First Time Cruise - Unsure what Options I Really Have

Hey!

I'm heading out on Norwegain Epic late July. It's my first time cruising, so I have no idea what I am doing really and have started planning a little late.

I get cheap train travel around Europe through work (50% off normal fares), so that's something we're considering taking advantage of. I should add, this is for mainline trains, not metros or private "tourist" type trains.

Many of the excursions are fairly expensive. Here's our plan so far:

Naples - Pompeii On Your Own - $78

Taken a look at RomeToolKit website which offers train + entrance to Pompeii for about £46 / $60. Although the saving is small-ish, I'd prefer to be on a train than a bus. Plus, then we can come back whenever instead of at the specified time of the bus.

Rome - Rome On Your Own - $278

I was thinking perhaps there is a train from Civitavecchia (Parcheggio) to Rome? I can get tickets at around £25 (return) without any discounts and wouldn't be that much hassle compared with using the provided excursion. This saving is huge. We'd be adding the Colosseum tickets regardless, and I may be able to get train+Colosseum tickets together.

Florence - Florence and Pisa On Your Own - $298

Expensive for a coach journey to Pisa, then on to Florence.

Trains from Livorno to Florence (I guess they go via Pisa?) are £30 return for two.

If not, trains from Livorno to Pisa are £4, Pisa to Florence are £15 (single journey) and then about £16 to get back to Livorno, all for two as single journeys).

Add this a cost of £20 for tickets to the gallery. I don't think we'll be interested in climbing Pisa.

Cannes - Monaco On Your Own - $218

Again, hugely expensive for a bus journey.

Luckily a train is available. 30 mins from port to station. 25 mins on the train. £14 return.

Palma - Beach, Palma View - $84

We've not quite decided on what we're doing here as yet.

Either a beach day (at £120, no alternative) or a "magical majorica and train to Soller" (£184, again no alternative).

Prices are for two people unless stated pp

We're happy to do quite a few things on our own so we're not having to worry about being in certain places at certain times, or stuck on a bus driving around.

How does all this sound?

Total Cruise Excursions: £740

Total DIY: £280 (I've added a little extra just in case).Also worth noting is £120 of this is Palma beach day.

Booking it all isn't particularly daunting as I had something similar for our Honeymoon and that went without a hitch.

I guess I am just looking for some reassurance.

It the destination is far away from the port like Florence, I would be nervous to be back in time because the ship is not waiting for you. Just check the train schedules, how long, how frequent. Maybe Pisa is nice enough instead of Florence which is a longer train ride away. Lucca is closer and a really cool town.

You will find more useful advice in the Italy destination forum, especially for Rome.

A lot of cruisers do DIY just plan to be back maybe 1 hr from sailaway time just to give you wiggle room

You NEED to be onbaord 30 min prior anyway or you will be using the train to the next port

The Italy forum will have some good info

also any other ports of call

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

I would be really careful with this. You need to remember that most of the tourist stops are at least an hour away from the port. If there is a delay in the train, you could miss the boat. With Caribbean cruises, I love to book third party tours or just go to the beach via taxi, but it is hard in Europe. During our honeymoon. There was an accident on the only major road between Rome and the port, and we were two hours late to the boat! Luckily, we booked with the ship, so it was held for us. Just keep that in mind... you are going to want to be very conservative with departure times!

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Make sure you're conservative with departure times (I agree with above) but you 100% can do these ports by yourself!!

Cruise lines live to make you think you an only do it wth them. Complete rubbish, we aren't all made of money :-)

Worst case scenario you could travel to the next port and meet the ship, absolute pain but not impossible.

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We have only done one ship excursion in Europe and that was basically just transportation that was a good deal. You can do all of this on your own, just be careful to allow plenty of time to get back.

Also look into private excursions, which can be significantly less than ship tours with less people and usually a better experience. Use the ports of call area of these boards or trip advisor or your roll call for ideas. We've done those in many ports with good results.

DIY is inexpensive (even without your discount), & tolerably simple.

And safe as long as you use your head and, for instance, double-check return train times on arrival & plan to take the second-to-last possible train back to the ship. leaving the last one as a fall-back.

Naples to Pompeii you take the metro from the port to Naples centrale station Piazza Garibaldi) where you catch the Circumvesuviana train (end station is Sorrento). Half-hourly 7-day service, your destination is Pompeii Scavi station about 30 (?) minutes away. Return ticket costs about €10

Civi to Rome you take the free port shuttle from ship to port gate, then 25 (?) minute walk or local bus to Civi station. Train takes 55 to 80 minutes, depending which station you get off. Currently about €12 return ticket, includes unlimited use of Rome's metro and service buses. Trains can be uncomfortably over-crowded but they don't leave folk stranded on the platform.

Livorno - Florence / Pisa. Take NCL's (pay) shuttle from ship to Livorno centrale station - you're in luck, I think NCL is the only cruise line which runs shuttles to the station. Direct trains to Florence (Firenze SM Novella) call at Pisa centrale on the way & take 90 (?) minutes, currently around €20 return. SM Novella is right by "historic" Florence.

Trains just as far as Pisa are more frequent, mebbe 15 minutes journey time and about €10 return. The Field of Miracles (leaning tower etc) is about a 20 minute walk from the station.

If you want to visit both Florence and Pisa it can be done though probably without time for inside visits, so just a "flavour" of both. A train ticket Livorno - Florence allows you to break your journey in Pisa at no extra cost. Some folk will recommend Pisa first, but I reckon Florence first because

- if you're captivated by Florence you can put Pisa off for some other time

- you can more easily figure your timings

- there are more trains from Pisa to Livorno than from Florence to Pisa

- if you totally screw-up, Pisa is close to Livorno so you can jump a taxi from Pisa to the ship.

Cannes - Monaco. The coastal train makes sense, though I've only used it from Villefranche to Monaco

Palma - Years since I've been there, can't help. But I suspect your discount doesn't apply to the Soller train.

You've used a mix of £ & $.

Just to confuse you I've used €.

My figures / times from memory, may not be accurate.

Stax of info on the ports-of-call forums.

JB :)

Alternative to Pompeii at Rome... consider local transit type train to Ostia Antica. Very interesting and concenient train stop right there.

We took train from Livorno to Pisa on our own and had a great day there then train back. Florence would have been too much for us. Much less expensive than cruise line tour.

Same for Villefranche to Monaco for morning and then from there to Nice for lunch and afternoon stroll along the beachfront. Then train back to Villefranche. Very reasonable cost and saved enough for a really nice lunch at a place next to the Nice yacht harbor. Salade niçoise of course with some really nice red wine. :cool:

We are now big fans of independent touring.

NCL shore excursion prices are ridiculously expensive and they do play on the fear factor by implying taking a ship excursion is the safe way to ensure you are not left behind

as already mentioned the Europe ports of call forum has lots of info on travelling independently with public transport and recommended local tour companies

because of my husbands walking difficulties we usually book private tours and fill the van with fellow travellers by the roll call forum and it works out much cheaper than ships tours

They usually have insurance to guarantee to get you to the next port at their expense if by any chance they get you back to the ship late-however I have never heard of that actually having to happen

Thanks so much for the input!

Is there a way to find out what time we have to be back on board the ship each day before leaving for the whole cruise? We'd plan to be back by late afternoon/early evening anyway, but will allow extra time from some of the towns we visit.

Thanks so much for the input!

 

Is there a way to find out what time we have to be back on board the ship each day before leaving for the whole cruise? We'd plan to be back by late afternoon/early evening anyway, but will allow extra time from some of the towns we visit.

all aboard is 30 minutes before the sailaway time noted on your itinery

all aboard is 30 minutes before the sailaway time noted on your itinery

It is also noted in the daily program delivered to your cabin the night before and with a sign at the exit of the ship in the morning. Important in case the time has changed!

all aboard is 30 minutes before the sailaway time noted on your itinery

Best make that usually 30 minutes before sailing.

Or 60 minutes for ports where the ship anchors offshore instead of at the quayside & you're tendered ashore in boats Not sure about Cannes, but other ports you mentioned aren't by tender.

That's good for a general guide, but as mentioned you'll be told in ship's daily news-sheet and there'll be a notice at the gangway.

JB :)

Sorry to bring this up again, the itinary on ncl website doesn't show the sail-away times.

Is that because they're not finalised yet, or will they never really show?

Sorry to bring this up again, the itinary on ncl website doesn't show the sail-away times.

Is that because they're not finalised yet, or will they never really show?

Sail away times are subject to change for all kinds of reasons. Most important thing to do is check the all aboard time on a sign as you leave the ship.

Neal