This or That?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

Malta or Palma De Mallorca?

Cannes or Marseille?

La Spezia or Livorno?

 

And why?

[marazul]

37 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

Malta or Palma De Mallorca?

Cannes or Marseille?

La Spezia or Livorno?

 

And why?

I think you need to start planning on a second cruise for the following year! 😁

 

Malta vs Palma - tossup of two Med islands with long histories and beauty. Slight preference to Malta to see the megalithic temples. 

 

Cannes vs. Marseille - Cannes if you want to see Nice, Eze, Saint Paul-de-Vence, and/or Monaco.  Marseille if you want to see Aix, Arles, Nimes, les Baux and/or Avignon.

 

La Spezia vs. Livorno - La Spezia if you want to see Cinqueterre, Porto Venere and/or Portofino.  Livorno if you want to see Florence, Pisa, Siena and/or Lucca.

 

Just a thought - you were looking at big savings on several MSC cruises that were R/T Rome.  Could you use the savings to do back-to-back cruises on two different MSC loops?  But you have already booked a really good one with overnight in La Spezia that left you time for a train to Venice after the cruise...  Really, plan on going back.

Edited June 15, 2023 by marazul

[NCteacherlovescruising]

15 minutes ago, marazul said:

I think you need to start planning on a second cruise for the following year! 😁

 

Malta vs Palma - tossup of two Med islands with long histories and beauty. Slight preference to Malta to see the megalithic temples. 

 

Cannes vs. Marseille - Cannes if you want to see Nice, Eze, Saint Paul-de-Vence, and/or Monaco.  Marseille if you want to see Aix, Arles, Nimes, les Baux and/or Avignon.

 

La Spezia vs. Livorno - La Spezia if you want to see Cinqueterre, Porto Venere and/or Portofino.  Livorno if you want to see Florence, Pisa, Siena and/or Lucca.

I like your idea!  lol  However, we are in our mid (me) and upper (dh) 50's so trying to pay everything off so we can retire comfortably in a few years.  In case we never get back, I am trying desperately to make the most of next summer!  We are sailing with MSC in 10 short days in their yacht club.  If we like it as much as we think we will, we are seriously thinking about canceling our X cruise for next summer and booking with them again.  The savings is substantial, which would free up a lot of money to visit places by land pre and post cruise.  For instance, if we sail out of Naples, I think we would visit the Amalfi Coast a day or two pre-cruise, then Rome, Florence and/or Venice post cruise.  If we cruise out of Rome, we would go there early, and then go to Florence and Venice post cruise.  DH is all amount jumping ship to save money!  The cruise is only 7 days vs 9, but you see more on land than via a cruise port.  And it's still cheaper per day and we're pricing veranda suites on both.  Plus the Equinox doesn't have a pool on the retreat deck and the MSC ships do.

 

Oh,and I want to see it all!!!  Which is prettier?

Edited June 15, 2023 by NCteacherlovescruising

[marazul]

2 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I like your idea!  lol  However, we are in our upper 50's so trying to pay everything off so we can retire comfortably in a few years.  In case we never get back, I am trying desperately to make the most of next summer!  We are sailing with MSC in 10 short days in their yacht club.  If we like it as much as we think we will, we are seriously thinking about canceling our X cruise for next summer and booking with them again.  The savings is substantial, which would free up a lot of money to visit places by land pre and post cruise.  For instance, if we sail out of Naples, I think we would visit the Amalfi Coast a day or two pre-cruise, then Rome, Florence and/or Venice post cruise.  If we cruise out of Rome, we would go there early, and then go to Florence and Venice post cruise.  DH is all amount jumping ship to save money!  The cruise is only 7 days vs 9, but you see more on land than via a cruise port.  And it's still cheaper per day and we're pricing veranda suites on both.  Plus the Equinox doesn't have a pool on the retreat deck and the MSC ships do.

 

 

Good thinking if you like MSC and if they have good port times.

Also, to help you plan: Naples is only 1 hour, 15 minutes from Rome by train.  AA has direct flights from Charlotte to Rome.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

14 minutes ago, marazul said:

Good thinking if you like MSC and if they have good port times.

Also, to help you plan: Naples is only 1 hour, 15 minutes from Rome by train.  AA has direct flights from Charlotte to Rome.

Their port times are fairly standard, looks like 8-11 hours each, depending on the port.  We would lose the overnight in Livorno but could do it by land after.  I like the itinerary slightly better out of Naples because it goes to Malta, which would be really cool.  It's also on a bigger ship, the World Europa.  The one out of Rome, the Seaview, goes to Palma De Mallorca instead.  The one from Rome goes to Cannes, instead of Marseille, and La Spezia instead of Messina.  So many decisions!!!  Rome may be the easiest with the direct flight.  And I mistyped earlier, the Celebrity cruise changed La Spezia to Livorno.  Ideally, if we do the Rome to Rome, we could head to Florence from Rome, then to Venice.  And perhaps a day trip to Naples pre-cruise.

 

I know this seems premature, but I'm sure it's obvious I'm very indecisive by nature and want to have a plan if we decide to do this while onboard because I won't want to waste my time doing it on the cruise.  

[marazul]

I think your Naples loop is very good. You can fly to Rome and take the train there. Malta is a winner and there's lots to do out of Marseille. Do check out Messina. You will get to go to Taormina and Mt Etna. Sicily is great. 

 

With that plan you can go to Florence afterwards by train which is far better than a day trip from Livorno or La Spezia. Going to Florence and Venice from Naples is just as easy as going from Rome. Just a couple of hours longer on the train.

Edited June 15, 2023 by marazul

[NCteacherlovescruising]

55 minutes ago, marazul said:

I think your Naples loop is very good. You can fly to Rome and take the train there. Malta is a winner and there's lots to do out of Marseille. Do check out Messina. You will get to go to Taormina and Mt Etna. Sicily is great. 

 

With that plan you can go to Florence afterwards by train which is far better than a day trip from Livorno or La Spezia. Going to Florence and Venice from Naples is just as easy as going from Rome. Just a couple of hours longer on the train.

Is the train comfortable?  Easy or hard to navigate with luggage?

[marazul]

Yes. It is very comfortable and reliable, especially the Frecce (arrow) high speed trains.  First class is roomier than second. Luggage handling varies by type of train.  Just make sure you travel light.

There is a lot of info on the France and Italy boards on trains.