I am planning my first trip to Europe. 3 friends (none have been to Europe)invited me to tag along on a 12 day cruise beginning in Venice and ending in Barcelona. In between Dubronvik, Greece, Naples, Rome, Florence, Cannes. For me, instead of a vacation, it is more of an exploration to find out where I really want to spend time on my next trip to Europe. I know cruise ships are very limited on time in ports. I would like to see a couple of interesting things in each city, and then walking around town. Any comments are welcome.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Lorraine: the website cruisecritic.com could be helpful to you. You can find the ports you will be visiting and information on each port.
Posted by
Trenton, Ontario, Canada
204 posts
The ship offers side trips to these towns which are somewhat expensive-Eg. Florence is a must see but it is inland. Check with the cruise ship to see how much a day excursion would be, they sometimes offer a guided tour(expensive extra) or they shuttle you in , drop you off with a map and leave you for the day to wander. Also for Rome. I believe the others you can get the ships launch to the Dubrovnik and the Greek islands and explore yourself. It would help to know what Greek Islands they were stopping at so you could get RS book and study what you want to see in some of these cities.
Posted by
Rome
212 posts
I would second that, cruisecritic is great for queries like this one.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Lorraine, this is a situation where you really have to do your own homework. Get and read appropriate guide books for the areas. Go to you public library and check out travel DVDs for those areas. Get the Rick Steves DVDs that cover those areas. Get on the cruise ship web site, and see where their excursions go. That is generally a good indication of what the highlights are. Prior to each port the cruise ship with have a port orientation program and often that program is repeated on the ship's TV system. If you are going to travel on your own, then you need to be proactive. Don't be wimpy !!
Posted by
San Francisco, CA, USA
125 posts
As for the crusise stops for Naples, Rome & Florence....Naples may be the only city you'll be actually docked in. For Rome, you'll be docked in Civitavecchia, and for Florence, you'll probably be in Livorno. But you can with a little homework actully get to the cities on your own with the trains, and not pay the cruise extortion rates...I mean 'excursion rates '. Have a look at Ron-In-Romes site for an excellent explanation on how to get to Rome from the cruise ship dock in Civitavecchia. Copy and paste this URL: "http://www.roninrome.com/2009/02/28/cruising-come-to-rome-for-the-day-2/comment-page-1/#comment-179" You can also vist Capri from Naples by taking the Hydrofoil there and back. You may not end up with more than 6 hours on Capri, depending on how long you are in port, but I'd prefer 6 hours on Capri, versus 6 hours in Naples. Florence will be tougher, as it is over an hour from Livorno via train. You can do Pisa or Lucca easy from Livorno. So with the RS guides and Cruise Critic forum, you can get enough info to have a great port day on your own.
Posted by
San Clemente, CA, USA
9 posts
We did a very similar trip a few years ago. We had been on a bus tour of Italy prior so it was a refresher for many of the cities. We did not do any of the cruise tours, rather we just took the bus from the cruise to Rome and Florence and then did our own thing. We also took the boat over to Capri in Naples, just get off the ship and you can buy a ticket next door.
Another group with us hired a guide for Rome. The guide picked them up and dropped them off at the ship and took them to see all the sites. The guide knew the right times to pack in as much as possible in one day.
Posted by
shen, ca, usa
111 posts
All great advice, after you decide what to do, check out private guide online. For 4 people, you can get first class personalized service at the extortion rate that your cruise ship would herd everyone thru.