cruisegal415

Has anyone ever booked an excursion in Italy with "Project Expedition" tours? They have a tour we are interested in to both Pompeii and Herculaneum from Naples but there are no reviews. It is operated by Askos tours. 

On 5/9/2024 at 12:01 PM, John Bull said:

We stayed in Ravello for a few days on a road-trip. Beautiful, quiet (can't be sure about that in daytime), and truly glorious views from much higher up than the coast road.

Sorrento we found "pleasant", but - dare I say it - rather bland. That said, you know it & like it - so go by your own thoughts rather than mine.

Your cruise tenders into Positano, so need to caution you that "Positano" on bus tours means no more than a photo-stop on the high coast road overlooking the place 😟 

You'd need a tour of some sort - can be done by local bus but you start with a bracing (😏) uphill walk to the coast road where you catch the hourly bus to Amalfi, then a reasonably-frequent bus up to Ravello - and that might be pretty time-consuming.

 

Since you've not been there, I think Capri your best choice. There are inexpensive little ferries which run between Positano & Capri (they actually start their route in Salerno), or your ship might offer a tender service to Capri.

I agree with the others that on Capri itself is the way to spend the day.

From near the harbour you can take the funicular up to the town - behind the town there are spectacular vertical views down to the sea.

We never got to Anacapri, where there's a chairlft.

 

Hint. Leave your credit card in your cabin safe & take your partner's card to Capri. When you stop for a coffee or a beer you'll thank me for this little piece of advice 😏🤣

 

JB 🙂

 

If we took a ferry from the port in Amalfi to Capri, is it difficult to wander around the island on our own? And if we wanted to go to Anacapri also, same question.  Walking? taxis available? A day exploring these two places seems like a nice day.  I see that the ferry ride takes about an hour, so we would have about 5 hours or so.  We have to take a tender from the ship and I remember last time we did this, since we were not taking the ship's excursion, it took a couple of hours after we docked until we could get a tender from the ship.

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

The consistent feedback this spring from regular visitors to the Amalfi coast is that the crowds this year are already making it uncomfortable, and it's not even swimming weather yet.

This is very concerning, as our cruise is in August!

wow that is interesting and good feedback! We enjoyed Positano when we last visited, and I would certainly not mind going there and Sorrento again (love Sorrento, but it holds a special place as that is where my grandparents are from).  That being said, we have visited there but have not been to Capri/Anacapri.  Some folks recommend a boat ride around Capri, don't know if that is something we should look into.

Our cruise in August is landing in Positano.  The cruise line offers an excursion to the Emerald Grotto, but having read about it, that sounds like a waste of time.  My parents did the Blue Grotto and said we have to go there! However, when we were last in Positano several years ago, we took an excursion to Sorrento and really loved that town. I see there is an excursion offered that goes to Sorrento and Ravello, which is supposed to be beautiful also.  For those of you who have done both, would you recommend a boat tour around Capri including the Blue Grotto, or a day in Sorrento/Ravello?

Our August Oceania cruise starts and ends in Rome.  The last full day of the cruise is an overnight in 

 Civitavecchia.  Since we wil have spent three days pre-cruise in Rome, and will be transferring from the port back to Rome the next day, we have no desire to do a day trip to Rome.  We are willing to jump on a train to see other parts of Italy that are do-able.  I don't know that there is a specific "all aboard" time since we are overnighting so length of time may not be an issue.

Any ideas/suggestions about where we could spend the day? 

18 minutes ago, cjc23 said:

 

May I ask whom the private excursion was with, as wanting tp book half day morning soller by train and tram.

Mallorca Private Guides was the name of the company.

4 hours ago, Coral said:

I have to say Vienna and Salzburg had the best Christmas markets on my Danube cruise. I absolutely LOVED both cities. Vienna was one of my favorite cities and I did fly in early to explore this beautiful city and fell in love with Vienna. We were able to do one day in Salzburg as a day trip and another day in the Lake District in Austria for another day trip (Saint. Wolfgang and Saint. Gilgen). Both had Christmas markets in their glory. 

 

I did not go to Budapest.

 

They both look good and life is full of compromises. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

I just wanted to say that Viking has great marketing in the US. It is the name most people are familiar with. There are a lot of other companies that rank higher and may include more things for the same price. If you haven't looked at Avalon, Amawaterways, Emerald, Scenic, Uniworld - you may want to. Some may look more expensive but may include more (more drinks, more excursions, tips included, etc....). Each line is a little different in what they offer. Also, Viking has the worst payment terms. They want money a year in advance while other companies take a deposit and then money 90 days or so before sailing. I would explore some other lines before making a decision.

Thanks for the tip about looking at others for comparison! I was taken aback that they wanted full payment in September of 2023 for a trip in December of 2024!

5 hours ago, QueenofEverything said:

Tough choices!  We have been on 3 Christmas market river cruises, 2 on the Danube.  Both were Nuremburg to Budapest (or reverse). Vienna is wonderful.  Two days would be great.  Many markets in town, we only went to the big one by the town hall, but with 2 days you could go to multiple markets. Have not been to Bratislava or Linz, both would be appealing to us.  However, Regensburg has the most wonderful Christmas market.  It is called the Romantic Christmas Market and it is at the Thurn and Taxis palace (on the grounds).  You do have to pay to get in this one, but I think it was only about 4 euros each.  It is absolutely beautiful, fresh evergreen branches cover the booths and everything with white lights.  Also, lots of fire pots burning lovely smelling wood.  The items at this market seemed a little nicer and a little more unique than some of the other markets.  Just a lovely experience.  If you are interested in WW2 history, you want to go to Nuremburg and take a WW2 history tour.  The rally grounds are there as well as the courthouse.  There is a Documentation Center there that teaches about the rise of fascism, absolutely incredible.  We went back to Nuremberg for a second time just to spend more time in this museum.  Passau is a very pretty town with a decent market, but our second time thru we opted for a day trip to Salzburg.  One of our best optional tours anywhere.  I would be happy to answer any questions you have if I can.  I don't think you can go wrong with either itinerary.  

Great tips! Thank you.  My husband doesn't understand why we are building a cruise around Christmas markets, but it just seems so magical! Especially for the holidays.  I think we will do the one that goes to Nuremburg, as hubby is a WWII history buff.  I definitely want to skip Passau for Salzburg.  I know it's a long ride there and back, did you feel that you had enough time there?

1 hour ago, niksmom630 said:

@cruisegal415, curious did you just pay the difference? I didn’t  realize there was a $10 maximum on drinks covered under the basic package…

Yes! In fact the only things we bought on the ship were the add-on prices for our drinks, and our bill at check out amounted to a whopping $22.80. This included a $1.20 uncharge for something at Cafe Baccio twice and about 4 drinks at the martini bar.  Certainly way less than paying the extra charge per day to upgrade to the premium plan! But in the end, we came out ahead, because they cancelled one of our excursions (the ship arrived too late due to weather) and we had on board credit, so we left with them owing us $$.  LOL

Hello! Never taken a river cruise before, and haven't visited this part of the world yet. Been wanting to do a Christmas market cruise for years. We have the choice of two different Christmas Market itineraries on Viking  One itinerary is this: 

1st option: Budapest to Passau

Day 1: Budapest (we would do a pre-cruise there and come a few days early)

Day 2: Budapest

Day 3: Bratislava, Slovakia

Day 4: Vienna

Day 5: Krems, Austria and Scenic Sailing, Wachau Valley

Day 6: Linz, Austria

Day 7: Passau, Germany

Day 8: Passau, Germany 

This itinerary offers a couple of post-tours that we would be interested in: Prague, or Munich and Salzburg

The other itinerary is this:

Budapest to Regensburg

Day 1: Budapest (again, would do a pre-cruise here)

Day 2: Budapest, Hungary and Scenic Sailing Danube Bend

Day 3: Vienna (differs from first option as includes an extra day in Vienna as opposed to Bratislava)

Day 4: Vienna

Day 5: Krems, Austria and Scenic Sailing, Wachau Valley

Day 6: Passau, Germany (differs from above which has Linz, Austria)

Day 7: Regensburg, Germany

Day 8: Regensburg, Germany

This itinerary offers a post-tour that we would be interested in: Nuremburg and Prague

So I guess the difference is, one versus two days in Vienna, eliminating or keeping Bratislava (leaning towards the two-day Vienna one on this choice); one day in Passau versus two days in Passau, but the one day in Passau includes Linz, which we would prefer; two days in Passau versus two days in Regensburg (the second day of both are disembarking days, and we would go on to our post-cruise city).  Which brings me to: post cruise choice: Prague and Nuremburg, or Munich and Salzburg? Both of those alternatives have equal appeal to me.

If anyone has done one or the other or both of these itineraries, please weigh in on which you think is better?

Thanks!

On 5/11/2023 at 8:02 AM, QueenofEverything said:

We have done two Danube Christmas Market cruises (One Avalon, One Viking), and one Rhine Christmas Market cruise (Viking).  We loved them all but I think I would recommend the Danube for this itinerary.  I would definitely recommend one that includes Budapest, a fascinating city with great Christmas markets.  If you are interested in WW2, definitely include Nuremberg on your agenda.  Visit the documentation center and rally grounds.  Also, Nuremberg has one of the biggest Christmas markets!  Both of our Danube cruises were Nuremberg to Budapest, or the reverse.  If  you can, definitely add a couple of days on each end.  As someone else mentioned, be sure your departure date is actually after the markets open.  They vary from place to place.  The larger cities seem to open earlier with the smaller towns closer to the traditional first Sunday in Advent.  You can easily google the towns you will be visiting to check.  We like to travel right after Thanksgiving (Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend worked well, just avoid Sunday!)  Those early December departure dates also seem to be the most popular, so keep that in mind.  Be sure to pack light so you have room for all the treasures!  Happy to answer any questions if I can.

I have been trying to decide between the Danube and the Rhine for the Christmas market river cruise and was looking at one that sails Dec 22-29, but I read that some of the markets close right after Christmas. Also, being from south Florida, I wonder if it will be too cold for us?

On 5/26/2023 at 4:17 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 

Happy to see you over here as I have followed your adventures on Royal Caribbean many times.  Loved your review and thank you for taking us along on your journey. 

 

Did you ever find time to confirm this?  My understanding is that they are not. 

 

 

Very interesting.  On Millennium full size martini's were available with the Premium package.  I have heard of passengers with the classic package being able to get a small one but I've never paid extra for a martini with the Premium package. 

 

We were on the Infinity May 15-24. No martinis were under $10. But they were gooood!

32 minutes ago, roger b said:

 Hi Cruisegal,

                     45 mins to the train station, you must have had a crooked taxi driver who took you on a trip round the houses, this was unfortunate as it should not take longer than  15/20 mins .

                       My answer to this is to put the trip on google Maps and show it to the driver when you get in the taxi !!

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Train+Sóller,+Carrer+d'Eusebi+Estada,+Palma/Port+de+Palma+de+Mallorca,+07015+Palma,+Illes+Balears/@39.569638,2.586144,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x12979256a071f9a5:0x2746db424c476f4d!2m2!1d2.6537915!2d39.5766648!1m5!1m1!1s0x1297920f07e67919:0x8389b14beed361ea!2m2!1d2.6266877!2d39.5528829!3e0?authuser=0&entry=ttu roger b

No it was our private driver and it was bumper to bumper getting out of the port. 

On 5/30/2023 at 7:14 PM, roger b said:

Hi Cruisegal,

I am pleased everything worked out for you and you were able to see a large slice of what Mallorca has to offer.

Just one point that you might not have realized is that you still have to queue to pick up your tickets if you book on line.

 I did a tour for some friends a week ago and they were able to do everything that you did but did Palma and the cathedral first .

 They caught the 12.15 train Soller then the 2.00 pm tram to pt de Soller ,spent a little time in Valdermossa and made it back to the ship by 5.00 pm.

  Their ship did not leave until 8.00 pm !! I agree it's down to timing if you do it yourself and how much you want to see personally I feel that one way  train journey is enough and I would have got a taxi back to Palma then one would have more time in Palma following your plan to do it on one's own.

 

 

It definitely depends on timing and the ship's schedule.  We had to be back before 5:30 and since it took us about 45 minutes to drive from the port to the train station, we didn't want to chance being late on the way back.  I think, in retrospect, as much as we enjoyed Valldemossa and the ride down, if I were to do it myself, I'd just take the train to Soller and the tram to the port of Soller and spend some relaxing time in both those places before returning to Palma to spend more time there.

As a follow up of the above post, if I were to do it again, without a tour guide, I think I would do it this way:

1) Buy tickets a week in advance for the train and the tram on line.

2) Take the ship's shuttle or a taxi from the port to the center of town (Palma), then take the 10:10 train to Soller to get the most out of the day.  Alternatively, explore Palma a little and wait for the crowds to thin out and take a later train.

3) Spend about an hour or so in Soller, then take the tram to Port of Soller.

4) Eat a leisurely meal in Port of Soller.  There are a lot of nice looking restaurants right on the water that looked very inviting. 

5) Take the tram back to Soller, and catch the last train at 2 pm back to Palma.  That would give adequate time to explore Palma and see the Cathedral (really not to be missed).

This eliminates the trip to Valldemossa, but it makes for a more relaxing day.  I felt rushed trying to do Soller, Port of Soller, Valldemossa, and see the Cathedral in Palma.  We really didn't have enough time to even explore Palma, which we would have liked to do.  The drive from Soller/Port of Soller to Valldemossa is beautiful, if not scary, but I felt we were trying to fit too much into one day and still get back to the ship in time for all aboard.  Maybe if we had more time there (all aboard was 5:30, but because of the distance from Palma to the port, and the fear of traffic, we had planned on leaving Palma no later than 4:30).  

Our ship docked at 7 am, but there was no point in rushing out because the first train to Soller wasn't until about 10 am; the Cathedral in Palma doesn't open until 10 am; and I'm not sure but I think I read that stores don't open early, either. If you plan on visiting Valledemossa in addition to Palma, Soller and Port of Soller on your own, be mindful of the train and tram times, as well as the bus schedule.  But while Valdemossa was nice, and the right there was beautiful, we didn't really spend more than 45 minutes there, an hour in Soller and a half hour in Port of Soller, so that's really not enough time to enjoy those places.

I just wanted to follow up to update everyone on what we ended up doing in Palma. Our ship docked at 7 am; on board time was 5:30 pm.  My original idea was to take a taxi to Valldemossa, then to Port of Soller, then the tram to Soller, then take the train back to Palma and explore Palma/see the Cathedral.  Thanks to suggestions from Roger, we switched the itinerary to start from Palma, to Soller, to Port of Soller, to Valldemossa, back to Palma and see the Cathedral. 

I played around with the idea of doing it ourself, taking a taxi to Palma town center to catch the train to Soller at 10:10, booking the 12 pm tram to the Port, then taking a taxi or bus to Valldemossa and taking the bus back to Palma, but my husband was nervous about doing it on our own.  We ended up booking an excursion with a private tour company, which turned out to be worth the expense for the following reasons.

(1) First of all, it is a long drive from the port to the town center.  Celebrity did offer shuttles, for a fee, but it was nice to be picked up at the port.  There was a lot of traffic.  We were picked up at 9, and had a 9:50 am train reservation.  I learned that if you do it yourself, you get on one train, where there are a lot of people, and the first train doesn't leave until 10:10.  If you are only buying tickets one way, I think you have to purchase them the day of, in cash.  There were an awful lot of people buying tickets and waiting on the train, and it looked crowded.  One thing I found out was that if you book a private tour, the tour guide gets the tickets in advance, and there is a separate train running on a parallel track that seems to be only for tour people. Our tour guide booked us into a private car on the train (for an extra amount of $, but I think it was worth it) so our group had our own car on the train.

(2) When we got to Soller, we had some time to explore the town and taste the orange ice cream. We had tickets on the 12 pm tram to Port Soller, again, if we did it ourselves, it was quite crowded and some people didn't have seats.  Our tour guide managed to get us on the tram first, and made sure we had seats.  If we did it ourselves, we may not even have had seats.

3) We only had about a half hour in Port Soller, which was more than enough time.  There isn't a whole lot there, but there are lots of restaurants on the water.  If I were to do it again, I might skip Port Soller to give us more time in Soller, Palma, or Valldemossa.

4) The drive from Port Soller to Valledemossa was amazing! But scary! You are on mountain roads, very curvy, and quite close to the edge, which is a long drop.  We passed quite a few buses, which was very scary as it doesn't seem like there is enough room for two cars (or a car and a bus).  I don't know if we would have found a taxi in Port Soller, I didn't see any.  There was a bus that we could have taken, but I don't know if the bus schedule would have lined up to when we left.  

5) We didn't spend too much time in Valldemossa as we were concerned to return to Palma in time to see the Cathedral and get back to the ship on time.  Since there was so much traffic coming out of the port, we didn't know if it would take as long to get back to port from Palma (it didn't). But it was reassuring to have our own guide and driver to make sure we left in time and had enough time in Palma.

6) Our guide took us through the Cathedral, which was nice. Some of our group did not care to see it, so they had more free time in Palma.  We did a tour of the Cathedral in Valencia with just the audio guides, and it is a big difference to have a real, live, guide instead of just the audio guide.

This is a long post so I am going to post my recommendations for a true DIY visit separately.

14 hours ago, niksmom630 said:

It was an early start to the day with last minute packing  / rearranging, 

but I managed to make it into one suitcase, one carry on, and one “  personal “ item. 
 

All are definitely what you would call “oversized” , including the main suitcase which weighed in at 61 pounds. United premier silver status came in handy. 
 

Because we are extending our stay a few days post cruise in Barcelona, I quickly learned its nothing like picking for 7 days in the Caribbean. 

We are on this cruise and also were on your plane from EWR! Packing for this trip was as tricky as when we went to the British Isles in late August/early September. My husband and I also traveled with one large suitcase each, one carry on each and one personal item each. I tried very hard to limit what I brought but I kept checking the extended forecast and it kept changing so I kept adding items of clothing!

We are going on a Spain-Portugal cruise next week.  I've looked at the projected weather for all our ports and it seems like for most of the ports, it's going to be moderate most of the time during the day, but cooler in the morning and at night.  Can you help this Florida girl figure out what to pack? (Here in south Florida, there's little variation in the temperatures.  If it's going to be hot in the afternoon, it's hot in the morning and hot at night).  For most of the ports, it seems that there is a high ranging from low to upper 70's in the day, but the mornings, when we leave for our excursions, can be what I would call "chilly" being in the upper 50's or lower 60's. Does one dress for what the high temperature is, and bring along a jacket? I usually would wear capris and a short sleeve shirt, would I be cold in that for the mornings? If I wore pants, would I be too hot in the afternoons? Sometimes when the temperature is in the mid-to-upper 70's, it's actually much warmer in the sun.  

1 hour ago, patrice1 said:

Agreed, but also include Tasquinha Canto do Fado in Mouraria. It’s in my neighborhood and I take all my guests there. Good food and Fado , which starts early enough (8pm) to not keep you out till midnight.

Oh that sounds good! The places I found on Trip Advisor all seem to start the music really late (for us).

We are taking a Celebrity cruise that starts in Lisbon. We are getting in the day before, and have a Tuk Tuk tour planned for that day, and plan on going to sleep early so we can hit the ground running the next day, which is embarkation day.  We are taking a half day tour on embarkation day to Fatima, then are being taken to the port for a 1:30 check in.  But here's the thing-our ship does not depart that day! We have an overnight in Lisbon, then another day in Lisbon (Day 2 of the cruise) and we depart about 6 pm Day 2.  So, here's my question.  After we go to the ship and check in at 1:30, take some time to eat lunch and maybe get acquainted with the ship, we have the whole rest of the afternoon and evening to deal with.  Rather than staying on board, we probably will go back into Lisbon.  I don't want to arrange anything formal, so does anyone have any ideas about what to do, where to go, where to eat dinner? (We'd prefer to eat dinner in Lisbon).  Remember the day before, we will have done a 4 hour Tuk Tuk tour so we will have at least seen many of the sights. 

14 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

We do 14 days ( 2-7 days cruises B2B) with just carryons. We are Elite Plus so we each get two bags per leg. We send everything out, no washing in the room. Saves the checked luggage fee and no waiting for luggage at the airport.

. 

You are my hero! Can you share tips for packing for 14 days with just carryons? 

I was surprised to read this! Our last two Celebrity cruises were just 5 and 7 day so it wasn't an issue but we're doing a 9 day European cruise next month and I had no idea! When we last did a long (12 day plus 3 days on then front end) British Isles cruise, we were on Princess and was able to wash our clothes twice during our cruise.  Yes I know they offer laundry service but the thought of having our clothes washed along with strangers somehow just skeeves me out.  That's a real shame to learn. I'm glad I came on here to look for this topic before we went! I definitely wouldn't have had enough underwear lol.

1 hour ago, roger b said:

 I thought I would post this to show the distance  the long walk to the port entrance from the largest cruise ships :

 

 

Wow that is a long walk from the ship.  I didn't see any taxis right where you disembark from the ship.  Are there taxis at the port entrance as well as the shuttle? How much is the shuttle? Cash only? 

40 minutes ago, roger b said:

Most cruise lines offer a shuttle into town it stops in front of the cathedral,it is about a 20 min walk the station.

Taxi into town about 20 mins.

No knowing which quay your ship will dock at but the big ships dock at quay 7 which quite a long walk to the port entrance.

So I understand, if there is a shuttle, it's a 20 minute shuttle ride, plus a 20 minute walk from there? But if we take a taxi from the port, it's a 20 minute ride? Trying to figure out how much time to allow.