Mediterranean Cruise

Get the R Steves guidebook on cruising ports. It will provide lots of suggestions for things that you can do on your own at reasonable costs.

Stephanie, I agree with Frank. The Mediterranean Cruise Ports Guidebook would be an excellent resource, and would provide other touring ideas so that you don't have to rely on those provided by the cruise line. It may not cover all the destinations you'll be visiting, but you could perhaps use country-specific Guidebooks to "fill in the blanks". Have a look at the "Product Detail" for the Cruise Ports Guidebook to see whether that might work for you. Happy travels!

Thanks. Will do! I wasn't sure if his book had specific guides listed or more independent people to hire. But I shall get the book! XO Stephanie

We just completed a cruise with half of your ports and did the many of the other ports a few years ago. We used the RS books for both trips. We did not do any cruise sponsored excursions and all can be done on your own easily, but some ports are tricky so follow the directions in the RS books and you will be fine. In addition to the RS books, here are my tips and suggestions. Livorno - we did not attempt the aggressive back and forth to Florence. Many on our ship did and were exhausted and all agreed it was not enough time. We chose to go to Lucca. It was so relaxing and we had plenty of time to see the city. It was a very manageable one hour train ride away as opposed to the 2-3 hour one way to Florence. You could easily stop in Pisa on your way to or back from Lucca. Civitavechia - Going to Rome was easy on your own. However, don't take the last train back. It was late and we barely made it back on the boat. Naples - I would suggest Pompeii and Sorrento over Capri. The hydrofoil ride to Capri was rough and the Blue Grotto was closed. Some people hired a taxi for the day and it took them to these places (Pompeii and Sorrento), but they can easily be reached on a train. Mykonos - easy to do on your own. Easy town to walk and stroll in with a RS guidebook. Ephesus - we stayed close to the port. Really interesting shopping and culture close to the port and an interesting castle to tour all within walking distance. Athens - sort of crazy port but manageable. Once you get into the center of Athens everything is walking distance. I hope this helps. Good luck!!

Thanks Charles... I will take these bits of info to heart.. the last thing we want to do is get overly exhausted or miss the boat!

I have to disagree with the advice on going to Florence from port. I have done it 3 times and would not miss it. It is a long day, but Florence is a fantastic city. I believe it is closer to 1 1/2 hours each way, maybe 2 with lots of traffic. You get a good 4 to 5 hours in the city. This is a tour I always do with the ship.
I really think that when you go on a Mediterranean cruise and visit ports you are discovering where you want to return and for a longer visit. Happy Travels!!

I highly recommend checcking out the forums at CruiseCritic.com. You'll find specific forums for the ports of call (along with several DIY reports), and a Roll Call for your sailing. You can join up with others on your cruise to share the cost of private tours. I've been to a few of those ports. Rome, Istanbul, Athens and Naples are very easy to DIY and keep costs down. Ephesus is difficult to DIY and I would recommend hiring a guide. I haven't been to Toulon, Livorno or Mykonos by cruise.

Six cruises and I have only done one cruise ship excurision,, all the other times I got ideas and directions off of cruisecritics other forum memembers.. some great ones too!! Saved a ton.. last cruise to Mexico , my daughter and I were literally reading off a sheet of paper I had written the directions down on how to get to Stone Island and walking through a creepy old car lot to find some local guys and their little boats, .. my dd saying "are you sure this is the way"??? and I 'm like yup , thats what they say( I so truste them ! ) They were right, found the little boats, got to the beach, had an awesome day, spend 5-6 bucks on giant drinks and huge plates of food,, it rocked..
Cruise ship excursion to similar would have been like 50 or more dollars a head! We paid less then a dollar for the boat guy.

I shall be checking out cruisecritics. com for sure! I may splurge in Naples and get a limo tour from Italy Limousine to go to Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast... but other than that, I want to do things as cheaply and independently as I can. Anyone know about Italy Limousine? They seem to get great marks on trip advisor and are very kind by email... xoxoox

Stephanie, as Dina suggests, go to cruisecritics.com its the best forum for cruising information, it really is. Its been around for many many years, and it all about every aspect of cruising, there are seperate forums for every port of call, there are forums for every cruise ship and line, and many times there area roll calls for certain specific cruises. You will be able to "talk" with people who have done your exact cruise, or are about to, and they will be able to give out specific tips and tour guide names, and whos the best taxi driver etc.. info. Someone can tell the local bus to take, another may share their experience with a private guide, etc. There is NO guide book as helpful as that forum for cruisers only.

Thanks Ladies!

Cruisecritic.com is a good place to start. I think the people on the site tend towards the cruise ship excursions too much, but their reviews of ports give you a good idea what the choices are (and some do it on their own or with a local tour). The cruise you're doing seems to hit the ports Rick reviews in his cruise book so it's probably going to be a good resource for your trip. When thinking about what to see in ports like Livorno, Citavecchia, and Ephesus, or others that require travel into a city, plan your time carefully. Realize you probably have time for only one sight (or a quick pass of two sights) before you have to start back to catch your boat (forget seeing it all, shopping, and having a nice lunch). Missing the boat is a real possibility, they sail on time unless you are fortunate enough to have a ship sponsored tour return late (in which case they'll hold for them). I've been the last on the boat before. They literally pulled up the gangway behind us, even though we were ten minutes before sail time. By the time we had climbed a flight or two of stairs, the boat was moving.

I've cruised to all these ports at one time or another (except Mykonos). Take the train from Toulon to say Ax n P; train Livorno to Florence 1.5 each way but build in time (an hour) at each end getting to/from train station/ship. Ditto Citavecchia. There are those who will dispute this but I'd buy my train tickets ahead of time for the Livorno/Citavecchia runs (say RailEurope). The trains can be swamped on Sundays or when several cruise ships are in port at the same time. Ephesus is worth paying for a cruise tour in my opinion time/$ wise. Generally there are two main tours one of which includes "Mary's House" which is pretty much an all day deal. This is more of a religious side tour which then includes the historical sites. The other shorter tour will be just the historical emphasis one. Also we thought the cruise tour of Pompei and a boat tour of the Almalfi coast were awesome. I have read Rick's Cruise Port book and it seems to jive with my experiences.

I should have added we normally pack sandwiches and snacks (grapes, cheeses, chocolates) from the boat. It's less about saving money than saving time trying to find a decent place to eat. If we spot somewhere we'd like to eat and have the time - we end up wasting the sandwiches. More often than not, packing some food works out to be a really good idea.

Brad - it is against the law/regulations in a lot of countries to bring fresh food (ie unpackaged) - especially fruit - off the ship in a port. Make sure you check to confirm that it is allowed. Otherwise you can be fined or worse. Last cruise I was on, they occassionally checked bags as you were exiting the ship to make sure you didn't have unpackaged sandwiches and fresh fruit.

This sounds like the itinerary for NCL Spirit. We are booked on this cruise in June 2014! A long way off but gives time to plan and save. We got the RS Med Ports book. Has great information on DIY. We will do all ports on our own with the exception of Ephesus where we will book a private car/guide (not through the ship though). I love the planning part of the trip almost as much as the trip itself. Also, I don't want to be on the excursions timeline. Join your roll call on cruise critic for sure. There can be invaluable information from fellow passengers. Good luck and have fun.

We have taken 5 different cruises. The first time we were novices and booked everything through the cruise line. On all of the others we have done it on our own. In the places where Rick steve has books we have used guides he has recomended and arranged a private tour. Yes you do have to worry about missing the boat, but we have never had any problem. By booking a private tour it is almost always cheaper then the cruise. In addition, it is a smaller group which is more flexible and you can make up your own plans. In non Rick Steves ports we have just researched online. Have a great trip.

Thanks to everyone!

It sounds like Ephesus is the place to get a guide... does anyone have any specific information about a guide they liked? Perhaps Naples is not the place to hire one, but Ephesus. xo