Italian Riviera and France Cruise on Celebrity Ascent

[Hurricanefly1]

My wife and I have done many European cruises and have covered most popular ports. We are considering this cruise which goes from Barcelona to Rome but are not familiar with most of the ports which we dock at, namely Nice (Villefrnache), Ajaccio Corsica, Cagliari Sardinia, Valetta Malta, Messina Sicily, Naples Italy. I would welcome and feedback on these places, particularly if they are worth visiting, off-shore excursions, etc. Thanks in anticipation

[StopTheWorld]

Did a very similar cruise on Reflection last year. Lots of places to visit at each port. Would go back again! 

[Hurricanefly1]

Tks for quick response. Did you avail of off-shore excursions organised by Celebrity or plan yourself?

[StopTheWorld]

The only one we did via Celebrity was Florence from Livorno (which you’re not stopping at).
At Villefranche you can visit the town itself (small but lovely for a stroll around); take the HOHO bus to Nice: local bus or train to Nice or Monaco.

Ajaccio has a couple of tourist buses which do a tour of the island and you can just turn up and pay on the day.

Haven’t been to Cagliari.

Valletta is a lovely city and you can walk around yourself.

Visited Messina previously and did a Godfather tour via a local provider.

In Naples you can take the train to Pompei or Herculaneum and get a guided tour at the sites, or take a ferry to Capri or Sorrento, or take the HOHO bus from the cruise terminal, or the metro to the main sites (I love Naples 😍).

 

[sofietucker]

from Villefranche (Nice) you can go to Monaco (Jacques Cousteau foundation is here), Cannes, Grasse (perfume capital), Eze, or further west to Provence. Nice itself is lovely too, We used a company called Day Tours (affiliated with Spain Day Tours, but in France) that put 8 of us in a van, for a full day of things to see, do and eat, but relaxing and quite nice. Another day in V-F it was pleasant to stroll, eat, climb the hill to see the next bay...

 

Malta has TONS to do. Just in town on your own: the Knights of St John (crusaders) Grandmaster's Palace and Armory, the archaeological museum, art museum, shopping, eating... Many day trips to widely differing things: the island of Gozo, the beach where Troy was filmed (and the Blue Hole), small towns, the town where Game of Thrones was filmed (and mosques there), Several sites of 6,000 years old amazing--and very different--ruins of their culture when it was the Mediterranean center of trade... 

 

Corsica a very cool palace, beaches, nice to just linger by the harbor for a drink and watch the yachts of Saudi oligarchs.

 

Naples is the jumping off place for both the Isle of Capri and Pompeii (the latter is a long day). Also Sorrento is there with its lemon groves and limoncello. You can also go south to the Amalfi coast from there.

 

Messina: you'll go by the island of Stromboli, which is an active volcano. It burped when we went by, creating a ripple of waves and shaking the ship! Taormina is a lovely town to visit, stroll and shop--do not miss the fabulous Greco Roman theater an the end of the high street. (This town will be familiar to you if you watched season 2 of White Lotus, the main backdrop.)  Also Mt Etna, if it's a sunny day (it will be cold, dress warm). Ruins, of course. And beaches.

Edited February 5 by sofietucker

[espmass]

We have this itinerary on the Ascent booked for October.  Maybe this is the one you are considering?  It wasn't my choice since I have not traveled extensively in this area but in doing research there seems to be plenty of interesting things to see.  We rarely, if ever, book excursions through the cruise line.  I have booked a few private tours with guides at some of the stops.  We are starting with 2 days in Barcelona.  When we get off in Rome, we have a rental car to take us to Tuscany for three days where we will see Florence and Pisa and then back to Rome for 3 days before flying home from Rome.

[Hurricanefly1]

StopTheWorld, sofietucker and espmass

 

Thank you so much for your feedback. I am happier now that I read the places we visit seem to offer more than I initially thought. 

[PurpleTraveller]

I have been to Naples many times on cruises and land tours. There is a lot to do in Naples or nearby so choosing will be up to your personal interests. The big ones are Pompeii, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. If you want to go out of Naples bear in mind that during summer the traffic is very heavy and places crowded particularly on weekends. It is possible to go to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Capri, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast by yourself by train, bus or ferry but consider how long it may take. You can do private or shared tours through local providers. For the first time in five cruise visits I am doing a ship excursion, the Celebrity "Sorrento and Amalfi Coast by Boat" in June as I will be there on a Saturday and the traffic will be terrible and I thought it would be nice to be on the water for a while.

 

Valletta, Malta is a fabulous port. It is very beautiful to sail into the port and you can stay in Valletta to sightsee by yourself. There is plenty to see and do there such as the St John's Co-Cathedral, Upper and Lower Barrakka Gardens, the Siege Bell War Memorial, St Elmo Fort and lovely streets, shops and restaurants. You could get a ferry across the harbour to Vittoriosa to explore and enjoy the great views. Or you could go to the Blue Grotto, Marsaxlokk fishing village or Mdina either by local bus, taxi or on a tour.

 

Messina, Sicily does not have a lot to do though it does have a lovely Cathedral and Bell Tower. Most cruise passengers go on a ship or independent tour. Taormina is a gorgeous town with an ancient Greek theatre, great views of the coast, wonderful shops and restaurants. Mt Etna is also a popular tour and the villages where scenes from the Godfather movies were filmed.

 

Edited February 5 by PurpleTraveller

[Texed]

43 minutes ago, Hurricanefly1 said:

Thank you so much for your feedback. I am happier now that I read the places we visit seem to offer more than I initially thought. 

 

I believe you have picked a nice itinerary.  For a private tour in Nice try:bestfrenchriviera.tours

Ingrid is wonderful.  😊

Edited February 5 by Texed

[1025cruise]

You might want to ask on the ports of call board.

[llarsen]

Hi, We have this cruise booked for September and are very excited to be on this ship!

A couple of the ports are new to us (Ajacco, Cagliari and Valletta)

This is what we have planned so far, if this helps: 

 

We are staying in Barcelona 3 days prior to cruise and booked a tour to Costa Brava and another to Sagrada Familia through GetYourGuide.

 

Villafranche - We are considering Italy.Tours Best of French Riviera https://www.italytours.eu/shore-excursions/french-riviera-shore-excursion/ or just staying in port and taking the train to Nice. We have been to Eze and Monte Carlo in the past and really loved Eze!

Ajjacco - we plan to just walk around and enjoy a restaurant and drinks.

Cagliari - I booked a boat tour because we really love white sand beaches and turquoise water. 

https://www.viator.com/en-ZA/tours/Sardinia/Guided-excursion-to-the-Sella-del-Diavolo/d24293-354267P2

Valletta - I booked a private driver for 6hrs to see Mdina and a couple other places, but wondering if we really need it? https://www.viator.com/en-ZA/tours/Malta/Private-Experience-Discover-Maltas-Treasures-with-a-Local/d4141-121450P11

Messina - I booked "Celebrity Beautiful Taormina by Land and Sea". We usually don't do ship excursions but I booked this on a sale and like that it also goes to Isola Bella. We have been to Taormina on a private God Father Tour in the past (which was wonderful!) so just wanted to go back to Taormina and see something new (Isola Bella).

Naples - We've already done Capri, Amalfi, Ravello and visited Sorrento and Positano in the past. We booked the Naples, Sorrento and Positano Tour through Italy.Tours with a couple ship mates through our Roll Call. You can go on the Roll Call for your cruise and see if anyone is interested in joining some tours. 

Civitavecchia - We have been to Rome many times (and loved every visit) but this time we are just spending the night near the FCO after disembarking, and visiting Ostia Antica and relaxing by the pool for the day before our early flight the next morning.

Hope you have a beautiful cruise!

 

 

[cruzeluver]

We had a few of these ports on our Reflection cruise this past Fall.  

Villefranche ; We took the train over to Nice. Very easy! The train station is a five minute walk once you are off the tenders and Nice is only two train stops away. Had a lovely day strolling the market, taking in the views and a terrific lunch. When we got back spent maybe an hour walking around Villefranche which is charming and very small.

 

Ajaccio : Very small town. Easily walkable. We visited a very nice art museum, saw  the Napoleon birthplace and grabbed a lite lunch at a outdoor cafe.

 

Naples ; We decided to stay in Naples in order to experience the birthplace of pizza! As you can see, local food is a priority for us! very loud, bustling town but we accepted that and just got in the spirit of things! Spent most of the day in the area known as Spaccanapoli. Tons of vendors selling everything imaginable and a pizza place on every corner. While sitting at one and enjoying the best pizza I have ever tasted, an older gentleman  started playing the accordion. Cannot get more Italian than that! 

[Hurricanefly1]

Thank you so much for your very thorough responses. You are obviously more organized and better at planning than us. I have not posted on Cruise Critic since we did a cruise of Northern Europe , incl St. Petersburg. Had forgotten how helpful more experienced cruisers were in sharing their experiences. Another couple are joining us and this will be their first cruise so I want it to be memorable for them.

[daydreamer16]

On 2/5/2024 at 12:23 PM, StopTheWorld said:

The only one we did via Celebrity was Florence from Livorno (which you’re not stopping at).
At Villefranche you can visit the town itself (small but lovely for a stroll around); take the HOHO bus to Nice: local bus or train to Nice or Monaco.

Ajaccio has a couple of tourist buses which do a tour of the island and you can just turn up and pay on the day.

Haven’t been to Cagliari.

Valletta is a lovely city and you can walk around yourself.

Visited Messina previously and did a Godfather tour via a local provider.

In Naples you can take the train to Pompei or Herculaneum and get a guided tour at the sites, or take a ferry to Capri or Sorrento, or take the HOHO bus from the cruise terminal, or the metro to the main sites (I love Naples 😍).

 

Loved that Godfather tour!

[sofietucker]

On 2/5/2024 at 1:07 PM, espmass said:

We have this itinerary on the Ascent booked for October.  Maybe this is the one you are considering?  It wasn't my choice since I have not traveled extensively in this area but in doing research there seems to be plenty of interesting things to see.  We rarely, if ever, book excursions through the cruise line.  I have booked a few private tours with guides at some of the stops.  We are starting with 2 days in Barcelona.  When we get off in Rome, we have a rental car to take us to Tuscany for three days where we will see Florence and Pisa and then back to Rome for 3 days before flying home from Rome.

If you have time one or two amazing things to do on your way/on the way back between Rome and Tuscany:

1. go to the Giardino Tarocchi in Capalbio, magnificent, larger than life series of mosaic sculptures of the tarot. Think of Barcelona's Park Guell on steroids. Walk-in buildings; one was the sculptor's apartment while she worked (Niki de St Phalle). On the coast up from Civitavecchia.

2. The floating-on-a mushroom medieval town of Civita di Bagnoregio, east of Lake Bolsena, off A1. Just astonishing.

Google or find more about both of these on Trip Advisor.

Edited February 9 by sofietucker