Recent or somewhat recent Med. Cruisers....I need info!

[Littlegoo75]

Hi all! I am looking for people who have sailed the Mediterranean itinerary - ports of call including Naples, Venice, Civitaveccia, Messina, Cannes, Barcelona, and Dubrovnik Croatia.

I will be sailing on Carnival this coming October for their first season of sailing the Med. We will be sailing r/t out of Civitaveccia (Rome) and calling at the above ports of call.

From your experience, were there many people under the age of 35 compared to Caribbean sailings? I enjoy spending time with people of all ages, but I would like to expect that we won't be the only people under 40 on this cruise.

I would expect that the atmosphere would be less party oriented on a cruise like this compared to a 7 night Caribbean cruise, even with Carnival, which is fine, but I am still hoping that it will be fun and that people will let loose on the sea days/nights, and there will still be the R-rated comics, stupid hairy chest contests, etc.

As for the different ports of call, did you mostly stick to the ship's excursions or do independent tours, or just walk around? Are there any places that make a good beach day? Are there any must see places? The only place I have been before out of the above ports of call, is Barcelona, so I know what to expect there. Other than that, all of those places will be new to me.

I would really love to hear from anyone who has done this itinerary, or a similar one. We don't set sail for another 7 and a half months, and the first Carnival Liberty Med. cruise doesn't sail until July, so it will be awhile until I hear anything from the first people who do this cruise.

We were planning on doing a cruise like this later, maybe in a few years, but we couldn't pass up the deal that Carnival was offering to past guests - We got a balcony for $1,400 per person including $200 shipboard credit, so more or less $1,200 a person. Cruising Europe for $100 a day, insane!

So please, tell me anything you have to share!

[Littlegoo75]

anyone? anyone out there? somebody has to have done this cruise....help

[jhodg56010]

We sailed the western Mediterranian on the Legend of the Seas in July 2000 and the eastern Med on the HAL Westerdam Oct 2004. We thoroughly enjoyed both cruises. They are both very port intensive and required quite a bit of walking. Not many children on either cruise, but some pre-schoolers. We took ship's tour to Rome and to the Colloseum and the Vatican and St Pauls, and it was a guided tour, but very crowded. Also there is a guided tour bus of Rome highlights that you can just jump on or off at any of their many stops, and it also has narration via earphones. We enjoyed both of these - via two different cruises. From Messina in Sicily we took a ship's tour to Taormina, a delightful trip with wonderful views, including Mt Etna. In Naples we took one of our best ever trips arranged via internet with Drive Amalfi which included Pompeii, a lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking Ravello and a georgeous drive along the Amalfi Coast with several stops to get out of the van to look around, shop, and take pictures. We took a ship shuttle to Dubrovnic and just walked around this picturesque town on our own, including the wall surrounding the city. If you look up destinations at the top of the home page on CC you will find a wealth of information from people who have cruised to Europe. Plan to have an interesting as well as a fun cruise to Europe. Jim

[Florida_cruisers]

you might get more responses if you post this on the Europe board.

[Littlegoo75]

Thanks for the reply! I wanted to do both Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast during our stop in Naples, so hopefully I can arrange a tour to do so!

[southcarolinacruiser]

We did Legend of the Seas in September. The age group was diverse as were nationalities. Pompeii was fantastic! We also went to Capri but I wasn't thrilled. It is pretty but is an upscale shopping boutique area high up on an island. We ended up having espresso in a cafe with our tablemates from the ship. In Rome, we took a private tour which was THE BEST!!! www.driverinrome.com We covered a ton of places that the cruise excursions did not. There also was a transit strike so the buses were not able to get around quickly. We were in a small van and our driver knew how to avoid traffic, lines at the Colliseium and the Vatican and a great place for lunch. I highly recommend this company. They also do an excursion in Florence and I think Naples.

[xpcdoojk]

Hmm Pompeii and Amalfi in the same day. One it is pretty close from Naples to Pompei or Herculaneum from Naples. Amalfi though is a good hour + just to get to Vietre Su Mar, which is where the Amalfi coast road begins. The road at this point is a two lane road that a bus will never get beyond 30mph on, and it is a fifteen minute drive to the first town on the coast, but to get to Positano or Ravello, it is another 45 minutes if there are no traffic jams. Read my trip reviews from our Italian vacation last September as we spent a week in Amalfi after Venice and Rome. Then Sorrento is at least that far again. The problem is the traffic is so heavy and the roads so narrow that it is really easy to have a traffic jam. We were there for a week and I wanted to go to Sorrento and we never made it because driving was so intense. The best way to visit Amalfi is to take the fast ferries from Naples, but this will probably mean it is impossible to visit Pompeii. However Herculaneum is equally impressive and it is on the coast, so a ferry stop there might be logistically possible. Honestly, though I think Amalfi would be worth and best for a land vacation. If you do take the ferry, a ferry to Capri and Positano might be doable in a day.

 

Here is a link to my Amalfi experiences from a few months ago.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=86576

 

jc

[critterchick]

You can take the train from Naples to Pompeii, then on to Sorrento. The Naples train station is only a couple of blocks from the pier, and the Pompeii station is right outside the ruins. DH has been to Sorrento and tells me that the station there is very conveniently located, too. You can then take the hydrofoil over to Capri and another hydrofoil back to the ship. The It's all very doable in one day, although it will be a very full day.

 

The trains are very easy to get around on, just remember to validate your ticket before boarding or you risk a fine of 150 Euros. And if you see a sign that says "sciopero" (strike) you are out of luck. Strikes are very civilized, by the way - they give you a few days' advance notice!

 

A good guidebook is Rick Steve's Italy - he tells you all about the Italian transportation systems, as well as the sights to see in each place.

[Littlegoo75]

Thanks all! Yeah, there is a tour offered through Carnival that does both Pompei and the Amalfi coast - it's a 9 hour tour, but I am thinking that we will fly from D.C. to Naples via London, spend a couple of days in Sorrento and explore the Amalfi Coast, and then continue on to Rome for a couple of days, then catch our ship at Civitaveccia, and when the ship calls in Naples, we will do the Pompei tour. I just think that doing that tour where they smash everything together like that would be too rushed, and you really wouldn't get to spend as much time as you would like in these places.

 

For anyone who has done a 12 nighter Mediterranean.....did you notice if there were many 25 - 35 aged couples or groups? many honeymooners?

[xpcdoojk]

Thanks all! Yeah, there is a tour offered through Carnival that does both Pompei and the Amalfi coast - it's a 9 hour tour, but I am thinking that we will fly from D.C. to Naples via London, spend a couple of days in Sorrento and explore the Amalfi Coast, and then continue on to Rome for a couple of days, then catch our ship at Civitaveccia, and when the ship calls in Naples, we will do the Pompei tour. I just think that doing that tour where they smash everything together like that would be too rushed, and you really wouldn't get to spend as much time as you would like in these places.

 

For anyone who has done a 12 nighter Mediterranean.....did you notice if there were many 25 - 35 aged couples or groups? many honeymooners?

 

Visit the national museum in Naples, as most of the real artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum are on display there.

 

I think that is a great plan. You can get a car at the airport in Rome then drive to Naples about 3 hours. Then I would stay as long as you can in Amalfi. It is beautiful, after our week there I could live there, but the traffic is difficult so make sure you or someone is a driver that can handle stress. The highways are easy enough, but the cities Naples and if you drive into Rome are tough, and the Amalfi coast road is narrow, but wonderful. You will have a blast! I would limit your time in Naples as it is not my favorite city and get on to Pompeii and Amalfi.

 

jc

[Littlegoo75]

As much as I would like to rent a car and drive ourselves around, there is no way that we are brave enough to drive in Italy, especially Rome! We have a hard enough time navigating around D.C.

We figured that we are just going to fly into Naples from the U.S. via London, spend time around the Coast for a couple of days, then take the train to Rome, spend a couple of days there, then take the train to Civitaveccia, where we will embark, and at the end of the cruise, we will take the train back to Rome, to catch our flight back home.

I wish we could overnight in Naples, there seems to be a lot of things to do in that area. I have always wanted to do Pompei, but after doing research on Italy, I am discovering all of these other things that I want to do, and there just isn't enough time. I figure by doing the pre- cruise stay in Sorrento, that will give us time to do Pompei and Naples on the day we dock in Naples - I think we are there from 7am - 6pm, so 11 hrs.....that should be enough time to do that, but not enough time to squeeze in the Amalfi Coast...seems like a place I would rather linger than zip through.