communication

Do they allow men and women to wear jeans in the dinning room at night?

A taxi from the port to the train is 25 euros each way which can be done with up to 6 people per cab. Saves any hassles with ships shuttles and catching public buses. Train each way to Florence is 9.9 euros each way. Within a 5 minute walk from the Florence train station are the markets which included more leather stall all selling quality leathergoods that will empty your wallet if allowed. We will be there in November having been there last year and our goal is to buy the wife a quality leather hand bag. I purchased a man bag last year for about half the cost of an equivalent at home

10 years ago, I bought a leather bag from a stand in Pisa. I still use it and it is in good shape.

Do the taxi cabs take credit cards? dollars? or only euros? So to get from the ship to Florence you have to take a taxi to the train station?

How far is it from the ship into Florence? Can you walk? Any suggestions for lunch, a neighborhood restaurant? Can you walk from Florence to Pisa?

How far is it from the cruise ship port to Naples? We would like to just go into Naples and eat lunch and walk around. Any suggestions of a neighborhood restaurant, not tourists? Or how far is Positano. We stopped there on a previous cruise, and I loved it. How far from the ship and recommendations for a lunch spot?

We did a private tour of the Amalfi coast last time and it was great.

Think of Marseille as the "gateway to Provence" which is one of the most popular regions in all of France. And within Provence, Marseille is probably the least liked city. If you want to DIY you have a few easy options and many more not so easy options :). The easiest is to simply stay in Marseille, walk around, perhaps use some of the public transportation to get away from downtown, take a boat over to Chateau d'If, etc. A relatively easy DIY option is to grab a train or bus (both located at the St Charles Train Station in town) to Aix en Provence. This is a pretty large Provencial city with more then its share of charms and options to keep a DIYer busy.

 

As to the more difficult options, I could probably fill a small book. Many of the better options would mean either booking a tour or renting a car. But it is possible to use the train to get as far as places like Avignon (a very interesting historical town). My suggestion is to take a look at the various Excursions offered by your cruise line...which will give you a good starting point for researching options. As long time DIYers (for over forty years) we still like to look at the cruise line excursions for ideas...although we seldom book any of those tours.

 

Hank

Can you walk to the town from where the boat docks?

We will be in Mallorca on May 21st, off the new Royal Caribbean ship. We are thinking of taking a catamaran tour. What is the average temperature this time of year? We are thinking of using the following company, Oasis Catamaran. Has anyone used them or any other company?