First Time European Cruiser

[thisawkward1]

Hi! My husband and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary by cruising for the first time to Europe on Viking. We are taking the Iconic Western Mediterranean.

Day 1 - Rome.

Day 2 & 3 Florence & Pisa

Day 4 - Monte Carlo

Day 5 Marseille

Day 6 Montpellier

Day 7 & 8 Barcelona

 

what are your recommendations of things that we must do / see. I don't know that we will ever have the opportunity to do this again so i want to squeeze in all the best things. We are a fairly young couple early 40s but not into drinking or partying. We love sightseeing, but not big on museums unless there is one that you recommend we absolutely must visit.  Also any info on booking trains etc for longer distance away.Thank you for any and all input!

Edited October 10, 2023 by thisawkward1
more info needed

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

First of all, we don't know you, your needs or limitations or interests. You should always do what interests you, not what we say to do. Museums will definitely be parts of all of these countries/ports, but you can be selective. As to your train travel, please be specific about where you might train at. There are lots of discussions about train use in Italy.

 

Secondly, Eastern Med (your Rome and Florence stops) ports tend more towards long excursions with MANY sites to see. Are you embarking the ship in Rome? If so, if at all possible, arrive in Rome a few days in advance to get over jet lag, and see one of the most scenic cities in the world.

 

Continue looking around Cruise Critic. Like this board for France, you also need look at the similar boards for Italy and Spain:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/464-italy-ports/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-ports/

 

Huge volumes of info there.

[edinburgher]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:51 PM, thisawkward1 said:

Montpellier

Should be fun trying to either dock or tender into Montpellier.

 

Are you certain you got the name correct or did you mean to instead write Sete?

[edinburgher]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:51 PM, thisawkward1 said:

Day 1 - Rome.

Day 2 & 3 Florence & Pisa

Day 4 - Monte Carlo

Day 5 Marseille

Day 6 Montpellier

Day 7 & 8 Barcelona

 

what are your recommendations of things that we must do / see. I don't know that we will ever have the opportunity to do this again so i want to squeeze in all the best things. We are a fairly young couple early 40s but not into drinking or partying. We love sightseeing, but not big on museums unless there is one that you recommend we absolutely must visit.  Also any info on booking trains etc for longer distance away.Thank you for any and all input!

Sorry to disappoint,  but you won't be able to "squeeze in all the best places" on one day port visits, especially given the distances to Rome and Florence/Pisa as your travel time will further reduce sightseeing time. Even without distance being a factor, (as Barcelona port is more or less in the city), Barcelona merits a stay of several days or even a week, as do Rome and Florence.  Do you have pre-or post days in any of your cities as that would give more time to explore?

 

You will need to read read and read more about each of your port calls then decide out of the "best things" which are of most interest to you personally, bearing in mind you will need to exclude more than you can include.

 

Many many online sources for all online, including the official Tourist Information websites for all,  guide books, YouTube, Tripadvisor and more, and many Americans find Rick Steves Med ports book helpful. And do look at your shorex options too even if you don't want to do one as they will give you an indication of what might be possible in the timeframe.

 

You can also look at the very top of forums such as Italy for the "pinned" threads which have FAQs you might find helpful to read. these are threads which do not move as they are for reference. there are three at the top of italy forum, including one re transport between Civi and Rome.

 

And I note you are new to CC (welcome) and may not know how to search for previous threads.

 

Taking Sete as and example, (as I suspect this is your destination, not Montpellier) go to the France Ports forum, the general one not an individual thread, and in the empty search box under your username, insert the word Sete then hit the spy glass.  Within seconds all previous threads containing that name will appear ready for you to read.  Repeat for other ports each time going to the correct forum eg the  Spain ports forum  or  the Italy Ports forum, depending on the country where each  port is located. Some will have many many results, so you need to choose which to read, others will have very few.

 

You should also be able to access info on trains, either online, or by searching for past threads with the relevant words.

 

Lots of  very  basic research to simply get you started, but hopefully you won't be travelling until 2024 and have the time to do it.

 

And do join the Roll Call for your cruise as you can exchange ideas and information with other pax on the same sailing, and sometimes join small private tours someone may have arranged should that option appeal.. As you didn't give your ship name or travel date, you will need to look for it yourself by going to the Viking Ocean Roll Calls  forum, then searching for your ship and travel date as someone may have already begun one. Although most Cruise Critic forums can accessed without being logged in, you must be logged in to access Roll Calls..

 

Edited October 12, 2023 by edinburgher

[mskaufman]

You will obviously have to make some choices.  Once on a cruise stop for Rome we walked from the Spanish Steps to the Fountain of Trevi to the Pantheon.  We were also able to get into St. Peters.  Notice that the Coliseum and the Forum are missing. Last year, 6 of us hired a driver and also got to the Coliseum.  We've been to Barcelona four times and have always spent more than two days.  We still have things to see.

[rhiannon84]

In addition to the advice above, look at what shore excursions Viking are recommending for each port (including the times) to help prioritise which are your 'must sees' and whether you'll have time to do them/can do them independently. 

 

It looks like you have an overnight near Florence? (Day 2&3). If that's the case, you may want to consider spending a night in Florence off the ship to lengthen your time and explore when it's less crowded. There's lots of discussion about the pros/cons of doing this in the Italy Ports of Call page. 

 

If you can arrive into Rome a few days early and leave Barcelona a day or two later your legs will thank you - 8 ports with no sea days is exhausting, at any age! 

[marazul]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:51 PM, thisawkward1 said:

Hi! My husband and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary by cruising for the first time to Europe on Viking. 

...............

Day 6 Montpellier

 

 

On 10/12/2023 at 6:33 AM, edinburgher said:

Should be fun trying to either dock or tender into Montpellier.

 

Are you certain you got the name correct or did you mean to instead write Sete?

I was curious about the Montpellier stop and I checked the Viking website.  Of course,  the port is Sète since Montpellier does not have a commercial port.  They would have had to tender to a local marina in  the nearby barrier islands and then bus to Montpellier  - a total nightmare for a large ship.  The object of docking in Sète is to get cruisers closer to Carcassonne which is the current favorite of cruise excursions.  The best and less crowded alternatives are Montpellier and Aigues Mortes.

[edinburgher]

15 minutes ago, marazul said:

to get cruisers closer to Carcassonne which is the current favorite of cruise excursions.  The best and less crowded alternatives are Montpellier and Aigues Mortes.

Strangely enough, although we have visited Aigues- Mortes, Montpellier and Carcassonne on a land trip, we have never visited Sete.  Of the three, our preference was for #1 Carcassonne, #2 Aigues-Mortes, #3 Montpellier, but all have different things to recommend them and looking at online images and info will help someone decide which most appeals to them personally.

[bennybear]

On 10/20/2023 at 7:53 AM, edinburgher said:

Strangely enough, although we have visited Aigues- Mortes, Montpellier and Carcassonne on a land trip, we have never visited Sete.  Of the three, our preference was for #1 Carcassonne, #2 Aigues-Mortes, #3 Montpellier, but all have different things to recommend them and looking at online images and info will help someone decide which most appeals to them personally.

Highly recommend Carcassone as well.  We found Sete underwhelming.   
Montpelier is a lovely city to explore. 

[ollienbertsmum]

On 10/10/2023 at 9:51 PM, thisawkward1 said:

 

 

what are your recommendations of things that we must do / see. I don't know that we will ever have the opportunity to do this again.

First congratulations on your 25th.   You have  chosen a good itinerary.  Your first “must do” is visit the places with You tube and via blogs.  This is the way you will find out which sites would interest you most in these cities.   Then you can start joining the dots in terms of transport options.  
 

At this point you should come back and ask more specific questions. 
 

If you have a good time I am sure that you will return.  

[cleobella]

Hi There! You picked a wonderful itinerary and will have a great time! I suggest you come into Rome a day or two early and do a full day tour with a local company to see the iconic sights: Colusseum, Pantheon, St Peter's Basillica, Panoramic Drive. If you can have 2 days pre departure you could do a full tour one day, and just walk around Rome the other day. Pick a good central hotel. We stayed at the Albergo, right in the Pantheon Piazza...magical. For your second stop, don't try to do too much. We did a visit to the Tower of Pisa and Winery and it was great, plus we got good pictures and it didn't feel overwhelming. In Monte Carlo, you can easily walk around Monacco and Monte Carlo, see the Castle, take a tram between the old and new sections. You will see great views of the sea and the harbor  and if you google a bit, there are some nice cafes where you can take a break. In Marseille we did a ship's tour and saw the amazing Notre Dame. Also a good place to do some local shopping and sample some amazing pastries. The downtown seemed very walkable. In Barcelona there is so much! Again an overview tour would be nice, the architecture is amazing. Take an extra day here and you can spend time on Las Ramblas (food, shopping, touristy but fun), or go out to see the National Catalonia Art Museum which also has wonderful views over the city.  Barcelona has a good department store, Cortez, and it's fun if you're a shopper. We have been on Med cruises 3 times. I think the trick is to do your research and focus on balancing your interests. Don't try to do too much. In some iconic places an organized tour will let you see alot, and local tours are well done here, better then ships tours. Take some laid back days where you just walk and soak in the culture so you don't exhaust yourself. Have fun planning!

 

 

[Hlitner]

On 10/21/2023 at 8:09 PM, bennybear said:

Highly recommend Carcassone as well.  We found Sete underwhelming.   
Montpelier is a lovely city to explore. 

Having been to that area (and port) multiple times we agree.  The last couple of times we ported in Sete, DW and I simply tendered into town, walked around, and enjoyed a nice long lunch.  For those who have never been, we strongly suggest Carcassonne.  Since we are tour-adverse, we have previously done it with a rental car...but an excursion or private tour does make sense for most folks.  

 

Hank