Med. Cruise

[DDnRD]

Just a couple of questions. We are not new to cruising, just new to cruising this area. We booked on Voyager Sept. 13 out of Barcelona for 7 nites, we've always done Caribbean, so I'm just wondering what am I in store for?

Whats the weather like? How should we dress? Where should we go? What should we see?

Thanks in advance for your help, happy cruising.............;)

[Sue L]

You might want to check the port of call boards for each port. Next go to your library and get some of the Frommer's guides to each place. The weather should be beautiful at that time of year. Bring layers, a waterproof jacket and remember many churches don't allow shorts or bare shoulders like the Sistine Chapel. Capris are a great alternative and for the men zipoff pants are perfect as the legs can be zipped on and off quickly.

 

For any of the tourist areas that are more then an hour away (Rome) I would suggest booking a ship's tour for the peace of mind that the ship will wait for you.

[sandancer]

We did the Voyager 7 night Med cruise and loved it. Although we are from the UK and seasoned cruisers we had never done the Med. It was very different - not a beachy cruise, much more site seeing - lots of interesting tours. I agree with Sue - for Rome and Florence, take a ships tour. Rome is well over an hour away from the port. We missed out on Florence as we did not want to take 2 long tours on following days and regretted it, people on board told us that Florence was fabulous. The ship docks in Livorno for Florence and really there is nothing worth seeing there. We are putting that right when we cruise this May on the Navigator.

[ubdkjrb]

...about taking the ship's excursions in Rome and Florence. I'm not sure what all of your ports are, but we were Villefrance, Livorno, Civitaveechia and Naples. We took public transportation in all of those ports and saved enough to take another cruise.

 

Some of those "explore Florence" excursions are just bus rides to the city for $65 apiece. Not only is that ten times what a train would cost, but in the case of Florence, since the buses can't get to the center of the city (narrow streets), they drop you off a pretty good ways from everything you want to see. The train station is dead city center and all of the places are within a ten block radius.

 

In Naples, we booked our own hydrofoil over to Capri, the terminal was a one block walk from the ship and we rode over with the RCCL excursion. We paid half what they did!

 

Europeans use public transportation all of the time for work, school, etc. The trains are actually faster than driving because of the traffic. You'll beat the excursion bus in both Florence and Rome by thirty minutes each way. That's very valuable time considering you only get about six hours in each place.

 

Peter:)

[John Cuttino]

The big difference between Caribbean and Med Cruises (to me) was the long port days. Lots of ports, early off, late back due to long distances to get to places you want (Florence, Rome, Bay of Naples). So this makes for an exhausting day. Do late seating dinner, if you normally do early, since you won't be "rushed" to eat.

The excursions are not so much "party boat" stuff but historical, cultural. Take advantage. Do your research over what you want to see and do.

We did ships excusions so we wouldn't have to worry about missing the ship. (This was a big plus in Naples since our excursions to Pompei, Sorrento, Capri was late getting back-the ship waited for us).

It is a wonderful opportunity to see lots of Europe in a short time without having to worry about where to stay and pack/unpack every day.

My recommendation is to not go cheap since this is (maybe) a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I still get goosebumps thinking about being in the Colisseum and Sistine Chapel in Rome.

[John Cuttino]

One other recommendation: Go a few days early to see Barcelona. It is an outstanding city with lots to see/do. You also will not worry so much about jet lag and missing the boat.