Splendor in October

[Rosekenn]

My sister and I and a friend are doing the Mediterranean in October '05 on Splendor. Anyone done this cruise? What can you tell us about the ship, the weather, the ports, shore excusrions etc. We are three women traveling alone and just a little concerned about roaming about in another country?

 

I guess our biggest concern is sitting at dinner with a table full of people that don't speak English. How is the Mediterranean? I it choppy like the Atlantic or more like glass of the Caribbean?

[cruisetoscrap]

My DH & I are going Sept 10. the Europe boards have been very helpfull. the ship's tours were also just made avaliable.

[critterchick]

We did the cruise in October of 2003. We did Malta, which I think is not in your itinerary, is it? Ironically, we were disappointed to be seated only with English speakers – another US couple and an Irish couple. The ship had a lot of Spaniards onboard, and DH was hoping to practice (I think he used to be fluent), but didn’t have a lot of luck. Splendour is a very nice ship, small compared to the Voyager class, but we like that. Service was impeccable.

 

Your weather can be just about anything (well, it won’t snow). We had wonderful luck – all bright and sunny days except for Naples, where it was pouring, and the last day at sea, which was stormy & high waves. The Barcelona port authority wouldn’t let us dock at our scheduled time of 5:30 because of the weather, so we bobbed up & down for 4 hours until they gave us the ok. The mad dash for the planes was pretty interesting (we made our flight with 10 minutes to spare, then Delta kindly held it for an hour to let other passengers make it, too. Of the 90 cruise passengers, 30 were left behind).

 

Don’t worry about being 3 women alone – exercise the same common sense you would use if you were in Philly or New York.

 

We did some exploring on our own – in Villefranche Sur Mer, when you get off the tender, there is a tourist kiosk right there with info in English about the sights. The train is a 15-minute stroll from the pier, and it’s very easy to get into Monte Carlo or go the other way to Nice and Cannes. You can visit the casino, have a look from afar at the royal compound, visit the Jardins Exotique at the top of the hill, all very safely and conveniently.

 

We took a ship’s tour to a Tuscan vineyard for our Florence experience. We drove by Pisa & the leaning tower on our way back. If you want to go into the city, you will be a good hour and a half away. Italian trains are very easy to navigate, but since you’re only there for a day, you might want to do one of the ship’s tours – you’ll have an English-speaking guide who will tell you a lot more about everything you’re looking at and you’ll be riding in a relatively comfortable bus. Others have booked tours on their own, but I just don’t have any experience with that.

 

Rome is also about 90 minutes from the port, so again, look into the walking tours. We did A Walk in Renaissance Rome, which was all day long (the only day we had to get up early), included lunch at a nice Italian restaurant, and left ample time to find gelato, which you MUST have at EVERY opportunity.:D

 

In Naples, you can take the train to Pompeii and on to Sorrento. I have mixed feelings about the ship’s tour – the guide was very good, but you will be held captive in a cameo store while you learn about how they are made (interesting) and then given ½ an hour to buy something (awful, and the prices were eyepopping). You can also take the hydrofoil to Capri, which we didn’t do because it was raining.

 

I recommend Rick Steve’s Italy tourbook. He specializes in fun and inexpensive things to do, and if you read up ahead of time, I think you’ll get more out of the experience. In the cities, guard your handbag with your life. Wear a shoulder bag with a long enough strap to go diagonally over your shoulder, keep the opening toward your body and keep a firm grip on it at all times. Wear comfortable walking shoes, and remember that ananas (pineapple) gelato is about as close to heaven as you will get!

[Rosekenn]

Thanks for the info How do we get to the Europe Boards on Cruise critic?

[mmlinz7]

Hi...my family and I are going on the Splendour in the Med. Oct. 1st. When are you going...and how many in your group? There are four of us, my husband, twin daughters 14 yrs. old and I. We have done tons of homework and have found some great excursion tours of our own. If you are interested, email me at mmlinz7@aol.com. Rick Steve's books have been great. Good luck.

[navel1ring]

If you go to the ports of call Europe board I have done a complete review of Splendour from our Oct. 23, 2004 trip. It was fabulous. If you do a search this forum I think it is titles Splendour of the Seas October 23. I tried to cover Pre & Post cruise in Barcelona as well as all of the ports. Can't wait to do it again. The weather was fabulous & the Med was like glass although I understand it can get quite choppy depending on the weather. Glad to answer any questions! We're off to Alaska in September, but we want to do the Med again!

 

Wendy