Western Mediterranean Excursions Question

[WappNY]

My wife and I have a western mediterranean cruise booked and these are our ports of call. Depart/Return Barcelona, Cannes, Florence/Pisa(Livorno), Rome(Civitavecchia), Naples, Messina(Sicily), Valletta, Cagilari, Palma(Majorca). 

 

To anyone who has been to these ports, will we need to book excursions at each of these ports or will we be able to just disembark and experience beautiful sights and towns right off the ship?

 

This is our first mediterranean cruise so anything and everything that we see is going to be new for us. 

 

Thank you!

[CruiserBruce]

A little reading around the various (Italy, Spain and this board) board would be very beneficial.

 

You will find several target cities aren't close to the port...Rome and Florence, for example.

 

You will also find you essentially never have to buy an excursion...you can use recommended private vendors (sometimes the same vendor in multiple ports, earning you a discount), or simply do it yourself (DIY), by walking, public transit, or cabs.

[frantic36]

7 hours ago, WappNY said:

Barcelona, Cannes, Florence/Pisa(Livorno), Rome(Civitavecchia), Naples, Messina(Sicily), Valletta, Cagilari, Palma(Majorca). 

 

I'm surprised you posted in the France section as you aren't visiting any French ports?

 

Barcelona has so much to see I hope you have allowed yourself a few days at least to see Gaudi's masterpieces and sample the food. The port is a short taxi ride from the main centre. Seek information on the Spain ports of calls for both Barcelona and Palma.

 

As CruiserBruce mentioned Livorno & Civitavecchia are at least an hour from Pisa or Rome. Those and Messina seek information in the Italy Ports of call board as there is a lot there. 

 

Valletta is in the other ports of call board with lots of information there especially if you do a search. That you can walk around yourself but research will help with planning your day. There is an elevator near where the ship docks that takes you to the top. It costs 1 Euro but that covers returning back down as well. Try to be awake for the sail in as it is quite lovely.

[CruiserBruce]

@frantic36 Cannes is in France.

 

The OP posted on several boards. Not sure if they looked around those boards for any info.

[frantic36]

1 minute ago, CruiserBruce said:

@frantic36 Cannes is in France.

 

The OP posted on several boards. Not sure if they looked around those boards for any info.

Oops 😜, my apologies. Cannes is easy to walk around or you can catch the train to Nice. Both Cannes and Nice have interesting markets though Cannes closes earlier around 1pm. There are beaches there both public and private. Public you just have a towel from the ship but the beaches are pebble so you may wish to rent a lounger in the private ones. 

[edinburgher]

18 hours ago, WappNY said:

Barcelona, Cannes, Florence/Pisa(Livorno), Rome(Civitavecchia), Naples, Messina(Sicily),Valletta, Cagilari, Palma(Majorca). 

All of these ports could be DIY but it depends on your plans in each and for that you need to read, read and read.

Best advice is that you do your port research for each port call and get some idea of what you might want to do as that will determine whether or not you can DIY or whether you might want to look at using public transport or a private tour or a taxi etc.

 

All of these ports are FAQs with a huge amount of info available for each on the boards in previous threads. You will want to begin researching by looking at guidebooks, Tripadvisor and other online information sources to get some of the basics which will help you form ideas of the possibilities, and do look at your ship shorex even if you do not want to book any as they too  will give you some ideas.

 

For previous threads and posts, instead of back paging, use the SEARCH TOOL.  If you do not know how to use it, go to the relevant board for that country. You have Spain, France, Italy and Other Mediterranean Ports on your list so you will be searching all of these forums. Beginning with your first one, Barcelona, go to the GENERAL Spain Ports forum ( not an individual thread) and insert the word Barcelona in the empty search box under your username. Hit the little spy glass, and in a few seconds all the results will appear showing previous threads where that word is included. You can then choose which to read.  Repeat the process with your other ports on the relevant geographic forum. Some will have many hundreds of results, others very few, and it is also worth looking for "stickies" at the top of each forum as these will have much info too. As an example, Palma Majorca has a "sticky" at the top of the Spain ports forum, and Rome at the top of the Italian one, but there are others.

 

It is a fair amount of work to research a number of ports and time is needed but you may have that. I don't know as you gave no indication of your travel date. And everyone will have their own way of researching and collating info they might need.  Our way is described here.

 

I suggest that in order not to get confused, tackle only one port at a time and do not move on until that one is "done and dusted".  We find it helpful to start a document for each port and copy/paste info into that document  which we find along the way.  At this early stage it is random from a number of sources. Documents can become very long, but when finished and we have semi planned each day, we delete all info which is no longer relevant leaving only the info we need. We print off and take it with us. When we arrive somewhere it is a simple matter to take out the relevant page(s).  We then know where we are going, address, opening hours etc and how to get there. and if you have had to pre-book entry times and/or bought tickets in advance, you can include that info on your document.

 

Lots of work for you ahead, but if you don't let it overwhelm you, research is part of the overall enjoyment of the trip.

Edited August 18, 2023 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

10 hours ago, frantic36 said:

'm surprised you posted in the France section as you aren't visiting any French ports?

Cannes is in France,a  tender port so the OP will need to include extra timing for the journeys between the ship and the shorein their plans for the day.

Edited August 18, 2023 by edinburgher

[frantic36]

12 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Cannes is in France,a  tender port so the OP will need to include extra timing for the journeys between the ship and the shorein their plans for the day.

 

I did apologise for my mistake.

23 hours ago, frantic36 said:

Oops 😜, my apologies.

 

[edinburgher]

11 hours ago, frantic36 said:

Oops 😜, my apologies.

No worries. I only mentioned it as Cannes is a tender port (their only one of the ports listed) and if they had not already known.I wanted the OP to be aware of that before planning their day.

[Hlitner]

Edinburgher gives good advice/info.  My message to the OP is that how you handle these ports depends on your personal “spirit of adventure,” common sense, and risk tolerance.  Some folks will not even set foot off a ship without being part of a cruise excursion.  Folks like me would not set foot off a ship if we had to be part of an excursion since we strongly prefer DIY.

 

Some of these ports (ie Livorno, Civitavecchia) are more than an hour from most folks destination, but can be done DIY using trains, other public transit, private tours, etc.  For a first time visitor this requires pre trip homework and lot of “travel common sense.”  We

have been doing our own thing for nearly 50 years and have never missed our ship or had any regrets.  Many others would never follow our example so how you handle ports is a very personal kind of thing.

 

Just keep in mind that only using ship excursions can become very expensive and one needs to budget accordingly.  While a day excursion to Rome can easily cost over $600 (per couple) on an excursion, we could do similar DIY for less than $100.  It is the same for Livorno.

 

Hank

[jsn55]

I've been 'working on' a very similar cruise for months.  I'm a fiend for research and really enjoy the process.  The advice above to only deal with one port at a time couldn't be better.   I'm not as efficient as usual because I started out reading about them all. 

 

I start at the library, several good guidebooks on Med cruise ports.  I am a big Rick Steves' fan; he provides all the little details and gives his opinions on everything.  You could buy his book and take the relevant pages along on your cruise.  Once you get a sense of a port from a book, you can branch out into all the excellent forums here on CC.  You'll pick up hundreds of 'tips' to pursue and lots of first-hand info to guide you.  It's a great itinerary and you'll no doubt love the whole Med experience.

[Hlitner]

On 9/22/2023 at 10:56 AM, jsn55 said:

I've been 'working on' a very similar cruise for months.  I'm a fiend for research and really enjoy the process.  The advice above to only deal with one port at a time couldn't be better.   I'm not as efficient as usual because I started out reading about them all. 

 

I start at the library, several good guidebooks on Med cruise ports.  I am a big Rick Steves' fan; he provides all the little details and gives his opinions on everything.  You could buy his book and take the relevant pages along on your cruise.  Once you get a sense of a port from a book, you can branch out into all the excellent forums here on CC.  You'll pick up hundreds of 'tips' to pursue and lots of first-hand info to guide you.  It's a great itinerary and you'll no doubt love the whole Med experience.

Although we have long recommended the Rick Steves books for travel in Europe, we do have one caveat.  In most cases, we ignore his suggestions on eating venues!  The problem is there are an awful lot of Rick Steves books in existence, most of the details (like restaurant recommendations) are several years old, and being mentioned in a Rick Steves book will often have an adverse impact on the suggested restaurants.  Many years ago we happened to stop in a restaurant (Italy) recommended by Rick Steves (we did not know this when we walked in the door) only to find the entire restaurant packed with tourists which became obvious when nearly everyone was reading their Rick Steves book :).  The restaurant turned out to be overpriced and the quality not very good.  Later, when talking to the cashier, we learned that the prior excellent owners had sold-out for a good price (which was likely boosted due to the Rick Steves recommendation) and the place was now a tourist-oriented place avoided by locals!  

 

For restaurants, we tend to rely more on suggestions from friends, local hotel staff, or from reading various online blogs (including here on CC).  I trust a recent suggestion from some CC regulars much more than a 5-10 year old suggestion from Rick Steves.

 

Hank

[jsn55]

Absolutely!  I don't bother reading about his hotel recommendations either.  With hotels and restaurants, it's so easy to get current reviews.  I've had so few bad meals in Europe that I usually just go by the 'look of the place' and the posted menu.  I'm just not very fussy.

[Xmansmom]

On 9/22/2023 at 10:56 AM, jsn55 said:

I've been 'working on' a very similar cruise for months.  I'm a fiend for research and really enjoy the process.  The advice above to only deal with one port at a time couldn't be better.   I'm not as efficient as usual because I started out reading about them all. 

 

I start at the library, several good guidebooks on Med cruise ports.  I am a big Rick Steves' fan; he provides all the little details and gives his opinions on everything.  You could buy his book and take the relevant pages along on your cruise.  Once you get a sense of a port from a book, you can branch out into all the excellent forums here on CC.  You'll pick up hundreds of 'tips' to pursue and lots of first-hand info to guide you.  It's a great itinerary and you'll no doubt love the whole Med experience.

I agree with the Rick Steves' part. Highly recommend. He has an app that has free tours. When I went last time, I used this app several times. In Venice, there was a tour riding the Vaperetto. In Rome, I used in in the Vatican. It was awesome.