Mediterranean Cruise Review
Mediterranean Cruise Review
Itinerary: Royal Caribbean
8 Night Splendour of the Seas
7 Night Voyager of the Seas
This review is for the following port cities:
Barcelona
Villefranche (Nice/Monte Carlo, Eze)
Livorno (Florence/Pisa and Cinque Terre)
Civitavecchia (Rome)
Naples (AmalfiCoast, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri)
VallettaMalta
Palermo, Sicily
This Mediterranean cruise review is simply a fun and informative writing of my personal cruise travels.
My hope is that it will give insight to shore excursions options for both guided tours and “on-our-own” independent travel. This essay comprises all types of transportation using bus, taxi, trains and hydrofoil boats.
I highly recommend arranging a shore excursion to visit the various sites, since the time allowed at each port of call is limited. Cruise line or private shore excursions provide professional commentary which is an asset when traveling to Europe. The cruise line tours are an efficient and very well organized way to travel and of course offers a great deal of relaxation and ease. Each person in a tour group is assigned a tour number, guide, and motor coach bus. The motor coach tour buses used by the cruise lines are very nice and comfortable, especially to Rome and Florence where the city is at a greater distance from the port itself. There are plenty of choices of tours for everyone.
Independent touring in port locations is an adventurous way and probably the best way to soak in the culture, as well as very inexpensive if accessible to do so. First rule of thumb is to do good research. This is imperative to getting it right – from train terminals, managing your time well, to analyzing your strategy. Research and clarity in directions and transportation is the key. Watch your time and start early. Decide if you wish to see as many sights as possible or concentrate on one particular highlight or two. Some places require more time than others and a little more effort. Inexpensive train service and a taxi’s are the way to go if you feel comfortable doing so and are somewhat savvy traveler. A taxi cost the same for 4 people as it does for 2, so sharing a cab to a destination is the best route. Of course find out the fare prior to your ride. Remember taxi drivers are not tour guides. Villefranche and Naples are good places to venture out independently travel instead of a tour.
Tip: Want to save time getting off the ship fto explore the day? Order breakfast via room service for those early morning tour departures! Remember it is I all included in your cruise price!
Ports of call suggestions:
Barcelona is a great city to see on your own. The subway is quite good so no need for a car. Be sure to take a stroll down Las Ramblas for some people watching. You must try lunch or dinner at a tapas restaurant (appetizer size portions of Spanish food). Take in some of the Gaudi’s architecture, the Sagrada Familia that was famously never finished. The Picasso museum is there as well. What ever port city you depart out of you must stay at least one night to visit. Fly in at least one day prior to your cruise IF ONLY for the sake of lost airline luggage and of course jet lag as well. Don’t start your cruise tired! We have had luggage lost by the airlines 4 times before a cruise!!
Villefranche (Sites to Nice, Monte Carlo and Eze) – what a beautiful quaint town and deserves a moment for strolling and could be a day in itself as we did on our second Med cruise. Because there are so many great attractions close to this port city, it very necessary to venture out. The city of Nice is only about a 20 minute taxi drive, 25 Euros by taxi. Ask to be dropped off at cours Saleya (flower/produce) market in Nice. Keep in mind the market definitely ends about 1:00 in the afternoon. The flower market is normally open on Tues through Sunday, and is primarily a morning activity. We enjoyed buying strawberries and French bread pizza and walked 1 block over to the promenade on the beach and sat for a moment and snacked. There is a small tram car service that drives around town for about 6E each. It offers hop on and off points, including going up the hill for a view overlooking the Nice coast and fancy marina.
From the promenade in Nice to the train station is only about a 15 - 20 minute walk through town. You can walk along the boulevard for a nice stroll. From there you can choose your next destination. A must visit is to the charming medieval town of Eze. The train stop point is called Eze sur Mer.
The village of Eze is adjacent to the coast far below which is perched so photogenically on top of rock 430ft high above sea level. It’s twisting stone alleys and vaulted passageways is unlike any other place. Once we got off the train in Eze there is a public bus that runs from the road next to the train station to the top to the village and well worth the effort! You can also make a call for a taxi from a local café. It is 25E total taxi. You will be dropped off in the parking lot that leads to the walk up to the top. There are shops and some café’s along the way, just take your time. From there we taxied straight to Monte-Carlo, again only about 25E total cab ride. With every taxi we were fortunate to share with another couple. Just ask people where they are going and this splits the costs in half.
Monte-Carlo as an attraction was mainly for the casino and fancy yacht viewing. The town is famous and certainly worth a look but you will be charged to enter the casino and a dress code is enforced. We took the train back to Villefranche. Again the train service is only a few Euros each at best and worked out really well. If you know what destinations you want to go during the day, you can get a complete day train ticket.
Livorno (Florence/Pisa and Cinque Terre) - we took the cruise line tour to Florence/Pisa. The tour drove through the beautiful Tuscan country side on the way to Florence. This was mainly a walking tour in the main square Piazza della Signoria. Renaissance comes alive as you see the famous statue of Michelangelo’s David and many other great statues outside in the piazza. The architecture was fascinating in Florence. Marble and statues dressed the walls of the Cathedral (the Duomo) in the center square. Lunch was included up on a hill overlooking Florence, it was really nice. Wine, appetizer, entrée and dessert are the typical menu. The country side was very beautiful along the entire route.
In very close proximity we drove next to the town of Pisa, home of one of the most impressive architecture wonders of the world. There we had 30min. on our own to stroll throughout the grounds and take pictures of the Leaning Bell Tower and beautiful Baptistery.
In 2008 we decided to take the lovely tour to Cinque Terre. This was the highlight of this cruise! The absolutely charming of 5 villages, where the region got its name was a pure delight. The Cinque Terre is a features five seaside villages at the foot of terraced hills that fall steeply toward the sea. It is a wonderful place to enjoy the fabulous vistas by hiking or walking amongst the vineyards and olive groves above the villages. I understand you can take the train there and walk or hike village to village but it opted to take the bus tour. With this tour gave the opportunity of to walk along the villages and even walked from one village to the next, and also took the short boat ride along the coast. It was a perfect trip for us since we had been to Florence before or suggest it for anyone who opts for something different.
Civitavecchia (Rome) – decided to take the RomeEternalCity tour through the cruise line. Really a nice choice as it covered a lot of key points of interest. We visited incredible Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. They just completed a restoration project and the paintings in the Sistine Chapel appeared so vibrant in color. We had lunch again with the same type of menu as before. Then to the Colosseum which was really interesting and right there close in town. The country side was very nice and many people rested in the bus along the way back.
Our second time to Rome we took the train close proximity from the ship terminal. The ride was about 1 ½ hours and very cheap compared to the tour! Once there we purchased the hop on/off and walked a lot as well as trained locally within the city. This is just another option for the independent traveler. A tour will guide you efficiently through the sights with great narration and appreciated that on our first visit.
Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri) – This is a very easy independent travel day. You can catch a train from the main train station in Naples to Pompeii (Circumvesuviania Line) about a 1/2 hour walk from the ship to the train station or better yet take a taxi. Make sure that if you want to visit the Pompeii exhibit you have to ask for the train route from Naples to Sorrento which is the Circumvesuviania Line ticket. This route will stop at the Pompeii Scavi to visit the ruins. Do not ask for the train to Pompeii because you will end up in the city of Pompeii, not the “excavation” or exhibit, called Pompeii Scavi. We rented two audio headsets for only 7E total. This really helps if you are not on a tour. It is almost impossible to walk through Pompeii abbreviating the points of interest because it is too large of a place to do so; we spent over 3 hours there. The trains are very easy and cheap transportation; just have to ask for the correct route. Next we took the train on to Sorrento. It was only a 30 minute train from Pompeii to Sorrento. What a nice place to visit. My original thought for the day was to eventually go over to Capri from Sorrento by hydrofoil boat, but timing was off so we stayed there in beautiful Sorrento and then took the hydrofoil from there back to Naples which was only 30 min. from Sorrento, 14E total. Check train times in advance when you arrive at your destination point so to time yourself best.
Capri is very convenient to get since it is an easy walk from the ships. You can simply walk over to the hydrofoil pier next to the ship and grab the next hydrofoil for the 45 minute trip (this is cheaper than paying for a tour that uses the same hydrofoil!). Our second trip to Naples we went to Capri for the day and thoroughly enjoyed this perfect Italian upscale island. It is a very easy island to explore on your own. You will take a steeply inclined railway up the valley called a "funiculare" to get to the top. There are no cars there so you can be content to spend some time in an outdoors cafe, do some shopping, and perhaps take the trip over to the Blue Grotto. You can also take their bus over to Ana Capri and back. It is another low key extremely quaint setting to browse. We sat and had lunch at a precious café in Anacapri and of course later we had to stop for a gelato as well! There are several hydrofoils in use throughout the day but we suggest to check the return times as soon as you arrive in Capri (or Sorrento as well) so you know when to return back to Naples in plenty of time.
Valletta (Malta) – right outside the ship was a green umbrella set up with people hiring taxi service tours. The city was above the port area and would have been a long walk, not hard walk, to get to the town above. We shared a taxi for 4 people for 60E for a 3 hour tour. We had no set agenda so asked for highlights. We visited a glass blowing factory. It was fascinating to see them demonstrate the process. We then went up a hill top to an impressive cathedral named St. Paul’s Cathedral in Medina. This was a very beautiful, Maltese Baroque cathedral. We stopped at a café and had dessert then returned back to the main square on top above where the ship is docked. When you arrive here you really know you are somewhere deep in the Mediterranean! Very fascinating!
Sicily:
Messina – We took a tour to the interesting resort town of Taormina. The cruise line transport we found to be the best way to get there. The view of Mount Etna and the sea beyond is remarkable at Taormina's 10,000-seat ancient Greek amphitheater, which was erected in the third century BC. The little quaint village itself is worth the trip as well. Charming! In Messina itself the limited shops all closed at 1:30 or 2:00pm.
Palermo - this is a large city with many old beautiful buildings with alot of history. We took the hop on/off bus again and very much needed for this enormous sight. I love big cities but on this particular day many things were closed. The Cathedral of Palermo is very nice and if you wish to visit a Crypt you can here dating back to the 14th century. I will be honest; it was our last port stop and was a little jealous of those who found their way to the sleepier town and beach of Chefalu.
Having been to Europe several times previous by land, I highly recommend seeing Europe by cruise! There is such a great variety of touring options to see some of the most wonderful places in the world!
Preparation Suggestions:
Money/Currency:
The currency for ports of call in France, Italy, and Spain is the Euro. One euro is made up of 100 euro cents. For currency conversion rates, use the currency calculator at www.xe.com. Exchanging Money - Guests can exchange dollars for Euros or Euros for dollars onboard the ship at Guest Services. ATMs are common in Europe and dispense local currency.
Carrying Money - Pickpockets are common in Europe and some safety tips include:
Money Belts should be worn under any clothes
Purses should have zippers on all compartments
Wallets should be carried in deep front pockets
Credit Cards and ATM cards should be kept in different places
It is recommended to have some cash in small denominations. This is helpful for items such as taxi rides, food, and street-side souvenir vendors. The best way to exchange money is using an ATM card in Barcelona into euros before the cruise begins. ATM offers the best exchange rate and a minimal flat service fee; much better than an exchange center.
Documentation Requirements:
U.S. Citizens = A passport is required and recommended to be valid at least 6 months after the vacation for each member of the family (including children and infants). United States citizens can visit the State Department’s travel website at www.travel.state.gov, or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center at 877-4USA-PPT for more information.
U.S. Citizens = A passport is required and recommended to be valid at least 6 months after the vacation for each member of the family (including children and infants). United States citizens can visit the State Department’s travel website at www.travel.state.gov, or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center at 877-4USA-PPT for more information.
Packing:
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended as many of the surfaces in the ports of call are cobblestones or uneven. When visiting any religious location (churches, cathedrals, basilicas, etc.), it is often required to dress accordingly and don not wear shorts and/or sleeveless tops. Shoulders and knees should be covered as a respectful gesture and sometimes required. Most Europeans in general dress less casual in public. Your packing to Europe should include an umbrella, binoculars and sunscreen. Long days may have sudden surprises in temperature changes.
Other Tips: To convert time from one city to another, visit www.timeanddate.com and select Time Zone Converter.
If booking early, we highly recommend second (late) dining for this itinerary; you don’t want to feel rushed from the port intensive days.
Recommend books: Rick Steve’s Europe, Italy, Best of Europe and Europe 101. DK published Eye Witness books are great for cruising in Europe. We have a collection of travel books for research and also the library is a great source for if you wish to bring a few lightweight books on vacation with you, especially maps. Libraries carry quite a few travel books and give you generally a 3 week hold.
Bon Voyage!
Written by Theresa Gruben
Cruise Planners
