Which ports would you "pass" on?

[Hflors]

Dh and I are booked on a cruise next year to the Med. The number of stops is mind boggling. (one part there is nine straight days of stops.) DH and I are much more laid back than this. Our favorite is one day on land, one day on the ship. dh really wants to see Rome, but the others?? Which port isn't worth going on a tour to if you had your choice. This will be our first cruise to Europe.

 

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

(one day at sea)

Cadaz, Spain

Malega, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Marseille, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/Pisa (Livorno,) Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia,) Italy - a must see for dh

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - will probably pass after the long day in Rome.

(one day at sea)

Gibraltar, UK Territory

Seville Spain

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Vigo, Spain

(one day at sea)

Portland, England

Paris (le havre) France

 

As you can see there are a LOT of stops and I don't want to leave the ship exhausted. Is it possible to just walk off the ship and walk around the town in some of these ports?

Anyway thanks for your comments.

[schusterj]

I have not done a Med cruise but have been multiple times to Spain. I would recommend that in Vigo you take an excursion to Santiago de Compostela rather than walk around Vigo. Barcelona is definitely a place where you should take an excursion there is so much to see. Malaga is a beach town with lots of condos so I would either stay on the ship or take an excursion to Granada to see the Alhambra Palace. Seville is pretty interesting for an excursion. These are my don't miss places in Spain. I'll be interested to hear what others have to say and I would love to be on this cruise. I know this is the opposite of what you asked but hope it helps.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Because they're inland, Rome and Florence will be all day tours. We did a full day in Florence, with a walking tour and then time on our own to have lunch and wander. It's a beautiful place for strolling. There's the Uffizzi, but I'm told tickets can sell out in advance. Read the Florence tour descriptions carefully. A lot of them include a trip to a leather factory for shopping. We found one that skipped the shopping, so that was nice.

 

For other ports, look for shorter excursions. Then you'd have a half day to relax. There isn't a lot to see in Gibraltar. Maybe just get a taxi to take you to the top for the view and then go back down. There's a cable car or something you can ride up and down. I forget the details. We were on a tour and much of it wasn't great. That could be because it was one of the few times we had a terrible guide.

 

Barcelona is worth seeing, but you can see some of the city in half a day. You could just just stroll along the pedestrian way (Las Ramblas). Or look for a half-day architecture tour.

 

I can't comment on the other ports. Portland England seems an odd choice between Spain and France.

[debkaysmith]

I could pass on Marseille. It's a nice little port town and they have beautiful soaps ... but if you need a resting day, I'd choose this one. JMHO.

[cruisemom42]

In my humble opinion, the OP asks a very difficult question to answer without knowledge of their likes and interests...

 

What would be a "MUST SEE" for someone who likes history and museums would be a "MUST MISS" for another who is looking for pretty little towns and shopping....

 

Although I've done a lot of the Med, I haven't been to some of the Spanish ports (yet -- I have a cruise scheduled in October that will remedy that ;)).

 

Quite a number of ports can be done on your own if you are willing to limit your explorations to the town near the ship -- but be forewarned that a good many places are ports that are a "jumping off" point to a more well-known tourist destination.

 

Take Florence -- ships dock at Livorno (which doesn't have much to see and do) but it is about 90 minutes to Florence. Alternatively, if that is too long a trip, you could consider the much shorter distance to Pisa.

 

I agree that Cagliari could be a miss -- on the other hand, many people really enjoy its nice beaches or its prehistoric ruins (nuraghi) or Roman ruins (at nearby Nora).

 

I would really urge you to do some reading and research on your own on the ports (and what is nearby and offered as tours) before you make up your mind on what to skip.

 

Cruise Critic has some good introductory articles on nearly every Med port, as a starting point. (Under "Destinations").

[Tampa Girl]

Dh and I are booked on a cruise next year to the Med. The number of stops is mind boggling. (one part there is nine straight days of stops.) DH and I are much more laid back than this. Our favorite is one day on land, one day on the ship. dh really wants to see Rome, but the others?? Which port isn't worth going on a tour to if you had your choice. This will be our first cruise to Europe.

 

Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

(one day at sea)

Cadaz, Spain

Malega, Spain

Cartagena, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Marseille, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/Pisa (Livorno,) Italy

Rome (Civitavecchia,) Italy - a must see for dh

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - will probably pass after the long day in Rome.

(one day at sea)

Gibraltar, UK Territory

Seville Spain

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon, Portugal

Vigo, Spain

(one day at sea)

Portland, England

Paris (le havre) France

 

As you can see there are a LOT of stops and I don't want to leave the ship exhausted. Is it possible to just walk off the ship and walk around the town in some of these ports?

Anyway thanks for your comments.

 

Looking at those ports, I don't think you would want to miss at least getting out and walking about for a bit in all of these cities. These cities, after all, are not in third-world countries, and you can easily just walk around at your leisure or take the HOHO buses.

 

I agree that seeing the Alhambra out of Malaga is very worthwhile. Lisbon is wonderful. Take the HOHO bus there and in Barcelona, which is a lovely city. Sitting down for the bus tour won't be exhausting. I would love to see Gibralter, if only for a brief walk. We also just walked around in Cartagena.

 

Cadiz is a wonderful town to just walk around in and perhaps stop in a cafe for some tapas. If HAL is is still offering the "Nice and Easy" (Nice and Esse) bus tour out of Monaco, I can recommend that.

 

I sympathisize with being overwhelmed by the number of ports. It is one reason why we have no interest in Med cruises. We are not big excursion people and prefer to just walk around or take the HOHO bus for a leisurely introductory view of a city. Think of walking around a city as a more interesting form of your morning exercise! And Spain is lovely. Have a great trip!

[swin26]

We are doing a Spain cruise this fall and are planning to spend half a day walking around Cartagena and the remainder resting on the ship. Toms port guides has a nice walking map of the city.

[Cruising-along]

I can't imagine taking a Med cruise and skipping any of the ports, but that's JMHO and I love the Med. As cruisemom said, everyone has different likes and dislikes, so you need to research each port and decide what is important to you.

 

Don't rule out Marseilles. We rented a car and spent the day in Provence -- one of our best memories.

 

If you have been to Paris before and don't want to spend half a day getting there and back, you can go to the D-Day Beaches and Normandy from LeHavre.

 

So many choices, and each of us wants different things. :)

 

Rick Steves has an excellent book (Mediterranean Cruise Ports) that would be helpful.

[RuthC]

My understanding is that Monte Carlo has a HoHo bus that you could consider taking. It would be an easy ride if you didn't get off at all, allowing you to see some sites/sights. You could choose to get off if you felt up to it---no pressure. You could even take the bus around once, selecting the stops you wanted to see, then go around again, getting off this time.

 

In Gibraltar, my friends and I went with a tour van that was outside the terminal. It was an easy, reasonably short, tour, that brought us to the important places without exhausting us.

Seeing the famous monkeys in action was worth it all by itself! :D

[OlsSalt]

Cagliari, Sardinia -- probably a good choice to skip if you want to chose just one. More of a modern vacation condo town now, but it is still worth wandering around its older streets and walking up to the fort. For us the treat was to take the train for a several hour trip across the countryside to a delightful town up the western coast - Oristano- train station walkable from the ship. http://www.sardegnaturismo.it/en/point-of-interest/oristano

Edited March 4, 2016 by OlsSalt

[Essiesmom]

We have done two very port intensive Med. cruises. We have decided we do not need to see and do everything. So we pace ourselves. Some ports can be done in a few hours, just walking around. When we have ports with long days, we pair them with ports where we take a half day tour and retire to the ship to rest.

As a side not, I think you will find Seville is a side trip (all day) from Cadiz.

When you are in Barcelona, do not miss the interior of Sagrada Familia. It is like nothing you have ever seen in a church/cathedral anywhere, not just Europe. EM

[GeorgesGal]

Here's what I would do (and have done a couple of times). If hubby really wants to see Rome, why not arrange a flight from France to Rome after the cruise, and stay in Rome for a couple/several days post cruise? This way, you could just walk around Civitaveccia for a bit, then go back and relax on the ship. Or take the train from Civitaveccia to Santa Marinella, a lovely seaside town, walk around, stop for a glass of wine Oceanside, then train back to the ship. Santa Marinella is about 10-15 min by train.

 

Taking the train to Rome will take some time - IIRC about an hour and a half each way, then touring all day and getting back to the ship in time for sail-away. Much too challenging unless you are doing a ship's tour. And a very tiring day.

[Lovely other]

If it was me I would skip Gibralter ...it is just a down at heel English town with added sunshine. But each to their own I guess ...

[SilvertoGold]

Monte Carlo and Gibraltar are ones we would skip on this cruise.

 

Great ports: you won't want to miss Lisbon, Rome and Barcelona.

 

Small ports like Cadiz and Cartegena (LOVE both) can be walked around easily in a morning or afternoon - give your self a short day!

[fire eater]

Hullo, I am posting some clippings from my 2013 and 2014 ediaries for you. They are a bit long-winded, but may help you. We had never been to Europe before and I became a little carried away with letting the family at home know what we were doing.

(I also apologise if you find a 'love you' anywhere in these posts. We were a long way from Oz!)

Happy sailing!

fe

[fire eater]

Cadiz Spain

We were going to go on the HOHO bus and last night arranged to meet the couple from the USA and explore with them.

After we got to portside, a HOHO bus came along. It didn't actually start until 9.30am and it was just after 8.30. We knew a complete circuit was 50 minutes, so thought that might be ok for a start, then he told us that only one bus was operating, so if we hopped off, we had no more transport for another 50 minutes. It was going to cost €34 per couple. So we decided to go and talk to a registered taxi driver.

Upshot, we hired a taxi for three hours and it cost €50.

It was really good. The old town has very narrow streets which our cab could just turn in, whereas the HOHO only went around the edges of Cadiz, because it couldn't fit in the old parts. So it was a bargain.

There are so many parks all through the old city and we stopped at a couple and found pools with waterfalls and dinosaurs and caves behind the waterfalls that we wandered through (the little boys would have loved it!) and Seville oranges hanging on the trees and beautiful mosaic benches and beautiful 'figwood' trees. The Americans had never heard of them. (Moreton Bay figs)

We went to the Church of San Antonio which was beautiful. Not large, just gorgeous with a painted dome.

We went quite early on to the fresh food market area. It was vast and not many people there at that stage. They had seafood from tiny cockles to huge cuts of tuna, beautiful fresh fruit and veges, olives galore, breads, meats of all descriptions etc, etc.

To the plazas where people were wandering, walking their dogs, having coffee.

Castillo de Santa Catalina was disappointing. Most of it was fenced off. Perhaps the Government cannot afford to restore it properly.

Just before we returned, we drove through the Centro, with all the shopping areas. There is a huge wall dividing the new and old areas of the city.

Our friends were going shopping, so our driver dropped us near the port and we walked back to the Gherkin.

Tonight we went to 'A Taste of de Librije' in The Pinnacle restaurant. It was the best and most interesting food we have ever had on HAL. It was very modern, complete with stuff like 'oyster foam' and de-constructed food and the flavours were sublime and the servings were perfectly sized. So, so good!

[fire eater]

The port is right next to the city, with lovely palm-lined pedestrian thoroughfares. Today is a public holiday so it was very quiet when we arrived and strolled along the above route. And yes we did use the crossing correctly! And the tunnel has some wonderful graffiti. There were lots of police around the place, mainly just sitting in their parked cars, but keeping an eye on things.

 

We decided to go up to Concepcion Castle first so walked to the panoramic lift and bought entry to four places, which cost only €9 each.

 

We walked up one flight of the stairs around the lift and into the Civil War Refuge. Tunnels everywhere, going quite a way into the hill. We could only go into certain areas of course, but it was fascinating. Lots of photos of people in the 'bomb shelter' and some wonderful old film of life before 1936 and then the planes coming and just pounding the city over and over again and people standing around just so shocked and distressed.

The places bombed were the hospitals and homes and no military areas were targeted. What a rotten thing to do.

We returned to the lift, which is see-through and that was ok. But walking across from the lift to the hill over metal mesh was a bit iffy.

We walked up many steps to the Castle and had a good look around for quite some time. Interesting. Lots of peacock poo everywhere. Walked down to the lift and back to earth, then retraced our steps to enter the Roman site. It has lots of history on the walls and lots of finds behind glass, with explanations and dates. So you follow the corridors and read everything and look at the photos and film and eventually come to the last one and step out and voila! you are standing at the top of a 7000-seat Roman Theatre. What an amazing sight! After we explored the top, we realised we had to go down the steps to exit so 36 very big steps later, we were at the base of the stage. We were very lucky to visit the Theatre and enjoyed it so much.

We strolled back past shops and cafés and the locals must have decided it was time to party as there were people everywhere and loud Spanish music being broadcast in the plaza. There was a really happy atmosphere.

Returning to the ship a different way, we came to a street which had a crossing, but no lights. There was a policeman there on point duty, madly waving his arms and blowing his whistle over and over. Another cruise ship had come in while we were in the town, and he was obviously making sure that no tourists were going to be run over while he was on duty. I couldn't work out why he was blowing his whistle a different numbers of times. Once it was four short tweets, then six, then four, then another four. There did not seem to be a reason behind it. Maybe it made him feel in charge. :->This is a lovely, interesting port. Thanks, Cartagena!

[fire eater]

Gaudi's Barcelona

I could see La Sagrada Familia from the ship first thing in the morning.

WOW!!!!

Drove around looking at all the wonderful architecture in this pretty, clean, friendly city. Then honed in on Gaudi. We saw some houses he had designed in the city, which are amazing.( I think Tim Burton may be influenced by Gaudi.)

All of his work has been declared World Heritage sites. And you can't see it anywhere other than in this city, so save your pennies people because it is worth every one of them.

When I first spotted La Sagrada Familia up a street, I almost fell off my seat. It is so big and unbelievable and gothic and almost scary and it made me want to cry.

The guide knew it so well and was very good. A few years ago, it was believed that building would be completed in 2016, but that has been revised to 2026 - if then.

The light inside continually changes and shines through all the stained glass. It was a dull, cold day in Barcelona, but the light still came in. It was given the title of Basilica after the Pope said Mass there some years ago. Really, I could cry now as I write this. It is magnificent.

What a wonderful day!

[fire eater]

A Taste of The Riviera - Eze and Nice

Oh, my goodness me, Monte Carlo is pretty ugly. Along the foreshore there are lots of old buildings, one of which is the casino, but otherwise there are huge apartment buildings everywhere. Not much thought given to the design either.

Anyway, we headed off in the bus again towards Eze (pronounced Ez). We went past Prince Albert's modest home and through some tunnels and then started to climb ... and ... climb ... and u-bend ... and climb! We were very high up and then our guide pointed out Eze way above us and I nearly had a pink fit!

Then drove down into Nice to the Côte d'Azur . Had free time first, so coffee at the Cafe Opera.

The hotels set back on the Plage all have umbrellas and tables and chairs and towels and stuff set up with fences around the area, so none of the plebs can get in. There is no sand just a white rock beach, so there are carpet runners from the water to the deck-chairs and along each aisle, so the poor rich people don't hurt their tootsies on the rocks.

So funny!

The wine cellar was a cellar! A low ceiling-ed poky room entered by precipitous steps straight off the street. It had been used in the war as a hiding place. The staff was really friendly and so knowledgeable. The man who explained everything was charming and amusing, but I couldn't see very well what he looked like because it was so dark. He had gorgeous shoes. :-)

His female offsider in the cellar was beautiful. I took a photo of her too, but it is too dark to post.

There was a big picture of Our Lady on the wall too - it's what you would expect in a wine cellar, isn't it?

We tried three wines. John decided that the rose he tasted was the best he had ever tried. It was yummy and went well with sheep cheese and had the most beautiful colour. When John asked the man with the gorgeous shoes his opinion of the best place for wines in Oz, he replied WA, Margaret River.

We had free time after that and were to meet back at the Opera House. We were on the Solaya Marche au Fleurs and opted for coffee of course and it was really Nice too! Boom, boom! Practised my Italian then back to the bus for the trip back to the ship via Eze.

Oh, my! I lasted a long time taking photos before I had to give the camera to John and as we were nearing Eze, a fog came up, which actually made it a bit worse when we crossed the Devil's Viaduct to enter Eze. The woman in the opposite seat understood early in the trip and kept saying, 'Ok, look now!' Funny really.

We walked up, up, up to the Church, then we just walked around for a while, took a photo of a man leading a donkey and found a cafe/bar where John had a beer and I had a wine. Very relaxing, watching the locals and tourists.

Back to the bus passing lots of cars and drivers registering for a rally to be held around Eze. I don't think I would like to do that!

Then down, down, down to Monte Carlo and the Dam ship.

It was a very good day.

Edited March 5, 2016 by fire eater

[fire eater]

Cagliari Sardinia (instead of Tunisia)

We are really happy that we came here instead of Tunisia. Really happy!

A beautiful sail-in this morning and we got on the shuttle bus early. Went for a walk along the esplanade which has lots of coffee shops, so we thought we could fit in a Sardinian coffee. Sat for a while watching people, had another coffee, then decided to get on the hop-on hop-off bus. By this time, it was full and so we got on the hop-on hop-off horse-drawn wagon. The wagon had an electric motor, so the horses were more for appearance than pulling, which we liked. Two lovely big Clydesdales. Emilio, the driver and guide took us on a highly informative and relaxed trip to the top of the city (the Citadel) and back again. He stopped many times to talk about what we were looking at and let us off and waited while we walked to the very top for a 'photo opportunity'. It is not polluted here and was so pleasant plodding along in the slow wagon. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes return.

When we got back to the bottom there were a lot of people around as another cruise ship had berthed after us. We all clapped very loudly, which attracted people's attention and we reckon he was set for the day!

Then we wandered through lots of streets and lane ways looking at people and buildings and shops and came across a beautiful church in a little side street. St Augustino. The entrance was through a little courtyard garden with statues roughly carved from lumps of rock.

Just gorgeous with old frescoes (nobody had nicked them for a museum) and statues and paintings. It was very quiet, which was different, as in some of the other cathedrals and churches we have been in, people still talked at their usual volume. Oh, and there was a holy water font just inside the door, which we haven't found in any of the others. Just lovely.

[HELENPSL]

To answer your question: I think the one place I might skip is Vigo, Spain. We walked around the city and really didn't find much there. We ended up coming back to the ship early.

 

Two ports I would not skip: Cartagena, Spain and Gibraltar, England. In Cartagena the ship docks right in the city. It is very easy to walk around and you really don't need a tour. The architecture is stunning. Be sure to walk into the City Hall building which is gorgeous. We stopped at a cafe, ordered some churros and cappachino, used the free wi-fi and people watched. It was much more than we expected and a very relaxing day.

 

In Gibraltar I knew I wanted to see the monkeys. We decided on the 3 1/2 hour tour with the #1 recommended company on trip advisor. We were lucky enough to get Carl as our guide who is the owner of the company. He had a Mercedes van and we had 7 people on the tour. Since I am a bit claustrophobic I was a little nervous when I heard we were going to St. Michael's Cave. I had a picture in my mind of dark, narrow caves. Trust me...these were anything but. They are massive, amazing and not to be missed.

 

You have a wonderful trip ahead of you. Enjoy every moment.

 

Helen

[sail7seas]

If you have been to St. Thomas, you can visualize most of Gibraltar. :) The monkeys are an attraction if that interests you but I can easily pass. Be careful what you carry or wear if you go to the monkeys. They are awful thieves and steal whatever they can. :)

 

Vigo isn't particularly worth much effort IMO

 

Malega itself isn't too wonderful but we love Marbella. We had a lengthy resort stay at gorgeous property on the beach. Seville is one of my favorite cities in Spain. Beautiful.

 

Monte Carlo is a pretty playground but not necessarily worth lots of energy unless you care about seeing Monaco, Casino etc Maybe go ashore, walk around a bit and have a lovely lunch before returning to the ship.

 

That is an amazing itinerary. You will see such fabulous things, learn so much, enjoy every single day.

Hope you will share some comments with us. GREAT cruise !

 

Edited March 5, 2016 by sail7seas

[fire eater]

Gibraltar British Territory

Arrived in this port at 1pm. We were cruising pretty slowly anyway, but had to drop down to seven knots which takes twenty minutes to do, otherwise the ship would have a conniption! (Over-heated engines).

We could hardly see the place because of fog, which apparently happens quite a lot. Saw a plane coming in, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera. The airstrip is also a road, so they have to stop the traffic every time a plane comes in.

Gibraltar is not a pretty place. Sorry, Gibraltarians!

We were only going to hop on a bus and go to Europa Point today to look at the lighthouse, mosque/church and see if we could see Africa. (Didn't want to visit the apes den.)

The weather is not clear enough to see much at all.

The observation deck is higher than the lighthouse anyway, so we can look for Africa if the weather clears a bit.

[fire eater]

Portland England

Oh, to be in England . . . What spring? It was 11 degrees when we arrived and dark and cloudy and it rained later on.

Shuttle to Weymouth, walk.

Weymouth is a very pretty seaside town.

First to Nothe Fort (built from 1860-1872). In my head, I was calling it Noth fort, but the man at the entrance said it was pronounced like nose, but with a "th". He said it was from the old Anglo-Saxon.

Three levels of fortifications, air raid shelters and even a nuclear shelter. Cannons to defend the fort. Weymouth was heavily bombed during WWII.

We walked along the Esplanade and saw the ANZAC memorial. The houses are very quaint and well kept.

I had read that a cannon is fired as a farewell from the port to cruise ships, but didn't think they would fire it at 11pm, but a volunteer at Nothe Fort pointed out two cannons to us and said they would be used tonight, they just had to be moved. We thought she meant up on a rise.

Getting ready for bed as we were leaving the dock, John heard a noise and we went out on the verandah. There were soldiers in (old) uniforms with an officer hollering orders and a bugler and band and they let go two shots from each cannon. It was wonderful and people were hanging out over balconies, clapping.

What a clever touristy thing to do. And all done by volunteers.

[jillorpy]

Cartagena is great to just wander around. Hop on bus in Monaco is ok. First time we did the Nice and Eze which was good. From Livorno have done Lucca which was easy and also Cinque Terre which was outstanding. In Gibraltar we took a taxi tour with some people we just picked up! Hop on bus in Cadiz is also easy.