itinerary help

[tc-cruise]

;Which one is better? The differences are

 

Olympia and Sarande vs Nafplion

Taomina vs Messina 

Ajaccio vs La Goulette 

 

Could you compare them? Many thanks.

Regarding other ports I have my answers. If everything above is a tie, I would still choose the second itinerary. 

 

Saturday, June 1	Athens (Piraeus), Greece		4:00pm
Sunday, June 2	Olympia (Katakolon), Greece	8:00am	4:00pm
Monday, June 3	Sarande, Albania	10:00am	6:00pm
Tuesday, June 4	At Sea
Wednesday, June 5	Valletta, Malta	8:00am	11:00pm
Thursday, June 6	Taormina (Giardini Naxos), Sicily, Italy	8:00am	4:00pm
Thursday, June 6	Strait of Messina (Cruising)
Thursday, June 6	Stromboli, Italy (Cruising)
Friday, June 7	Naples, Italy	7:00am	5:00pm
Saturday, June 8	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7:00am	10:00pm
Sunday, June 9	Ajaccio, Corsica, France	10:00am	6:00pm
Monday, June 10	Nice (Villefranche), France	8:00am	5:00pm
Tuesday, June 11	At Sea
Wednesday, June 12	Barcelona, Spain	7:00am

 

 

Wednesday, June 12	Barcelona, Spain		4:00pm
Thursday, June 13	Marseille, France	9:00am	6:00pm
Friday, June 14	Portofino, Italy	8:00am	9:00pm
Saturday, June 15	Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy	7:00am	7:00pm
Sunday, June 16	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	7:00am	5:00pm
Monday, June 17	Messina, Sicily, Italy	1:00pm	7:00pm
Monday, June 17	Strait of Messina (Cruising)
Tuesday, June 18	Valletta, Malta	8:00am
Wednesday, June 19	Valletta, Malta		4:00pm
Thursday, June 20	La Goulette, Tunisia	7:00am	4:00pm
Friday, June 21	At Sea
Saturday, June 22	Nafplion, Greece	1:00pm	8:00pm
Sunday, June 23	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	7:00am

Edited February 18 by tc-cruise

[edinburgher]

5 hours ago, tc-cruise said:

Olympia and Sarande vs Nafplion

Taomina vs Messina 

Ajaccio vs La Goulette 

I personally would take Ajaccio over la Goulette. Ajaccio is very easy to explore independently and you dock in town.  It is also quite a pretty town. la Goulette I am not familiar with at all.

 

Messina is the better known port for first time visiting Taormina, but Giardini Naxos is closer.

 

Have not visited Sarande, only Durres, but several past threads indicate that Sarande is a town where you would probably book a tour to Butrint.

 

Reading tourist info for all of the above might help you decide, also Tripadvisor, YouTube, and guide books as doing so would help you decide which port calls would suit your personal interests.

 

And reading past threads might also help . If you have not already done so,

Olympiahttps://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=olympia&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=463

 

Sarandehttps://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=sarande&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

la Goulette

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=la goulette&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

Ajaccio

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=ajaccio&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=462

 

Messina

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=messina&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464

 

Taormina

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=taormina&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464

Giardini Naxos

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=giardini naxos&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=464

Edited February 18 by edinburgher

[cruisemom42]

I seem to spot a few others differences in your itineraries, but to answer your specific questions first:

 

Olympia and Sarande vs. Nauplion:  This would be a tough choice and I think you'd enjoy either choice. Olympia is, of course, the place where the ancient Olympics were held and it is quite a nice site, not TOO overwhelming and you do get a sense of the place, especially with a good guide. Sarande, as mentioned, isn't the greatest port but it is a place from which to visit some great late Roman ruins at Butrint (you've probably never heard of it, but it's pretty, photo-worthy and you get to brag that you've been to Albania). 

 

On the other hand, Nauplion is a small city that is very pretty in itself. (Bonus fact: it was actually the first capital of Greece back in the 1800s when Greece became independent again...) You can walk around it but I would actually recommend that you do something more ambitious and take a tour to either Mycenae (fabulous OLD ruins dating back to the time of the Trojan War and earlier) and/or Epidavros, which has a gorgeous ancient Greek theatre.

 

Taormina (Giardini Naxos) vs. Messina:  Well the endpoint for most people at either of these ports is Taormina or Mt. Etna (or both). If you're mainly interested in Taormina (as I would be), then Giardini Naxos is the better choice. It's a pain to get to Taormina on your own from Messina but it can be done from Giardini Naxos. From either port, though, you can take a ship tour or even just a drop off/pick up. 

 

Ajaccio vs. La Goulette:  I would vote for La Goulette hands down, but then I'm an ancient history/archeology fan. As edinburgher says above, Ajaccio is pretty. But La Goulette is actually the port for Tunis, which is where ancient Carthage (one of Rome's greatest foes) lies. You can visit the ruins of the city, which was destroyed by the Romans, or some beautiful imperial baths on the sea. You can even see the ancient port of Carthage, though it looks unimpressive now. And perhaps the most fabulous choice is the museum of mosaics from Roman times. The ancient Romans loved mosaics, and North Africa was among the place that boasted the most skilled mosaicists. Their work was in demand all over the empire. It's one of the two best ancient mosaic museums I've ever visited. (The other one is in Antakya Turkey -- ancient Antioch -- and hasn't been very accessible for years due to its proximity to Syria.)

 

Tunisia has only recently been added back to cruise itineraries after the unfortunate incident where tourists were targeted by terrorists, just FYI. 

 

Now for the things you didn't ask about...

 

Marseilles vs. Nice:  I'd choose Marseilles as it is a better gateway for some charming points in Provence (particularly Avignon), and/or it is a city with a lot to occupy you for a day if you want to stay there -- albeit it is a bit gritty, like Naples.

 

Portofino & Livorno vs. Naples:  This would be a tough call unless you've already been to either Florence or Naples. Naples has many options that are all fairly easy to do in a day: Pompeii, Capri, Amalfi Coast, the city itself, etc. Florence is a distance from the ships (90 minutes), which eats into your day there. Portofino is a charming, charming port and a relatively easy day to just stroll around and enjoy the photogenic harbor OR you can be more ambitious and take in several more of the nearby towns like Santa Margherita Ligure.

 

Rome: If you haven't been, one of the itineraries gives you until 10:00 pm in Rome, which can be valuable time in terms of how much you can pack into a day. With the other itinerary, you'd be hard pressed to even fit inside visits to the two most popular sites (Vatican museums, Colosseum) into your day. I also note that the itinerary with the shorter day is actually a Sunday, when the Vatican museums will be closed, which means no possibility to visit -- this includes the Sistine chapel. This may not matter to you if you've already been there.

 

And finally, I'll just note in passing that having two days in Valletta, while a lovely place, isn't really necessary IMO, given the many other places to see and things to do in the Med.

 

Having said all this, it's a difficult choice to make and in the end it comes down to what interests YOU the most. Would love to know which one you end up choosing!