Help needed with excursions please - Italian Med

[choclover]

Hello fellow cruisers, I am hoping to get some advice from you lovely people on CC please?

I have just booked an Italian Med cruise on the Anthem of the Seas for August. I usually book my cruise at least 12 months in advance and do lots of research, however due to work issues I have booked this with only 4 weeks to go :eek:

So I have spent all my free time reading tips, reviews and info regarding the Anthem. Booking shows etc. I have tried to read lots of the reviews and information regarding all the ports, but don't seem to be getting very far!

I am ideally looking to do a least one beach day in port that has water sports for my two teenage DS, and possibly some activities they can do an another day, so any help, links or suggestions would be gratefully received. The ports of call for us are:

 

Gibraltar , Cartagena - Spain, Rome (Civitavecchia) - Italy, Florence/pisa, Marseille - France, Cadiz - Spain, Lisbon - Portugal, Vigo - Spain.

 

Thank you so much in advance :):)

[edin_cruiser]

Personally would suggest skipping Pisa unless you really wanna see the tower.

 

 

If you wanna see Rome then I'd book the RCI bus trip from port to Rome that doesn't have a guided tour. You can do it all on food.

 

 

Hope y'all have a great cruise :)

[hun]

You may have already done so, but if not, check out your sailing's roll call - there may be some shared tours available. (We're doing two shared Rome in Limo with folks from our roll call)

Also, the Europe port of call forums are really helpful too! We're going on our first Med cruise on the Vision in October and have found those forums very helpful. Have a great time!!

(Agree on sticking to Florence and foregoing Pisa)

[tidygirl]

I did a review on Oct 14,2014 on "our families viewpoint of our med cruise" We did Rome, Pisa and Marseille. Check I out for ideas and pictures.

[pinkroses]

We used Rome in limo for all three Italian ports. Unbelievable tours! Look into them!

[CyberTag]

Hello fellow cruisers, I am hoping to get some advice from you lovely people on CC please?

I have just booked an Italian Med cruise on the Anthem of the Seas for August. I usually book my cruise at least 12 months in advance and do lots of research, however due to work issues I have booked this with only 4 weeks to go :eek:

So I have spent all my free time reading tips, reviews and info regarding the Anthem. Booking shows etc. I have tried to read lots of the reviews and information regarding all the ports, but don't seem to be getting very far!

I am ideally looking to do a least one beach day in port that has water sports for my two teenage DS, and possibly some activities they can do an another day, so any help, links or suggestions would be gratefully received. The ports of call for us are:

 

Gibraltar , Cartagena - Spain, Rome (Civitavecchia) - Italy, Florence/pisa, Marseille - France, Cadiz - Spain, Lisbon - Portugal, Vigo - Spain.

 

Thank you so much in advance :):)

 

We did Gibraltar on our own. Walked to the tram from port and took it to the top of the rock and then walked down. It's about a 20 minute walk to the tram, but definitely doable.

 

For many of the other ports, we have used Rome in Limo and highly recommend them. If you want to go to Florence, use the ship's excursion/transportation It is about a 2 hour ride to Florence each way and you don't want to be late getting back to the ship.

 

We have used Rome in Limo for a Pisa/Lucca tour when we were on the SOS a few years ago. This past May we were on the Anthem. You will love it!

[Langley Cruisers]

... - Italy, Florence/pisa...

 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was one of the highlights of my entire life. I cried when I saw it. It is phenomenal. All your life you see pictures of it but I tell you, to be standing there in front of it and getting your own photos of it is amazing. The area around Pisa on the grounds and so on, sadly, are filled with vendors selling Pisa merchandise but the actual Tower itself is incredible.

 

There are Ports of Call boards here where you can do your research. Here is the link to Europe:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

Have a great trip.

[John&LaLa]

Personally would suggest skipping Pisa unless you really wanna see the tower.

 

 

If you wanna see Rome then I'd book the RCI bus trip from port to Rome that doesn't have a guided tour. You can do it all on food.

 

 

Hope y'all have a great cruise :)

 

I disagree, you might as well go to Pisa, no way to see Florence in 4 hours. Kinda the same as Rome. Just not enough time

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and see what you can do yourself without an organized tour. EM

[Keith1010]

Let me first suggest that you visit the European Ports of Call Board on Cruise Critic.

 

You will get lots of idea on formal tours but also what you can do on your own.

 

Those boards are really amazing.

 

I would probably make Marseille my beach day but again if you visit each board you will get a lot of information. So for Marseille you go to the France Board and there is a Spain Board for Cadiz and another board for Italy and an other port to pick up areas that don't fit into the countries.

 

Keith

[gillsjottings]

I'm another vote in favour of Rome in Limo - we've done numerous tours with them, with teenagers in tow, and they are really good at tailor-making tours that include info/activities that the teenagers enjoy.

 

We had a wonderful day with them in Livorno - we went to Pisa and to Lucca where we cycled the city walls, the teenagers LOVED that day. Have a look here for my write-up about it.

 

We also had am amazing day in Rome with them on that trip, the post is here.

 

I agree that Marseille is probably the place to do a beach day. Not sure if it works out time-wise, but we had an awesome day in Cassis, which is in that area.