cruiseathon

My advice is not to leave La Seyne Sur Mer port. The shuttle boats to Toulon run from the quay adjacent to Independence, so there's no need to leave the port to catch one. There is NO reason to walk into La Seyne and wait for the (irregular) ferry service (navette) or bus.

Here are two signs I noticed at La Seyne Sur Mer, when reboarding the ship. They might have been of more help when getting off ;)

One suggestion combining the #17 bus with a beach is to hike the short Goat Trail (aka Middle Ground Trail) from Nelsons Dockyard (Fort Berkeley side) to Pigeon beach (about 25 minutes, but over a small hill). It's an interesting trail, and a lovely beach. Then you can walk back along the road (15 minutes). I have attached some pictures taken earlier this year so you get the idea.

Agree that Calvi is a great port of call - it's a beautiful town with a great beach - gorgeous sand which gently shelves into (normally) calm waters - very child friendly. Also there's a Foreign Legion base at the end of the beach - we could see them practicing their parachuting from an aeroplane circling overhead - several troops missed the beach and ended up in the water ;) Another idea is to hire a car and make the 20 minute journey past Calvi airport to reach the magnificent Bonifato forest for a short 2ish hour hike - IMHO you'll be following some of the best trails in Europe!

Bari was one of our ports of call on a 7 day Adriatic cruise, and we had an enjoyable day. We wandered around characterful old town - its centerpiece is St Nicholas cathedral, complete with some St Nicholas relics. Then there's an impressive castle with an interesting museum. And you'll find lots of small art galleries, shops and cafes. Next we walked along the lungomare (or promenade), then caught a (free) bus for a 5 minute ride along the coast to the Pane and Pomodo (bread and tomato?) beach, where we spent an enjoyable couple of hours. (Though if your cruise is late september, it might be a little chilly by then for the beach). Alternatively you can take a shore excursion to the quaint houses at Alberobello.

It's a tall ask to do Capri and Pompeii in a day, and if you did attempt the feet, I would suggest Capri first. The ferry service can be very unreliable, especially in choppy weather, and the lack of organized queuing arrangements at Capri pier (people trying to get off the ferry cannot because of people trying to get on, and vice-versa, the pier is only a few feet wide - see my photo) can easily lead to absolute chaos and long delays.

September's a great time for a cruise vacation in the western Mediterranean. Capris/shorts will be fine, just be sure to bring a warm top for the evening. Plus don't forget your sunscreen - there will still be plenty of sunshine.

The name of the beach is Bayshore beach on Carlisle bay. Snorkeling around the wrecks at Carlisle Bay was one of the (many) highlights of our recent cruise on Emerald Princess. Though it took an age to find them. Eventually a chat with the beach lifeguard gave us a vague idea of where to look. And much swimming later we found the very spectacular wrecks.

To help find the wrecks a good tip is to start your swim adjacent to a green-roofed octagonal bandstand, and just head straight out to sea for 200yds (the bandstand is about 100yards south of the intersection between Bay St and Beckles Road, and you can just about see it on google maps in satellite mode).

I'm also attaching a map of the wrecks (discovered since returning home) from http://www.divebarbadosblue.com/snorkeling/shipwrecks/. The bandstand's located on the RHS of the 600ft line).

Great spot. In the stamp collecting world, a mistake like this could be sold for $$$$. But I have a feeling that there are not many collectors of Princess signage ;)

Cruised on Emerald Princess this March - a smart and tidy boat, IMHO in no need of a refurbish any time soon ;)

55 Euros is scandalous. No wonder I have a taxi phobia! If you feel confident walking with your luggage in tow for around a 1/3 of a mile, definitely go with the People Mover. There's both an escalator and elevator at both the Piazzale Roma and Statione Marittima stations, so this will help with your bags.

Chania's a wonderful port-of-call. First of all getting to Chania from Souda is very easy, as a shuttle bus is usually laid on between the two. In Chania, I can recommend a morning walk around the Venetian era harbor to the Venetian lighthouse, then returning along the harbor front to admire the fronts of the old shipyards, the 17th century Mosque and the Firkas fortress. Stop for lunch at one of the fabulously atmospheric restaurants under the old city wall in the heart of the old town. In the afternoon walk around to beautiful Nea Chora beach, perfect for a relaxing time or an invigorating swim out to a band of offshore rocks.

Have sailed on (and enjoyed) both Royal Caribbean and Princess. I used to think Princess offered one or two advantages (eg better headroom in staterooms, more comfortable chairs in dining rooms), but on our last cruise the Princess ship made the (IMHO) cardinal sin of missing out a port for a very spurious sounding reason, so in future will think twice before booking another cruise with them.

Here's my picture of another memorable sight in Barbados. The enormous Boabab tree in Queen Elizabeth Park, Bridgetown. Well worth a 2 minute detour from the town center!

We went to Batis beach from the port (about 3 miles south east as the crow flies), and found it surprisingly nice for a town beach. It's easy to get to - bus to metro station, then metro to Faliro, (just 1 stop, 5 mins), next walk over the footbridge across the road to reach the SEF tram stop, finally take the tram to Batis beach (10 stops, 15 mins). Here's my picture of Batis beach

Here's a map of the route from the tender pier to the Villa, a very enjoyable walk. Though from what I can remember, there were more than 25 steps (nearer 50? in two flights?) which were quite hard work on a hot summer morning.

Things to do in Ajaccio itself include the colorful market, packed with some very Corsican fare (some of it nearly as pungent as the local maquis), the Musee Fesch, a great art gallery packed full of work collected by Napoleon's uncle, the Maison Bonaparte, where Napoleon was born, and pretty Saint Francois beach, under the walls of the Citadel.

We booked-in at the Hotel Medium Monegal, very clean and serviceable, but most importantly perfectly situated on Placa Catalunya, which is the very center of the city. Our stay was just one pre-cruise night, but we managed to fit in lots of sightseeing - Parc Guell, Casa Batllo, the magic fountains, a walking tour of the Gothic quarter, and the Sagrada Familiar. Though our flight did arrive at lunchtime the day before our cruise, and we were just about the last ones getting on the boat ;)

Villefranche-sur-Mer is a fantastic place to spend a day, so unless you have done it before, there's no need to rush around like a headless chicken visiting other places. The two stars are the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild (about a 20 minute walk onwards from Villefranche beach) and Villa Kerylon (a bit beyond). Villa Ephrussi is very impressive, with beautiful gardens and is well worth a visit (and the Baroness had an amazing collection of furniture made for her dogs!). Villa Kerylon likewise. Then there's the gorgeous beach, and finally the fort and (frankly less exciting) the underground? street. I've attached a couple of pictures - one of Villa Ephrussi, taken during the musical fountains - better than it looks ;) and the other of Villefranche beach.

Assuming you are going in summer, my preference would be Monterosso, because it has a super beach. Be warned that the glorious coastal path between the villages is mostly closed at the moment - when we visited last year only the Monterosso - Vernazza section was open (it was a wonderful hike). And looking at http://www.parco****onale5terre.it/sentieri/sentieri5terre.pdf it seems that even that's closed at moment (as it's shown as a red line on the map).

BeeSkip,

I agree with you. Picking a beach to go to in Antigua is very confusing - there seems to be so many things to consider - guess it would be with 365 to choose from though ;).

The highlight of every cruise for me is discovering new destinations. Every morning (apart from those boring at sea days) you wake up to find yourself somewhere different, just like you've been teleported Star Trek style ;)

On our last cruise on Liberty of the Seas we went on the 'environmental tour' given by the environmental officer. It was very interesting and free, but we did spend a lot of our time in the room where they recycle the rubbish. We also spent a lot of our time dodging crew as they rushed up and down the main 'freeway' corridor, which runs the full length of the ship from bow to stern on deck 0. As we walked about you could peer around - but they don't let you into anywhere interesting (eg engine room) because of the security risk. Anyway, it did whet my appetite for the 'Behind The Scenes' tour, which I shall definitely sign up for on my next RC cruise. BTW, number of people on the 'Environmental Tour' - just 4!

Lot's to do in Antibes - it's a great destination (IMHO much better than Cannes). My top three are 1 - Sunbathe/swim at Plage de la Gravette - surprisingly good snorkeling for the Mediterranean. 2 - Visit the Picasso museum - brilliant selection of Picasso plates on the top floor ;). 3 - Wander around Port Vauban - amazing super yachts.