Suggestions on excursions for Edge Spain, Italy, France cruise

[tusconcam]

Hi, going on a May 1, 2023 12 night Spain,France, Italy cruise aboard Celebrity Edge. Looking for any suggestions for the ship's Shore excursions  (or other) for: Palma de Malllorca, Nice, Provence/Marseille, Florence/Monacco, Naples, Sardinia, Sicily, Santa Margherita..

(Sorry if overdoing it with all the ports, but any info would be an assist on the reviews I am reading is appreciated.) We love architecture, history, vista's, walks in the towns...the usual but we are too worried about going it alone on a brand new (to us) independent guide/tour without some background.

If we found a Celebrity tour that incl a glimpse of the main city/town and nearby village(s) at Port stops that would give us a feel for these interesting ports. (of course a tease to get us coming back)

Thanks very much. 

[1025cruise]

You might want to check out the ports of call boards for your ports.

[bigbenboys]

We did a private tour out of Nice to St Paul de Vence, France and Eze. I liked St Paul de Vence, France the best.

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, tusconcam said:

Palma de Malllorca

We did an ebike tour and it was great!  Agree, with @1025cruise that checking out the ports section of CC will give you some of the latest information on excursions.

[mom says]

Get a copy of Rick Steves Mediterranean  Cruise ports guidebook.

[newtocruiseinblue]

For Sicily, we took this celebrity excursion and loved it:

Taormina and the blue grotto: 

• Stroll through the medieval streets of Taormina and visit the Greek Theatre built during the 3rd century B.C.

• Wander the fashionable Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and the bustling main street of the Corso Umberto, lined with boutiques and cafés.

• Embark on a scenic cruise of the spectacular Taormina Bay, visiting the incredible Blue Grotto.

• Take a refreshing swim near Isola Bella and enjoy a refreshment of mixed almond cookies and cannoli with prosecco.

[upwarduk]

Marseilles 

We have now been twice.

The first time we didn’t take a ships tour, but paid for the transfer bus into the old harbour(€12 in 2022). We were advised to do this as there were a few ships in the commercial harbour that day. We were told that we’d be picked up where we were dropped off, but when we returned there was no bus. Eventually, we noticed the queue way down the street. 

 

We never found the terminus for the Road train, which is a sight seeing trip around the Old Harbour which takes you up to the Cathedral, but we did see the Cathedral on our return to the ship.

 

On our visit in 2022, we decided to book a tour, due to my mobility issues. This was the one place that didn’t have many tours advertised before we sailed, so I booked the Hop on Hop off bus via the ship. It came to the port to pick us up and there was one stop where we could get out.

 

 

This was them stop, but it was a very steep hill and we had little time, so I just sat on a wall to take in the view. My husband did walk up , but said there was no time to go inside.

 

 

 

The old harbour was very busy.

 

Just before we sailed there was a tour added to Aix en Provence, but it warned of cobbled streets and hazardous walking conditions, so I decided not to change my booking.

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by upwarduk

[wineoclock]

For Naples we did Pompeii. 
Florence we had a private guide Rome in Limo I think & went via Pisa as well. 

[chemmo]

If Celebrity are running the Soller  mountain train journey from Palma I would strongly recommend. Like many of the Spanish Islands the coasts can be very commercial but the interior is much more beautiful. If you investigate and decide to do it independently then leave a good time margin as the trains do not always run to schedule.

 

 

[upwarduk]

2 hours ago, wineoclock said:

For Naples we did Pompeii. 

I had always wanted to see Pompeii. Initially I booked a Pompeii on your own tour, but before the cruise some Excursions were reduced in price and others were added. I cancelled the On your own tour and booked a Priority Access tour, thinking we would be taken early morning. This included a visit to a farm where we watched Mozzarella being made.

 

 

 

We were then driven along the Amalfi coast to Sorrento, where we were given 45 minutes for lunch.

Lastly, Pompeii. 
We started the tour at 15.15, in horrendous heat, without any shade. 
Looking back, I think I would have been better keeping the Pompeii on your own, as we could have chosen an earlier time for the tour and we could have done it at our own pace.

 

Vesuvius ( from the coach).

 

Driving towards Sorrento

 

Outside Pompeii 

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by upwarduk

[Kitekat]

From Naples, I would recommend going to Herculaneum.

 

The metro station just up from the cruise berth will get you to the train station from where you can catch a train direct to the town, Ercolano. A walk down hill gets you to the well preserved Roman remains. An English speaking guide is worth while although you can wander around on your own. The remains are way smaller than Pompeii but much better preserved. It's an easy trip and not too far to do on your own.

[CruiserFromSC]

I am currently on the Beyond doing a similar itinerary and trying to do a live blog.  We are 4 days in and have 13 days left to go (B2B) so maybe my blog would help with some ideas.  The title on the Celebrity CC boards is “Beyond Live(ish) B2B Barcelona to Rome and Rome to Barcelona, September 24 and October 3, 2022.”

 

Anyway, we did a tour yesterday from Nice (Villefranche) and it was fabulous.  Here’s what I wrote:

 

”So, I don’t usually make recommendations on tours, etc., but I am making an exception in this case.  We took a wonderful 8-hour excursion from Villefranche with Ingrid S with Tours by Locals.  The name of the tour was “3 Countries in a Day.”  This was an exceptional private tour.  We drove along the middle and upper coastal roads with photo stops of Nice and Villefranche and the took a guided tour through the village of Eze (only 29 residents).  The only way to see the village is on foot though and it is a very steep climb.  But, at the top (429 meters/1400 feet), you have spectacular views of the French Riveria.  Then we drove into Italy to the Italian Riveria village of Dolceacqua for a lunch stop and a guided walk through a medieval village.  Next, we drove to the Principality of Monaco and drove a short way on the Formula 1 race track and visited the port with luxury yachts and the palace in the distance and then an opportunity to visit the casino in Monte Carlo.  This was a fantastic tour if you wanted something a little different.  Highly recommend.”

 

[SailingHigher]

Like CruiserFromSC, we also enjoyed Nice + Eze. My DW called it the Nice & Easy excursion. We were able to slip away from our guide and do both stops on our own for at least 90 minutes each. It was a great half day with wonderful shoulder season weather. (BTW, the walk to the top of Eze from the parking lot at the bottom of the village is definitely strenuous and not for anyone with bad knees or other mobility issues.) 

 

I’ll also recommend the Marseille Soap Museum Tour, because Celebrity’s description didn’t do it justice. We started early, but not too early, via motor coach to the Notre Dame Basilica. (Guide was great and motor coach was brand new). Hike to the top was a workout but the views were worth it! Then, we had 30 minutes learning about soap and received terrific lavender soaps that we stamped ourselves in various patterns. Finally, we walked all over the harbor, around the fishmongers’ stands, and spent time in cafes and shops until assembling at City Hall for the return to the port around 12:15 p.m. I thought Marseille would be a dud, but so far it was may favorite day. Great fun, beautiful and a very well executed excursion. 

 

PS - The petite train tour did not look comfortable for tall folks. 

[EarthByShip]

From Naples, we did Pompeii first then went to and climbed to the top of Vesuvius.

[upwarduk]

On 9/28/2022 at 11:22 AM, SailingHigher said:

thought Marseille would be a dud, but so far it was may favorite day. Great fun, beautiful

We took an Open bus tour from the harbour where the ship was docked.

This tour takes you to the top of the hill, but unfortunately doesn’t give time to have a proper look inside the church.

The old harbour of Marseilles.

Edited October 28, 2022 by upwarduk

[Texed]

On 9/27/2022 at 9:01 AM, CruiserFromSC said:

Anyway, we did a tour yesterday from Nice (Villefranche) and it was fabulous.  Here’s what I wrote:

 

”So, I don’t usually make recommendations on tours, etc., but I am making an exception in this case.  We took a wonderful 8-hour excursion from Villefranche with Ingrid S with Tours by Locals.  The name of the tour was “3 Countries in a Day.”  This was an exceptional private tour.  Highly recommend.”

I completely agree about tours with Ingrid, we have gone with her five times.  But, I would book with her direct. Her web site is: Bestfrenchrivieratours. (Kultours) 😊

[George C]

Naples - first tour Pompeii then in Naples get the best pizza in the world at Brandi which is oldest pizza place in Naples.

Barcelona - we did half day tour of city with Barcelona day tours - did this with others from our ships roll call

Florence - we did tour with papillon this was the highlight of our 12 day cruise, first we did quick trip to Pisa the to Florence where we had skip the lines entrance to museum with David. Then on way back we stopped for a free wine tasting at a organic vineyard. I organized this and then added 6 others from roll call, cost was just a hundred each this was 6 years ago, driver host was fantastic.

get on roll call , love the Edge had a penthouse last year with the move up. Our stops were very similar to yours.

Edited October 28, 2022 by George C