Few questions re 1st Cruise!

[Ajsis]

I am going to be booking Royal Princess 12 day Barcelona to Venice - our 1st ever cruise and we would greatly appreciate some advice (these forums are so helpful!!!). Should I book transfers through Princess or just get taxi at airport? We will arrive a day early and there r 4 of us (2 adults, 2 children). How can I get info on local tour companies? boards suggest they r cheaper than booking excursions through Princess. Finally, how much time should i allow between final disembarkement and flight home? We will be in Venice overnight on ship day bf we leave. Thank u in advance.

[Essiesmom]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. the first thing you need to do is get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and read up on what there is to do in each port in the time you have available to you. He will have clear instructions on how to do much of it yourself. Next, you need to find the roll call for your cruise. Roll calls are where you can 'meet' other CC members who are sailing with you. They will be full of plans for independent tours and you might find some that suit you. As far as transfers, there is an area here called Ports of Call. Go to the Europe board and see what they are saying about transfers. We have not sailed out of Barcelona, but we have flown from Barcelona a couple of times. If you choose to take a taxi, be aware that they charge for more than one bag per person. so, if you elect to have the driver put your carryons in with the larger baggage, he will charge for each bag. EM

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Essiesmom really covered it well, so I will not dupe her comments. Another place to look is Tripadvisor.com

[warm47]

I am going to be booking Royal Princess 12 day Barcelona to Venice - our 1st ever cruise and we would greatly appreciate some advice (these forums are so helpful!!!). Should I book transfers through Princess or just get taxi at airport? We will arrive a day early and there r 4 of us (2 adults, 2 children). How can I get info on local tour companies? boards suggest they r cheaper than booking excursions through Princess. Finally, how much time should i allow between final disembarkement and flight home? We will be in Venice overnight on ship day bf we leave. Thank u in advance.

 

I will also say welcome to CC being a new member myself although not new to cruising. In July 2011 we did a btb Med cruise out of Barcelona. The first cruise called on Venice. It was wonderful. You have in for a real treat! We usually take cabs everywhere instead of waiting for transfers, but if travel is new to you you may feel more secure on an official tranfer. Barcelona is a wonderful city so we planned to spend a full day after arrival for touring there before embarking on day 3. We stayed in a hotel near the port at the Amni World Trade Center named the Eurostar. We also stayed another night there after disembarking, took another tour, ate dinner with new friends and were fresh for the long flight home. So I would recommend doing the same from the port where you will disembark. Even though the ship is staying in port overnight, you will be cruising to the very end and have to get up early with less sleep than other nights at disembarkment. Even the smoothest disembarking experience is tiring. As for excursions, the excursions on the ports in this area are very well organized and exercuted. We were sailing with RCI and booked all ours through the ship. Many people like to book through local providers and I'm sure you will get some help from those who have experience doing this, but keep in mind that when you book excursions through any cruise line they have checked them and found they meet certain standards. A major point is that the ship will not leave you if an approved excursion has a problem that brings you back to the ship late. Local tours you book on your own become your responsibility to get back on time. Most of the ports in the Med. are 45 minutes or more bus rides from the point of interest. Many are long 9 hour tours to see as much as possible and many we took included lunch. These ship tours also know where to take you to eat. We had some very nice meals even better than the recommended restaurant at which we ate in Rome the second day where when we were on our own. However you decide to organize your cruise, I wish you the best. I wouldn't take anything for our 28 days and I trust you come away feeling the same!:)

[UPGrandma]

Although you didn't ask I would certainly check on trip insurance for this cruise. Use the "search" feature for "trip insurance". You have quite a few $$ invested.

[AZcruiser714]

If you are looking to do a tour in Barcelona, Barcelona Day Tours, will pick you up at the airport or your hotel whichever you prefer and does a very nice tour of the highlights of Barcelona and then drop you off at your hotel. If you take it on your last day there they will drop you at the pier. Lots of options. They also have more tour options if you have several days. We used them last September, they were recommended here on CC and on Trip Advisor.