Our families viewpoint of our Meditterreanean cruise

[#1cruiseaholic]

We wish we could have went to Cinque Terre I checked to see if we could squeeze it in,but one bad thing about cruising you are limited on time and always have that worry off making it back to the ship on time! Oh well maybe we will just have to go back and hit a few of the spots my hubby would have liked to had more time at!

 

Loved your review. Also liked your pictures. Need to buy hubby anew one. Would you mind telling me what camera you used? We are also from pittsburgh in the south hills.

[tidygirl]

@ 1cruiseaholic- We are about 2 hours north of you! Some of my pictures were from my camera which is a Canon SX510HS and some from my daughters Nikon. I wish I would have bought the Nikon personally it seem to take pictures faster, but I had bought mine before I saw the Nikon. :( The other daughter came home from our trip and bought one just like her sister from Amazon for $100 cheaper then on black friday weekend it was down to $160 so she should have waited:) She bought the Nikon COOLPIX L 830.

[#1cruiseaholic]

@ 1cruiseaholic- We are about 2 hours north of you! Some of my pictures were from my camera which is a Canon SX510HS and some from my daughters Nikon. I wish I would have bought the Nikon personally it seem to take pictures faster, but I had bought mine before I saw the Nikon. :( The other daughter came home from our trip and bought one just like her sister from Amazon for $100 cheaper then on black friday weekend it was down to $160 so she should have waited:) She bought the Nikon COOLPIX L 830.

 

Thanks so much for your quick response. I will definitely look at Nikon. DH and I did a med cruise last fall followed by a transatlantic. We have cruised quite a few times, but the med was my best thus far. It was probably due to a combination of perfect weather, new ship Refection, wonderful staff, super new friends, and new sites. What is not to like!

[tidygirl]

Looking back at my review I'm ready to go again! You plan for MONTHS and it here and gone before you know it!

[tidygirl]

I'm ready to go back!

Edited February 10, 2015 by tidygirl

[chris_kelowna]

So Tidygirl, are you going back??

[jimbri]

Wonderful review!

[tidygirl]

We are actually trying to plan a cruise out of Venice in October. I need to really focus on planning details, but have been so busy it keeps getting pushed aside.

I just got all my pictures uploaded from our trip and sent some off to get developed. I told DH it had to be done before I next cruise in 2 weeks!

Edited April 10, 2015 by tidygirl

[tidygirl]

bump

[T.O.cruisers]

We wish we could have went to Cinque Terre I checked to see if we could squeeze it in,but one bad thing about cruising you are limited on time and always have that worry off making it back to the ship on time! Oh well maybe we will just have to go back and hit a few of the spots my hubby would have liked to had more time at!

 

I loved your review. I was on LOS in October 2013, same itinerary. We did go to Cinque Terre and loved it. We also managed to get to Pisa but we did give up Florence. In Naples we did take a tour of Amalfi coast from Ravello, Positano, Amalfi and Sorrento with the hydrofoil back to the port; but I gave up visiting Pompeii. Cruising is wonderful but we can't see it all in a few hours. That's why we can only hope to visit the same ports again. Last year I was able to cruise from Venice to the Greek Isles and I loved that itinerary too. But again, I know I would love to be able to spend more than a few hours in Santorini and I look forward to getting back there again also.

 

Thanks for sharing your pictures. It brought back great memories from my sailing.

[tidygirl]

Any one think the big ships are a waste in the Mediterranean? We were so busy with all the ports I think I'd feel like I missed out on all the ships entertainment.

[Clarea]

Any one think the big ships are a waste in the Mediterranean? We were so busy with all the ports I think I'd feel like I missed out on all the ships entertainment.

I agree, very port intensive, and long days. Hardly any time to enjoy the ship.

[kandj05]

We were off the ship by 7:10 we were trying to get the 7:35 train. We did walk to the La Spezia train station I believe if we would have went to the left as we got off the ship we would have seen signs but we just started walking and asking for the station and we were pointed in the right direction(took 20 -25 min). We missed the train by 5 mins so caught the next train at 8:15 I think it was the Regionale train and one way was 35e for 5 of us. We didn't purchase a return ticket then as we weren't sure if we were going on to Florence which we did (an additional 40 e for all of us for an hour there) We got off at the Pisa Centrale stop not the first Pisa stop!

If you are headed to the tower and walking just start walking straight you will come to a monument,behind that will be an alley more on the right go there, you will come to another monument do the exact same thing. You will then come to a bridge over a canal go over it and keep going straight till you come to a cement wall you have to go left of right -go left and start walking within a short distance you will see the tower straight ahead.

Hope this helps! Just keep your valuables well hidden as we did hear a man trying to get to a police station as his credit card, passport and I'm not sure what all else was taken. We were very cautious and only had one incident (in Rome) of a woman trying to get in my hubby's pocket, but all he had was an umbrella hidden under his coat tied around his waist. She was also using her finger to feel his front pocket to see if he had anything in there. So just realize if you have something in your front pocket they can and will get it out!

 

Where is the best place to hide items? Did you buy anything special to help keep them hidden?

[tidygirl]

We all we wore money belts, and I bought my husband a neck wallet but it was so obvious under his shirt that he actually wore it around his waist with the main part down his pant leg he carried the passports and extra cash in there. It would have been difficult for anyone to get that!

[fragilek]

Can you recall the name of the company you used for the Naples tour - thank you

[yuvraj]

Just come across this thread / review. Great review, amazing pictures.

 

I am based in UK so done many Med cruises. Visited the places mentioned many times with Barcelona being my favourite. The review and pictures brought back great memories.

 

Some tips for Barcelona :

 

a). Great metro and bus service but changing lines involves a fair amount of walking and stairs.

 

b). There are cheap hotels in Gracia and Poble Nou which are good alternatives to staying in a hostel. We have stayed in hotel Sagrada Familia and Travelodge and enjoyed our stay at both.

 

c). The open top bus provides a good way to get your bearings, see the sights and get coupons which give you discounts off the main attractions.

 

d). So much to do and see, it is worth researching so that you make best use of your time.

 

At Naples, there is a trolley bus that will take you to Pompei. An alternative to using public transport.

 

Rome is some distance from the port. The daring and knowledgeable use public transport but I believe it is safer to book a tour. We did one which dropped us off in Rome and then picked us up later at the agreed time. There are private companies that do this as an alternative to ones arranged by the ship.

[tidygirl]

CBM Tours- Can't Be Missed Tours

We had planned on going by public transportation to Pompeii but a guy had come through on the train handing out brochures and when my husband saw it and the price thought it would be worth it as we would see so much more. Price was much better than I had seen when researching.

I am glad we did it! The only complaint was I wish we would have had more time at Pompeii but when you travel on a cruise you only have so much time.