Pleas help! Mediterranean port excursion ideas

[falkensmaze]

Embarrassed to admit that I did not know all that much about Pompeii.....and it was the last visit on our LONG excursion (booked thru NCL) but we were truly overwhelmed with the history and astonished at this lost civilization. For us, it was TOTALLY worth it! But again, we also had seen Sorrento and Positano earlier in the day. For me, the part that they could skip is the visit to the Limoncello factory! All else was great!

 

Thanks its a while away and haven't done the research but i think im sold now, we only walked about naples last time which is as i'm sure many know not the prettiest city and we have options for other "ship days" so Pompeii it is! There is an option for

Pompeii & Enchanting Sorrento which is about $100 pp so i think i will take this up. Don't think we could justify the $210pp for

Flavors of Sorrento & Pompeii. Thanks!

[gorbeduck]

Hubby and I did a Mediterranean cruise last March and research is key. In Barcelona we used the city bus? They had plug ins for headphones and it was so informative. Hop on and hop off what you want to visit. We saw so much and it was very affordable. I got a ton of books and ebooks from the library to help us plan, along with cc boards. Good luck!

 

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[TSUmom]

We used shared tours. Even if your roll call is slow some of the shared tour sites like Rome in Limo may have tours already set up by your fellow cruisers and they may be looking for a few more people. Join the group - especially if you feel DIY'ing is overwhelming. There are other shared tours but we used Rome In Limo so I can't comment on the others - RIL was awesome for us.

 

Being your first cruise and first time in Europe it is a bit over whelming. As others have said research and find what will interest you then go from there. I use Rick Steves guides for my info.

 

We are in the planning stages of our 2 Med cruise and I still research. The only thing I can say is enjoy, it will be busy and so much to take in, so take time to breath and just enjoy your surroundings.

[TSUmom]

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

 

 

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I enjoyed Pompeii but must admit I did not do any research on it. We will be going back and I have been reading up about the city and the ruins and I must say I am really excited about it now.

[cruizin4livin]

The first time I went to these ports, I used CruisingExcursions.com. They gave a good overview of each port, and they offered discounts on multiple ports.

[azzy73]

Thank you everyone. These are all great suggestions. The more research I do the more comfortable I am feeling. I love all these ideas. Keep them coming!

[trvlgirlmq]

Pompeii was amazing! I traveled with my mom and 2 teens and we all loved it. We are DIY folks so I can't comment on tours. We took the local bus to Pompeii, spent a few hours and then bussed back to Naples for a pizza lunch. It was probably one of our best days.

[Captain Canuck]

we did Pompeii of a cruise..had planned DIY with a bus from just outside the port....then the ship put on a bus just to Pompeii with a drop off then pick up later. really cost effective and meant did not have to get out of the port area on one bus then find the Pompeii bus. Likely not advertised at first so other tours fill

 

 

can recommend watching Decoding the Ancients

Episode 3 - Vesuvius & The Fear of God

 

puts Pompeii in context

[Wendy-Europe]

Pompeji and Herculaneum are very easy to reach, it is a great experience and very cheap.

 

You go (or take the tramway in front of the port exit) to the train station porta nolana. You buy a train ticket ( If you are there on a sunday it cost half of the price, they had some kind of sunday special), depending what you want to visit: Ercolano is the station for Herculaneum, Pompeii scavi the station for Pompeii.

 

You cannot go wrong, Pompeii entrance is direct outside the station, Herculaneum maybe a 10 minute walk away from the station.

 

Trains are frequent and reliable, nearly every 20 minutes, price something around 3€

 

Entrance fee for the sites is 13€ .

 

I highly recommend the audioguide. You skip the crowds, the guide is interactive and really interesting and not boring. Worth the additional fee.

 

We visited both sites on different cruises and enjoyed both.

 

If you don't want to leave the city, you can visit Underground naples

 

http://www.lanapolisotterranea.it/home_ing.htm

 

Very interesting too!

[fabnfortysomething]

at Naples port there will be a line of taxis and their drivers greeting you and trying to impress you with their English

 

there is a fixed price to take you to such places as Herculaneum and Pompeii or Vesuvius

they will drop you off and pick you up at an agreed time 2-3 hors later

you pay after they return for you so no worry of pre paying and wonder if they will return!

 

From memory it was about 70 euros for Herculaneum a couple of years ago

worth it for 4 of us

[Wendy-Europe]

1

Civitavecchia (Rom), Italien

2

Livorno (Florenz), Italien

3

Cannes, Frankreich

4

Palma de Mallorca, Spanien

5

Barcelona, Spanien

6

At Sea

7

Neapel, Italien

8

Civitavecchia (Rom), Italien

Hi again,

 

tell me if I am wrong – but it seems this is your itinerary (you were not very specific about your cruise and there are many ports at the Mediterrean….

 

So I am glad to help:

 

Have you decided how to reach the port? There is a bus from/to airport, the company is reliable, they offer tours too. They also offer private transfers.

 

http://www.civitatours.com/en/tours/airport-transfer/

 

You can also take a train from airport to port – but you have to change trains at Rome – maybe you prefer the more comfortable solution.

 

Livorno: You are not allowed to walk through the port – so you must take a transfer (for a fee) from gangway to the port exit. Then you have to decide: train to Florence, train to Pisa? Livorno itself is not so interesting – compared to Florence or Pisa.

Again – it is not difficult to use the trains in Italy.

Their website is in English too – so check the available connections and prices:

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

 

I have never been at Cannes with a cruiseship – but I recommend to explore the city on your own – there is a lot to see and no need to book an excursion.

 

Palma: it is beautiful – we decided to walk through Palma, visit the cathedral and just enjoyed the city. If you leave the more touristy sites you find nice cafes where the locals drink their cup, stroll through a local market, eat some icecream… Enough to see to fill a day. Depending where your ship is docking it could be easier to use the ships transfer for a fee than to look for the (for sure cheaper) public transport. If you want to walk from port be prepared to walk for a while (depending of the berth it is between 4 and 5 miles one way). There is a bus (Number 1) between port and Palma, something around 1,50 Euro single

 

More information:

http://www.portsdebalears.com/en

 

Barcelona: Public transport is easy and reliable (beware of pickpockets at the metro). Port entrance is not far from famous Ramblas (their main shopping area).

If you want to visit the famous Sagrada Familia, make sure to make a reservations – your time slot is guaranteed and you can skip the lines. Just use their official website – so you don´t waste money with agencies. I highly recommend to visit one of the towers – your timeslot is for the elevator to the tower. You are allowed to stay at the cathedral itself as long as you wish.

 

http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/

 

Same system works for different other sites:

https://www.casabatllo.es/en/online-tickets/

http://www.parkguell.cat/en/buy-tickets/

 

I hope, my informations are useful – if you have any questions I am happy to help.

 

Wendy

[Tansy Mews]

If you stop in Livorno, your itinerary will likely say Florence. There is no sea port there - you must travel from Livorno.

 

Please DON'T consider taking the train from Livorno to Florence. Yes, trains are easy, but you might miss your train, or the train might be late.

 

The cheapest way to go to Florence is by tour or transfer. A tour means that someone will drive you in a bus or car or van and stays with you. Ships offer that. Often they offer a transfer as well. They will get you to Florence and then drop you off. You then have a few hours to sightsee on your own. And then you meet the bus for the trip back.

My rule of thumb - if it is more than an hour from the port, don't do it on your own! Pay for it.

[Tansy Mews]

You need some tools for do-it-yourself. A map! I love my offline map on my large iPhone. I use CityMaps2Go. Download it beforehand, and the specific cities or maps you need - prep at home or when you have wifi. And you are all set.

You use your phone built-in GPS to figure out where you are. And then you are shown on the map. It doesn't give turn-by-turn instructions, but you can figure it out.

You might also want to download Google Translate and the languages you need. You can type a question and show it to someone. Or try to say it out loud yourself.

Two basic tools!

 

Frances

[Tansy Mews]

<snip>

So we did everything DIY. <snip>

My advice though would be to take NCL tours in both Naples and Livorno. They may be expensive but they are worry free, no chance of missing the boat, or getting lost, the docks in Livorno are huge and you berth right in the middle. This is your first cruise and first time in Europe and if you take the NCL excursions it just takes that worry away and allows you to enjoy the trips.

 

I agree, especially for Livorno. And for Naples, either take a private tour or a ship's tour. You'll have plenty to plan for in your other ports of call.

 

Also you said you have Rick Steve's guide to Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He talks about how best to tackle your ports. When to take a tour, when you can do it on your own. And look online for any updates.

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/guidebook-updates-med-cruise

 

You will have a ball!

[Wendy-Europe]

Frances, could you explain why you recommend to book a tour at Naples?

 

I've been there often and found it very easy to travel around. You are nearly unable to go wrong to the ancient sites, very well made audioguides are available for a reasonable price in many languages, so there is no necessity to hire a guide.

 

Naples Underground tours are also available daily in different languages.

 

I never felt unsafe ( and i was alone at one trip) I never carry a lot of money with me, just the amount i expect to spend. Maybe I would not walk alone at some parts of the city during the night, but at daylight most parts of Naples are safe for tourists. Safer than Cabo st lucas or Mazatlan for example for sure.

 

I did (except russia, with a tour ticket you are not allowed to stroll in your own) all port excursions on my own and never had any problems.

[Tansy Mews]

Frances, could you explain why you recommend to book a tour at Naples? <snip> I've been there often and found it very easy to travel around. .

 

I agree that Naples is easy to visit. Lots to see such as the Archaeological Museum. And easy to take a boat to Capri.

 

I wondered though whether the OP would be interested in visiting the Amalfi Coast. Perhaps a neophyte might prefer a tour to one of the main archaeological complexes rather than taking the Circumvesuviana train and doing it on her own. That trip is easy to do, of course, as you point out. But having a guide - whether an in-person guide or book or app - helps to understand what you are seeing.

 

So Naples is “perhaps a guide”, if they were interested in going outside Naples.

 

On my last trip in the fall 2017 we took the train to Oplontis. Very interesting. This next trip a couple of us are taking the train to Sorrento. Some years ago we spent six days in Naples and were energized by it. Love the sights in the city and general area. Visited Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri, all by local transport.

 

So I guess it depends on what the OP wants to see. My brother-in-law who hasn’t visited the area is planning on a van tour to a couple of places on the Amalfi Coast plus Herculaneum.

[Tansy Mews]

Rick Steves has a phone app with guides. Some are audio guides. Free. Check your App Store.

[tel2]

Not trying to hi-jack this post but on this topic is pompeii worth it? Doing same cruise in October.

 

 

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We did this cruise twice. Went to Pompeii both tines. I thought it was amazing. The one place I thought was not worth the time was Pisa.

[falkensmaze]

Thanks for the Pompeii feedback, we will also be doing cannes again, but as we have done it before we intend doing Monaco this time, how accessible are the trains? and maybe throwing in nice too!!

[azzy73]

1

Civitavecchia (Rom), Italien

2

Livorno (Florenz), Italien

3

Cannes, Frankreich

4

Palma de Mallorca, Spanien

5

Barcelona, Spanien

6

At Sea

7

Neapel, Italien

8

Civitavecchia (Rom), Italien

Hi again,

 

tell me if I am wrong – but it seems this is your itinerary (you were not very specific about your cruise and there are many ports at the Mediterrean….

 

So I am glad to help:

 

Have you decided how to reach the port? There is a bus from/to airport, the company is reliable, they offer tours too. They also offer private transfers.

 

http://www.civitatours.com/en/tours/airport-transfer/

 

You can also take a train from airport to port – but you have to change trains at Rome – maybe you prefer the more comfortable solution.

 

Livorno: You are not allowed to walk through the port – so you must take a transfer (for a fee) from gangway to the port exit. Then you have to decide: train to Florence, train to Pisa? Livorno itself is not so interesting – compared to Florence or Pisa.

Again – it is not difficult to use the trains in Italy.

Their website is in English too – so check the available connections and prices:

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

 

I have never been at Cannes with a cruiseship – but I recommend to explore the city on your own – there is a lot to see and no need to book an excursion.

 

Palma: it is beautiful – we decided to walk through Palma, visit the cathedral and just enjoyed the city. If you leave the more touristy sites you find nice cafes where the locals drink their cup, stroll through a local market, eat some icecream… Enough to see to fill a day. Depending where your ship is docking it could be easier to use the ships transfer for a fee than to look for the (for sure cheaper) public transport. If you want to walk from port be prepared to walk for a while (depending of the berth it is between 4 and 5 miles one way). There is a bus (Number 1) between port and Palma, something around 1,50 Euro single

 

More information:

http://www.portsdebalears.com/en

 

Barcelona: Public transport is easy and reliable (beware of pickpockets at the metro). Port entrance is not far from famous Ramblas (their main shopping area).

If you want to visit the famous Sagrada Familia, make sure to make a reservations – your time slot is guaranteed and you can skip the lines. Just use their official website – so you don´t waste money with agencies. I highly recommend to visit one of the towers – your timeslot is for the elevator to the tower. You are allowed to stay at the cathedral itself as long as you wish.

 

http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/

 

Same system works for different other sites:

https://www.casabatllo.es/en/online-tickets/

http://www.parkguell.cat/en/buy-tickets/

 

I hope, my informations are useful – if you have any questions I am happy to help.

 

Wendy

 

Yes that is my Itinieary. Thank you so much for all the useful information. We arrive at FCO a day before the cruise. I wanted a day to recover from jet lag and so as not to feel so rushed. I got a room in Civitavecchia at Hotel San Giorgio. My thought was to get there by train from the airport since we have lots of time and it’s the Much cheaper way to go. I checked into shuttle bus which is a good option but timing won’t work with when we arrive (11:10 am) and it looks like shuttle bus leaves at 12:30 from FCO. I don’t think that will be enough time to get through customs and get bags. What do you think? Private transfer is too expensive considering we are in no rush.

 

As for tours I am still researching but I appreciate all your info!

[azzy73]

We did this cruise twice. Went to Pompeii both tines. I thought it was amazing. The one place I thought was not worth the time was Pisa.

 

I have heard that about Pisa but I don’t think I’d forgive myself to not see tower at least once in my life if I’m all the way over there lol.

[azzy73]

I agree that Naples is easy to visit. Lots to see such as the Archaeological Museum. And easy to take a boat to Capri.

 

I wondered though whether the OP would be interested in visiting the Amalfi Coast. Perhaps a neophyte might prefer a tour to one of the main archaeological complexes rather than taking the Circumvesuviana train and doing it on her own. That trip is easy to do, of course, as you point out. But having a guide - whether an in-person guide or book or app - helps to understand what you are seeing.

 

So Naples is “perhaps a guide”, if they were interested in going outside Naples.

 

On my last trip in the fall 2017 we took the train to Oplontis. Very interesting. This next trip a couple of us are taking the train to Sorrento. Some years ago we spent six days in Naples and were energized by it. Love the sights in the city and general area. Visited Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri, all by local transport.

 

So I guess it depends on what the OP wants to see. My brother-in-law who hasn’t visited the area is planning on a van tour to a couple of places on the Amalfi Coast plus Herculaneum.

 

Yes I am looking into a tour out of Naples that takes us to Pompeii and them up Amalfi Coast to Sorrento and Positano. I would love to see Naples as well but unfortunately no time to do everything and those other places are more of what we want to see.

[azzy73]

You need to do some research to narrow down your options. Once you know what you want to do, Pompei via train or in a tour, come back and people can give you specific options. Otherwise you are just going to get recommendations for what people did. But what I did with two kids may not be the best fit for you...

 

Also the level of fitness will make a big difference. Can your mom walk long distancs? Maybe break up long 8 hour days with local shopping Stops near the ship. In order to see what works for you check out some guidebooks ( often you can get some free from the library- even a few years out of date gives the basics,just check prices and opening times).

Good thinking. My mom gets around well. We don’t want to walk miles and miles but sightseeing isn’t a problem.

[Captain Canuck]

Amalfi coast

 

we tend to tour on our own. Amalfi coast though we took the ships tour. traffic there is insane and thought there was a good chance we would be late getting back to the ship. we were. but as we were on the ships tour they waited...

[SeahawkSiren]

we did Pompeii of a cruise..had planned DIY with a bus from just outside the port....then the ship put on a bus just to Pompeii with a drop off then pick up later. really cost effective and meant did not have to get out of the port area on one bus then find the Pompeii bus. Likely not advertised at first so other tours fill

 

 

can recommend watching Decoding the Ancients

Episode 3 - Vesuvius & The Fear of God

puts Pompeii in context

 

That is what we ended up doing was the bus through NCL. Our excursion was "Pompeii On Your Own." I can't remember the exact price but thought it was reasonable. The excursion was 3.5 hours long with about a 30 minute bus ride each way and 2.5 hours spent at Pompeii.

 

Yes I am looking into a tour out of Naples that takes us to Pompeii and them up Amalfi Coast to Sorrento and Positano. I would love to see Naples as well but unfortunately no time to do everything and those other places are more of what we want to see.

 

Pompeii is amazing and was one of our favorite places on the entire cruise. Even after having 2.5 hours there that was not near enough time to cover everything. It is a massive site! We have more to look forward to on a future visit I guess to see more of it.

 

I see you are possibly planning a Pompeii and Amalfi Coast combined tour so this piece may not necessarily apply for you now but may help others. For anyone doing the NCL Pompeii On Your Own, go to this website and prepurchase your entry tickets to Pompeii and print them off before you leave home. That particular NCL excursion only provides the transportation, not the entry tickets. We were the only 2 people on our tour bus that prepurchased tickets and other people told us on the return bus trip that they spent the first 30-45 minutes waiting in line at the Pompeii entrance. That's valuable time when you only have 2.5 hours to begin with! Since we already had our tickets we were able to go in a separate entrance and get right in at 9:00 when the site opened (there were already hundreds of people waiting to get in, most of whom were with tour groups who got priority entrance over individuals waiting to buy tickets like those other people on our bus). Even with hundreds of people in line there were only two ticket windows open :rolleyes:

 

http://pompeiisites.org/Sezione.jsp?idSezione=1334

 

Here is a link to my review. Our only common ports are Barcelona, Rome and Naples. Barcelona was our starting port so we were there a couple days prior. In Barcelona we did go to Sagrada Familia and Park Guell (and prepurchased tickets to both places with specific entrance times and printed the tickets before leaving home). Sagrada Familia is a must do in Barcelona! After Sagrada and Park Guell we took the hop on hop off bus around town. We also went to a flamenco show that evening.

 

Rome was our ending port so we had a couple days there after the cruise. We did guided tours with Walks of Italy for the Vatican and the Colosseum which I reference in detail in my review. I highly recommend a guided tour for the Vatican and the Colosseum. We got so much more out of the experience and it really brought color and knowledge to what we were seeing with educated guides with advanced degrees in Roman history leading us. And of course skipping the lines was great too!

 

Whatever you do, have a great cruise! This cruise was our favorite to date. The Mediterranean is absolutely amazing!

 

My review has alot of photos too, but of course may only be helpful for you for Barcelona, Rome and Naples. Feel free to ask any further questions.

 

And I do agree with the others who recommend Rick Steves. We had his Mediterranean Cruise Ports book and downloaded several of his audio guides. Great information!

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2506769