Century(9/8-19) One Missed Port,Shore Excursions,Port Reviews

[Azulann]

This 11 night Western Med. cruise is port intensive and your options can be overwhelming. Know what you want to see and do, prioritze, and then be flexible.

Marseille: first port of call after leaving Barcelona. We had booked a ship excusion to Avignon. This tour was rated as difficult. Lots of stairs and walking. It was.We wanted to see some of Provence, interested in the Palaces of the Popes, French lunch was included and time explore on your own. All these things were done.Our tour guide was outstanding. He gave a hour and half detailed tour of the Palace of the Popes. Lunch in the plaza: wine,French onion soup, entree, dessert. Street musician playing violin while we ate. My idea of a day in a French town in Provence! Bought a watercolor from an artist stall next to the carousal.

Other passengers were pleased to do Marseille on their own .Easy town to explore, great catherdral on the hill and two interesting islands in the harbor.

 

Villefranche: I watched the sunrise over the pictureque sea town of Villefrance.We, along with the Summit ,anchored in the bay. Tendering in to town was quick and easy. Following the directions found on portreview web site, we took the train to Nice. Took bus #32 for 1 euro to Musee des Beauz-Arts. The highlight of the collection was the Rodin sculpture "The Kiss" .Walked along the promenade. Bac in VilleFrance, explored the shops and streets of this hilltown at the sea. Nice was noisy and modern and yes, full of 19th century villas of the European royalty. Wished I had just stayed in Villefrance for the whole day!

 

Livorno: A very industrial port. Rising beyond the port is the city with its 3 and 4 story ochcer houses with tile roofs. You know you are in Italy! We had booked Guido Bandenelli from "TravelsinTuscany" for a private day in the Tuscan countryside.We found three additonal people from the ship to join us. Found two from the CC meet and greet party. This day was exquisite in every way! Exactly what we wanted. Went to Lucca in the morning. Lucca is a walled city ,smaller than Siena and flat. We explored the chruches, refreshments in a sidewalk cafe ,and f San Miniato. Owner Leonard and his wife Ava were gracious hosts. Guido led us thru a detailed wine tasting of Chianti and super Tuscans, and oilve oil. We had the freshest Italian lunch of pasta, bruchetta, salad,dessert. All accompanied by bottles of Chianti and the Vin Santo for dessert. We all bought wine and olive oil. I am saving the bottle of VignA alle NicchiE ( a great super tuscan,only 800 bottles a year) for a cold winter night in MN. Great meditation wine.

 

Civitavecchia: Free shuttle to the entrance to the port. Again took the train into Rome. Got off at St. Peter's Train station. Walked to St. Peter's Square. Tour St. Peters, Castel d Angelo, walked to Piazza Navona. The fountain of the four rivers is being refurbished :mad: . Ate Roman pizza with a cold beer. Walked to Pantheon. Took cab back to train station and back to ship. Others who did both private or ship tours of the highlight of Rome were happy but totally exhausted. My siter in law and husband stayed on the ship. They said is was almost empty, but got alot of sleep. They also commented that Caribbean cruises are totally different. Beaches, shopping, lazy days. This itinerary is work! At night you are too tired to stay up late, unless you are under 40.

 

Ajaccio,Corsica: Docked in alip that car ferries use. We were the only ship in port. We walked off ship through a nice terminal. It has a tourist booth. Got a map of the town and a booklet on Ajaccio. We wanted to go to a beach and swim in the Med. We turned left at the port entrance past the fort and walked the promemade along two bays. This took about 30 minutes. We splashed in the water, had coffee at a beach front cafe. Some of my group continued walking for another hour along the coastline. I went back into the heart of the city. Did some shopping. Ate at a great little place called Serra's. It is half way up rue de l'Assomption. A half block off the pedestrian-only street of great shopping. We had again a light lunch . Cheese and Wild Mountain meat platter with great bread and fig jelly to spead on our cheese. My sisterinlaw tried to order a Chardonnay. The waitress shook her heard NO!! Corsica vine Blanc only.

Corsica is its own country! there wine is good.

Others took ship tours into the mountains. They all ran into hunters, fully armed. It was boar hunting season.

We were to leave at 6pm and the next day was our first sea day. By 7pm the Captain gave an update that we had an electrical problem .It was a circuit breaker. People were allowed off the ship unitl 9pm. Needless to say, we did not go anywhere that night or even the next day. Specialists were flown in to fix this problem. We finally left the next evening around 9pm. We all received a shipboard credit based on the price of our stateroom. Our room got $400. and my sister in law got $550. Plus we did not go to Casablanca, so we got a credit for the refund of the shore excursion I had booked. Many of us were glad that it happened while we were in port instead of during a sea day. Others were not very understanding ,heard alot of complaining at first.

 

Gibraltar: we walked thru town and negotiated with a taxi van for a tour of the rock. It was interesting, the caves, the spectacular views. Again this was a strenuous tour. Lots of walking, steps and uneven surfaces in the caves.

 

Tangiers: We along with over half of th ship took the ship tour of Tangier! There was only two ship tours offered. Over 18 buses going to the same places...means wall to wall passengers both in the Caves of Hercules, the Kasbah, and Medina. Our tour guide Ali was good. Didn't lose anyone. We were in the middle of Ramadan. The beaches were empty , not alot of traffic or people out and about in this busy port city, except the street vendors who follwed us everywhere. Morocco along the sea is beautiful. Learned alot about the old city and its customs.

Talked to other passengers who did go on a private tour of eight and they had a whole different experience. Their guide steered them clear of all tourist bus sites.

I am glad we figured out what we wanted to do ahead of time. Some of the ship tours had sold out. Our idea to take a variety of means of exploring the port or region worked out well. I would go back to Provence,Corsica and of course Italy for a land vacation in a heartbeat.

[gary]

Wow, The report I have been waiting months for!

 

Thank you for the details of the ports. It gives me a good idea of what to expect. As others have said, it is important to book tours ahead of time.

 

Thanks again for your detailed report.

 

Gary

[wiselindag]

Azulann,

 

Thanks very much for this detailed report. I have been to about half the ports on this itinerary, and am grateful for some of your ideas on the others. One question -- how much was the "Travels in Tuscany" Tour to Lucca? I just looked at their website and can't find the prices. We are sailing on November 10 and I missed going to Lucca the last time our ship docked in Livorno (it was summertime and we were so exhausted after trekking to both Monte Carlo and Nice in one day from Villefranche). Thought maybe I'd make it this time!

 

Thanks!

 

Linda

[rayandbelle]

hi there Azulann

 

we are doing a western Med. in November

 

could you tell me how much you paid for taxi in Gibralter and how long did you have him

 

thanks

 

 

Ray

[Azulann]

Linda, Our day tour with Guido Bandinelli of travelsintuscany was for the whole day. He picked us up at the ship at 8:00 and we returned at 5:30. It costs each of the seven of us 106Euros and this included a 25E Tuscan lunch with wine at the great winery outside of San Mininato.

I would just email him and tell him that you want to go to Lucca and just want to spend the day there or he might have other suggestions for you . He was a wealth of information and can customize your day anyway you want. We did not have to put any money down and we paid him in Euros at the end of the day.

 

Ray, the taxi van we hired seated 8 people. The four of us shared it with two other couples. It cost 20 Euros each. He took us up the Rock. We stopped at the caves of Hercules, and at tunnel and at two overlooks. The tour lasted about 2 1/2 hours. He drove back to the main street in Gibralter and we had time for shopping and a coffee before taking the shuttle back to the ship.

We were in port from 1- 6 pm.

 

Please write your review of your cruise when you get back. Enjoy!

 

Patti