Toulon France

[thunefeld]

The NCL Spirit Southern Europe * Eastern Mediterranean Cruise

October 26-Nov 6, 2013

Venice > Greece > Turkey > Western Italy > Barcelona

 

As wonderful as all the other ports were on this trip, we could not work up desire to spend more time on a bus (to Provence), so we skipped the shore excursions and instead went into the old-town portion of Toulon.

 

In WWII, the Germans occupied Toulon, a very strategic port for centuries, so the allies bombed the dickens out of it. Most of Toulon was destroyed (and rebuilt in the 50s). The old town portion is only about 20 square blocks of alleys and piazzas with sidewalk cafes. We were there on Nov 5, a chilly pre-USA-presidential-election day, and many shops were already shuttered for the season. An hour of walking around covered it all, and we were back on the ship soon thereafter packing for disembarking in Barcelona the next day.

 

Toulon was altogether forgettable; even though it was my first time in France.

 

Terry Hunefeld & Ann Dunham

Inn At Moonlight Beach Bed & Breakfast

San Diego

 

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Our posting of our Istanbul On Our Own adventure!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36086839#post36086839

 

Our Athens On Our Own adventures posting:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36083644#post36083644

 

Our posting of our Izmir-Ephesus Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087284#post36087284

 

Our posting Mykonos, Greece On Our Own

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087446#post36087446

 

Our posting of our Napoli - Naples - Pompeii - Sorrento Italy Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087629#post36087629

 

Our posting of our Napoli - Livorno – Pisa - Florence * NCL "On Your Own" Shore Excursion

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=36087973#post36087973

 

 

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PORTS OF CALL ON YOUR OWN:

 

If you’re on an NCL shore excursion, the process for disembarking for one of their paid shore excursions is streamlined, straightforward and efficient like all of the processes on NCL. This is quite a feat considering that there are sometimes thousands of cruisers getting off the boat to board dozens of different buses.

 

However, if you wish to do your own thing, and be among the first off the ship, here is a tip: For example, we wanted to do Athens “on our own” and it was our first port of call – so we had no experience with the disembarking process. We wanted to be in the first group off the ship to “beat feet down the street” to get to the metro and to the Acropolis when it opened at 8 a.m. to beat the crowds because Rick Steve said that the best time to be at the Acropolis is before the tour busses disgorge throngs of tourists at 10 a.m. He was dead-on correct!

 

BEWARE: NCL Spirit arrived at the cruise terminal at 6:40 a.m. We were told by two different NCL employees the evening before that there would be an announcement as to when we could disembark, so to be “waiting in our room” or in a “public area” until the announcement. We were discouraged from queuing up near the stairs or elevators prior to the announcement. When we had not heard anything by 7:20, we wandered down to see what was happening only to find that disembarkation had begun 25 minutes before! I inquired why (again asked 2 separate NCL employees) who replied that the ship does not make announcements before 8 a.m. So, there you have it… if you want to be first off before 8 a.m. on an NCL cruise, you need to be aware. My motto after this misinformation was to ask multiple different NCL employees the same question until I got the same answer THREE times. That seemed to work okay.

[katiepe]

I would agree. We also found Toulon to be a bit of a waste of time and probably should have booked a tour but like you we were "toured out".

Why dont they stop at Cannes instead?

[mskaufman]

Toulon was our first stop and we did a half day to Aix. Contrary to Toulon we found it very interesting to walk around there. Interesting architecture and artists, even on Sunday. Glad we got to see some of Provence.

[Ashland]

Toulon was fortunately our first port day and thank goodness, it was our jetlag day..just a quick walk about town on a Sunday and back to the ship....Toulon (western med) and Gothenburg (Baltics) are now my two least favorite ports.