kate52

Sorry no-one has replied with any good suggestions. I can't be much help either- we just looked around the town which is a very easy walk from ship, but it wasn't really very interesting. Nothing much in the way of transport or tourist info either, or we might have gone up to Trsat where the castle is. Only thing I can suggest is that if one of the ship's tours looks remotely interesting- go for it!

We've had 149 and 151- both nice bright spacious cabins with very little obstruction in windows. Not too close to the lift but right by staircase down to promenade deck.

We did this cruise last year and loved the ports. We were in Rouen for the evening and all the following day. Didn't go out ourselves the first evening, but table companions did as they wanted to see the light & music event at the cathedral. They said there were no taxis at the port, so they walked there and back. Said it was an easy walk and worth seeing.

The following day shuttles were free and ran all day. After spending the morning on the Monet's garden excursion we took a shuttle into town and spent an hour or so fitting in as much as we could. Lovely old town with beautiful buildings.

Monet's garden was on my "bucket list" so I booked it before we went, but they put on extra coaches for people booking onboard. It was stunning, but pretty crowded!

As said above (Bill) you will need to be out of the cabin early in the morning, but your ship's card is valid until your assigned time for disembarkation so you can come and go as you please. Hold luggage is removed from the ship during the night and stored on quay, just collect it when it's time for your transfer bus.

There will be a secure area for hand baggage, so you will be able to go ashore without taking everything with you.

And you can have meals and drinks onboard until your departure time. There are some courtesy cabins available if you need to freshen up- ask at reception for these.

Koper old town is pretty but very small. On the dockside was a tour company selling timed bus tours to Piran- very pretty and sea-sidey. Or I believe there is a local service bus that goes there.

We did the bus tour, enjoyed it very much, and had time to look around Koper as well. Tour stops on the way for photo opportunity, leaves you in Piran for 2 hours, then back through a resort area. Guide on bus but not in Piran. This is the link

http://www.istranka.si/en/shore-excursions-koper/english-hop-on-hop-off/

If several ships in port it may get booked up.

We used the "tourist" bus to Piran (2 years ago). They were right on the quayside selling timed departures. Not really a HOHO bus- it made one stop for photo opportunities on the way there, gve us 2 hours in Piran, and drove through a resort area on the way back. It's 24 euros per adult now (gone up since we went!) but was a lovely trip. This is their website http://www.istranka.si/en/shore-excursions-koper/english-hop-on-hop-off/

Koper is small, you won't need much time to see the old town.

There's a lot to see in Lisbon- only scratched the surface on our 2 visits. We loved the castle for the peace and views- it's up a big hill though! Best option is transport up and walk down. We didn't have time to figure out the trams but would love a ride in one of the historic ones next time. Also liked the beautiful squares and enjoyed a ride in Sta Juste elevator.

Can I ask has anyone cruised with Cruise and Maritime and what did they think of it compared with Thomson / Tui ?

We still like Thomson/ Marella best, but have been once with Fred Olsen and twice with Cruise and Maritime. Of the two I preferred C&M- a more relaxed atmosphere on board with some lovely "old fashioned" touches like a gala midnight buffet/ deck party.

Also very good at providing free shuttles where necessary!

We found FO a bit "stuffy" with rigid dress codes and mealtimes that were certainly not organised for the convenience of passengers.

Well firstly, you need to post this question in the Spain forum, not France!

Palma has a quaint old town around the back of the cathedral, full of little specialist independent shops, horse and carriage rides etc.

But the best thing to do in Majorca is the train to Soller. Leaves from Palma, about an hour through lovely scenery to Soller. You can either stay in the very attractive town or get the tram down to the little port. There is a bus back or you can return on the train. We got a taxi from the port entrance to the station, and back again, but it is walkable straight along the seafront

I'm pretty sure that the guidelines are 800 cigs allowed without question. Over that you have to "prove" they're for your own personal use. So if you had a variety of brands for example, they could reasonably assume you were buying them to sell back in the uk.

We got a bus to Oia (after waiting for our allotted tender and queuing for the cable car!) but it was a bit of a scrum at the bus stop. And we were afraid to stay too long because of getting back, so not really relaxing.

I've heard there is a boat that takes you from the port to Oia now, but not sure where it goes from.

If you book a ship's excursion you get taken off first in the morning to a different docking area that the coaches can get to.

We've stopped at both ports and enjoyed them both.

I think Marseille has more to see than Toulon, but we docked right in town in Toulon. This obviously made it easier to go on a trip, stop off in town and make our own way back to the ship. However, I have read that bigger ships were docking elsewhere- La Seyne?

The cruise port in Marseille is some way out of town, about a 20 minute coach ride.

For Honfleur I'm looking at doing some of their shore tours that ends with a short walking tour of Honfleur after which passengers have the option taking the tour bus back or staying in town for a while and then making their own way back to the ship.

I would think you could get a ticket for the shuttle bus as well as your tour ticket and get the last shuttle back. The tickets weren't timed.

Hope you have a lovely time. We only had a half day stop in Honfleur, could have done with longer but it was really pretty.

In Rouen I went on a ship's tour to Monet's garden, which was somewhere I'd wanted to visit for years. To make sure of a place, I booked it online in advance. I think they tried to cater for everyone who wanted to go on the trip though, as 8 coaches went there from the ship!

We did both these ports last year with C&M, sailing on Magellan. It was a really lovely cruise.

Free shuttle buses were provided in both ports- about 15 minute drive. Both were walkable, but a good half hour walk. We had an overnight in Rouen and a number of people chose to go into town the evening we docked (there was a son et lumiere show at the cathedral). However no shuttle buses were provided until the following morning, and most had to walk there and back.

We went up in a tuk-tuk from the port entrance ( can't remember cost but not expensive and a nice ride!) Got a taxi back down into town.

You have to be out of your cabin quite early in the morning but you do not leave the ship until your transfer coach comes to collect you about 3 hours before your flight.

Your luggage will be on the dock side, and hand luggage can be left in one of the lounges where a member of staff will be there to look after it.

For the rest of the day you are free to make use of the ship's facilities or to go ashore. There is usually a cabin you can have for half an hour to freshen up (arrange this at reception) or you can pay to have a late check out cabin to yourselves.

Corfu town is very close, in the past we have spent a couple of hours there.

Not on this cruise but have been to the ports on previous cruises (except Corinth).

It depends what time you get to the ship- last year we had a couple of hours before the lifeboat drill. It's only about 10 minutes by taxi so it can be done, but be aware you might have to wait for a taxi back if there's a queue. You need to go through all the check in procedure, board ship and find your cabin first. Information about time of drill, time to be back onboard before sailing, and the important ship / port contact numbers will all be on the news sheet in your cabin. Hope you have a great time! Sailing from (and flying into) Dubrovnik is lovely.

You can have a very nice day in Kotor and in Corfu without taking an excursion. Though if you get chance to take the half day trip to Paleokastritsa from Corfu it's lovely.

There is very little in Itea without booking a trip or taking a chance on getting a taxi.

Laundry facilities are fine- no charge, detergent auto added to wash. Dryers take ages. Ironing facilities available. Great for when you spill something on your favourite top!

Hi- it was 2012 when we did this trip so not sure if anything has changed.

It was a good excursion with several stops, notably the Church of Spilled Blood where we had about 15 mins. Also a shopping stop before returning to the ship. We were a bit late back and some people missed their afternoon tours. I should check the actual itinerary with the excursion team onboard though. The only disappointment was that we didn't go close enough to the Hermitage- only snapped it from across the river.

Thanks for that.

I'm sure we will enjoy it, nice to be going from a local port!

Really pleased to hear you enjoyed your cruise- we are sailing on her next month from Liverpool.

We have been with C&M once before, but not on this ship. Was it very formal in the evenings? My OH will put up with wearing a suit on a formal night but doesn't really want to wear a jacket every night.

Split is easily explored on your own, but worth reading up about before you go so you know what you're looking at. (From someone who'd never heard of Diocletian before we stepped ashore there!)

Koper has a really good Hop on/off bus service from the dockside- you don't actually hop on and off- it's a trip to a lovely seaside town called Piran with scenic stops on the way. They give you 2 hours to explore there on your own then same bus back. Koper itself is attractive but very small.

In Venice you have the option of Thomson's trip which drops you off at St Mark's square and brings you back after 2-3 hours, or making your own way to waterbus to do the same thing (it can be a bit confusing). But if you want to see inside the main buildings then I'd book a trip here as it gets VERY crowded and the queues are long.

Glad you got your cruise sorted, but really!! It should NOT be that complicated.

At least you can relax now and look forward to a lovely cruise!

Can't see any obvious reason for this. Not Easter. No special offers. Both available separately.

Looks like one of those quirky Thomson glitches that the IT department aren't clever enough to fix- and there are a few of those this year!