Our First Mediterranean Cruise - So Many Questions!

[Apeeler]

Hi Cornishpastyman1,

 

Loved the YouTube video. Thanks for sending a link. Looking forward to Monaco. Looks like we can easily spend the whole day there and not bother trying to get over to Nice. Did you go in and gamble at the casino? Is there any dress code I need to know about?

Thanks!

 

Hi,

 

I went to the casino a couple of years ago and some on our cruise dressed up, others were summer casual.

 

At that time it cost 5 euro to get in and minimum bet/chip was 5 euro. No cameras allowed. Great experience but not as big as i expected. Some great photo opportunities outside with the visiting cars.

 

:cool:

[LittleMonster]

Thanks Apeeler,

I think it is now 10 euros to get in. We won't spend long inside, just enough to say we have done it (and gambled where Bond gambles!) :)

[LittleMonster]

Does anyone know if it is possible to walk off the boat and negotiate a taxi in Santa Margherita? I'm looking at visiting a couple of the seaside towns for the day we are there (Portofino, Rapallo, maybe San Fruttuoso)

[beach spring]

When in Rome last September, our family used Rome Driving Tours. My sister found them on internet and made all the arrangements. They were super. Our guide, Luca, was very personable and spoke excellent English. He was amenable to adapting our itinerary to our desires also. He was exactly on time -- we walked off the ship and there he was, with his very comfortable van. He made arrangements for us to "jump the line" at the Colisseum and had a private tour guide for us for the Vatican. :)Highly recommend his company.

[LittleMonster]

Thanks Beach Spring! I will look them up!

[sotong]

Re the hoho buses in Barcelona we used last August and agree were busy. Queues at the Sagrada familia were huge so we walked for about 20 mins to a stop in a less busy or touristy area and didn't have to wait. although did wait at parc guell when first bus full.

We're in Barcelona this summer and now we have seen some of city from the hoho bus will use the underground to revisit the bits we want to.

Have a good holiday .

Gillian

[jocap]

Does anyone know if it is possible to walk off the boat and negotiate a taxi in Santa Margherita? I'm looking at visiting a couple of the seaside towns for the day we are there (Portofino, Rapallo, maybe San Fruttuoso)

When we were there, it seemed to be a very sleepy little town, so I can't remember much about taxis- but there was a water bus west to Portofino for a few Euros, and it also went east to the next little town. My OH walked the path to Portofino, and came back in the water bus.

Jo.

[Podie]

Be aware that you may stop in Malta instead of Tunis. My son-in-law is there and says very few cruise ships are stopping due to the political unrest in the country. In fact, we are supposed to be stopping there in two weeks on an MSC cruise and don't know if we will.

[legaleaglegreen]

There is also a motor bus to Portofino. It takes about 20 minutes, runs several times an hour and is cheap. It stops several places in S.M., including right by the TI, and right in the middle of Portofino. The boat doesn't always run dpending on weather conditions.

 

Going to Malta instead of Tunisia is no booby prize. Malta is a fascinating island with much more than a day's worth of things to see. In addition, the sail in/out of Valletta harbor is one of the best in the Med. Be sure to be on deck/balcony to see it.

[LittleMonster]

Thanks for the information. I will be quite disappointed to miss Tunisia. Was hoping to cross another continent off my to do list!

 

Am sure Malta is beautiful and it will only give me an excuse to get to Africa on another trip!

 

Thanks for the info on Portofino. I believe we will be water taxi-ing it that day.

 

Anyone been to Palermo? Any suggestions for that stop?

[samnewbie]

Hi Little Monster

 

Fab name!

 

We also did the same trip last summer on the Nieuw Amsterdam (same date as PGV actually -hiya! ) - Husband, teen daughter (15) and myself. We had a fantastic time, the itinerary has a great mix.

 

Barcelona - We had 3 nights prior to the cruise and had also been to Barca before so we went to the Bouqueria Market- well worth a visit and great for photography- and walked half of Las Ramblas, arriving there by metro.

 

We also had a day at the beach on the Saturday to watch our ship sail into port, she had an overnight before we embarked on the Sunday.

 

We got taxis from the airport to hotel and also from the hotel to the port.

 

Monte Carlo - We walked into the town (took a few mins!) and browsed the market, swish cars and shops. Then we went up to the Palace and caught the mini train which did a full city tour including part of the Grand Prix circuit, that was great, we even spotted Prince Albert :)

 

Santa Margherita - Booked a snorkelling trip online which took us out to the marine reserve area, lovely day snorkelling with very lovely people - We had originally considered the bus or water taxi to Portofino but we were pleased we went snorkelling instead as it was one of our favourite days as it was so relaxing (plus I adore Italy):D

 

 

 

Civitavecchia - We caught the train to Rome, paid 1st class going and that was lovely, a nice air conditioned carriage and not much extra in cost.

 

Caught the metro from there to the Colloseum -Had fab antipasta and cold drinks as it was HOT HOT HOT - If you go be prepared for long lines.

 

We then went via the metro again to the Trevi Fountain for compulsory coin throwing, it's been many years since I last did that and then we browsed some shops etc before heading back via train to the port.

 

A very HOT day with a lot of waiting in line at the Colloseum but daughter LOVED it and the train was fast, cheap and easy.

 

We even ended up guiding some RCI passengers as apparently they were given no guidance or information and had no idea where to catch the train or what station to go to etc, they were a lovely couple, hope they found their way back though as they left us at the Colloseum!

 

Tunis - We walked to the bank and got some Dinar from the ATM and then went to the train station to get the train to Sidi Bou Said.

 

This was almost a nightmare though as the station clerk had no change (or at least that is what he told us- we needed the coins) anyway a local swapped our notes for coins - he gave us the correct amount for our notes, he just wanted to help people.

 

You DO need Dinar for the train though, they will NOT take Euros, Dollars, Sterling or any other currency.

 

The trains are frequent and the journey quick and quite a fun experience, we enjoyed it immensely.

 

We had a look around the pretty square and had a drink then visited the shops in Sidi - This was an experience to say the least - My husband was nearly going back to the ship with a few camels and no wife!! :eek:

 

Needless to say we found some shop owners to be VERY aggressive in their sales manner but we did also find a few who were very polite, helpful and genuinely interested in talking to us about where we were from.

 

Our daughter enjoyed using her French at the train stations and in the shops especially at a quaint restaurant we found where we had a drink and a shop that was staffed by two teenage girls selling locally made cakes.

 

Sicily As PGV has stated we had our port changed at the last minute so had made plans for Trapani so just got off the ship in Palermo with no set plans.

 

We ended up doing a horse and carriage ride around Palermo taking in the main sites. The carriage driver was helpful and told us about the things we were seeing including quite detailed history which was great and he allowed us time to stop for photographs.

 

We arranged for him to drop us off at a market area so we could stroll back to the ship from there.

 

Just a note though if you do this, the price you arrange may have an extra request for "food for the horse" money at the end ...we did not mind and gave the "horse" some euros for his food :D

 

We had such a wonderful time on this cruise, so much so we would actually do the same one again but at a different time so the weather for Rome was cooler and we would do different things in the ports. Tunis we would either just do the port shops or an organised trip to Carthage and the Bardo .

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, i'm jealous! :D

 

Sam :)

[samnewbie]

Thanks for the information. I will be quite disappointed to miss Tunisia. Was hoping to cross another continent off my to do list!

 

Am sure Malta is beautiful and it will only give me an excuse to get to Africa on another trip!

 

Thanks for the info on Portofino. I believe we will be water taxi-ing it that day.

 

Anyone been to Palermo? Any suggestions for that stop?

 

Hi again,

 

If you do go to Malta it will be lovely...Valletta is beautiful and must be one of the most stunning ports to sail into in the world :D

There are also a lot of great things to see and do in Malta.

 

Palermo has many architectural sites to see, the Teatro Massimo, the Politeama Garibaldi in the main square is beautiful and many more.

 

There is an archaeological museum that might be worth going to as well.

The Botanical Gardens are supposed to be well worth seeing too.

 

There are also quite a few different street markets and I believe there are some nice beaches but we did not go looking.

 

Sam :)

[PGV]

Santa Margherita - Booked a snorkelling trip online which took us out to the marine reserve area, lovely day snorkelling with very lovely people - We had originally considered the bus or water taxi to Portofino but we were pleased we went snorkelling instead as it was one of our favourite days as it was so relaxing (plus I adore Italy):D

 

 

 

 

Hi there Sam!!!!

 

So glad you enjoyed your cruise with all those lovely people! Any chance do you fancy the Noordam 27th june from Rome for 10 days??? Some cabins still available! :D

 

PGV

[tahoemw]

I did Reveation tours for Monte Carlo/Nice; I went with some meet and greet people, it was very nice; only if you are staying in Barcelona pre or post cruise, it is good to to the hop on, hop off; I waited in the sun in the square for 2 hours just trying to get on one; best to do a private or ship tour for that; I stayed one day pre cruise and was able to walk to the market and Las Ramblas and that was worth it for me; I did the ship's tour for Rome; it is docked an hour away from Rome so it was beneficial for me to use the ship's tour ther. If you do Naples, you got to go to Almafi or Capri

[samnewbie]

Santa Margherita - Booked a snorkelling trip online which took us out to the marine reserve area, lovely day snorkelling with very lovely people - We had originally considered the bus or water taxi to Portofino but we were pleased we went snorkelling instead as it was one of our favourite days as it was so relaxing (plus I adore Italy)

 

 

 

 

Hi there Sam!!!!

 

So glad you enjoyed your cruise with all those lovely people! Any chance do you fancy the Noordam 27th june from Rome for 10 days??? Some cabins still available! :D

 

PGV

 

Hi there Carolyn!!! :D

 

Hee hee . I do indeed fancy that cruise, how funny as I looked at that itinerary!! It looks wonderful and love that it is going from Rome. You lucky things! Sadly we cannot do June though :( ...I'm all sad now :( ...I will expect a full report about the Noordam and your cruise though! :D

 

Sam xx

 

 

Edit to say even though I know we can't really go I still went online to have a mooch at cabins ha ha ...if only! x

[LittleMonster]

Thanks so much for all your fantastic feedback. I believe I have ideas/plans for all ports. Has anyone rented a taxi for the day in Sicily?