Need some advice about 12 nt med cruise

[jnmrlk]

Hi every-one - need some help!

Next year we would like to take the 12 night cruise out of Rome on the Freedom. My questions are - when you fly into Rome which we will do 1-2 days before the cruise - does any-one recommend a good hotel and how long does it take to get to the dock from Rome and how much or what is a good mode of transportation to get to the dock.

Also - are there any "must do's" on that Med cruise that previous cruisers are glad they didn't miss (or wish they had done). Thanks so much - this will also be our first Carnival cruise

[LRene]

We've stayed at a couple of places but the Best B&B Pantheon is a great location, small place but clean and new with a great breakfast and is very reasonable for accomodations in that area. http://www.bestbb.it/

 

I'd recommend Stefano with Rome Cabs to get to the port and to/from airport. http://www.romecabs.com/index.html It's just under an hour away from the center city.

 

What itinerary are you going on? That might help with excursion suggestions.

[jnmrlk]

Okay first let me apologize it is the Dream we are going on (we were going to do the Freedom but they cancelled those itin's). Anyway the cruise leaving 9/21 which is RT from Rome and goes to Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice, Messina, Barcelona, Monaco and Livorna - so excited!!

[LRene]

That's been our favorite itinerary. You're going to love it! :)

 

You might want to see if there is a roll call for your cruise yet. If you can make plans with others on your roll call, you can book your own excursions and see so much more.

 

In Naples, try the Carnival excursion to Capri or if you have a few people, contact Drive Amalfi for a tour of the Amalfi Coast. It was so much fun and we saw so many towns. Don't miss Pompeii if you haven't been there.

 

Dubrovnik - easy city to do on your own. Just hop on the Carnival bus to the old walled city and explore.

 

Venice - you should overnight there. (?) So much to do there. Try to book the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doges Palace ahead of time.

 

Messina - Carnival does a nice tour to Taormina and one that combines the volcano with it.

 

Barcelona - we did the hop on hop off bus and saw a bunch of the city then hung out at Las Rambles (sp?).

 

Monaco - try to book a tour that will take you to St. Paul de Vence &/or Eze in conjunction with seeing Monaco. Monaco is very small so it doesn't take long. We used Dream Tours.

 

Livorno - if you've never been there, then I recommend the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the city of Florence. If you have already seen those things, I recommend going to Tuscany. We had a great day in Tuscany on a private tour that took us to San Gimagnano and then a great wine tour with lunch.

 

I want to go again!! :D

[dlbutler5]

We stayed at the Hotel Colloseum last year, and as you may guess it is close to it's namesake. The train is the best transport to Civitavecchia after that it is a short walk to the shuttle to the ship. The trip takes either 45 min or an hour and 15 minutes depending on the train you take.

[jnmrlk]

for your help.

Couple more questions in regards to euro's - am I better to buy here in the US or over there - and if I do exchange over there will any bank do it or do I have to go some-where special. I don't think (???) you usually get a good rate at the airports.

[Onetrufan]

I would suggest you also visit the Ports of Call - Europe - Western Med site on these boards. There's a wealth of information and suggestions from those who have cruised this itinerary. We're going on the Liberty next year and have found it invaluable.

[Pegs222]

for your help.

Couple more questions in regards to euro's - am I better to buy here in the US or over there - and if I do exchange over there will any bank do it or do I have to go some-where special. I don't think (???) you usually get a good rate at the airports.

 

We just got back home from our European Cruise on the Splendor on Friday and our last port was Rome. I would suggest you stay at least 2 days to not only get to see some of the amazing sites in Rome but it will get you adjusted to the time change. We used a private Rome transfer from the ship to our hotel and the hotel to the airport. The driver was very nice and very prompt. Here is the link to the hotel we stayed at. It was very clean. The shower was a bit small, but all in all it was a very nice place to stay. Here is the link:

 

http://www.romeby.com/hotel-smeraldo-rome/

 

I think this is the link to the service we used for our transfers. It is called Italian Services. Our TA made all our arrangements, but this is what is on our Credit Card.

 

http://www.italianservicescompanies.com/

 

We purchased our Euro's here in the US as the bank our friends used did not charge us a fee. You can use any of the ATM machines in Europe with your Debit Card or your ATM Card. The fee to do so is very high if you go to a bank in Europe.