Excursion Suggestions for Western Med?

[jbrains]

DH & I are looking forward to our 1st cruise ever :eek: (shocking, I know!), which will be on the Windsurf Aug. 13th Barcelona-Rome cruise. The ship sounds luxurious and wonderful :p , but I haven't been to Europe in about 20 years (since college) and I want to make the most of our land time too. I've heard that we should consider planning some of our own excursions. We love great food/wine of the region (doesn't have to be pricey, just authentic), ruins/archaeology, beautiful walks, historical sites, etc. About 10 years ago we were both certified SCUBA, haven't gone recently, but would like to try. I love shopping and museums, but DH can only take so much of that. DH loves poker and generally enjoys gambling (though the stakes at Monte Carlo are probably out of our reach). Any suggestions for what to do/how to arrange it? Other tips? Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated! Thanks. :D

 

Here's a list of our ports:

-Barcelona

-Porte Vendres

-Marseille (will be visiting friends in Aix that day)

-Monte Carlo

-Portofino

-Portoferraio

-Rome (will be staying in city center for 2 days following cruise)

[luvnorway]

Just came home from 3wks on Wind Surf in Western Med -> 2 cautions and 2 recs re your trip

 

Advice

1) when planning what to do in the ports, take note of how long you will actually have ashore

eg. we were only in Portofino from 7-noon

- took the ship's Camogli & San Fruttuoso boat tour along the other side of the Portofino peninsula and really enjoyed it - scenery is very much like Cinque Terre. Since we had been to Portofino fairly recently, we didn't mind not having time to spend there, however many on the tour had not paid attention to the fact that, taking a 2.5 hr tour scheduled to start about 8:30 did not allow much time in Portofino. (In tender ports like this, the last tender leaves a half hr before sailing time.)

 

2) It will be hot in the Med at that time, and very crowded with both North American tourists and Europeans on holidays. Don't try to do too much - allow time for traffic congestion and lineups (if you're sightseeing independently) and to just sit down in the shade and have a cool granita or gelato when the heat gets unbearable.

 

Recommendations

1) the ship's shorex from Portoferraio to Mt. Capanne was fantastic - one of the most enjoyable we've taken over many years of cruising. We had an excellent guide who told us a lot about Elba on the bus trip to the cable car. The views of the coast and then the villages high on the mountainside, both from the bus and then from the top of the mountain were incredible. You can see both Corsica and the mainland of Tuscany from the top. I knew nothing about Elba before we visited except that Napoleon was exiled there, and came away with a real appreciation of the beauty of the island.

 

2) buy some gelato at the little stand right across from where the ship docks - very good, huge servings, prices are lower than in bigger cities

[rogfam]

Hi, we're on your cruise also on Aug 13th. Usually try to book my own tours instead of going through the cruise line. Usually less expensive and much more personal.

 

So far I have arranged a private guide for our day in Monaco. Still not sure about Marseille, whether to take a cab to Aix or use a local guide to drive us there for the morning. Found out that our day there is a French bank holiday and the shops will be closed...haven't told my wife yet.

 

We have been to Portofino before and it is beautiful. Really just planning to walk around, have lunch at one of the outdoor cafes and enjoy the day. Port Vendres, from what I have read is nice, but not much to see or do there. The reverse cruise (Rome to Barcelona) docks in St. Tropez instead.

 

Are you staying in Barcelona precruise? Heard it is a great city, with lots to do and see.

 

Any questions, let me know.

[golfergal]

Hi Jbrains,

Looks like we are "neighbors". We definitely prefer doing things on our own, but Luvnorway makes a great point about watching the port times. We're doing Barcelona this year, so I can't comment of that yet. We were in Portofino the last two years, although last year just for a day from our Windsurf cruise. I love just walking around the town, shopping, stopping for a drink or gelato. You should also try to get up to Hotel Splendido as the view is amazing. We were in port most of the day, so we were able to have lunch, which is a great (although not necessarily cheap). We also bought several bottles of wine to bring back to the ship.

 

Monaco was fanastic! We toured the palace, cathedral, the general area on the silly little train, and then the Monte Carlo Casino and Hotel de Paris at night. I was a little disappointed in the casino. It was absolutely beautiful, but not the atomsphere I expected. Still worth the trip and the stakes were not that bad considering where you are.

 

Rome will also give you everything you want and plenty of things to break up the museums and shopping. Best advice I can give is pace yourself and try to take a taxi around the various sights at night as the city is so beautiful then.

 

General advice, definitely bring wine from your port stops. The wine list onboard is merely OK and not very reflective of the regions you are visiting. Find out when they are doing the lobster barbeque lunch so you don't miss it and try to time it around all the tour returns, if you are in port that day. If you like caviar, find out the morning they serve it. We drank a lot the night before and had to skip it. This year I'm planning that one better. Nights up on deck are just wonderful! We would go to bow and just sit, a little windy but very relaxing. Personally I would not SCUBA on this itinerary as there is so much to see above water, but that may just be me.

 

You'll have a fanastic time. We loved our first Windstar cruise last year so much that it was my husband's hands down first choice for this year. One thing is that this will spoil you for other types of cruises. We were talking about what to do for our spring trip next year and DH suggested a cruise saying we haven't done one in a while. He just doesn't think about Windstar as a cruise vacation since it is so different than the mega ships.