggest is getting "skip-the-line" tickets. If you're with a tour they can take care of it for you. On your own you can order them in advance. You pick your entry time. We went to Barcelona for 4 days ahead of our cruise last March and got the tickets thru our hotel. When we got there we waited 10 minutes for our assigned time. Otherwise the line to get in would have taken about 2 hours.

 

I will tell you that the place is simply breathtaking!!

 

Helen