Western Mediterranean Cruise Ports

Meelad, you need to check out cruisecritic.com as a great source for cruise information.

We have done several Med cruises including the ports you mentioned. I don't know of a single cruise line that stops in Cinque Terre.

Don't try to absorb the areas that your cruise visits, since cruising just doesn't allow intensive touring. You are in a port for a day, perhaps two and gone.
The South of France is loaded with wonderful places to visit. Also, Provence (up the Rhone river has much more to see, Arles, Avignon, Aix, Vienne and Leon at a minimum.

Make the most of the cruise that you pick and then go back and do a land trip to really see the area.

For cruises there are many choices. I suggest comparing Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess and HAL.
I would not advise going on Costa or MSC.

Check out reviews on cruise critic.

What I was calling the Cinque Terre port is actually called "La Spezia". The Cinque Terre is a very short ride away from that--this port is not addressed in Rick's cruise port guidebook because he doesn't believe going there on a cruise is the way to go because of how cruise travelers overwhelm the town during the middle of the day.
I've seen some cruise lines like Celebrity dock there.

follow up question if you see this: What is the best way to book a cruise? through cruisecritic, cruisesonly, or expedia (for example)? or directly through that cruise line's website?

thanks again!!

If you are not afraid of a foreign spoken language on board (e.g. German) you can consider AIDA and TUI cruises (Mein Schiff), too. Most of staff also speaks English. Another advantage is the good bread :-)

I believe the best way to book a cruise is to first research through Travelocity - I personally find their cruise finder the best of the aggregators - and then to book directly with the cruise line for the one you want. One problem you may be running into is that March thru May is not peak Med cruise season. For example, Disney has a cruise very similar to what you want - see https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/cruises-destinations/list/DM1244/7-night-mediterranean-cruise-from-barcelona-ending-in-civitavecchia--rome-/june-6-2020-disney-magic/ - two stops in South of France, plus stops in Genoa and Livorno, from either of which you can take an excursion to the Cinque Terre, but it's in June. Yes, I know it's Disney and you didn't mention kids, but there are TONS of people who sail DCL without kids; indeed, the whole front half of the ship is adults-only/adults-themed. My 30-year old single brother-in-law has been twice with us and loved it.

Of course this is just my personal opinion, so you can take it with a grain of salt, but Cannes, Eze, and Monte Carlo/Monaco were our least favorite stops/ports on our cruise last summer.

Spring2020 has been posted for at least a year. Nothing will be added. Try https://www.vacationstogo.com/ for a very large listing of cruises.

I've also used Vacations To Go for researching cruises and found some good deals. I've only booked through them once and it was fine, no issues. I have normally booked through the cruise line's own booking system - once online, twice by phone.

I also agree with Bets that there won't be any added cruise dates for 2020 anymore now. Cruise ports need to be booked well ahead by the cruise lines so they can't add additional last minute cruise dates. It's possible that smaller cruise lines that don't just stop in the big most popular ports could still add dates, but not the biggies.

Kelly,
I'm very interested by your last sentence--could you please elaborate on what you didn't like and what ports you did like??
Ive only been to Paris and Versailles and just have watched videos and read articles about the ports, so I'd love to hear any info/concerns if you are willing to share.

And thank you all for the responses. I will definitely check out those suggested sites! this will be my first cruise, so any info is greatly appreciated

Disney is a very expensive cruise line. Frankly, the only reason to do Disney is for kids.

I suggest planning to spend time at CT pre or post your cruise.

Disney is expensive, but so are the also-recommended Celebrity and Holland America. I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for on cruises, having sailed on multiple lines. That being said, my main point to the OP is that there will be more cruises/itineraries available in the high season than in the shoulder season.

OP, the advantages of sailing in the shoulder season are lower temperatures and slightly lower crowds. The disadvantage is that fewer ships will be sailing those itineraries that early. The 2020 sailings have been open for a long time already.

You need to seriously ramp down your expectations about how much you can see during port days. You can get a taste of one or two things each day, and then you move on to the next port. The example you gave of the French Riviera is simply not possible in the time you will have.

Since you have never cruised before, I'd recommend finding a travel agency with experience booking cruises. A good TA is worth his weight in gold, especially for newbies. Our TA was recommended to us by a friend almost 20 years ago, and we use him for all our cruises. He hasn't steered us wrong yet. I prefer a brick and mortar agency, where you can have face time, but there are good online ones as well. But go with a cruise specialist, not just Expedia or Travelocity.

And I agree with the others about spending time on Cruise Critic to learn about the ins and outs of cruising. You can't book on that site, but it's a good learning tool.

I agree that if your goal is to really get to know an area, you'll need to take some time there in addition to the limited time you get on a cruise. Cruise visits just give you a taste.

I also agree that while you may think there's a lot to see on the French Riviera, you may not feel that way once you're there. For me, it was a "one and done" destination. Yes, there are differences in the towns, but for me none of them were special enough to merit extended time.

There are definitely cruises that make two stops in the area, and there are cruises that go to La Spezia. But, you may not be able to get both of these on a single cruise.

A coworker who LOVES cruises is doing a "back-to-back" on the Celebrity Edge (two cruises of 7 nights each, where the second cruise start the same day as the first one ends). She's on the first one now and its stops are:

Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
Naples, Italy
Florence / Pisa (Livorno), Italy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Cannes, France
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Barcelona, Spain

So, that gives you two stops in the French Riviera.

Her second cruise has the following stops:

Barcelona, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Ibiza, Spain
Marseille, France
Nice (Villefranche), France
La Spezia, Italy
Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

So, that gives you La Spezia (and since she's taking both cruises, she has 3 days in the Riviera).

If you can only take one cruise, you'll probably have to choose which to prioritize.

Portofino is the only Cinque Terre town with *** Michelin stars. Cinque Terre as a whole gets *. Portovenere gets * and is an easy ride from the Port by La Spezia city bus (and no crowds because everybody else on the cruise is paying $175 for the Cinque Terre tour).

A couple comments touch of Fake News itineraries, like calling La Spezia Cinque Terre. Some others: Florence is way inland. The port used is Livorno, a 3-4 hours bus ride one way to Florence. Take the #10 bus to the train to nearby Pisa and/or Lucca.

Rome has no port. The stop is at Civitavechia. Take the train to Rome.

Hi Meelad,

The cruise lines have set their itineraries years in advance. And because those places are so close to each other, most cruise lines will only do 1 or 2 ports. Where will your cruise end? Why not after your cruise fly to Nice and rent a car for a few days. The places you want to see are not so very far apart.