getting from ports to towns

Hi

This will be our first cruise so still unsure about how things work.

Going on the Thomson Dream, do they provide transport from the boat to the cities and do they charge? we want to do the ports on our own without doing the organised tours.

thanks

Hi

This will be our first cruise so still unsure about how things work.

Going on the Thomson Dream, do they provide transport from the boat to the cities and do they charge? we want to do the ports on our own without doing the organised tours.

thanks

We are on the same cruise as you wilko-pink.

On our first cruise - also on the Dream - last year we only booked 2 excursions and went ashore at all the other ports on our own. We were lucky in that the ship docked very centrally at each destination with only a few minutes walk into the main town or city so no transfers were required (apart from the tender service into Cannes which was free). We intend to ´do it ourselves´ again this year in 3 of the 5 destinations.

Last year we did speak to some passengers who had previously visited Barcelona with Thomsons and had docked much further out than we did; they said that regular shuttle transfer buses had been provided on that occasion at a cost of just a few Euros.

All depends on the ports you are arriving

if you post the itineray someone will give advice.we usually do our own thing, sometimes buses are provided foc or in some cases you can walk from the ship to town/beach whatever,all down to where you dock

enjoy

Stevie :)

Hi

This will be our first cruise so still unsure about how things work.

Going on the Thomson Dream, do they provide transport from the boat to the cities and do they charge? we want to do the ports on our own without doing the organised tours.

thanks

Hi wilko-pink and welcome to the world of cruising.:) As campolady says it all depends on the ports as to how far away you are from town/cities and whether you need transport to get there. Also some ports are so easy to DiY I think it can be a waste of money to go on organised trips. It all depends on what you want and what's on offer. Sometimes the distance to get to a particular site may make you think it's better to just go with the Thomson trip and a good guide can really bring places to life.

From looking at your itinerary I'd say:

Calvi: (Tender port) - just get off on the tender and explore - it's a beautiful town, one of our favourite Med ports of call. There is a Citadel to wander around, a nice little town with some souvenir shops, cafes on the waterfront and a really lovely beach - one of the best we've seen in the Med and the only one where we went back to the ship at lunchtime to get our swimwear!

Palma: depending on your arrival time and sailing time, you can easily get into the town for a hour or two. It's an easy enough walk - you can see where the Cathedral is around the bay and the main part of the town is behind it. Alternatively you can get the Linea 1 bus from the bus stop right outside the port entrance and that will take you right into the centre.

Trapani: we loved - but it was a Sunday when we were there so it was rather shut-down and quiet. Lovely to walk around though - straight out of the port and you're there. We did do a Thomson half day trip up the cable car to Erice here and thoroughly enjoyed it as it's a very quaint town on top of a hill so superb views over Trapani, cobbled streets and a square with a lovely ambience and street cafes. It might be cheaper to get a taxi especially if there are four of you or you can double up with another couple or I believe it's possible to get a local bus to the base of the cable car but I haven't done that so can't advise you on that.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=erice+pictures&client=firefox-a&hs=rg4&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=qKc9Ur6SDIic0QWavoGgDg&ved=0CDAQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=610&dpr=1

Sorrento: we've done a trip here from Naples - it's a great town. If they tender you into Sorrento you may find there is plenty there to interest you for the day. I believe you can get a water taxi over to Capri but take great care if you do decide to do something like that independently that you build in plenty of time to get back. The ship will sail if you're not on board unless you are on Thomson excursions which they do wait for if delayed.

I'm always quite happy to do DiY if we're in the vicinity of the ship - a taxi could get you back if time is running short (although we always plan to get back to port in very good time, preferring to get off early in the morning and make the most of our time that way). But just remember a boat trip away from your port (if not under Thomson's control) could become a problem if sea conditions change and they suspend the ferries! :eek:

Civitavecchia; If you haven't been to Rome before I'd definitely recommend you go. The port is over an hour away though either by coach or train. You can get there on the train - we've done it a few times but again we've taken care to be heading back long before necessary to make sure we don't miss the ship. If you want help with doing it by train then I can post some info. But more recently we've done the Thomson's 'Rome on your Own' transfer. This gives us more time in Rome (we don't need to worry about trains and go back too early - we usually leave before 3pm if on the train but the coach transfer was nearer to 5pm last time we went). If you do this though I'd recommend doing some research to decide what you most want to see in the city. It's easy to get around and you can see a lot in a day, even on foot, but you need to plan your route for efficiency.

Hope you have a fantastic time - it's a really interesting itinerary. Enjoy! :)

knew you would check the ports for the OP :D

You beat me Kruzzee :)

me just lazy but your advice is probably much better than mine would be

you should in fact be made as CEO of the Thomson cruises ports of call person, and am sure many peeps on this forum would agree

hmmm I feel a poll coming along :eek:

Stevie

thanks for your time, they are very helpful. We were thinking of getting the train to Rome and then maybe the hop on hop off bus.

thanks for your time, they are very helpful. We were thinking of getting the train to Rome and then maybe the hop on hop off bus.

Easy enough to use the train. Turn right out of the port walk about 5/10 and station across the road. I'd recommend you get off early. don't forget to validate your ticket before getting on the train. Your train ticket is also valid on the Metro too. After a rather fraught experience trying to get on the train at S. Pietro station (I think we should have made the Guinness book of records with the number squashed onto the train!) we would always go to the Terminii to pick it up in future as that's where it starts. Hope you have a great time.

Hi if you aren't doing a Rome trip with thomson do also checkout the following...

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Rome_Civitavecchia_08-07-2012.pdf

The guide is really comprehensive and Tom also provides guides for other world wide ports if you check online... all for free!

As we are docking in palamos it's at least a 90 min coach transfer each way to bafcelona. Yes, Calvi is very walkable from the ship and has a lovely little citadel. As we are tendering off sorrento it's a great opportunity to transfer by boat ... again for free... And have a little bimble around this beautiful place.

Here is another guide which features sorrento....

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Naples-01-31-2012.pdf

Like the previous posts I would really recommend the erice trip in trapani, a lovely place, great views of the salt pans and two trips on the cable car.... Great family fun! :)

Rachael :D

This is also a good website

http://www.whatsinport.com/Civitavecchia-Rome.htm