The Epic Western Mediterranean cruise - The ports!

[Rob32]

Hi all,

 

just wondering about the ports on the Western Med cruise. 
 

We’ll be doing the following ports - Rome, Naples, Florence & Pisa, Cannes, France and Palma De Mallorca, Spain.
 

Anyone good info on the ports? In any of them are you within walking distance of the cities in that you can just stroll off the ship at the quay and have a look around... or are you berthed miles away from anything that you have to book an excursion or tour?

 

Thanks. 

[falkensmaze]

Rome an hour or so via Train, easy enough if you prepare. But most prefer excursion.

Cannes - Tender port, tender takes you straight in to the middle of Cannes easy to explore on you own ( or do nice or Monte Carlo via train) But Cannes is very nice. 

Palma you can walk off but if you want old town Palma its a $15 shuttle ( 5 minutes)

Florence and Pisa are most suited for prepaid excursions as you dock at Livorno  

Naples walk off but Naples frankly has issues i.e. its not the nicest place to visit but there are many excursion options here like Pompeii, Sorento Amalfi coast etc 

[FLAHAM]

Might want to check in the "Ports of Call" section of Cruise Critic. 

[Bobblehat71]

Just got back from this Cruise.

 

Falkensmaze has pretty much covered it above but a few thoughts of my own.

 

I would recommend an excursion if you want to do Rome. Can be done on the train if you plan but its quite a distance to get back if there's any issue with trains.(and often is)

Livorno  -  NCL offer a shuttle direct to the train station if you want to go to Pisa or Florence. We did this and caught the train to Pisa . It was dead easy and only cost around $5  for a return ticket. Its the next stop from Livorno and takes around 15 mins.  Florence is also very easy to do. Its the same train that goes to Pisa and takes around  1 hr 20mins. You would probably need to leave the ship around 8am to make this worth while though.

 

Naples -  If you don't want to do an excursion to Pompeii ,Sorrento etc then you can work off the ship straight into Naples. Its not the prettiest town but nice enough if you just want to stretch your legs. Plenty of shops is good and the Pizza is amazing.(and cheap).  If you want to a reasonably priced DIY excursion the main HOHO bus stop is a 5 minute walk off the ship. They do run one from the port but the queues were long and there was more choice from the main stop.Just follow the footpath opposite the port up and around the fort to the left.

 

Palma - Probably best to take the shuttle bus if you want to go into town. You can walk it but its quite a walk.

 

Cannes - Is tendered , nice town for a quick stroll and a look a the super yachts.

[BirdTravels]

The stops in Italy are in historic cities (far from the port) and I would do some sort of excursion there. Cannes is a lovely city to walk around in and load up on pastries. Getting in some sort of walking tour so you know what you’re looking at is a good thing. For us, Palma is kinda a get off and stretch your legs,,, we spend more time in Barcelona before/after the cruise for Spanish explorations. 

[nyyhoneybee]

15 hours ago, Rob32 said:

Hi all,

 

just wondering about the ports on the Western Med cruise. 
 

We’ll be doing the following ports - Rome, Naples, Florence & Pisa, Cannes, France and Palma De Mallorca, Spain.
 

Anyone good info on the ports? In any of them are you within walking distance of the cities in that you can just stroll off the ship at the quay and have a look around... or are you berthed miles away from anything that you have to book an excursion or tour?

 

Thanks. 

 

Check out the link in my signature. I also did the same cruise on a different ship last June. It's an amazing ports but very tour heavy 

[Goldconnection]

I took the transportation only (bus) excursion offered through the cruise ship into Rome & Pisa and then toured on my own. I figured if there was a delay due to traffic or whatever the ship would wait for us as it was a cruise ship excursion.

[Budget Queen]

I’m on the ship now.    I have always traveled independently in these ports but-  details are essential.   I always take the train to Rome with a port day.   Same out of Livorno Naples and Nice.   

 

If if you haven’t been to these places I certainly would not recommend you just hang around ports.   Plenty to see and do.    Why go there if you aren’t taking advantage????   

 

At the least. I highly recommend Rick Steves audio Europe guide.   Download the multiple walking tours they are excellent.     Especially his Pompeii-   Better than guides I’ve had.  😀😀.     I’ve spent 3 months with 5 cruises this year in Europe.    It’s very simple to go cheap and independent-   But know what you’re doing.