mapleleaves

For the wine tasting, definitely do a tour. But if you want to see more of Tuscany I highly recommend renting a car and spending a night or 2 in a small town. I was nervous about driving in Italy, but it was much easier than I expected. We rented from the car rental center near the airport in order to avoid the city traffic and had easy access to the hwy. The countryside and views were spectacular. And the towns are very close together so you can easily visit several locations. Yes, other drivers will get on your bumper, but on those country roads it's easy to pull over to let them pass, plus it gives you the opportunity to hop out and enjoy the scenery.

A taxi to where .... the airport? We had a late flight so we didn't disembark until 9am. When we went to bfast at 7, there were loads of taxis available and 15-20 people in line. But at 9am there were probably 300 people in line waiting for taxis. A taxi would appear every 5 minutes or so. After an hour, we gave up. There was a private bus offering transfers to the airport so we did that.

P.S. I took a FlixBus after the cruise because we were going to Venice Airport. The bus depot and train station are on the same block, so a 15 minute walk from the ship. Easy, flat walk. We are seniors, and only travel with one carryon wheeled bag, so it was easy to do. The easiest option is the cruiseline transfer since it will take you right to the ship. But, you pay for that convenience. $75 instead of 20E.

I took the train to Trieste last yr. ooops, it's not last year anymore. It was Sept 2022 ! I had read that seating was limited out of the Venice S Lucia station, with no room for luggage, so I chose to board in Mestre instead. In Mestre I could purchase a Business Class seat on a Frecci train. With Bsns Class you can choose your seat, so I chose a seat near the luggage rack. There were only 5 or 6 people in our carriage so in the end we just brought the luggage to our seat. Enjoyed the ride. Comfortable seating. It was 15-20E for the ticket. Left Mestre around 10:30am. It's easy to get to Mestre; board the train in Venice for less than 2E, takes 7-8 minutes, then change in Mestre. The only downside was that it was pouring down rain and the Trieste train station is a 15 minute walk to the ship. We waited an hr for a taxi.

Can you easily manage your luggage? The train would be an easier option ....hop on a vaporetto and disembark at the stop right outside the Venice S Lucia station. As for the bus terminals; Mestre is on the mainland across from Venice. Tronchetto is a huge parking lot at the edge of Venice, near Piazzale Roma. The #2 vaporetto from St Marks will stop at Tronchetto. The bus will be near the People Mover stop (monorail) mappa_delle_linee (avmspa.it)

If you look over the first few pages of this forum, you'll see that this question is asked and answered almost every day. The cruiseline transfer is about the easiest option since it takes you to or from the ship. Some cruiselines only provide their transfer from Venice airport, but others also have a stop by the People Mover station in the Tronchetto parking lot at the edge of Venice. Two other common transfer options are the train and Flixbus. Both are under 20E and the ride is about 2:15 hrs.( I took the fast train from Mestre but for the return I used FlixBus to VCE) - you can take the train from Venice S Lucia station or a fast train from Venice Mestre station. - flixbus picks up at the airport and also in Tronchetto by the People Mover station. The train and bus depots are on the same block, about a 15 minute walk to the pier. Or you can wait for a taxi, a long wait if it's raining.

You can email RadioTaxi for an estimate to go from Chioggia to Mestre train station. ( I assume you want Venice Mestre not Venice S Lucia) Taxi Venice and Mestre: Cooperativa Radiotaxi in Venice, the main authorized taxis (radiotaxivenezia.com)

You don't necessarily need a tour at every port. If you do some research you'll find that many ports and activities can be done DIY. There are a few books specific to Med cruises; check the travel section of your library. The books provide information on history of each port, things to do, places to go, tours and DIY options. ie Rick Steves has Mediterranean Cruise Ports. There are also locations where you may prefer to have the knowledge of a professional guide to accompany you. We did Rome, Florence/Pisa, Corfu on our own using buses, trains, and taxis. For Naples we hired a private driver for the day to take us along the Amalfi Coast. Enjoy your research and planning.

TripAdvisor has an AIR TRAVEL forum. This is what search on 'maroc' shows: Tripadvisor Forums Search Perhaps post your questions there to get feedback from travelers with experience.

Typically the ship's excursion takes you by bus to Oia where you have 90 minutes on your own, then you board the bus again and it drops you in Fira. They will give you a voucher to ride the cable car down when you're ready. If you want to stay longer in Oia, you could take a taxi or the public bus (KTEL bus) back to Fira. But keep in mind that the bus only runs every 30 minutes or so, and can be full.

No specific thoughts to share. It's not an area I'd be interested in staying so I haven't looked into it. Looks like a nice hotel. (maybe 1 bridge to cross.) Enjoy!

The 2 private transfer companies I have seen posted here are VQTravels and NCC VIM. They both have web sites if you want to get a quote. Since you aren't cruising out of SanBasilio, there is no benefit for staying near there. A hotel near or on the Piazzale Roma would be more convenient. In the attached list, the hotels marked ' 0 bridges to cross' means that your car/van can drop you off at the hotel door. 'How Many Bridges?' hotel listings for Piazzale Roma | Venice for Visitors (europeforvisitors.com) And the Arlecchino, Olimpia, and Papadopali are only a block and a small bridge from the drop off point at Piazzale Roma. A cab to the airport takes 20 minutes, but a water taxi would be a great experience. There's plenty of video on youtube.

You might want to check out the Savoia Excelsior in Trieste. It is right across the street from the cruise pier so some rooms provide awesome views of the ship docked.

Define best ... fastest? cheapest? easiest? most convenient? Can you easily manage your luggage? Transportation options include cruiseline transfer, private transfer, train, Flixbus. Your hotel is close to the S Lucia train station in Venice, which is an important factor if you can't easily manage your luggage. The other transportation options drop you at Piazzale Roma which is on the other side of the Grand Canal from the S Lucia station. This would mean a large bridge to cross with luggage, then a 10 minute walk to the hotel. ( the Trieste train station is a 15 minute walk from the ship. There are taxis but could be a wait) Are you flying out of Venice after your visit?

A private transfer will be spendy in comparison to the train, at least 450E. There are a couple of transfer companies listed in the attached thread: Venice to Ravenna Shuttle Info - Page 2 - Italy Ports - Cruise Critic Community To find more, just enter the word Ravenna in the search box, but limit your search to This Forum.

If lunch on a charter boat is what you want, do it. But most people want to see the views and the beautiful blue domed churches in Oia. As Bruce suggested, look over the ships excursions closely to see if there's a tour that will return you to the new port. It's VERY uncommon tho; most excursions take you to Fira for the cable car. Failing that option, I recommend taking a cruiseline excursion to Oia. There's usually a simple one (about $100) that lasts 3-4 hrs. You tender to the new port, then take a bus to Oia. You have 90 minutes to wander around for views/photos, then the bus takes you to Fira to catch the cable car DOWN. This excursion would avoid the cable car line going UP plus avoids steep hills. And being the first ship in port will give you a bit of time in OIA before the crowds arrive. You still have to deal with the cable cars going down tho. It helps that yours is the first ship to leave. Since sunset on Oct 21 is around 6:30pm and the other ships have late departures, many of those pax MAY choose to have dinner at one of the cliffside restaurants in order to watch the sunset. Personally I'd take the Oia excursion, have a cool drink at one of the cliffside bars afterwards, then head for the cable car by 1:30.

Look on pg 2 and you'll find 2 threads regarding transportation to/from Ravenna

ooops, my bad. You want the EARLIEST boarding time. I would ask the Carnival forum. On NCL we could choose boarding times, and depending on the ship/itinerary it could be as early at 10am. But geez, you'll be on the ship for a long time so no need to rush on board. Barcelona is beautiful; savor every moment !

typically you must board 2 hrs prior. Our NCL cruise departed at 6pm and we had to board by 4pm. We LOVED Barcelona and wanted to explore for as long as possible, so we didn't leave our hotel until 2pm. Bonus ... no line at checkin!

We took the Aerobus from the airport to our hotel near Placa Catalunya. About 7E and took about 30 minutes. It only makes 4 or 5 stops, so very easy. IIRC there was a bus leaving every 10 minutes or less. A taxi will be close to 30 minutes and will cost about 35E We paid 15E for the ride to the ship from our hotel. p.s. card are accepted, but have cash just in case the cc machine isn't working.

We were in port from 1:30pm - 10:00pm, late Sept. And one other ship was there, 7am -4pm ( 2700 pax on Costa). With that information, you wouldn't expect a long wait in either direction for the cable cars. But the cars only carry 36 pax for each run, so it's a slow process. We waited 2 hrs to go up at 2pm, but no wait at all at 7pm for the return. We chose 7pm so that we could enjoy the views and sunset from the ship.

Keep in mind that the cable cars only carry 36 pax per run, so 8,000 people can still create a long line. Note the arrival and departure times of the other ships to help with your planning.

My concern wouldn't be the speed of getting off the ship; it would be about the ship arriving to port later than 8am, or a problem with paperwork that causes Spanish officials to delay disembarking. Why would you have to spend the day at the airport? Take a cab from the port to Placa Catalunya where there is luggage storage then wander around LasRamblas or Gothic Qtr for a few hrs. Then collect your luggage and take the Aerobus to the airport. Good luck !

definitely some airports are more chaotic than others! And the number of ships in port DOES have a significant impact which is why I suggest you google for that info. I used to live in Seattle. On weekends when 3 or 4 ships dumped an extra 15-20,000 people at the airport, the impact was huge!! 90 minutes wouldn't cut it. As I said, we arrived to BCN 2hrs prior and did ok. We left the port around 10:30am for a 1pm flight. At that time of day it was a 30 minute drive. We were flying TAP to Lisbon. The lines were long; but the FIRST CLASS ticket counter staff would call us peons over to keep things moving. I'm sure other airlines would do the same. I think the hesitation with your situation is that you don't know when you can disembark. IDEALLY your ship will arrive on time (or early as they often do) and you'll be climbing into your taxi by 8:15 and at the airport in 20 minutes. But you don't have any wiggle room. It wouldn't be in my comfort zone. If you are considering the 11am train, doesn't that arrive at 6pm. In which case, you might as well take the 5:30pm flight. As for commentary about the scenery, the comments are negative on Rick Steves blog. Google to find other comments or ask on tripadvisor. Worth taking train from Barcelona to Granada - Rick Steves Travel Forum If you ar

Is there a reason you need to be in Granada earlier in the day? There are later flights. and there are other airlines if you don't mind a stop and layover. Google to see which other ships are in port that day. If there are a few large ships, the airport will be filled with cruiseline pax who have been told to make flight reservations after 12 noon. But if yours is the only ship, you might make it. I only travel with a carry on, so i can usually avoid checkin. I got to BCN 2 hrs prior for a domestic flight and did ok.