Europe ports advice

[adel718]

Hi everyone me and my fiance will be sailing on the harmony of the seas on aug 11 for a 7 night European cruise out of rome for our honeymoon, it will be our first cruise and first time in Europe aswell. here is our itinerary

11-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 8:00 PM

 

12-Aug Naples (Capri), Italy 7:00 AM 8:00 PM Docked

13-Aug Cruising Cruising

14-Aug Barcelona, Spain 5:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

15-Aug Palma De Mallorca, Spain 8:00 AM 4:00 PM Docked

16-Aug Marseilles (Provence), France 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

17-Aug La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 8:30 AM 8:30 PM Docked

18-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM

 

now for those of you who have been to these ports which do you recommend to diy, and which do you recommend to do a shore excrusion? and finally is shoreexcrusionsgroup dot com trustworthy ?

thank you and I appreciate your help.

[Clarea]

You may want to take a look at the ports of call forums:

 

Italy: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

 

Spain: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=596

 

France: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

[Keith1010]

I would first begin with some reading.

 

Start with sites such as http://www.frommers.com and then pick up a copy of Rick Steeves Book. From there you will have a good idea as to what you want to do and then you should visit the ports of call board. But start with the reading, otherwise you are putting the cart in front of the horse.

 

Keith

[Cruising Forever!]

Hi everyone me and my fiance will be sailing on the harmony of the seas on aug 11 for a 7 night European cruise out of rome for our honeymoon, it will be our first cruise and first time in Europe aswell. here is our itinerary

11-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 8:00 PM

 

12-Aug Naples (Capri), Italy 7:00 AM 8:00 PM Docked

13-Aug Cruising Cruising

14-Aug Barcelona, Spain 5:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

15-Aug Palma De Mallorca, Spain 8:00 AM 4:00 PM Docked

16-Aug Marseilles (Provence), France 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked

17-Aug La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 8:30 AM 8:30 PM Docked

18-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM

 

now for those of you who have been to these ports which do you recommend to diy, and which do you recommend to do a shore excrusion? and finally is shoreexcrusionsgroup dot com trustworthy ?

thank you and I appreciate your help.

 

We had a different order of ports but some overlapping with your itinerary. Here's our review (with pictures) from my cruise review website. I talk about what we did in each port:

http://pndcruisereviews.com/cruise/Serenade%2013/Serenade%2013.htm

[11madmic]

I was on the Allure on that route last summer and did DIY for every port and it was a pain in the butt for me, my fiance was rather enjoying the stress free adventure thanks to me! It was so hot when we went some days were like death. I used one of the med cruise port books to plan every part from port to train station and trains to our destinations and a guide book for the cities. took a while to plan but the plus is seeing everything YOU want to see at YOUR pace. the negatives are most of the cities of interest are a far ways away from the port and take a while to get there so you really have to watch the time and plan accordingly and leave yourself some fudge room to make sure you make the ship. In all honesty my fiance and I would have chosen to skip pisa, it was so much work to get there to see it for 5 minutes, also I would recommend a tour for this one as the train station is far from the tower. Rome was amazing, Barcelona as well (been there 3 times now :D ) but if your a planner like me and up for a self guided adventure, its defiantly doable. If you want no stress but see the sights, go with a tour.

[vegasgirl702]

Aloha!

 

Personally, I would do only Barcelona as a DIY. The port is right in the city and you can literally walk off the ship right to town if you don't mind the walk or take a very short taxi ride to your destination or heart of the city.

 

We have had a few cruises start/end @ Barcelona.

We have done the Picasso museum, walked around Las Ramblas,

Take pictures of La Sagrada Familia (church, research why),

Walk part of the Park Guell, known as one of Gaudi's (artist) most colorful works,

Famous food market called Boqueria, you are able to try the Razor clams

(Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria )

 

At the Italian stops I always hire a tour operator, car driver and share tour price with other cruisers. Other than walk in Naples (town) and buy a pizza, (BTW this is not to safe to do @ Naples) I would plan tours.

[11madmic]

agreed about Barcelona, I must add that La Rambla is a tourist dense spot and on one of my trips there was a incident of pickpocketing, so be aware and smart. Also a good way to see Barcelona is the hop on hop off tour bus or renting bikes which are available anywhere. If beaches are in mind, Barcelona has a lot to offer, I personally recommend taking the train (Barcelona is well connected) north along the coast to some very beautiful and big beaches, rule of thumb, the more north you go the more quiet and peaceful. I just love that city honestly

[peteukmcr]

Palma de Mallorca is a great city to visit. No doubt the cruise line will provide a shuttle to town. The cathedral is magnificent, as is Bellver Castle which can be seen up above the city, Poble Espanyol is a great place to visit too.

 

So surprised to see Capri listed for Naples, that's quite a long ferry ride from the dock and depending when you visit will be extremely busy. The lines for the train up to the town will be very long as will those for cabs on Capri.

[Bobal]

I would do (and have done) all of them on my own, but then I hate organised excursions. However what I might like doing in a port may be very different to you.

 

I think you will get much better help on the European ports of call boards, asking about each individual port. It would also help if you give some idea about the sort of things you want to do - Beach? History? Food? Museums?

[judymag]

Slight off topic but important beware of pick pockets Rome and Barcelona are really bad and that's from 2 friends who are natives

[Tin can]

17-Aug La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 8:30 AM 8:30 PM Docked

 

As someone has already mentioned I would skip Pisa. I would recommend the Cinque Terre which is a collection of five villages along the coast.

 

Its quite easy to get a boat to them from near where the ship docks and then pick one/two or as many you want to visit. I'd take a look on google to see what interests you. The boat stops first I think at a village called Portovenere (not part of the five village of Cinque Terre) but absolutely charming.

 

The boat takes quite a while to get to each village but its fun and the benefit is that some (maybe all?) of the villages have a train station which can take you back to La Spezia in 20 mins and that is 30 mins walk from the Port.

 

Its a great day for DIY sight seeing at a leisurely pace and its something a bit different.

 

 

 

.

[adel718]

Awesome thank you everyone for all the info and advice you guys are awesome.. Another question is has anyone used shoreexcrusiongroups dot com?

[cruzgryphon]

I think for Naples they just mention Capri on the itinerary because you can get from Naples to Capri. I would highly recommend going to Capri - it's gorgeous. I'm not sure if any of the independent tour operators go to Capri, but when I was there I did it through Royal Caribbean and the excursion was quite good. A fair bit of time to wander around Capri town. Lunch wasn't included but there were lots of restaurants there which were quite nice.

[Nunagoras]

Hi everyone me and my fiance will be sailing on the harmony of the seas on aug 11 for a 7 night European cruise out of rome for our honeymoon, it will be our first cruise and first time in Europe aswell. here is our itinerary

11-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 8:00 PM

 

12-Aug Naples (Capri), Italy 7:00 AM 8:00 PM Docked (Did an excursion to Pompeii with the ship)

13-Aug Cruising Cruising

14-Aug Barcelona, Spain 5:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked (Port authorities run an Eur. 3 rund trip shuttle from the port to the Cristovan Colombo statue near La Ramblas. There you will have plenty of public transportation or Taxis. The official HOHO in Barcelona pick passengers at the terminal too, if you prefer. Avoid the Taxis at the port once an Eur. 25 fixed tax is imposed form the ship to anywhere else in the city. Beware the pickpockets...)

15-Aug Palma De Mallorca, Spain 8:00 AM 4:00 PM Docked (Port authorities run an Eur. 6 round trip shuttle to the center of the city near the Cathedral. Cathedral entrance is Eur. 7 with audioguide. HOHO available near the Cathedral, butnot at the port.)

16-Aug Marseilles (Provence), France 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Docked (Despite a free shuttle from port authorities is available, it is badly run and far from the pier and far from the central sites in the city. With few Taxisavailable, the most practical way to go is the USD 23 shuttle provided by the ship to the Vieux Port. Then there is an Eur 8 mini-train to the Cathedral)

17-Aug La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Italy 8:30 AM 8:30 PM Docked (An Eur. 15 fixed fare from port to the centras train station and another to return ship will lead you to the beautiful Eur. 12 Cinque Terre train ride. Do not forget to validate your ticket in the machines!...)

18-Aug Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 7:00 AM

 

now for those of you who have been to these ports which do you recommend to diy, and which do you recommend to do a shore excrusion? and finally is shoreexcrusionsgroup dot com trustworthy ?n

thank you and I appreciate your help.

 

See the answer in red and have a wonderful cruise!... :)

[Davebhoy]

We've done a few of these - some of them more than once.

 

Barcelona is the first port you should be doing on your own. Very accessible, a great metro system if you want to see sites across the city (and you should - Neu Camp, Gaudi Park, Barcelonetta and Las Ramblas). Plenty of places to eat/drink in the city at reasonable rates.

 

We went from Naples to Pompeii, and that's a ship (or independent) tour I'd definitely recommend. Naples town centre isn't the greatest to wander on your own.

 

Marseilles is fine to do on your own with a shuttle into the city - a nice seafront and plenty of shopping.

 

Palma is another one that's doable on your own, if not particularly exciting.

 

I'd recommend an organised trip to Rome from Civitavecchia - it's a long way from Rome and traffic can be a killer, so very stressful if racing back for the boat about to sail.