Mediterranean

[stokdok]

My wife and I (early 60s) are sailing on the Millenium, Barcelona to Venice, in Oct. Any advice on shore excursons would be appreciated. Is it best to rent a car, arrange car and driver, or take pkgs. offered by Celebrity @ the various ports of call?

[cusyl]

My wife and I (early 60s) are sailing on the Millenium, Barcelona to Venice, in Oct. Any advice on shore excursons would be appreciated. Is it best to rent a car, arrange car and driver, or take pkgs. offered by Celebrity @ the various ports of call?

I suggest you post this under the Europe board or the Celebrity board.

We just returned from the Med and are a little older than you. We only used the ship's tours as we wanted no chance of being left in a foreign port.

[Host Kat]

Howdy stokdok!

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic and the Need Help Forum!

 

I fully understand your need to know more information. However, you have posted on the Need Help Forum where members find how to use Cruise Critic's software. This is not the place for your type of post and the information you seek is off topic.

 

Yes, cusyl is correct, so per the Community Guidelines and to help you out I have moved your thread to the Europe Forum where it will be on topic. I hope you will be able to find it in the new location! Your fellow Cruise Critic members should be able to help you with more information there.

 

Also, please feel free to research the Celebrity Cruises Forum too. Click here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=28

 

I sincerely hope this will be satisfactory and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy trails to you...

 

Kat

[cberge]

My wife and I (early 60s) are sailing on the Millenium, Barcelona to Venice, in Oct. Any advice on shore excursons would be appreciated. Is it best to rent a car, arrange car and driver, or take pkgs. offered by Celebrity @ the various ports of call?

 

You have asked a lot of questions that have have ben asked and answered many times on this board...do a search and you will find all kinds of info on all the ports/excursions etc.You will find some do everything on their own with private drivers and some use the ships tours which for first timers can be very good.Depending on the ports and your comfort level driving in Europe renting a car would be up to you,but some ports no,and some ports use public transportation....just do a board search,and check your cruiseline's board as well.

[wwinfl91]

I don't know what other ports your ship will be stopping in but both Barcelona and Venice are ports that can be done on your own with a little research. You will have better luck asking this question and including what ports your cruise is stopping at.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[fmax]

I know it can be daunting trying to find info on these boards. Not sure exactly what ports you're hitting but here are some links with lots of info on the ports I did on my med cruise that started at barcelona

 

 

 

Barcelona

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=264642&highlight=faq

 

I would definitely recommending flying in a day or so ahead and spending some time in Barcelona.. this also helps with jetlag if you can settle in a few days before the cruise.

 

Pisa/Florence

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=264654&highlight=faq

 

Check your roll call boards for Celebrity. If there's already a thread going for your cruise, you might be able to join posters who have already arranged some private tours. Although I know some people do the ports on their own, for Florence/Pisa I did a private tour with others I had met on the boards.

 

 

Rome

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=283936&highlight=faq

 

Same comments apply as to Florence/Pisa

 

 

Marseille

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=264664&highlight=faq

 

This can easily be done on your own.

 

Villefranche

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=351143&highlight=villefranche

 

I did this port on my own. You can walk to the train station in Villefranche and take the train to either Nice or Monaco/Monte Carlo. I did the train to Nice and then the bus from Nice to Monaco, then the bus over to Monte carlo and the bus again back to Villefranche. There's some info in the thread above on Eze and some of the other smaller villages in the area.

 

If you're doing Greek ports, from what I've researched (I plan to do Greek cruise next year) you can do many of the ports on your own using local transportation.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

frances

[MercedMike]

We had a great time in the Mediterranean, with ship's tours in some places and independent in others. You can see the whole report at

Grand Med

 

Things I would particularly note: We would have felt VERY uncomfortable in Istanbul on anything other than a ship's excursion. The crowds, the confusion, the traffic -- and the attitudes -- would have worried us very much if we were not on a ship excursion.

 

If you have seen Florence/Pisa already, or don't mind skipping them, I really recommend the cooking lesson at Castle Oliveto. You will find the information on our site.

 

You could easily spend a whole day at Place de l'Horloge in Marseille.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[SuzieSmith]

It depends on your comfort level as others have stated. We were 2 couples in your age-range traveling together and did Rome, Venice, Athens, Mykonos, Barcelona, and Florence on our own and private tours for Istanbul, Ephesus, Amalfi coast/Sorrento/Pompeii, and our port in France(Marseille - we did a countryside tour). We used the ship's transportation to get to Rome, Athens, and Florence but could have used public transportation and been fine. We just wanted to be sure we got back in time. On our private tours we saw people that were 'doing it on their own' from our ship at the same places. So again, if you like to go off and explore and feel comfortable doing that sort of thing...go for it. We were not uncomfortable or afraid in any area or any country. Everyone was gracious and friendly. Some of the cities (Athens and Istanbul for example) are very crowded and there is a lot of traffic and I would not advise driving a car...use taxis or other public transportation. Use common sense and have a good time. I hope this helps. There is a wealth of info on this board already - you just have to search it out and then decide what you're comfortable doing. Have a wonderful trip...we did.