Help with excursions!!

[apandjcrew5]

Hi all! Need some help choosing in some of my ports. My husband and I are sailing July 2 from Barcelona on the Equinox. It is our first time to Europe. One stop is in Genoa Italy and I am trying to decide between Cinque Terre and Portofino which includes a drive to Santa Margherita, boat to Portofino and then back to Ravallo. Any help would be appreciated!! I also need help on the Amalfi Coast. Would definately want to see Pompeii but also must see the Amalfi Coast. I believe if we choose Pompeii, Capri and Sorrentino we would not see the Amalfi Coast? If we choose Pompeii, Sorrentino and Positano we would am I right? Also would you prefer seeing the coast from the road or from the water. Thanks for all your help!!

[4774Papa]

Hi all! Need some help choosing in some of my ports. My husband and I are sailing July 2 from Barcelona on the Equinox. It is our first time to Europe. One stop is in Genoa Italy and I am trying to decide between Cinque Terre and Portofino which includes a drive to Santa Margherita, boat to Portofino and then back to Ravallo. Any help would be appreciated!! I also need help on the Amalfi Coast. Would definately want to see Pompeii but also must see the Amalfi Coast. I believe if we choose Pompeii, Capri and Sorrentino we would not see the Amalfi Coast? If we choose Pompeii, Sorrentino and Positano we would am I right? Also would you prefer seeing the coast from the road or from the water. Thanks for all your help!!

 

Suggest you post this on the Ports boards under Europe, Italy and/or the roll call for your cruise.

 

We did the Western MED on NCL and I had trouble organizing private tours, so we took the ship's excursion in Naples that included Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. If you can find a good private tour, do it, even though our tour was good, we were slowed by being in a large bus and the roads on the Amalfi Coast are just not suitable for a large bus. I had previously been to Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri, which is another great choice. Just pick one and try to come back again.

 

Haven't been to Genoa, but the tour you described looks great. Enjoy Italy, it is great, but recommend men wear money belt and women carry a pac safe purse.

[Texed]

Hi all! Need some help choosing in some of my ports. My husband and I are sailing July 2 from Barcelona on the Equinox.!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2193633

 

We are also on the July 2, 2016 sailing on Equinox. If you follow the link I posted above, you may find quite a bit of help with the excursions. :)

[ClaudiaB]

A great many of the Roll Calls on the Mediterranean cruises are quite active and you will have lots of experienced Europe cruisers there to help you, and perhaps even get in on some smaller, better tours.

 

I will add to this: If there's any way you can arrive in Barcelona a few days ahead, DO IT!!! We sailed out of there 18 months ago on a TA and had two days there. Wish we had gone 3 or 4. Next time...... We arranged tours through Barcelona Day Tours and in our other Spanish ports through Spain Day Tours. Really the same company. The guides were marvelous. Tours bypassed the locales where all the buses were and did those when the buses were gone. We had groups of about 10 people max and the very English speaking local guides took us to fabulous little hole-in-the-wall tapas places in their own neighborhoods that a big cruise ship tour would never know about. Everything was perfect. We saw more things for less money and with less people - and with a more in-depth view on our private tours than with the ship's tours.

 

I agree, the Ports section here is very helpful.

[rockdoctor]

Genoa is not a commonly visited port. Cinque Terre can be visited from both Livorno and Genoa. From my experience, you can only get to Milan from Genoa. About Barcelona, be very careful your visit to Sagrada Famila is not a drive by. Ours was just that. Minivan tours of the Amalfi Coast are more expensive than bus tours, because, as others have mentioned, buses cannot leave the main highway, minivans can. We enjoyed Amalfi. Celebrity put us up at the Hotel Regina. The concierge arranged our tours with Barcelona Guide Bureau. The Picaso tour was great, he can draw faces! The Gothic District is an easy walk and worth it.

Edited April 25, 2016 by rockdoctor
Incomplete

[donaldsc]

Genoa is not a commonly visited port. Cinque Terre can be visited from both Livorno and Genoa. From my experience, you can only get to Milan from Genoa. About Barcelona, be very careful your visit to Sagrada Famila is not a drive by. Ours was just that. Minivan tours of the Amalfi Coast are more expensive than bus tours, because, as others have mentioned, buses cannot leave the main highway, minivans can. We enjoyed Amalfi. Celebrity put us up at the Hotel Regina. The concierge arranged our tours with Barcelona Guide Bureau. The Picaso tour was great, he can draw faces! The Gothic District is an easy walk and worth it.

 

Re Sagrada Famila - I am not sure why you would feel a need to take tour there. Just get on a city bus and go there by yourself. The place is fantastic and a tour will never give you enough time to see the place. We spent almost 1/2 day there and I am not really a church type of person. However, the Sagrada is like no church you have ever seen. If you do decide to go by yourself, make advance reservations. We were there in the fall but I have heard that the ticket lines in tourist season can be awful.

 

BTW - there are a lot of other Gaudi sites in Barcelona that are also well worth seeing.

 

DON

Edited April 25, 2016 by donaldsc

[realnice46]

Hi all! Need some help choosing in some of my ports. My husband and I are sailing July 2 from Barcelona on the Equinox. It is our first time to Europe. One stop is in Genoa Italy and I am trying to decide between Cinque Terre and Portofino which includes a drive to Santa Margherita, boat to Portofino and then back to Ravallo. Any help would be appreciated!! I also need help on the Amalfi Coast. Would definately want to see Pompeii but also must see the Amalfi Coast. I believe if we choose Pompeii, Capri and Sorrentino we would not see the Amalfi Coast? If we choose Pompeii, Sorrentino and Positano we would am I right? Also would you prefer seeing the coast from the road or from the water. Thanks for all your help!!

 

First of all some great ports. If you are in Barcelona you do not need a tour,as in previous post you can use public transportation or as we did use the Hop On Hop Off bus for your transportation. They stop at all the important sites including Sagrada Familia. Pre buy your tickets to Sagrada Familia, because tickets are timed and the line to purchase can be an hour or more long. also go very early if you can but don't miss it!

By all means choose the Cinque Terre, wonderful little villages with beautiful coastline. Portofino not so much!

If your tour includes Capri and Sorrento you will see Amalfi coast. you will take a boat to Capri so you will have a good view of the coast better by boat.

have a great trip.

[2theship]

Taxis in Barcelona are also reasonable but since you'll be there ahead of your cruise and will have more time, something like a hop on - hop off may work well for you. In most cities, the HOHO tickets are for 24 hours. So, if you buy yours in the afternoon, it will still be good the next morning. Also, the Barcelona public transit system is spotlessly clean and very efficient. Here's a link to the Sagrada Familia website:

 

http://www.sagradafamilia.org/en/

 

Definitely buy your tickets in advance so that you don't spend hours waiting in line.

 

Regarding the Amalfi Coast, check out your roll call and see what others are planning. Rome in Limo does a Pompeii/Amalfi Coast combo for 600 Euros for a van that holds eight people.

[rockdoctor]

Re Sagrada Famila - I am not sure why you would feel a need to take tour there. Just get on a city bus and go there by yourself. The place is fantastic and a tour will never give you enough time to see the place. We spent almost 1/2 day there and I am not really a church type of person. However, the Sagrada is like no church you have ever seen. If you do decide to go by yourself, make advance reservations. We were there in the fall but I have heard that the ticket lines in tourist season can be awful.

 

BTW - there are a lot of other Gaudi sites in Barcelona that are also well worth seeing.

 

DON

 

Sagrada Famila can be very crowded, even in the spring and fall. It is not recommended that you "show up". I have friends that have waited for hours to get into the church. Skip the line tickets and a tour are preferable to timed tickets since HOHO can get backed up.

[goody1]

Have been to Naples several times, both on land based holidays in Sorrento and on Cruise stops. I read somewhere years ago that the drive from Sorrento to Amalfi via Positano is reckoned to be the 2nd best scenic drive in Europe. It is not for the faint hearted and as others have stated not that suitable for large coaches.

With regards Genoa my choice would be to do the Positano excursion.