Med Ports of Call - Journal and photos

[cherith]

We're just back from the Brilliance of the Seas Med itinerary.

I've posted a journal and pics on my website for those who are interested in knowing what some of the sites are like at these ports and whether or not those activities would appeal to you. You've only gone one day there, make the most of it!

Hope it helps!

http://www.culturecraze.ca/topic-14-all.html

[cathi]

Thanks - your pictures of Pompeii are wonderful. Who did you use for your private tour and how much did it cost? Did you have a driver and a guide?

Cathi

[cherith]

Hi Cathy,

Our guide for Pompeii was selected by the company that we booked the tour with. Our guide in Pompeii was named Patricia and she was excellent. Couldn't have asked for better.

However. . . our 'guide' for our entire day was only a cab driver. He was as helpful as a bag of wet socks. We were getting frustrated and asked him a couple of questions. . .

For example: So, where are we driving through right now?

His answer? "some small Italian town." REALLY?!?

 

And in one town we asked why they had all these nativity scenes around and his answer was "Because they like them"

 

He was Cuban and only was used to get us from A to B. Frustrating to say the least.

But, you might be able to request a more knowledgable tour guide.

We used http://www.benvenutolimos.com/ and had a group of 8 from the ship that we organized through this board.

Giovanni is the contact and if you tell him what you are looking for and that you do NOT want Olios from Cuba. . . (lol) you might have a really good time!!! :-)

Hope that helps

Cherith

[vacationhappy]

Thank you for sharing all your photos - it sounds like a wonderful trip. We are not going until next summer but I can't wait!

[jhannah]

Yes ... many thanks. We'll be there in September, and your photos just further whet our appetite.

[Cruise Junky]

Hey from one Vancouverite to another..great job. I can't wait for our cruise!! loved your comment about Spuzzum :)

 

Can I ask you a couple of questions? how were the stairs on Santorini? They look quite managable. I was disappointed know that Millenium doesn't leave until almost midnight but the Cable Cars stop at 9:00. If you could walk down, you could have a great dinner.

 

Secondly... can you tell me where in Florence (if you even remember) that market is.

 

Thanks so much

[Guest caribcruzin]

We are leaving in 4 days for our Med cruise! Your pix were wonderful and really got us excited! Thanks so much!

[cherski]

These are fabulous pictures. We'll be on our first trip to Europe in October visiting many of the same places. Thank you so much for taking the time to share them with us.

 

What kind of camera did you use? The detail is just fantastic.

 

Thanks again,

Cher

[cherith]

Glad the pics could be of so much help!

Cruise Junky: We're Tsawwassenites! :-) When do you go on your cruise?

First answer, the stairs going down are completely manageable. It was quite enjoyable actually. I wouldn't want to do it going UP mind you! There's lots of restaurants with terrific views, and the food is amazing. I would highly recommend scoping out a few restaurants while you are shopping etc so you get just the right one for your evening meal. You could easily spend a couple of hours over dinner and wine. And most places serve wine in the clay jugs for about $3 for the litre. Greek food in Greece is phenomenal. Make sure you try the Taramasalata, oh, and many of their other "salads". (I put it in quotes because it is more like a mush of stuff, but sooo delicious)

Secondly, that Market in Florence is just north of the Ponte Vecchio and very close to the church that Michaelangelo is buried in. You really wouldn't miss it just wandering around that area.

and Cherski: It is a digital camera, an olympus and I actually took about 30X as many pictures as I posted!!! I had my laptop and just downloaded the pix at the end of each day. :-)

Anyway, again, glad the pics are of help. The trip of a life time really.

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks so much for responding. We're in South Van. We're not cruising until May 2006 (I really plan in advance ;)) and right now am torn between Brilliance, the itinerary that you took, or Millenium, Barcelona to Venice.

 

Thanks for the info on the stairs, I think it would be lovely to have a relaxing dinner in Santorini.

 

Glad you enjoyed your trip, can't wait for hubby to get home so he can read it.

[ajpack]

Just saw the pictures---wow! We're going on the Millenium in Oct. 2005 and I can't wait. It was so great that you posted pictures so quickly. Thanks...

 

Anne

[cherith]

As to my earlier post about the tour company.

I believe this company has a longstanding excellent reputation. I guess that others in the group had written and told Giovanni about our day.

He responded personally and explained that this was a freelance 'tour guide' that was only used occasionally (never again after this) but Giovanni himself was supposed to be our guide however personal matters prevented him from doing so and there were no other regular guides available that day. He even offered a full refund on our tour with his most sincere apologies. We are not looking for a refund, we got where we wanted to go, we were just notifying him of the problem.

I don't think that our experience should in any way make others question to use this company. They responded immediately to concerns and really seem to know what they are doing. Plus if the guide that they had set up for us in Pompeii was any indication as to how they do things then I would think that they would be an excellent choice for anyone.

Our tour ended up costing us about 1/3 of what Royal Caribbean was charging for a comparable tour.

I would use them again in a second. I just didn't want the post coming out as a negative reflection on the company.

[ErinH1]

Cherith: Who was your tour guide for Livorno/Florence? Would you recommend them?

[chuckchopper]

Cherith ...

 

Another neighbour (check the spelling) from Coquitlam.

 

Took a quick look at your review and photos. Bookmarked it for a more detailed look a bit later.

 

We are headed out there in a month and I found the preview helpful. I have seen some of the ports before but unfortunately that was 20 years ago and a lot of the "local knowledge items" have changed!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post. I might have a couple more questions for you in a day or so.

[jezzdogg]

For the previous poster, who has about the difference between Brilliance and Millie, we had the same problem, unitl you closely at the itiernaries. Since Brillance goes round-trip back to Barcelona- they have to sepnd time doubling back to Barcelona (which is a great city)they are basically a Med cruise, while Millie not only goes to the Med, but also does the Agean sea. Also with starting at one city and ending at another we are spending a couple of days both ways to enjoy both Barcelona and Venice. The price of the air, is not really a factor--just buy an open-jaw ticket, a to b, c to a, the cost was around 100 dollars more than the round-trip to Barcelona, as only Delat flies direct, with all other airlines, you still had to stop in one of the major cities to change planes.

Many thanks for the info on the tour operator, we are using him for our excursion, aslo. Do you think we should e-mail him to make sure that he does not use the person, he sent you.

[cherith]

Hi Erin,

I'll have to look up the name of the guide we had in Livorno. Her name was Paola, and again we had a group of 8. She was very informative about EVERYthing we passed. Even telling us the history of certain roads, and what the trees were etc. I believe we got her name from Giovanni originally and that is the tour guide I had mentioned earlier.

The only thing about her that I didn't appreciate was that I think that she must have been getting commissions to bring us through certain places. AND she didn't quite understand the meaning of.. . ."ok, but we've SEEN enough churches!" LOL

Anyway, I'll see if I can find my records and get the name of her. She had a microphone in the front so the people in the back of the van could hear which was very helpful.

Anyway, I'll get back to you in a bit.

Cherith