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llarsen

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About Me

  • Location
    Murrieta, CA
  • Interests
    Travel, Outdoors
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Oceania, Celebrity, Princess

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  1. Hi, We have this cruise booked for September and are very excited to be on this ship! A couple of the ports are new to us (Ajacco, Cagliari and Valletta) This is what we have planned so far, if this helps: We are staying in Barcelona 3 days prior to cruise and booked a tour to Costa Brava and another to Sagrada Familia through GetYourGuide. Villafranche - We are considering Italy.Tours Best of French Riviera https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/french-riviera-shore-excursion/ or just staying in port and taking the train to Nice. We have been to Eze and Monte Carlo in the past and really loved Eze! Ajjacco - we plan to just walk around and enjoy a restaurant and drinks. Cagliari - I booked a boat tour because we really love white sand beaches and turquoise water. https://www.viator.com/en-ZA/tours/Sardinia/Guided-excursion-to-the-Sella-del-Diavolo/d24293-354267P2 Valletta - I booked a private driver for 6hrs to see Mdina and a couple other places, but wondering if we really need it? https://www.viator.com/en-ZA/tours/Malta/Private-Experience-Discover-Maltas-Treasures-with-a-Local/d4141-121450P11 Messina - I booked "Celebrity Beautiful Taormina by Land and Sea". We usually don't do ship excursions but I booked this on a sale and like that it also goes to Isola Bella. We have been to Taormina on a private God Father Tour in the past (which was wonderful!) so just wanted to go back to Taormina and see something new (Isola Bella). Naples - We've already done Capri, Amalfi, Ravello and visited Sorrento and Positano in the past. We booked the Naples, Sorrento and Positano Tour through Italy.Tours with a couple ship mates through our Roll Call. You can go on the Roll Call for your cruise and see if anyone is interested in joining some tours. Civitavecchia - We have been to Rome many times (and loved every visit) but this time we are just spending the night near the FCO after disembarking, and visiting Ostia Antica and relaxing by the pool for the day before our early flight the next morning. Hope you have a beautiful cruise!
  2. Hi, We will be in Malta for our first time in September and are interested in hiring a taxi once we arrive, or a driver in advance to take us around the island. Can you give me the name and website of your driver you hired in advance? Thank you!
  3. @euro cruiser Good info! Thanks again for your quick reply!
  4. Thank you so much for your reply! Wow, that pic of Lombardis looks awesome, we will definitely try and eat there! Thanks again for the info! 🙂
  5. @bennybear Hi, I saw your post mentioning the Royal Palace of Caserta in a topic on Ischia, and hoped you can help me with a couple questions, as there is little information regarding getting to this palace. We arrive in Naples in September on Celebrity Ascent on a Sunday from 7:00am-6:00pm. Can you tell me how you got to the train station from the cruise terminal? (taxi/metro/bus?) We hope to grab a taxi to the train station and catch the 8:06am train, do you think this is doable or too early? How many hours did you stay at the Palace and Gardens? Do you recommend any one place for great Neapolitan pizza? (I have been trying to master my Neapolitan pizza dough, and looking forward to tasting the real deal :-) Thank you! For others that may have information...any useful advice, directions or input is appreciated.
  6. Hi, thank you for posting this new information! I have a question if you or anyone else can help.... We will be in Naples this September on a Sunday, on Celebrity Ascent from 7:00am - 6:00pm We would like to take the train to the Royal Palace of Caserta. We planned to take a taxi from cruise terminal to Napoli Central. With this new underground entrance to line #1 metro now open, would you recommend taking the metro line #1 to the Napoli Centrale train station, or is a taxi still the easiest option? (prefer easiest over cheapest). I also planned to purchase our train tickets online prior to our trip. I hoped to catch the 8:06am train. Do you think we would have enough time to catch the 8:06 train either via the new underground Metro entrance or taxi, if our ship docks in Naples at 7:00am? If taking taxi to Napoli Centrale is best option, do we just walk through this new underground tunnel to the other side to get taxi or are taxis located outside cruise terminal above this new tunnel? Thank you!
  7. Our Roll Call for Ascent in September is also very quiet. I find the boards pretty quiet in general, compared to years ago. Sad because they were so full of information and I loved reading reviews and tips from others who shared information about a port or ship. Years ago we took a cruise to French Polynesia and actually met so many fellow CC members at the airport just waiting for our flight. It was fun.
  8. @marazul Thank you, my husband agrees that we should always try something new. We have been to Pompeii, but not Herculaneum. I will look into it, thanks again! 🙂
  9. @euro cruiser When we visited Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi Coast we were on Oceania cruise line and were tendered in. I dread the drive from Naples...that's my hesitation. We've had some wonderful small group tours in the past with cruise mates, but we had longer hours in port and there was no rush. I'm feeling maybe it's best to keep those memories as they are, instead of risking a rushed day which could be unpleasant. Thanks for your input, it really helped! 🙂
  10. @euro cruiser Thank you so much for the detailed information! I'm torn between going to the Palace of Caserta on our own, or joining others from our cruise for a full day ItalyTours.eu tour to Positano and Sorrento. We have been to Positano and Sorrento in the past, and enjoyed them very much but have only seen photos of the Palace of Caserta which reminds me of Versailles. Any thoughts on one verses the other? @marazul Thank you for your reply. It sounds like an hour or so in the Palace and a couple hours in the Gardens will be adequate. We did not have time for pizza the last time in Naples and really must try it on this trip 🙂 Do you have any thoughts on doing a full day tour with Italy.Tours.eu to Positano and Sorrento with a group verses the Palace of Caserta on our own? It's that view looking toward the Palace that reminds me of Versailles and makes me want to go there.
  11. Hi, We will be in Naples on Celebrity Ascent in September from 7am - 6pm (on a Sunday) We have been to Capri, the Amalfi Coast, visited Ravello, Positano and Sorrento in the past on private excursions. All very beautiful and enjoyed every minute. This time we are considering taking a train to the Royal Palace of Caserta (not to be confused with Royal Palace of Naples). It appears 8:06am or 9:00am would be the earliest trains we can catch (not sure how long it will take to get off the ship if we are not on a ship tour?) The trains take approx 40mins to get to the Palace, so we would be arriving at the Palace around 9:00am or 10:00am (depending on which train, prefer the earlier one if possible). We will probably want to take the 2:22pm or 3:30pm train back to Naples Central arriving a little after 3:00pm or little after 4:00pm, giving us approx 5hrs at Palace. I'm a little nervous about taking a bus (there are many and we do not speak Italian). Questions: Has anyone been to the Royal Palace of Caserta, and can you tell me if you had any problems? Should we take a taxi from the cruise terminal to the Naples Central train station or is that too short a trip for them? Is 5hrs at the Palace too much time? (We would like to have time for some Neapolitan Pizza in Naples) Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!
  12. Hi Karysa, We will be in Messina in September and like you, hoped to just do our own thing getting there and returning when we wanted. Transportation was a problem. I was wondering if you can share the name or link for the private tour operator with me? Thank you!
  13. Happy New Year! We are booked on the Ascent in September! Looking forward to seeing your pics and thoughts. Have a great cruise!
  14. Thank you everyone for your replies! Very good info and some new ideas too. I know many people put their phones away on vacation to relax and that is understandable. But we have children and grandchildren at home that we like to stay in touch with, and they enjoy us sending a few pics of our day. To each his own. I just needed to know if my thinking (that phones can connect to the ship cell tower) was outdated, and apparently it's not. Thanks for clarifying 🙂
  15. Thank you! Nice to know...:-)
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