Western Mediterranean - Recommendations greatly appreciated!

[nolegirl01]

Hey everyone!

 

So we booked a cruise to Europe in October on the Epic. It is the Western Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona. This is not our first cruise on NCL but will be our first cruise on the Epic and first time in Europe! Can anyone give us any tips and tricks for things to see and do on our trip? Even though our cruise is 7 days, we will be staying an extra week in Barcelona after the cruise to explore.

 

Any recommendations on what to see, do and eat while we are there? and also things to stay away from? Below are our port calls as well. If you have been to any of these and have any recommendations on what to see, do and eat at those places, we would greatly appreciate it! I have searched for some things to do and see but there's nothing like getting recommendations and tips from those who have experienced it first hand!

 

I appreciate you all and thank you!!! :halo:

 

 

Barcelona

Naples/Pompeii, Italy

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy

Cannes, France

Palma Majorca, Spain

[momofmatt]

I was there years ago, at least some of those places. All I have to say is PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, watch your purse. I had mine over my shoulder in front of my body and two women somehow, I still don't know how I didn't see or feel it, walked next to me asking for money for a baby that she was carrying with a piece of cardboard to "shade from sun" and got my wallet out of my purse. Thank God my husband, at the time, was there as when they started to walk away I noticed that my purse was open and wallet gone. I think my X scared them that they gave me my wallet back. So PLEASE be careful and look out for any women asking for money. This happened to me in Livorno, when we were visiting the leaning tower of Pisa. They followed me outside the area along the fence where all the people are, as we were walking to get on our tour bus. Be careful!!

[$hip$hape]

OP,

There is already TMI on past Cruise Critic posts for Western Mediterranean cruisers.

Since your Epic cruise is in October, and you have signed up with a CC Roll-Call,

I would recommend that you stay active and share your concerns and questions with your fellow travelers.

Have fun, and extend your vacation by exchanging information.

 

PS, Don't let momofmatt scare you.

[Crazy planning mom]

In Rome, a specialty is Cacio e Pepe which is pasta dish with black pepper. When we stopped in Cannes, I went to Antibes which was lovely and enjoyed quiche and macarons. Enjoyed some sangria in Palma. Check out the port of call forums.

Pickup a Rick Steves book.

[sanger727]

If you haven't already booked your flights I'd switch to staying in Barcelona pre-cruise instead of post. It's a long flight and it takes a couple days to adjust to the time change.

 

 

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[Blocks]

We did this cruise in 2015 and have been to Barcelona 3 times including a few days prior to our cruise on Epic. As another poster has said be careful in Barcelona but don't get paranoid, I have always felt safe but took extra precautions from pick-pockets and scam artists.

 

Barcelona has a lot of great buildings and other tourist sites and we especially love the various tapas bars. For the cruise ports our favourite was a semi-private tour of the Amalfi Coast from Naples. For the other Italian ports, you will need to take an excursion or train to get to Rome, Florence or Pisa. In my opinion Pisa was not worth it, I regret not making the extra effort to go to Florence. Cannes will be a tender port and for Palma the port is quite central, we used the hop-on/off bus but it was raining when we were there.

[mimi7ccr]

My advice is to form up a group from your roll call and do private tours, especially in Rome. You CAN do it on your own, as we have done, but for a first time a group of 6 or 8 would be ideal in a van that picks you up at the port, takes you around Rome in air conditioned comfort, and drives you back to the port, all for about $100 per person, much less than the ship's tour.

Regarding Naples, we did the same thing and had a wonderful driver take us to Pompeii and along the Amalfi Coast. It was one of the loveliest days of my long live and one we remember every time we see it on Rick Steves' show. It was about the same price as Rome. Or you could also take the speedy hydrofoil ferry over to the Isle of Capri and do a self-tour. That is still on my bucket list for our next time in Naples. There is a lot of info out there. Just do searches for private tours.

[nolatravelgirl]

I did the 12 night on the Spirit and did an extensive review with photos. You can see what I did in Barcelona, Rome, Livorno and Naples. We did all private excursions and saved a considerable amount of money. Link below. Some of the pricing may be a little off, but the content of each tour should match.

NCL Spirit - Grand Mediterranean - August 2015 - Review with Photos

[momofmatt]

I wasn't trying to scare anyone. I just wanted them to be careful. I wasn't scared of those two women by no means just didn't realize how good they were at what they did. AND we all on the cruise was warned by the Cruise director to be watchful of our surroundings.

[nolegirl01]

Thank you all for your tips!!! I really appreciate it! I will be writing everything down and will probably ask again as it gets closer to the date! but I thank you all for your responses!

[Son of a son of a ...]

In Florence, there are people selling poster sized "paintings" of local architecture - 2 for 20 euros - in the squares. You might be leery and it may be cheesy, but we bought a set and managed to bring they back to the US. You can find decent looking standard frames online at reasonable prices. They are our best souvenirs!

 

We did the NCL Ultimate Rome excursion. It was expensive and there may be cheaper, non-NCL option, but we thoroughly enjoyed it ... came back exhausted.

 

Have fun!

[horseboarder]

First take the comments about pickpockets very seriously. It is not scary but has certainly ruined more than one vacation I'm sure.

 

We did this trip and loved it. We flew in to Barcelona and spent three days there before leaving on the Epic. Sagrada Familia is not to be missed and cross your fingers that you hear music while inside - the acoustics are fabulous. Absolutely take in Florence - we did the Epic transportation to the city and purchased "fast passes" through a major international tour company to maximize our time there. Having previously been to Piza we did not do that and did Naples on our own then Pompeii with an Epic tour. As I think of other things I will post. Have a wonderful trip.

[sanger727]

First take the comments about pickpockets very seriously. It is not scary but has certainly ruined more than one vacation I'm sure.

 

 

Agree, don't think we've had a trip to Europe where we didn't see them. Don't walk around looking at your map, just stop and pull it out when needed. They want to distract you, so if you have a map or phone in your face your halfway there. They will put anything in front of you - bracelets, flowers, children, etc to distract to distract you. Just keep walking and keep your purse in front of you and you'll be fine.

 

 

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[touringbee]

Just did cruise as well. The Sagrada Familia is a MUST. Get skip the line & tower passes on line. In Naples we booked tour thru Blue Grotto tours. 1st off shop. Did Isle of Capri, blue grotto, Sorrento. Pompeii, & brief tour of Naples. $500 for 4. Private tour. In Rome & Florence. We used Joe Banana. Private limo who was also guides. Couldn't go into certain places, so we booked headset tours. RE: the Coliseum, the Vatican, St Peters. We purchased To the top of the Pisa tickets on line as well. That was fabulous. Both tours were $250 for 4. Private car. Off ship 1st. Enjoy whichever route you go.

 

 

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[nolegirl01]

Thank you all! The only part of this trip that I am already bummed out is the day we will be in Rome, it will be All Saint's Day and so the Vatican will be closed and so will the museums. The biggest let down is that the Sistine Chapel will be closed also. I got so upset hearing that. I think the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica will be open but I can imagine how packed that's going to be.

[touringbee]

You can get skip the line passes from attendants wearing colored vests. I think I paid €8-10 per person. OR go to inside last store to the right of the entrance line. You can get the passes there too. They will personally take you to front of lines. There I got head sets. We used private limo tour named Joe Bananas. Leo was our guide. Absolutely wonderful. He couldn't go in with us in certain places, so that's why we got headsets.

 

 

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[insanemagnet]

Can anyone give us any tips and tricks for things to see and do on our trip? Even though our cruise is 7 days, we will be staying an extra week in Barcelona after the cruise to explore.

 

A British view from someone who did this cruise in 2015, a few comments.

 

A whole extra week in Barcelona is quite a lot. Have you thought of a few days in Barcelona before the cruise and then the remaining few days elsewhere afterwards. Trains are good in Spain if you want to travel elsewhere.

 

Pickpockets - yes unfortunately common in Barcelona and Naples. If it happens let it be a nuisance rather than the end of the world by only carrying what you need. You lose €20 and need to make a call to one card company, OK. You lose €500 and all your cards, not good.

 

Get data roaming (or a local sim card) for your phone. Local information on your phone is really helpful. Google maps now has public transport information for the whole of Europe built in. So, for example, if you are in Rome and want to get from A to B, instead of trying to decipher an Italian bus stop sign, Google will assist.

 

Pompeii - If you make your own way there (easy by train), go early and be there before the gates open. That way you will get an hour or so before the coach trips arrive. Do take a guide book, otherwise it a load of falling down buildings.

 

Rome - You can easily do it by train, loads of information on the 'Ports of Call' section of the forum, but obviously easier by organised tour. Work out what you want to see. Obvious I know, but Rome is big and hot. Check to see if you can pre-book tickets for places like the Colosseum to avoid horrible queues (same for Florence). Again guides, otherwise it is a larger falling down building.

 

Florence - You can do it by train or by coach from Livorno, though not as easy as Rome. Again planning, as hot and busy.

 

Cannes - Either stay in town for a stroll along the prom and a swim in the sea, or head out elesewhere. Depends what you want to see. Cannes is a tender port, so there can be queues to get back on the ship.

 

Palma - The ship docks a long walk from town, but there is a public bus just outside the terminal. Old town nice to stroll around (the cathedral may be closed on the day Epic docks) or some nice beaches nearby.

 

Enjoy.

 

And as an aside, I knew I was in America when I got on Epic and the chips I ordered with my burger were not chips. One language and all that...

[nolegirl01]

A British view from someone who did this cruise in 2015, a few comments.

 

A whole extra week in Barcelona is quite a lot. Have you thought of a few days in Barcelona before the cruise and then the remaining few days elsewhere afterwards. Trains are good in Spain if you want to travel elsewhere.

 

Pickpockets - yes unfortunately common in Barcelona and Naples. If it happens let it be a nuisance rather than the end of the world by only carrying what you need. You lose €20 and need to make a call to one card company, OK. You lose €500 and all your cards, not good.

 

Get data roaming (or a local sim card) for your phone. Local information on your phone is really helpful. Google maps now has public transport information for the whole of Europe built in. So, for example, if you are in Rome and want to get from A to B, instead of trying to decipher an Italian bus stop sign, Google will assist.

 

Pompeii - If you make your own way there (easy by train), go early and be there before the gates open. That way you will get an hour or so before the coach trips arrive. Do take a guide book, otherwise it a load of falling down buildings.

 

Rome - You can easily do it by train, loads of information on the 'Ports of Call' section of the forum, but obviously easier by organised tour. Work out what you want to see. Obvious I know, but Rome is big and hot. Check to see if you can pre-book tickets for places like the Colosseum to avoid horrible queues (same for Florence). Again guides, otherwise it is a larger falling down building.

 

Florence - You can do it by train or by coach from Livorno, though not as easy as Rome. Again planning, as hot and busy.

 

Cannes - Either stay in town for a stroll along the prom and a swim in the sea, or head out elesewhere. Depends what you want to see. Cannes is a tender port, so there can be queues to get back on the ship.

 

Palma - The ship docks a long walk from town, but there is a public bus just outside the terminal. Old town nice to stroll around (the cathedral may be closed on the day Epic docks) or some nice beaches nearby.

 

Enjoy.

 

And as an aside, I knew I was in America when I got on Epic and the chips I ordered with my burger were not chips. One language and all that...

 

 

Thank you for all this info! I really appreciate it! Really helpful! We aren't planning on staying in Barcelona for the whole week, just for a few days after the cruise then planning on maybe taking trains to other cities and maybe make a stop in Paris. I'm still in the planning stage so not sure what to do yet but definitely not staying in one place for the whole week.

[soloadventurer]

my choice would be

Palma take the local bus to Valldemossa

Livorno go to Lucca

Civitavecchia go Tarquinnia

Naples explore on foot - very friendly but be aware of pickpockets

Barcelona - go to the marina and old port area ( eat in local places not the rambla ) again be aware of pickpockets

Cannes again explore on foot - have a coffee or glass of wine and chill people watching

 

The Epic is a lovely ship - invest in the spa pass ( chill on the aft balcony in Naples )

[flapbreaker]

Consider going to Montserrat outside of Barcelona. Very beautiful. Here's instructions on how to get there.

 

https://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-montserrat.html

 

Also, there is a bakery right next to the Familia Sagrada that we really enjoyed - Pannus Provença

 

Consider getting an apartment instead of a hotel. We stayed at Gaudi's nest. Had a fantastic view of the Familia Sagrada right out our balcony window. http://www.gaudisnest.com

 

As far as safety goes, we put a lot of energy into buying the right clothes so that we could avoid hauling purses ect. around. You want shirts/pants/shorts that have some zippered pockets (in the front, not rear pockets) to put your credit cards in etc. I purchased a credit cards sleeve that sticks onto the back of your phone case. Very convenient. (Just search for "stick on credit card holder" on amazon).