This cruise is a year away. My wife has never been to Europe. We've been talking about going to Italy and maybe some other countries for some time. But since buying the Florida house and having 2 mortgages for now, we know any serious trip is a few years off.

So my wife booked us this quick 7 day cruise, just to get a taste of some of these countries.

Any tips appreciated. Fly into Rome a day or 2 before. So looking for hotel info and what is best to see in the short time. I'm guessing the cruise will sell us transport from Rome to the ship.

Cruise ports are...

ROME (CIVITAVECCHIA), ITALY
NAPLES, ITALY
BARCELONA, SPAIN
PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN
PROVENCE (MARSEILLE), FRANCE
FLORENCE/PISA (LA SPEZIA), ITALY

I posted this a few weeks ago in another thread.

"Look into Travel Insurance.
There are lots of story's on Youtube about what happened to people who did not have Travel Insurance and needed it while on a cruise/vacation to a foreign country."



I am sure others will come along with information about Mediterranean cruises.

My wife and I have been on 16 cruises in the past 23 years however never to any European country's, just in the Caribbean.

quote:

NAPLES, ITALY
BARCELONA, SPAIN
PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN

We hit these three ports when I was a cadet on a school cruise. And that was a LONG time ago.

I can say we had a blast on the Isle of Capri (off Naples). Slept on the beach one night and snorkeled in very deep crystal clear water the next day. A beautiful island that I'd like to visit again.

Met a cute little red head in Barcelona and enjoyed hearing some Donna Summer in a crazy discoteque.

I remember having some great pizza in Palma Mallorca and enjoying a swim in the local beach.

I'm sure this isn't much help, but it takes me back to youthful days.

I second the travel insurance. Make sure it covers a medical evacuation flight to a hospital near your home.

Several years ago we stayed at a Betoja hotel near the central train station in Rome. A friend just stayed at the Romanico Palace a ways north of the same station.
Both had rooftop bars with incredible views. The Betoja was a "chain" of older, established type hotels. I'm guessing they are still good.
I'd add as many days as possible in Rome as you can. There is plenty to see there and it's an incredible experience.

We have done three Med cruises in the last year, two out of Barcelona(Spain and Italy and Spain and Portugal) and one out of Athens(Greece and Ephesus)

Take Euros for the shady looking spots, make sure your credit card can be used over seas, always choose to purchase stuff charging Euros and use a card that has zero transaction fees

Rome, very crowded. We bought the hop on and off bus ticket, total waste of money. Slow, sitting around waiting for a bus. Probably worth it to check out the subway system if you fly in a couple days early. We didn't make it inside the Vatican, it was a holiday and the lines were terrible. Besides seeing all of the land marks, my favorite was eating lunch at an outdoor cafe on the bank of the Tiber river

We spent a few days in Barcelona and Madrid, we used the subway in both places to get around. Very easy to figure out, the ticket machines all have English available

Barcelona, Sagrada Familia is a must. We went to a few Flamenco shows, favorite was Tablao De Carmen.









Use the Port sky cable car, it goes from the port/beach up to Montjüic. Beautiful views, we ate on a mountain side cafe there


https://www.telefericodebarcel...fericodebarcelonaen/



Naples, Pompeii was a must for me, about an hour ride. We booked an excursion that bussed us there. Only spent a couple hours there. We will be going back and spending an entire day each at Pompeii and Herculaneum. We did have some free time in Naples, we stumbled upon this beautiful open air mall area close to the port. The wife and I bought leather jackets in the Naples cruise port, they were much cheaper than the ones in Florence. Get tax refund paperwork on all big purchases



PALMA DE MALLORCA. Tour the Cathedral and castle there, worth it. We wandered off and found some cafes near a small boat harbor adjacent to the castle



MARSEILLE. Meh. It's pretty but nothing to do, we shopped and ate. We did find a small Holocaust museum that was free, very cool


FLORENCE/PISA. Again you will probably be pushed to buy leather goods. My wife bought her son a jacket there. I believe she paid about $500. We both bought jackets at the Naples cruise port for under $300 for both. Florence is pretty, we did a tour there that also took us to Pisa. I don't think the tower was open



I'm sure I am leaving plenty out, hit me up if you have questions

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Cruise ports are...

ROME (CIVITAVECCHIA), ITALY
NAPLES, ITALY
BARCELONA, SPAIN
PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN
PROVENCE (MARSEILLE), FRANCE
FLORENCE/PISA (LA SPEZIA), ITALY

Friend of mine did a cruise very similar to this, it's a standard Central Med cruise. Started in Barcelona, ended in Rome, they tacked-on an additional 3-days at each end so they could enjoy BCN & FCO, but also to ensure they both acclimated and anticipate any airline luggage delays.

Travel insurance as others have pointed out, is nice peace of mind, its usefulness is more apparent should one of you get sick, luggage delayed, or, there's a hiccup in the plans the insurance will help compensate the monetary loss. If you're older, injuries like back and legs are more prone since trips like this involve a lot of walking and a fair amount of standing; get your body prepared months before departure. I took my parents to Europe in their late-70's and I was deathly afraid one of them would slip or, miss a step and injure themselves, fortunately the only issue was my mom needed to see a doctor in Florence as she was battling a cold from the first-half of the trip, she didn't really acclimatize to the changes. Doctor visit was 15€ and medication was 10€, Dr knocked-off half after we told him we found him via Rick Steves' book.

Shore excursions sometimes are apart of your ticket price, some lower cost cruise lines have them as an additional costs and thus a mad scramble to reserve space. I usually like to explore on my own since I've been to many of the places, however all-inclusive cost excursions are nice are don't require a lot from you. Visiting LaSpezia, you're near Cinque Terre..that'd be the better shore trip rather than going inland into Florence, and skip Pisa, arguably the most over-rated site in Europe.

Great tips guys. Thanks!

I'm all set on travel insurance. I also have some good coverage in Europe through my company if anything happens health wise (French owned company).

quote:

PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN

Watch out for women with 10# bags of cocaine.

quote:

Rome (Civitavecchia): Definitely fly into Rome a day or two early. You’ll want to see the Colosseum, Vatican City, and the Trevi Fountain.

All good stops don't forget the Spanish Steps, and you can get to all these with a day pass on the subway system, signs are easy to navigate and it's less than hopping in a cab or driving in Rome.

While at the Piazza di Spagna dine at Nino's, its been in business for 80 years, Link Nino's Ristorante and have the Fagioli Al Fiasco - bean soup, simple and yet molto bene!

Wife and I lived in Barcelona for a year and a half. Fantastic city. I worked during the week, we played tourist every weekend, and probably didn't see half of the place.

Michelin guidebook is highly recommended, and it has coordinates that mesh with the Michelin maps.

If you haven't used the Michelin publications, the green books are touristy guids, with things like "Entering the cathedral, you will see ..."

The red Michelin books are listings of hotels and restaurants with indications of price levels and quality ratings.

Back when we were there, we used the printed publications. I imagine that the same information is all online now, and accessible via smartphone or tablet.