zztop Posted August 4, 2007 #1 Share Posted August 4, 2007 I am taking a 12 day cruise to the mediterranean with my husband and two teenage daughters next july. Our ports of call are naples, croatia, venice, sicily,barcelona,cannes and livorno. Could someone give me info on which places are best to take ship excursions vs planning on own. Thanks zztop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted August 4, 2007 #2 Share Posted August 4, 2007 Sounds like a wonderful trip. The Europe Ports of Call Board is a wealth of information. Here is the link, since I noticed you are new to the board. I hope this will be helpful to you. WELCOME to Cruise Critic :). http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19 Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitaturbodog Posted August 5, 2007 #3 Share Posted August 5, 2007 Congratulations on the Med cruise! I wish I could join you! You might want to check out some other travel websites that focus more on the areas that you'll be visiting, like Fodors.com and Conde Nast. Although I LOVE CC, most of the info here is for the Caribbean and Mexico. Good luck with your own tours. I think it's a great way to see the region without being stuck in a big touristy group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted August 5, 2007 #4 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I have a Med. cruise booked for 2008 and I found more information on the Med. Ports of Call board than I could process, and I am covering 14 ports. It is a 24 night, transatlantic. But, you are correct in saying that there is alot more information regarding the Caribbean and Mexico. Information from a variety of sources is always a good thing. Marie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bright eyes Posted August 5, 2007 #5 Share Posted August 5, 2007 We do the excursions offered by Carnival. The reason is the ship will not leave you behind if you are late getting back from your excursion. Heard too many horror stories about the ship leaving without guest who arrived back late and were not on Carnival Excursions. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCF Posted August 5, 2007 #6 Share Posted August 5, 2007 We're booked on Splendor in 2008 for 12 day Med...and we're having the same challenge in finding good shore excursions. While agree there is a level of comfort in booking shipboard excursions in terms of not being left behind...but at the same time I just KNOW that there is more to Rome than the Vatican Enclave and other religious sites...yet that is pretty much all Carnival shore excursions offers for Rome! Carnival pretty much made the Caribbean the cruising destination it is...so the Carnival folks know the area and the tour providers. It stands to reason that the selection of excursions will be more varied and and available. In contrast the N.A. lines are relative new comers to the Med so their reach into the tour community is not what it will be in years to come. The longer they are in Europe the more time their staff has to build a more expansive shore excursion selection. We have started to hunt around on our own for shore excursions. We are finding some interesting local tour operators...it is just going to be tough tracking their honesty, dependability, etc. The other thing we are going to do is visit the European cruise lines and see what they offer in terms of excursions....then try to hunt those excursions up on our own! All of which makes cruising so damn much fun !!:) TOM&DEB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitaturbodog Posted August 5, 2007 #7 Share Posted August 5, 2007 I've heard good things about a limo tour in Rome that usually advertises on the top of these pages... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bphman Posted August 6, 2007 #8 Share Posted August 6, 2007 LIvorno definitely is a port to take an excursion. Not much in the city and Florence is 2 hours away. You can take a train to Florence but it's a long distance from the port and lots of things can occur to delay your return. Italy is notorious for sudden strikes and missed or cancelled trains. Venice is easy to do on your own as is Barcelona. Barcelona has a bus which goes around the city which is essentially a 3 hour narrated tour. You can get off anywhere and reboard. Dubrovnik is a beautiful city and a simple 5 Euro one way bus ride from the dock. Lots to see and do. Lots of shops and the least expensive city to shop in. The only problem is that you have to exchange your money for the local currency. They did not accept Euros except on the bus. In Messina, I would recommend an excursion to Taormina and the Amphitheater. Reasonably priced. We met family there so they took us around. Messina is not too exciting. Naples is a dangerous city. You can take a train to Sorrento or a boat to Capri but we did the Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri excursion. It was pricey but we enjoyed it. The only problem is the boat to Capri. TAKE MECLIZINE. When we left Naples, they handed out plastic bags to everyone. People wondered what they were for and soon found out. Cannes is very pretty and you could just walk around and have a nice linch. We went to Nice and Eze which was very nice but you could just stay in port. I can't say enough good about Carnival excursions. When we were in Monserrat, I fell down a flight of steps and hit my head. I had a nasty laceration and bled alot. No loss of consciousness. The paramedics came and wanted to take me to a hospital an hour further away for an x-ray. As a physician, I knew that was useless. The excursion leader arranged for transportation back to the ship to be seen by the ship's doctor. The care was EXCELLENT. He sutured me up and agreed there was no need to go to a hospital. The ship sent people by the cabin to check on me and offered to bring full menu room service for me. I told them I wanted to go to the dining room. They showed up with a wheelchair at dinner time which I declined. The medical care was free. They refunded the full cost of the excursion. They couldn't have done more for me. I will always use this as a lesson that, had I done an independent excursion, I would have been screwed. Hats off to Carnival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess123 Posted August 6, 2007 #9 Share Posted August 6, 2007 A friend of mine has just come back from Italy and spent a few hours in Naples before catching a ferry (she is married to an Italian) and says she does not understand why cruise ships still go to Naples as it is now so awful. I haven't been for years and just remember it being a nightmare to cross the road! Further up the coast is beautiful so that is worth doing a tour to if there is one. As bphman says, Croatia, Venice, Barcelona and Cannes are well worth exploring on your own. There are lovely private beaches in Cannes (expensive but beautifully maintained). Beware of pickpockets in Barcelona but it is also a great city with heaps to see, (and a great fruit market off Las Ramblas if you like that sort of thing) and nice shops (Zara etc) for your daughters. The bus tour is definitely worth taking too. FYI most shops ask for photo ID when using your credit card. Can't help on Sicily but the trip to Florence from Livorno is worth it; if Carnival runs one that does a part-escorted tour and then free time on your own, and their bus back, that's the one I would go for. P&O Cruises sails round the Med so their boards might have some ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winewanderer Posted August 6, 2007 #10 Share Posted August 6, 2007 I took the Liberty 12 day Mediterranean cruise May '06. You could do things on your own in all those ports except Livorno. But it depends on what you want to do and see. I agree a great place to start is the Europe boards. Just read what others are asking, suggesting, doing. Hubby and I generally never take ships excursions. We each took one many years ago and just prefer to do things either on own or with smaller groups. You do need to weigh though your comfort with this. Hubby and I are seasoned travellers so if say we were in Naples last year (we took the public ferry to an island called Ischia) and missed the ship we knew how to get to our next port via train and ferry. On last year's cruise we mostly did things on our own with one 8 person private tour in Cannes arranged with others we met our cruises roll call. One thing to note on private tours is the tour companies are committed to getting you back on time. They rely on your word of mouth for business. Also go to the Carnival roll calls and look up your cruise and start chatting with people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted August 6, 2007 #11 Share Posted August 6, 2007 ...and says she does not understand why cruise ships still go to Naples as it is now so awful. Ships still go to Naples because it's the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Capri. Naples is definitely not the draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moondawgie Posted August 6, 2007 #12 Share Posted August 6, 2007 In Naples I used http://www.sorrentolimo dot com - Gennero was right on time both picking up and dropping off, with a wonderful tour in between. It was the best tour I've ever had. In Livorno (Florence) and Cittivecchia (Rome) I did the Carnival on-your-own transportation only and found wonderful places on my own by walking - both cities are easy to navigate once you do some research. Try Rick Steve's travel books and website. The ports are far from the city, and trusting trains was not in my comfort zone (strikes, etc.). I loved the Med and found great things to do in all the ports. Just research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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