Tours

[thefer]

Hi

 

I will be on Symphony of the Seas from June 8-15.  The majority of the tours are sold out.  It is me.  Need suggestions on tours or doing it alone.  I prefer tours if it is difficult. 

 

Day 1 Rome

Day 2  Naples

Day 3 at sea

Day 4 Barcelona Spain

Day 5 Palma De Mallorca 

Day 6. Marseille, France

Day 7. La Spezia, Italy

Day 8 Rome

 

Pre- cruise, 3 days in Rome

Post- cruise, 2 days in Florence, week in Padova

 

Any help, I would appreciate it.  I booked the cruise a yr ago but realized I needed to book the tours.  This is my 2nd time to Italy.   Last was all land

 

[euro cruiser]

Naples is very easy to do on your own, there is an embarrassment of riches to choose from but once you do, we can help you see how to do it DIY.  The ship docks right in the historic part of the city so if you want to see Naples, you just walk off and you're there.

 

La Spezia is also a good DIY port, for seeing Cinque Terre.  You can walk to either the ferry port or the train station from the port shuttle drop off point to get to the five villages.

[CruiserBruce]

I would look on your Roll Call...see if there is anything there that you could join.

[thefer]

No one has responded to my roll call.  No activity 

[mapleleaves]

We have no idea about your interests, budget or physical abilities so it's difficult to say what you should do at each port.  

Your best bet is to buy or borrow from your library, Rick Steves book "Med Cruise Ports".  The book provides information on each port; the history, sights, activities, tours, and DIY options.  Figure out what you want to see and do, then come back to this forum for assistance with specifics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edinburgher]

all of the ports you have named are doable as DIY days if you are prepared to put in homework/research time before leaving home.

 

Your ports are located in different countries, therefore different forums.

 

On the SPAIN Ports Forum, there is this sticky at the top of the page and reading some of this might help you decide for Palma, Majorca.  Alternatively rogerb keeps a close eye on new posts to it and can usually respond.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2697012-palma-de-mallorca-diy-new/page/16/#comment-65375860

 

Barcelona is of course also in Spain, so same forum.

 

Naples is a super easy DIY providing you stay in the city or go to Pompeii or Capri., but DIYing the Amalfi Coast would be tricky for several reasons and should perhaps be avoided.

 

Marseille you could again stay in the city and explore it.  Many ships offer shuttles from the cruise port at Fos to a point close to le Vieux Port.

 

Might also be a good idea to look at the shorex being offered even if you cannot book any as they will give you an idea of the highlights in each location and what could be possible.  Also read as much as you can on all your ports (google is your new bf) to help you decide what interests you most, then maybe search the forums for previous threads which you can read.

 

To search forums, go to the general forum  for each port, not an individual thread, and input the name of the port in the empty search box under your username, hit the little spy glass and all previous threads containing that name should appear ready for reading.

 

This is just one example of a search result for la Spezia on the Italy Ports Forum  which is a potentially good starting point for you, but there are many others waiting to be found on a search..  (ignore the reference to driving)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2911139-la-spezia-anything-to-do-within-a-short-drive/#comment-64723978

 

it is really a case of reading reading reading and the more you do so, the more it will all begin to make sense.

 

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by edinburgher