Barcelona and Western Mediterranean ports - 'on our own' tour plans

[ebslc]

Below is a detail itinerary for our upcoming Western Mediterranean cruise and pre-cruise in Barcelona. This is our second trip to Barcelona we are staying a few days pre-cruise with some friends who have not been there before. On the 31st (Halloween) we will be on the Celebrity Century for the 10 days cruise. For most of the ports we plan to be touring independent of the excursions available from Celebrity.

 

Our plan has come about from information gathered on Cruise Critic and on the internet. In return for the great help we have gotten on CC, I hope that our itinerary will help others on CC with independent tour planning. Also, if anyone has comments or ideas on our itinerary please response. We will have internet access in Barcelona and limited internet access while on board.

 

Mon Oct 27 SJC 9am /SEA 1:45pm / Amsterdam 7:40am

Tue Oct 28 Barcelona, Spain 11:05am

Fri Oct 31 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm

Day 1, Sat Nov 1 Marseille, France 7:00am 6:00pm

Day 2, Sun Nov 2 Nice (Villefranche), France 7:00am 6:00pm

Day 3, Mon Nov 3 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Day 4, Tue Nov 4 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Day 5, Wed Nov 5 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

Day 6, Thu Nov 6 At Sea

Day 7, Fri Nov 7 Valletta, Malta 7:00am 4:00pm

Day 8, Sat Nov 8 Tunis, Tunisia 7:00am 7:00pm

Day 9, Sun Nov 9 At Sea

Day 10, Mon Nov 10 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

Tue Nov 11 BCN/SEA/SJC leave BCN 6:20am

[ebslc]

Mon Oct 27 SJC to Barcelona 9:00am

Plan:

- SJC to Seattle, Seattle to Amsterdam

 

Tue Oct 28 Barcelona, Spain 11:05am

- Arrive Amsterdam 7am, take flight to Barcelona

- From the airport take the aerobus shuttle to Placa Catalunya.

- http://www.emt-amb.com/links/DetalleLinea.asp?pagLinea=lineas/aero.asp&CodLinea='A1'&idioma right outside of the airport. Pay one way (we need to take taxi back) 4.05 Euros. Get off at Placa Catalunya

- Walk from Placa Catalunya to the hotel on Las Rambla (5 minutes)

- Check in by 1pm

- Walk around Las Rambla

http://www.bcn-guide.com/htm/ang/paseo_rambla.htm

- Go to the Sant Josep Boqueria Market http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Spain/Catalunya/Barcelona-274654/Things_To_Do-Barcelona-Mercat_Boqueria-BR-1.html ,

- Gothic quarters

http://www.bcn-guide.com/htm/ang/paseando.htm ...

- meet friends for dinner, choices:

Taller de Tapas restaurant

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/spain/catalonia/barcelona/restaurant-detail.html?vid=1154654630156

EL CAFE D'EN VICTOR Tapineria street 12. http://www.elcafedenvictor.com/eng/index.php

“Best of the best Tapas bar” Ciudad Condal Rambla de Catalunya 18 http://travel.yahoo.com/p-reviews-2790021-prod-travelguide-action-read-ratings_and_reviews-i

 

Wed Oct 29 Barcelona, Spain

- Go to the Turisme de Barcelona information office at: Pl. de Catalunya, 17 basement and ask about the Montserrat mountains combo package to get ready for the next day.

- Take the one day Hop on Hop off bus. There are many sights to see but we can squeeze in the major sights in one day. Tickets can be purchased ticket ahead online for 10% savings. http://bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com/Barcelona-Bus-Turistic/_vf-SMlY1yIuKQTV1aq49kKCgwDafpeejnRwsm88Z7sdz4ZpnJSVnCA

- Go to Mercat Santa Caterina buy grocery / wine for home and perhaps have dinner there? http://www.mercatsantacaterina.net/continguts/Mercat/restaurant/restaurantHome_eng.php

“Santa Caterina’s Cuisines is not a common restaurant. It is a totally integrated space within the market, where products stored within sight and open cooking achieve a very peculiar and informal atmosphere.”

- More wandering around

 

Thu Oct 30 Barcelona, Spain

- Morning/Early afternoon trip to the Montserrat mountains

- From Placa de Catalunya Metro station buy the combo ticket which includes Metro train and tram http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Metro_Barcelona_Map.png ,

http://www.funimag.com/funimag14/montserrat01.htm

http://www.cataloniatours.com/MontserratTour/tabid/54/Default.aspx

- Take the Metro to Espanya station in time for 9:36 train

- Take train to Montserrat http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/barcelona-montserrat.html

- Tour Montserrat

- Be sure to see the boys choir at 1pm

- Return to Barcelona with the 14:40 or later train. Arrive back in Barcelona around 4pm

- On return we should walk up to check out Placa Espanya if we haven’t done so as part of the hop on hop off http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pla%C3%A7a_Espanya

- Go to the El Corte Ingles department store across the Placa Catalunya and go to top floor Cafeteria to see the view.

- Evening TBD

 

Fri Oct 31 Barcelona, Spain 6:00pm (ship departure)

- Our hotel check out time is noon so we have a few hours in the morning. After breakfast at the hotel we can walk to see the Opera House down Las Rambla

- or walk down to see the reconstruction of Güell Palace http://www.palauguell.cat/galeria.php?idm=18&idsm=31&idioma=Eng free right now until 2009. Tuesday to Saturday (inclusive), from 10:00 am to 2:30 pm.

- Take a cab … ask to be taken to Moll Adossat – ‘the cruise port’ http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/transport/barcelona-cruise-port.html

- or...

Just walk down to Monument a Colon (The memorial to Christopher Columbus) and take the Blue Bus to the cruise terminals. Monument a Colon is a 5 minute walk from Drassanes Metro station. Drassanes is 2 stops down from Catalunya or 2 blocks from the Sant Josep Boqueria Market. We can either take the subway down or just walk down for 15 minutes down Las Rambla. It may be faster than waiting for a cab.

- Late lunch on board the ship after check in

- Go back out from the cruise terminal to walk around harbor area before cruise departure

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 1 Sat Nov 1 Marseille, France 7:00am 6:00pm

- Since we have a full day we can see both the town of Aix en Provence and Marseille.

- Aix en Provence is about 30 minutes bus ride from Marseille. The bus leaves every 10 minutes to and from so there is no worries about waiting for the bus and not getting back in time.

- bus brochure: http://www.navetteaixmarseille.com/telecharger.html

- We should go to Aix first. From the ship it may be faster and cost about the same to take a cab to the Rue Honnorat bus station. ~$20 Euros vs. 5 Euro each for the shuttle + 15 minutes walk.

- Re Aix en Provence:

- http://www.beyond.fr/villages/aix.html

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/France/Provence_Alpes_Cote_dAzur/Aix_en_Provence-139376/Things_To_Do-Aix_en_Provence-BR-1.html

- There is a 2 hour tour for 8 Euros starting at the tourist office next to the main fountain. It starts at10am on Saturdays

- http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/uk/aix-guides.htm

- http://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/pdf/plan-guide-anglais.pdf

- http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/aix-en-provence-f-az-aix.htm#F-AZ-AIX

- http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187209-c4126/Aix-En-Provence:France:General.Overview.html

- In the afternoon we can head back to Marseille and see the Vieux Port (old harbor) area. http://www.beyond.fr/villages/marsareas.html

- It may be worthwhile to take a ‘Petite Train’ http://www.petittrainmarseille.com/ (5 Euros) ride up to the church and around the town. A visit to the Notre Dame de la Garde is highly recommended by many as the must see in Marseille. “Notre Dame de la Garde is the big church which overlooks the city. Old fishermen used to have their boats blessed in this church. You can still see many boat models hanging around in the church. From there it is one of the nicest view of the city.”

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 2 - Sun Nov 2 Nice (Villefranche), France 7:00am 6:00pm

- Villefranche is a beautiful port we should go to Eze / Nice first and then come back to see the port.

- It takes ~15 minutes bus ride to Nice and ~15 minutes bus ride to Eze. Eze is a Medieval town on top of the hill a few miles from Villefranche. This is a tender port. The ship docks at 7am. Likely priority will be given to people who are on tours. We should try to get to land by ~8am.

- Info on taking the bus http://www.allaboutnice.com/buses_and_coaches_in_Nice.html

- Bus schedules: http://www.cg06.fr/transport/transports-tam-fiches.html and http://www.lignedazur.com/ri/index.asp?rub_code=4 . You put in the city and bus stop names and it will show you the available bus and schedule (e.g. put in Villefrance Octroi bus stop to Nice central station stop Gare Routière). Bus stop names are in the detail map – you can download the detail map from the site.

- Visit Eze Village (perfume factory, shops etc.) for ~2 hours. Take the bus to Nice.

- Spent the afternoon in Nice. Gare Routière is Nice’s central bus station. Things to do after we get there:

- Walk down to the Promenade

- Go up to the Colline du Château (Chateau on the hill) can be reached by elevator from the shore promenade (Quai des Etats-Unis) at the end of the Baie des Anges (elevator is only in operation during high season we should consider taking the ‘petite train instead – 6.50 Euros starting at "Promenade des Anglais", face to garden "Albert 1er" http://www.petittrainnice.com/societe/circuit-gb.php

- Wander around Vieux ville (old town) and then head back ~4pm

- Walk around Villefranche and head back to the ship by before the last tender

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 3 Mon Nov 3 Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

- Get off the ship by 7:25am to catch the 8:11 train (if we are lucky). If we miss it the next train is 9:11am (likely).

- We will need to negotiate for a taxi ride from the port to Livorno Centrale. The going price is 25 Euros for a taxi for 4 people. (most taxi's wants to be hired for the day so it will be some work to find one that will only go to the train station).

- Alternatively, we can take the cruise shuttle for $5 to $10 to the center of town, then buy a bus tickets to the trains station from a Tobacco shop for 1 Euro and Wait for bus #1. It's about 15 minute ride to the train station at Piazza Dante stop total time ~1 hour.

- At the train station buy a return ticket to Florence for 13 Euros, this allows stopovers in Pisa.

- Get to Florence at Santa Maria Novella station at 9:30am (if we catch the 8:11am train) or 10:30 am (if we catch the 9:11 train) to ~2 or 3pm

- See: Duomo (may have to loop back to get in), Galleries area (outdoor David), Ponto Vecchio (old bridge) / shopping area, Santa Croce (Gothic church), loop back to San Marco, Market area and Duomo and then Santa Maria Novella station.

- Catch either 1:57pm train to Pisa San Rossore, or 2:27pm train to Pisa Centrale, or 2:57pm train to Pisa San Rossore

- Arriving Pisa from ~3pm to 4:14pm depending on which train we took.

- Take the 4:34pm or 5:22pm train from Pisa Centrale or 5:07pm train from Pisa S.Ross. back to Livorno

- Take the taxi from the Livorno train station to the ship for 25 Euros (or less).

- Alternatively, negotiate for a taxi in Pisa to take us directly back to the ship (20 minutes ride) for ~45 Euros.

- Alternatively we may skip Pisa and just go to Florence.

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 4, Tue Nov 4 Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

- In Civitavecchia, take the port shuttle (10-15 minutes) and then walk to the train station (~5 blocks, 10 minutes) http://www.europeportreviews.com/Rome2.htm .

- Buy the B.I.R.G. ticket (good also for Metro) for 9 Euros

- Take the trains at 7:33am, 7:59am, 8:41am or 8:59am

- It takes less than 1 hour to get to Rome Roma S. Pietro station arriving between 9am and 10am.

- Starting in S. Pietro walk to see:

St. Peter’s Basilica, http://www.panoramicearth.com/65/Rome/St._Peter's_Basilica

St. Peter’s Square,

http://www.panoramicearth.com/63/Rome/St_Peter's_Square

Santa Maria in Trespontina church, http://www.panoramicearth.com/1534/Rome/Santa_Maria_in_Traspontina_Church

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II (bridge), http://www.panoramicearth.com/594/Rome/Ponte_Vittorio_Emanuele_II

Ponte sant'Angelo (bridge), http://www.panoramicearth.com/1533/Rome/Ponte_San_Angelo

Castel Sant Angelo V. (7 Euros entrance fee, go to the roof),

http://www.panoramicearth.com/311/Rome/Castel_Sant_Angelo_V_-_Roof_View

Ponte Umberto (bridge), http://www.panoramicearth.com/1532/Rome/Ponte_Umberto

Piazza Navona, http://www.panoramicearth.com/1531/Rome/Piazza_Navona_-_North_End

Pantheon, http://www.panoramicearth.com/310/Rome/Pantheon

Santa Maria in Monterons church, http://www.panoramicearth.com/505/Rome/Santa_Maria_in_Monterone

Fontana di Trevi (fountain) http://www.panoramicearth.com/505/Rome/Santa_Maria_in_Monterone

- This should take 4-5 hours depending on time spent at the stops.

- From Trevi fountain walk to Piazza di Spagna (Spanish steps) http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/spanish_steps.htm.

- If we don’t have time left we can take the Metro from Spagna (or walk ~12 blocks) to Termini to catch the train back to Civitavecchia.

- If we have time we can take the Metro from Spagna (A red line) to Termini and Termini (B blue line) to Colosseo to see the Roman Colosseum and the Roman Forum http://www.panoramicearth.com/817/Rome/Colosseo .

- We should arrive at the Termini around 3:30pm to take the 4:09 train back to Civitavecchia arriving at 5:13pm. The next train gets to Civitavecchia around 6pm and may be too tight to get back to the ship.

- Web site we used to plan our train schedule:

 

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

 

- These Websites are also useful:

 

http://www.italyguides.it/us/roma/rome/rome_travel/map_of_rome.php#toppage

http://www.panoramicearth.com/65/Rome/St._Peter's_Basilica

http://www.rome.info/metro/

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 5 Wed Nov 5 Naples / Capri (Sorrento), Italy 7:00am 7:00pm

- In Naples there is a hop on / hop off bus that goes around the city for 22 Euros. The main stop is at Piazza Municipio near the port. However, the interesting tours are outside of the city.

- If it is a nice day we can take the Ferry / Hydrofoil to Capri

- On Capri, go to the Blue Grotto tour (at the dock). Walk around town and return in the afternoon 3:25 or 3:40 Hydrofoil.

- If we finish Capri early we can take the Hydrofoil to Sorrento (11:40, 12:30 or 13:30). It takes 20 minutes. After Sorrento we can take the local train back to Naples 3:26 or 3:52pm.

- Ferries and Hydrofoils can cancel if sea is rough.

- If it is raining or Hydrofoil is not working we can go to Sorrento and then Pompeii by ferry and/or train. By train Circumvesuviana - go downstairs at the central station in Piazza Garibaldi - NAPOLI - GARIBALDI (STAZIONE CENTRALE F.S.)

- If it is raining we can take the taxi to National Archaeological Museum of Naples (Museo)

- http://www.culturacampania.rai.it/site/en-gb/Cultural_Heritage/Museums/Scheda/napoli_archeologico.html

- Another option is to negotiate for a taxi tour for the day to the Amalfi coast (Sorrento, Positano) ~$100pp.

- http://www.europeportreviews.com/Naples4.htm

- http://www.europeportreviews.com/Naples5.htm

 

Cruise Day 6 Thu Nov 6 At Sea

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 7 Fri Nov 7 Valletta, Malta 7:00am 4:00pm

- This is suppose to be one of the most beautiful ports in the Mediterranean … many people suggested going on deck early as the ship approach Malta. “try not to miss to be on deck for the entry of the ship in Malta's Grand Harbor because it is spectacular you will see nothing like it anywhere”

- We can check out a cruise excursion, a taxi tour to see Mdina the Medieval city Valetta, the Terxian temples? or just walk around town, go back to the ship for lunch and don’t do much for the day.

- The 20 minutes movie 'Malta Experience' sounds interesting to see.

- Shopping is suppose to be very good in Malta ~1/2 the price of Italian ports.

 

http://www.touringmalta.com

http://www.starwebmalta.com/homepage.asp

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=775949&highlight=malta+taxi+tour

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=817525

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 8 Sat Nov 8 Tunis, Tunisia 7:00am 7:00pm

- Take a shuttle to the Souk market? Take a taxi tour? or take a cruise excursion. Go back to the ship for lunch? We will decide later for this port.

[ebslc]

Cruise Day 9 Sun Nov 9 At Sea

 

Cruise Day 10 Mon Nov 10 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

- Depart ship 8am? Early check in

- Opera House tour or Gaudi Palace … department store? More wandering around. Take an early dinner and go to bed early

 

Tue Nov 11 Barcelona to SJC

- Wake up at 3:30 am to take the 6:15 flight home.

[Seatravelers]

YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Thank you so much for sharing. We will be going to several of the stops in Apr/May 2009 and you have provided additional information we did not have and some affirmations of things we already planned...You have been extremely helpful and I want to thank you again for your generosity and wish you a wonderful and memorable cruise...

Marcia

[ebslc]

YOU ARE THE MAN!!! Thank you so much for sharing. We will be going to several of the stops in Apr/May 2009 and you have provided additional information we did not have and some affirmations of things we already planned...You have been extremely helpful and I want to thank you again for your generosity and wish you a wonderful and memorable cruise...

Marcia

 

You are welcome. I will be posting additional info (likely AFTER our trip) so you may want to check back on this thread later.

[ebslc]

See here for maps for our itinerary:

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/ebslcc/BarcelonaAndWesternMediterraneanPortsOnOurOwnTourMaps#

[Travel to Ports]

Dear Laurence,

You appear to have mastered the "on my own" approach and will have a good overview of the exterior of these cities. Of course, time (even 12 hours) provides a limitation to public transportation. Didn't pick up if you have visited these ports before, but that there will be 4 of you and you don't want to find two other couples?

(1) Marseille is a great port from which to head into provence (provence beyond is a great website). I wonder how much is saved by getting to Aix by yourself versus simple ship tour? A good guide can get you to Les Baux, St. Remy, Glanum, and Avignon is that day. I can give you the name of a great guide and you will have a great time with good weather (and the euro down!).

(2) Did you want to go into any buildings in Florence? It's Monday, but depending which Monday, museums like the Bargelo may be open (see the 1st full bronze statue of the Renaissance, Donatelo's "David."

(3) Very hard to maximize Naples by yourself if you want to see Pompeii and Amalfi coast. If nowhere else (unless its a return trip for you), I'd break my stride and have a private driver take you at 7:30am to Pompeii, hire a private guide, then drive the Amalfi coast to the towns of Amalfi and Ravello and have lunch at that point, with maybe time to visit Positano or Sorrento on the way back to the ship.

(4) Not sure why you selected Rome's churches other than St. Peter's and Pantheon. Do you plan to walk into any of them? Consider S. Pietre in Vincoli (Via Cavour), S. Maria d"Vittoria (20 Septtembre 17 @ Largo S. Susanna), S. Maria del Popolo and S. Maria Maggiore.

Honestly, I'm planning on using private van for 7 of our 10 ports and doing "on my own" for multiple-day visits to Barcelona (apartment) and Venice.

Drop me a note if you would like recommendation for Marseille or Naples, and I'll send you name/email.

You have really done your work!

David

traveltoports@yahoo.com

[firstcruise2009]

wow...thanks! very thoughtful of you to share. i will be visitng many of the ports you discussed and am very thankful that you agreed to share!:)

[Yungs]

Thanks so much for sharing! You've really done your homework and I do appreciate your posting these notes, they've been very handy!! We leave mid November and will be visiting many of the same ports. Will look forward eagerly to your post-trip report!

[ebslc]

Dear Laurence,

You appear to have mastered the "on my own" approach and will have a good overview of the exterior of these cities. Of course, time (even 12 hours) provides a limitation to public transportation. Didn't pick up if you have visited these ports before, but that there will be 4 of you and you don't want to find two other couples?

Thanks!! We have only been to Barcelona, all the other ports are new to us. I am sure we will be back multiple times after this cruise, so seeing it ALL is not necessary this time around. We understand the advantage of a private tour. It is our preference vs. ship excursions ... smaller group, see more, more personal for about the same cost. However, after much research and thinking we have decided to go independent with most of the ports. It is GREAT that the public transit appears to be readily available ... with some buffering and alternative plans we think it will be an adventure 'doing it on our own'. The biggest negative 'on our own' is we just have to read more about what we will be seeing vs. being fed the facts... I have a stack of books from the library plus many hours spent on Cruise Critic :D . A big positive is we will be saving some money ... with the stock market these days, the savings certainly helps.

 

(1) Marseille is a great port from which to head into provence (provence beyond is a great website). I wonder how much is saved by getting to Aix by yourself versus simple ship tour? A good guide can get you to Les Baux, St. Remy, Glanum, and Avignon is that day. I can give you the name of a great guide and you will have a great time with good weather (and the euro down!).

The savings is considerable. e.g. Celebrity has a

Aix-En-Provence On Your Own - MR05

Port/City: Provence(Marseilles), France

Dates Offered: 01-Nov-2008

Approx. Duration: 6 hour(s) 30 minute(s)

*Current Price: Starting from

54.00 Adult (USD)

44.00 Child (USD)

0.00 Infant (USD)

Activity Type: Sightseeing and/or City Tours

This Celebrity excursion is a basic tour with a long drop off to explore Aix on your own. We can do the same for ~half the cost. 20 Euros to the bus station split 4 ways, 4.60 Euros to Aix. If we don't take advantage of the walking tour (which is NOT included in the Celebrity excursion) our cost would be ~20 Euros each vs. $54 excursion cost. Since the buses runs every 10 minutes, we are not constrain with the Celebrity excursion schedule.

 

(2) Did you want to go into any buildings in Florence? It's Monday, but depending which Monday, museums like the Bargelo may be open (see the 1st full bronze statue of the Renaissance, Donatelo's "David."

Yes, we are there on Monday and most museums are closed. We will go into the Duomo and may be Santa Croce. Thanks for your tip re: Bargelo - I will look it up.

 

(3) Very hard to maximize Naples by yourself if you want to see Pompeii and Amalfi coast. If nowhere else (unless its a return trip for you), I'd break my stride and have a private driver take you at 7:30am to Pompeii, hire a private guide, then drive the Amalfi coast to the towns of Amalfi and Ravello and have lunch at that point, with maybe time to visit Positano or Sorrento on the way back to the ship.

It may be good to do a private tour of the area on another cruise... e.g. we would love to visit Positano one day.

 

(4) Not sure why you selected Rome's churches other than St. Peter's and Pantheon. Do you plan to walk into any of them? Consider S. Pietre in Vincoli (Via Cavour), S. Maria d"Vittoria (20 Septtembre 17 @ Largo S. Susanna), S. Maria del Popolo and S. Maria Maggiore.

Honestly, I'm planning on using private van for 7 of our 10 ports and doing "on my own" for multiple-day visits to Barcelona (apartment) and Venice.

Drop me a note if you would like recommendation for Marseille or Naples, and I'll send you name/email.

You have really done your work!

David

traveltoports@yahoo.com

 

Re: Rome - we will be going to St. Peters and Pantheon. They are on our walking route. I mentioned the other churches as they are on our walking route. I doubt we will be spending too much time in the 'side churches'. Thanks for your suggestions for additional ones to check out. If they are on the way we may drop in. I believe after a few churches they will all look the same to us.

 

Touring inside the Vatican Museum etc. is not in our plan this time. Our preference is for an extended stay in Rome and get a guided tour from companies such as Angels Tours http://www.angeltoursrome.com/ . There appears to be MANY good private tour companies in Rome.

 

Our goal this time is to have an overview of the main sights by mostly walking through the route I mapped out http://picasaweb.google.com/ebslcc/BarcelonaAndWesternMediterraneanPortsOnOurOwnTourMaps#

 

If you have any suggestion on our route please let me know.

 

Thanks again for taking your time to follow up. I will keep your email in mind. As I mentioned extended stays in Rome and Venice are in our future plans.

[ebslc]

Thanks so much for sharing! You've really done your homework and I do appreciate your posting these notes, they've been very handy!! We leave mid November and will be visiting many of the same ports. Will look forward eagerly to your post-trip report!

 

Thanks. I doubt I will have a post trip report before your cruise. If you have any specific questions please ask.

 

One caution is bus schedules are different on the weekend vs. weekday. e.g. we are pleasantly surprised that there are many more buses to Eze Village on the weekend... this makes it possible for us to do both Eze Village and Nice with more flexibility.

 

It will be interesting with our trip to see how close 'the Actuals' will be vs. 'the plans'. e.g. it appears that it's rainy for at least a couple of days this week... we may not make it to Montserrat? We will stay flexible, after all it's a vacation :D .

[ebslc]

Schedule:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.navetteaixmarseille.com/horaires.html&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=fr&tl=en

 

Fare cost:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.navetteaixmarseille.com/tarifdepos.html&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=fr&tl=en

 

Brochure in English:

http://www.navetteaixmarseille.com/pdf/ShuttleAix-Marseille.pdf

 

we printed the brochure and plan to show it to the taxi driver when we ask for a ride to Rue Honnorat bus station.

[tomko2]

What a thorough itinerary! We will be leaving from Barcelona next August and appreciate the information you have shared on sight-seeing and transportation. Last summer we took our first Mediterranean cruise on the Legend of the Seas from Rome; spent total of 6 nights in Rome; pre-booked on-line for the Vatican, Colosseum and Galleria Borghese - well worth it! (photos and reviews in the links below).

We largely prefer to take the ship sponsored transportation unless we intend to be back on the ship at least 3 hours before sailing; I don't want to worry about missing the ship. :eek:

 

Thanks for sharing!

Kathy

[dorakk]

Hi,

We just got back from Century last week. Apparently the itinerary we had is the same as yours.

Your plan looks wonderful, I wished I was as organzied as yours. Anyway, just want to throw in my 2 cents base on my experience.

 

Day 1 Marseille:

- The ship offer $12 per person for shuttle. It seems overprice, but it can still be a good deal because $12 include return fare. The only drawback for the ship's shuttle is that the last shuttle leaves Marsaille at 4pm, which seems to be too early given that the ship depart as 6pm and the ride from Marsaille to the port only take 20 minutes.

- What we did on that day is, we took a taxi from the port to Aix (50Euro share among the three of us). We spent the morning walking around Aix.

- Then we took the bus to Marsaille. The ride from Aix to Marsaille took much longer than expected due to bad traffic (we were there on a Saturday). Mind you, once you arrived in Marsaille, the walk from the bus stop to the old port is quite long. It took us 30+ minutes to get there given that we got lost a couple times and we had a hard time asking for directions as most ppl there don't speak english.

- Once arrived in the Vieux port, we took the Petite train to Notre Dame, spent an hour there.

- Then we walked around Marsaille city center.

- At the end we took a taxi from Marsaille to the port, 19Euro, 20 minutes ride.

- One more reminder, traffic in Marsaille tends to be quite busy on Saturday, so give yourself some extra time getting back to the port.

 

Day 2 Villefranche:

- The only thing I want to tell you is tendering is really fast. We left the ship around 8am and it took us less then 5 minutes to arrive on the shore.

 

Day 3 Livorno:

- Same as Marseille, the ship offer shuttle service for $12 per person.

- We heard other ppl on the ship managed to negotiate a whole day taxi service for 50Euro per person, 7 ppl in the van. The driver took them to Pisa then Florence.

- If you want to climb up the leaning tower, maybe you should consider booking ticket in advance. Because they only allow certain number of ppl on the tower per 30 minutes time slot, it could be a long wait if you don't have ticket.

- We purchased ticket in advanced, we were there at 9:30am. We heard that for ppl who don't have ticket, the next available time slot is 11am.

- One big disappointment is that the outdoor David was under maint. where we were there. He was all covered up, so it's really hard to take a good pictures or even see him.

 

Day 4 Rome:

- Get off the ship as soon as it docked. We were waiting at the gangway even before the ship clear custom. We ended up being the first group of ppl to get off the ship, but the time still cutting close. We arrived at the train station only 5 minutes before the 7:37am train arrived.

- The port shuttle will be waiting as soon as you get off the ship.

- After getting off the shuttle, the walk to the train station is 10 minutes away. Keep going straight along the street until you see a cross walk, then cross to the other side of the street, the train station is hidden behind some buildings on your left side.

- Make sure you catch the 7:37am train to avoid line up at St. Peter's Basilica.

- B.I.R.G ticket does not include express train service. With your B.I.R.G ticket, if you want to take an express train back to Civitavecchia, you'll need to pay 10Euro for upgrade.

- We took the 5:00pm express train back to Civitavecchia, we arrived on the ship around 6pm.

 

Day 5 Naples:

- We hired a private tour guide in Naples, so don't have much to share with you.

 

Day 7 Malta:

- When the ship dock it was still very dark, so we couldn't see the beautiful landscape.

- We hired a 3 hours taxi tour for 60Euro, they brought us to Presidential Palace, St Paul's church, the handcraft village, Mdina, the Mosta dome and some other places.

- The taxi dropped us off at Valletta where we visited St John's Cathedral.

 

Day 8 Tunis:

- Advice from people are not to take taxi other than the ones waiting at the port. Apparently the taxi waiting at the port are authorized by Celebrity so they are very safe to travel with.

- We heard scary stories about ppl who took taxi elsewhere, where the taxi driver bring you to a suburb area then increase the price dramatically for bringing you back to the port.

 

 

Hope my info helps! Good luck and wish you a very wonderful cruise experience.

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks for sharing all your info with us! :)

[ebslc]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your extra tips!!!! We are in Barcelona now and have printer access for the next couple of days. I am printing off your reply to add to our binder :)!!

 

I have some follow up questions / comments below:

 

Hi,

We just got back from Century last week. Apparently the itinerary we had is the same as yours.

Your plan looks wonderful, I wished I was as organzied as yours. Anyway, just want to throw in my 2 cents base on my experience.

 

Day 1 Marseille:

- The ship offer $12 per person for shuttle. It seems overprice, but it can still be a good deal because $12 include return fare. The only drawback for the ship's shuttle is that the last shuttle leaves Marseille at 4pm, which seems to be too early given that the ship depart as 6pm and the ride from Marseille to the port only take 20 minutes.

- What we did on that day is, we took a taxi from the port to Aix (50Euro share among the three of us). We spent the morning walking around Aix.

GREAT INFO thanks!!

 

Did you have to negotiate for the 50 Euros taxi ride or did you go by the meter? 50 Euros direct to Aix is reasonable considering our plan to pay 20 Euros for a taxi ride to the bus station and 4 x 4.60 Euros for the bus ride. Going direct will also give us more time in Aix as we do want to see the flower market if possible prior to the walking tour.

 

4pm last shuttle from Celebrity is NOT good!! We do want to spend some time in Marseille itself before going back on the ship.

 

- Then we took the bus back to Marsaille. The ride from Aix to Marsaille took much longer than expected due to bad traffic (we were there on a Saturday). Mind you, once you arrived in Marsaille, the walk from the bus stop to the old port is quite long. It took us 30+ minutes to get there given that we got lost a couple times and we had a hard time asking for directions as most ppl there don't speak english.

- Once arrived in the Vieux port, we took the Petite train to Notre Dame, spent an hour there.

- Then we walked around Marsaille city center.

- At the end we took a taxi from Marsaille to the port, 19Euro, 20 minutes ride.

- One more reminder, traffic in Marsaille tends to be quite busy on Saturday, so give yourself some extra time getting back to the port.

GOOD to know. I have printed off a map of Vieux port and Rue Horrorate. HOPEFULLY we won't get lost. Thanks also for your tip re: Vieux port.

 

Do you know WHERE the ship docks relative to Vieux Port? Was taxi readily available from Vieux Port? Did the taxi driver speak English and know where the ship docks?

 

 

Day 2 Villefranche:

- The only thing I want to tell you is tendering is really fast. We left the ship around 8am and it took us less then 5 minutes to arrive on the shore.

 

Day 3 Livorno:

- Same as Marseille, the ship offer shuttle service for $12 per person.

- We heard other ppl on the ship managed to negotiate a whole day taxi service for 50Euro per person, 7 ppl in the van. The driver took them to Pisa then Florence.

 

We will try to find a few more people and see if we can negotiate for a van. 50 Euros per person is very reasonable for a full day. If we do we will still try to do Florence and then Pisa... we DON'T want to get stuck in traffic and miss the ship!!!

 

- If you want to climb up the leaning tower, maybe you should consider booking ticket in advance. Because they only allow certain number of ppl on the tower per 30 minutes time slot, it could be a long wait if you don't have ticket.

- We purchased ticket in advanced, we were there at 9:30am. We heard that for ppl who don't have ticket, the next available time slot is 11am.

- One big disappointment is that the outdoor David was under maint. where we were there. He was all covered up, so it's really hard to take a good pictures or even see him.

Thanks for your tip... may be we will go next time to Pisa? We want to focus on Florence this time.

 

Day 4 Rome:

- Get off the ship as soon as it docked. We were waiting at the gangway even before the ship clear custom. We ended up being the first group of ppl to get off the ship, but the time still cutting close. We arrived at the train station only 5 minutes before the 7:37am train arrived.

- The port shuttle will be waiting as soon as you get off the ship.

- After getting off the shuttle, the walk to the train station is 10 minutes away. Keep going straight along the street until you see a cross walk, then cross to the other side of the street, the train station is hidden behind some buildings on your left side.

- Make sure you catch the 7:37am train to avoid line up at St. Peter's Basilica.

- B.I.R.G ticket does not include express train service. With your B.I.R.G ticket, if you want to take an express train back to Civitavecchia, you'll need to pay 10Euro for upgrade.

- We took the 5:00pm express train back to Civitavecchia, we arrived on the ship around 6pm.

Thanks for your good tips!!!

 

 

 

Day 5 Naples:

- We hired a private tour guide in Naples, so don't have much to share with you.

 

Day 7 Malta:

- When the ship dock it was still very dark, so we couldn't see the beautiful landscape.

- We hired a 3 hours taxi tour for 60Euro, they brought us to Presidential Palace, St Paul's church, the handcraft village, Mdina, the Mosta dome and some other places.

- The taxi dropped us off at Valletta where we visited St John's Cathedral.

 

This is good to know... most of us can sleep in!!! We will see about Taxi tour or just stick to walking around town.

 

 

Day 8 Tunis:

- Advice from people are not to take taxi other than the ones waiting at the port. Apparently the taxi waiting at the port are authorized by Celebrity so they are very safe to travel with.

- We heard scary stories about ppl who took taxi elsewhere, where the taxi driver bring you to a suburb area then increase the price dramatically for bringing you back to the port.

THANKS!!! I have read BAD THINGS about taxis in Tunis. It does not sound too safe there. We had 'intesting' experience at a Souk last year in Agadir Morraco. We will need to watch out so that we don't get ripped off in this port!!

 

Hope my info helps! Good luck and wish you a very wonderful cruise experience.

 

THANKS AGAIN... you have been very helpful!!!

[sea-explorer]

Looking for fellow-travellers - NCL Jade 12th. december

Who is travelling from Barcelona at 12th. of december on the

Norwegian Jade to Marokko and the Canarian Islands.

We are a german couple and would like get in contact with

fellow-travellers on the same route.:) :) :)

 

hans-hermann

 

You will be able to meet fellow travellers by joining your roll call here.

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=745026

 

I think that is the right one. :)

 

 

ebslc

 

Just a thought about Rome. I know it is an entirely personal thing, but if it were me I would skip the Spanish Steps in favour of the Colosseum. The Spanish Steps can look very pretty when decked out in flowers in the Summer and if you climb to the top, there is a church you can visit. (Accessible from the top road too.) It is also an area for designer shops if that's where your interests lie.

 

However, it is also very easy to get to the Colosseum from the Trevi. If you walk down Via Murante (if you are facing the fountain it is the road that leads off to your left) to the end (not far) it brings you to Via Del Corso. Turn left and cross the road. The 117 little electric bus runs frequently along here (you can use your ticket) and will drop you right outside the Colosseum. From here of course you can take the metro straight into Termini when you have finished.

 

Whatever you decide, I hope you continue to enjoy your trip. :)

 

Edit:steinfilm I've just noticed your post has been removed whilst I was writing mine. Nothing to worry about, it's just you posted in the wrong place. The link above should still help.

[dorakk]

Hi, glad that my information helps. Please see my response in bold italic font below.

 

Did you have to negotiate for the 50 Euros taxi ride or did you go by the meter? 50 Euros direct to Aix is reasonable considering our plan to pay 20 Euros for a taxi ride to the bus station and 4 x 4.60 Euros for the bus ride. Going direct will also give us more time in Aix as we do want to see the flower market if possible prior to the walking tour.

 

 

4pm last shuttle from Celebrity is NOT good!! We do want to spend some time in Marseille itself before going back on the ship.

 

 

GOOD to know. I have printed off a map of Vieux port and Rue Horrorate. HOPEFULLY we won't get lost. Thanks also for your tip re: Vieux port.

 

Do you know WHERE the ship docks relative to Vieux Port? Was taxi readily available from Vieux Port? Did the taxi driver speak English and know where the ship docks?

 

I do not know the exact location on where the ship docks, but it seemed that the ship was docking in an industrial port. When we got off the ship, there were two taxis waiting. One of the driver spoke English but the other one didn't. We negotiated the deal with the English speaking driver, but it was the french speaking driver who drove us to Aix. I guess the English speaking driver was more like a middleperson or agent. At first they offered us 20Euro to Marsaille, after knowing that we wanted to go to Aix, they offered us the 50Euro deal to Aix. We tried to bargain but failed, so we took the 50Euro deal. Since the driver had his meter on, we later realized that even if you go by meter, it will cost more or less the same amount.

 

On our return trip back to the port, we just got a taxi on the street. It was very easy to get a taxi in Marsaille. We were lucky that the driver spoke a little bit of English, so it wasn't that hard to communicate with him. O...btw, we went by meter, with a little bit of traffic jam, the return trip cost us 19Euro.

 

One more reminder, when you get off the ship, remember where the ship dock and the way out of the docking area. The port was quite big thus our driver had difficulties finding the ship on our return trip.

 

Regarding Villefranche, just in case you don't know, the train to Nice is on the track located at other side of the station (the track closer to the ocean). After you bought your tickets, you'll have to get to the opposite side of the station for the train to Nice.

 

 

This is good to know... most of us can sleep in!!! We will see about Taxi tour or just stick to walking around town.

 

When getting taxi in Malta, you'll need to negotiate with them and stand firm on your price. The first taxi driver who approached us offered 70Euro, he even shown us a bouchure with price list, trying to mislead us that everyone is charging 70Euro for 3 hrs. Lucky that we stood firm on 60Euro, we managed to get another taxi driver who was willing to take us for that price.

 

 

I also noticed that it is much cheaper to get a taxi during noon time (we got ours in the morning). The drivers were offering 40Euro for 3 hrs when we were walking back to the port. But even if we are to do it again, we would still pay 20Euro extra and start in the morning; since the ship depart at 4pm, we do not want to cut it that close.

 

THANKS!!! I have read BAD THINGS about taxis in Tunis. It does not sound too safe there. We had 'intesting' experience at a Souk last year in Agadir Morraco. We will need to watch out so that we don't get ripped off in this port!!

 

Just an FYI - I heard lots of complains about the ship's Tunis excursion. People who took the full day excursion complained that lunch was really bad. People who took the "Mdina and Sidi Bou Said" excursion complained that there were too much free time.

 

 

We took the "Mdina on your own" excursion, as soon as we arrived in Mdina, the guide took us to the top floor of a carpet shop, claiming to offer us the best spot for a panaromic view of Mdina. But after that, we were obligated to sit down and listen to a carpet promotion seminar. We managed to skip the seminar by insisting that we DO NOT want to buy any carpet.

 

 

Also, should you need to book excursion for Tunis, please do so as soon as possible. We originally wanted to go for the "Mdina and Sidi Bou Said" but it was fully booked even 3 days before hand. There is no harm to book early since they have a 48 hours cancellation policy.

 

One last thing to tell you is that, throughout the trip we heard numerious complains from others about the ship's excursion. So, my advice is try to avoid excursion if you can (of course Tunis is an exception).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll be checking this post regularly to follow up. Enjoy your stay in Barcelona!