waterlegs

I dont mind new ones coming on scene if they add itineraries and ports. I am hoping it will open up competition and I do believe there is a new port due for development for cruise ships in the pipeline here in Ireland. Some cruisers come here but hoping we get more choice and wont need to fly to our ship in future. I would prefer if they werent all mega ships too. Midship must be nice. Have only sailed on Freedom of Seas and managed that size but wouldnt like bigger.

I am just off Freedom after the same itinerary. Have submitted my review without photos as having trouble with getting them on my pc at the moment. I will do another review when I have photos and videos sorted but happy to answer any questions you have in the meantime.

We embarked in Barcelona after flying there.

Day 2 was Marseille. The port is about 9km from the city. You can walk to a free shuttle bus in the port that will take you most of the way to the centre of Marseille. It is a big city. Shops are within 5 mins of where shuttle bus leaves you at Place Joliette and about ten mins walk to the old port.

Day 3 was Villefranche. There is a train station up a flight of steps from the seafront around the corner from the tender port. Nice is a 8min train journey and dont think Monaco is much further but is the opposite direction..on the track furthest from the seafront. You can get the same train that goes to nice to any of the coastal towns. I took it directly to Cannes and then came back to nice and then back to Villefranche.

Day 4 was La Spezia. We had a tour booked with Romeinlimo to visit Florence and Pisa. Florence is about a two hour drive from port. Pisa is nearer the port.

Day 5 was Citavecchia. We stayed on the ship as we had already been to beautiful Rome.

Day 6 was Naples. We had a romeinlimo tour booked here too. We went to Positano, Sorrento and Pompeii. Last day was a sea day.

Just back from a western Med cruise during which we had a shared tour with RIL for the ports of La Spezia and Naples.

I was satisfied with both tours although neither would get full marks, for different reasons.

La Spezia:

We had to first take a port shuttle bus to the port gates. The driver met us there and then we had to walk about five minutes to the tour van. No big deal doing that. The driver was excellent in knowledge and had water on board for us. He was good at relating to us and helping us off the van. His English was quite good and he was very pleasant. The van was air conditioned.

My negative points, which were no big deal either was that he never stopped talking. He told us there was free wifi in the van after we arrived in Florence. He took us to try access the Piazza Michelangelo viewpoint to discover it was all closed off for the Giro d'Italia. Felt he should have been aware of that in advance. I can't decide whether he was a good or bad driver but he was very good at just about avoiding three crashes on the motorway. Brakes must have been amazing.Difficult to hear unless sitting up in the front beside him. The microphone was broken and being replaced. If sitting to the left side it was very bumpy and uncomfortable.

Overall I would give this excursion a 7-8/10. He did ask about our preferences and tried his best to accommodate everyone with their booking times for museums, tower of Pisa etc. Instructions for cafes and meeting point and time were clear. Most importantly they were very conscious about getting us back to port on time.

Naples: We easily met our driver here, without having to walk far. This driver was also very talkative but very witty and entertaining. He was also a fount of information but his wit was more appreciated. A good driver. No water or wifi offered in this van but it was alot more comfortable and easier to get in and out of. Air conditioning was on. Our driver was good at explaining where we could eat and clear about meeting point and time. We visited Positano and Sorrento and stopped on both Amalfi and Sorrento coasts for photos. We had an hour in Positano and two hours in Sorrento. In the afternoon we had two hours in Pompeii with a guide. This guide was very informative, very pleasant and had good crowd avoiding strategies. I did not enjoy Pompeii as much as I had expected to. The guide was definitely needed there but felt I saw little in two hours and would recommend at least three hours here as it is huge. We were well back to the port on time and I would give this tour a 9/10.

Second tour with RIL was definitely better but I would book with them again.

I can confirm that Jerry, whose last name remains unknown is still the AM on Freedom. Just checked my compass and can't find his last name on it. Only time I saw him was on the tv morning show. Think he was probably involved with sports pool games etc.

Us too Jillianin! Counting the days! Although now have to reconsider the wardrobe...we weren't going to do formal... but we may need to step it up!

 

 

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You'll be fine once you are not in shorts. It's just a suggestion. I hardly ever get the chance to dress up at home and am not a big dressy up person anyway. Love my jeans and relaxing gear but onboard I found myself dressing up smartly even on casual nights. What i loved was the relaxed ambience even on formal nights. It was no different from other nights, except they took your photo and some people dressed formally while others didnt. All very relaxed.

Nice photos. Hope it stayed dry for you. Looks a bit dull. It was in high 30s there last Monday. Was my least favourite port but expected that. Old port is charming however. I just walked about there and took the little train to Notre Dame de la garde.

I am also just off Freedom. Now it was my first cruise so I can't compare it to other ships. I think many of your questions are subjective too. January is in the Caribbean I presume, when you are going. This was only week two on the Med and not school holidays here yet so may have been one of the quieter times on board. Only places I found crowded were the Wj, the cafe promenade and the Bull and Bear pub and Schooner bars. Deck loungers may have been difficult to get for initial sailaway but no problem any other time any time of day. again being a port intensive cruise may have contributed to this. I didnt feel the ship was crowded generally speaking. I thought the food great everywhere. We mainly ate in the MDR and althhough there is little variation in the menus, the food was excellent. Great variety in the WJ. Obviously not quite as nice as MDR but was certainly good enough for us and balanced out by the need for a more informal atmosphere for dinner one evening. Will be doing a review as soon as I get a chance.

Just off Freedom yesterday. Was my first cruise but would highly recommend it for kids those ages. You have mini golf, rock climbing, flowrider, arcade, adventure club, pool and surrounding areas, ice skating, dance classes etc.

I am just off the May 14 sailing too and loved every minute. I will definitely do a detailed review but might take me a week or so. I have kept all the compasses to photograph for this review and to answer any questions with. We also had an interior cabin but on deck nine so think it was a bit bigger than yours. We were very pleasantly surprised by it and had expected smaller. Might be hard to tell looking at your double bed. Two singles in ours and definitely looked more spacious.

Have a fantastic cruise. Hope weather stays good. We had great weather. Will get going on review very soon. Sitting at my pc now and still feeling motion of the ship, even though it was only rocking on the final day.

I am just back and was there on a Monday. It was operating but we had a 40 minute wait for it to turn up. Now in fairness we got off ship a little later so it may be more frequent around time of docking early in the morning. I would keep observing these threads however until September as times and running days could change.

Just back from western Med cruise. The free shuttle was running on Monday when we were there but we were ages waiting for it to come. The signs for finding it are very poor. The green line is easy to find but is in all directions so we didn't know whether to go right or left. The timetable doesn't give exact times but says every 20 minutes. We were waiting 40 minutes for shuttle to come. It is retty quick to get to Joliette then. You have about a ten minute walk to Vieux Port from there. Taking the shuttle back to port was easier. It pulled up just as i arrived at the stop in Joliette. It was delayed getting back however as a massive yacht was coming into harbour and the bridge road had to lift up to allow yacht access. We were stuck for 10-15 mins while this was going on. Shuttle stop was a good ten minute walk from our ship. It is a double accordion type bus however so plenty of space on it.

This may vary by ship/itinerary. Which ship/itinerary are you wondering about? It was a while ago, but I feel like times were a little different on our Mediterranean cruise, than what we were used to in the Caribbean.

Western Med on Freedom

Yes, go outside on deck 4, walk forward as far as possible until you come to stairs. Take the stairs up to deck 5, continue walking forward (if on the starboard side you will pass the door to the lounge mentioned above) until you reach a short set of stairs to the helicopter pad.

Thanks Bob

What time do WJ and MDR open for breakfast?

Unless you are walking outside from from door in the starboard side of the forward lounge, I think you mean deck 4.

So it can only be accessed on starboard side of deck five but on deck four i just go on deck and walk to the front of ship?

Less than three days til embarkation. What is the easiest way to get to the helipad?

I will be tendering at Villefranche on the 16th of May and am wanting to take a train to Cannes and then from Cannes back to Nice and then back to Villefranche. My main question is can I take a regular return ticket from villefranche to cannes and just get off and back on at nice on the return or do I need three separate train tickets? Also wondering if anyone can recommend any cheapish eating places...if they exist, in either cannes or nice? Thanks.

Brilliant. Thanks for posting

Are we talking about free upgrades? Do first time cruisers ever get them?

What about the drink given out for the sailaway party. Is that always covered by the deluxe package? If I ask the waiter will they be honest with me or could I find myself billed?

How is this happening with relevant frequency? Is it voluntary? Is it too much drink or partying or freak accidents?

Really enjoying your review. Sounds fab apart from the weather. Can you take photos of the entertainment with a mobile phone? Noticed it says no flash photography but would love to be able to take some photos on my phone. Hope the weather improves soon.

Lord God, how sad and scary. I hope he is found.

Are these doorsigns just for fun or an obligation if attending the meet and mingle?

If it is the same show that I am thinking about that we see here in Ireland, that man presenting it drives me mad. Think he is a bad presenter, despite his enthusiasm. The prices do seem good however and I had the same question in the back of my mind.