Where will Galaxy be docked in Naples?

[Linda]

We are on Galaxy for Nov 20, E. Mediterranean. I have been to most of the ports of call, so planning to do most of our own exploration. Does anyone know where the cruise ships usually dock in Napoles? Is it closer to Castel dell'Ovo, Santa Lucia & Castel Nuovo or toward the othe end-The Napoli Central Train Station?

 

Also has anyone brawsed the Quartieri Spagnoli area? Is it wise for a couple to stroll in this area during day time?

[TourDeCruise]

Linda: We've been to Naples twice with Celebrity going on three times in September. Both times we were docked by the Castel Nuovo. It is also a very short walk to the hydrofoil terminal that goes to Capri, to the Giardini Pubblici, and Palazzo Reale. We never walked to the Quartieri Spagnoli area, but have walked to the other places mentioned above as well as a scenic trek (by way of the public garden) up to the Museo Archeologico ****onale and back (after visiting the museum of course). We didn't experience any problems although we were vigilent for pickpockets. Watch out for the cars too -- the driving is crazy there -- like in Rome. Kathy

[TourDeCruise]

Linda: I'm not sure why the **** are showing up in the museum name but I put "national" in Italian. The Italian word must be a buzz word Cruise Critic doesn't like.

[Linda]

Both times we were docked by the Castel Nuovo. It is also a very short walk to the hydrofoil terminal that goes to Capri, to the Giardini Pubblici, and Palazzo Reale. We never walked to the Quartieri Spagnoli area, but have walked to the other places mentioned above as well as a scenic trek (by way of the public garden) up to the Museo Archeologico ****onale and back (after visiting the museum of course). We didn't experience any problems although we were vigilent for pickpockets. Watch out for the cars too -- the driving is crazy there -- like in Rome. Kathy

 

 

Hi, Kathy

 

Thank a lot. Now I know where we are going to disembark in Naples. I can start to plan our walking route, beginnig at Castel Nuovo. Since we have been to the Museco Archeologico two years ago with Globus Tour, we are going to have more time to really walk the city.

 

Thanks again.

 

Linda

[jplewis]

Hi Linda, have you signed up for the Celebrity Connections Party and joined the roll call for this cruise? If not, come on over and join us. We do now have enough for a Cruise Critic Party. I don't think I have seen your name but if you are already on there welcome again.

Patsy

[4 cruisers]

Linda, do you really want to walk the city in Naples? Have your been to Herculaneum and Pompeii? We have been to this area 6 times now and our last trip on the Splendour of the Seas took us to Herculaneum. It was so amazing and very few tourists. You can get there via public bus. We thought we needed to take the train, but apparently the bus we got off of, would have taken us to Erculano (Hercualneum) in about 20 miniutes had we stayed on instead of gotten off to go to the train station!!! We are seasoned travelers and Naples can be very unfriendly and "rough." We feel comfortable in Istanbul but not quite so in Naples. Very little English spoken and it's just a pretty tough town, from our experience.

[Sheik]

Linda: I'm not sure why the **** are showing up in the museum name but I put "national" in Italian. The Italian word must be a buzz word Cruise Critic doesn't like.

 

Ehm...:rolleyes: Remember WOII? How were the germans named?

[Seabee]

You can't say "****"??

[Seabee]

I guess not! :confused:

Wonder if you can say "Al quaeda"? or "Ku Klux Klan"? What about "Democrat" or "republican"?:D

 

Sorry to get off topic. To bring this back to the cruise topic...wonder if you can say "Carnival"?:eek:

[Sheik]

Ehm...Bush? jups...

[4 cruisers]

What did I miss? I'm totally confused:o

[Linda]

Linda, do you really want to walk the city in Naples? Have your been to Herculaneum and Pompeii? We have been to this area 6 times now and our last trip on the Splendour of the Seas took us to Herculaneum. It was so amazing and very few tourists. You can get there via public bus. We thought we needed to take the train, but apparently the bus we got off of, would have taken us to Erculano (Hercualneum) in about 20 miniutes had we stayed on instead of gotten off to go to the train station!!! We are seasoned travelers and Naples can be very unfriendly and "rough." We feel comfortable in Istanbul but not quite so in Naples. Very little English spoken and it's just a pretty tough town, from our experience.

 

 

Thank you for the warning. Which bus to get on to Hercualneum? Does it also go to Pompeii? I am sure my son will like to ride the bus. He travels around the world with public transportations. I may do the Herculneum + Naples.

 

I agree with you. The Turk are very friendly that why I keep going back to Istanbul. The taxi drivers there were honest. I have ridden taxi thrice in Rome & was conned twice. I am forewarned not to ride any taxi in Naples.

 

Linda

[TourDeCruise]

Linda,

 

I think you might be able to do both. We took the wild taxi ride to Herculaneum and spent from 9:00am-11:15am there. Taking the bus or train back & forth to Herculaneum, you might still have a few hours in Naples itself. You're probably in port from 7am-7pm.

 

Pompeii is more spectacular with the backdrop of Mt. Vesuvius, but Herculaneum is more intact and much less crowded. We enjoyed both immensely (2 different cruises). From Herculaneum we took an even more exciting taxi cab ride (including a trip down a one-way street the wrong way) back to the ship. We had lunch on the Galaxy and then from 12:30pm or 1:00-5:00pm we had enough time to walk to the archaeology museum -- a longer version than the return, spend several hours at the museum, and walk back. I know you don't want to go to the museum, but this will give you an idea of time. You'll have a little less time by taking public transportation, but it might still be doable. Check what time Herculaneum opens (it might be 8:30 or 9:00am) and check the bus or train schedule to see if it is feasible to do both Herculaneum and Naples. Plan on spending around 2 hours or so at Herculaneum.

 

Did you do Capri the last time there? If not, you might want to consider Capri by taking the hydrofoil for which the terminal is a short walking distance from the cruise terminal. And if you are into Greek or other lesser known Roman ruins and possibly Etruscan ruins, there are more places further outside of Naples. Naples is a real treasure trove of interesting places all around it. There are even Roman sites right in Naples itself.

 

To those of you who wondered what you missed: The Italian word for "National" has a WWII word embedded in it. Apparently, the engine scanning our posts will flag an undesirable word even if it is embedded in a word and not the actual word itself. So if I had the word "museum" and Cruise Critic didn't like the word "muse", it would convert "museum" to "****um".

[Palos Verdes]

We've found a private tour company (reliable, according to our travel agent) that can take 8 people to Pompeii for 420 euros. An English speaking guide will customize the tour to also include Herculaneum, if we request it.

 

This seems a great deal when split among 8 people (it's lower cost than the cruise tours with more flexibility), but is too pricey for just the two of us.

 

If anyone is interested, please let us know at dwbenner@cox.net. We need to decide on this pretty soon.

 

Dennis and Lori

[4 cruisers]

This is all great info!

 

Linda, we made the mistake of taking the train when the bus is really the way to go if you don't mind the lack of airconditioning. There was a post on the ports thread that gave the exact bus to take from Naples to Herculaneum. You could then take the train back to Naples (since I don't have any idea about the bus on the return). I'll look for the link for you tomorrow (bed time here now!;) ).

 

Pompeii is still wonderful too. We too have been there before, but would always return if given the opportunity! So many choices, for sure!

 

Glad you love Istanbul too!!!! Never had a negative experience there and the place is somehow one of my favorite cities I've ever visited!:cool: It's still on my list of places to return to!

[Linda]

Kathy:

 

Thank you for the enlightment, "National=WWII".

 

Yes, I have been to Capri. I need to go back there some other time. We missed the Blue Grotto because of bad weather, did not have time to go to Tiberus Palace & Hadrin's Garden(?)...Fortunately, I went into the first bar & got my first glass of limocello. DH wants to visit Naples. I will try to go to Herculaneum first. May be bus over & taxi( One of the Guide book stated: Non of the taxi driver he/she experienced in Naples is honest.) back. We have 11 all together, but the rest of the group wants to go to Pampeii, period.

 

4cruisers:

 

I would appreciate more info about the bus to Herculaneum. I will look up the port of call thread also. Thank you.

 

Linda

[TourDeCruise]

Linda & 4 cruisers: I also agree about Turkey, Istanbul, and the Turkish people. My DH and I would like to do a 2-week tour of Turkey someday. We're big into archaeology and ancient sites, so that is a place to be! We can't enough of Greece, Turkey, and Italy.

 

Linda: Does your husband know something real good about the city of Naples that the rest of us are missing? LOL!

 

Do any of you know if it is possible to do all this in one day: hydrofoil from Naples to Capri, Gardens of Augustus, Tiberius' palace, walk around Capri some, and Blue Grotto. Or instead of Blue Grotto, hydrofoil after visiting Capri to Sorrento, spend some time in Sorrento, and get back to the ship by 4 or 5? Does anyone know how long the hike is up to Tiberius palace? I think I heard around 45 minutes, but is that one way or round trip including looking around up there? We get into Naples at 7 and stay to 7, but dinner is at 6. One of our friends just booked the Millennium and will be in Naples the same day as the Century, so he may spend the day with us.

[Linda]

Linda & 4 cruisers: I also agree about Turkey, Istanbul, and the Turkish people. My DH and I would like to do a 2-week tour of Turkey someday. We're big into archaeology and ancient sites, so that is a place to be! We can't enough of Greece, Turkey, and Italy.

 

Linda: Does your husband know something real good about the city of Naples that the rest of us are missing? LOL!

 

Do any of you know if it is possible to do all this in one day: hydrofoil from Naples to Capri, Gardens of Augustus, Tiberius' palace, walk around Capri some, and Blue Grotto. Or instead of Blue Grotto, hydrofoil after visiting Capri to Sorrento, spend some time in Sorrento, and get back to the ship by 4 or 5? Does anyone know how long the hike is up to Tiberius palace? I think I heard around 45 minutes, but is that one way or round trip including looking around up there?

 

 

Kathy:

 

Garden of Hadrian in Capri, I guess I am more than one hundred years off. I will remember from now on, it is Garden of Augustus.

 

My DH does not know anything else about Naples aside from the trip which we had done two years ago( S. Italy, Capri & Sicily.). He just doesn't want to do Capri or Pompeii again. I will not tell him about Herculaneum just yet. He will veto it for sure. (Another ruin!!!)

 

I am not sure you can do so much in one day, Capri+Sorrento. We spent a day in Capri & missed out half of the sights/sites. Of course a group of 40, it took up a lot of time to get everybody together. Hope some one will post more accurate information for you.

 

About Turkey Tour. I liked the one I took right before the Iraqi War. Collen Power's wife had visited the archaeology museum in Ankara a day before us. While Power was having serious discussion with Turkey's big wigs). It was off season with good price. The cold weather made walking very pleasant ( I tried to find time to do it early morning or before dinner every day.). It was a Grand Circle Tour not the sister company OATS. A lot of history, archaeology site.... Turkey is the most interesting country to visit while Rome is number one city on my list. MHOP.

[TourDeCruise]

Linda: Rome is our favorite city. My husband loves ruins and ancient history as much as I. We watch everything on satellite TV (History Channel, History International, Discovery, etc.) on ancient history that we can, and a good percent of our European vacations are centered around visiting archaeology sites and museums. We prefer 1500bc-300ad. That's why the Eastern Mediterranean was our favorite. That was an archaeology dream vacation. Delos, Akrotiri, Ephesus, Ancient Corinth, and Mycenae were the top highlights, although there were lots of other great places and in each port, we did Roman, Etruscan, or Greek -- even in Istanbul!

 

There may be Hadrian's Gardens too in Capri -- I've never been there. If there are, we'll find them! Villa Jovis (Tiberius' main palace that is most intact) will be the primary place for us there. It sounds like it will be too much to do both Capri and Sorrento. We'll just stick to Capri.

[4 cruisers]

One other thing to consider...if it is windy and rough, the hydrofoil boats won't run! Just a good idea to have an alternate plan in case this happens!

[TourDeCruise]

4 cruisers: Thanks. Last night I was searching on "Villa Jovis" on the Europe Ports of Call board and saw some posts about threats of ferry strikes in Naples/Capri/Sorrento this summer. The last thing we want to happen is to get over there and there is a strike midday and we are stuck over there. So we have to contend with that too. We talked about Pompeii as a contingency plan. Even though we've been there, we only spent 2 hours which, for us, is not enough time. When we were there, I told my husband we needed to be there for 2-3 days not 2 hours!

[4 cruisers]

You're so welcome! Many decided that you could take the hydrofoil to Sorrento from Naples, then the train back stopping at Pompeii (and or Herculaneum) on the way back to Naples. At least you have the option of the train outgoing and the water is most likely calmer in the morning. We've been to Pompeii 5 times and still would go back if given enough time! Herculaneum was a real treat to us...easier than Pompeii and still just amazing! If all else fails...we used Sorrento Limo (Genarro) when we went with my husband's elderly parents and he was a super gentleman and excellent driver. It's sorrentolimo.com

 

We have never gotten to Capri...aways have to have a reason to return!;)