Med Cruisers...Let's Discuss Planning!(Updated Tour Info, Links & BCN Info on Page 1)

[Saamh]

For anyone who has been to Naples before, would you do Pompei and Sorrento or Pompei and the Amalfi Coast? The coast looks pretty but the DCL excursion is pricey. Is it much more scenic than Sorrento?

 

[debsters41]

For anyone who has been to Naples before, would you do Pompei and Sorrento or Pompei and the Amalfi Coast? The coast looks pretty but the DCL excursion is pricey. Is it much more scenic than Sorrento?

The Amalfi coast is kinda far away. Most of the time would be spent on the bus / in the van. If price is a concern, I would choose Sorrento, and go back to Naples by hydrofoil, which is a different kind of scenic.

 

[Sir William]

Does anyone know where the "Rome On Your Own" coach does their drop off and pick up in Rome?

We're thinking of doing Rome on our own (I've been there several times, the family has not) as we have specific places we want to see and DS wants to walk around the city. I've looked at the various port adventures but this appears the best for us. DW doesn't want to take the train.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Maddie Lover]

For anyone who has been to Naples before, would you do Pompei and Sorrento or Pompei and the Amalfi Coast? The coast looks pretty but the DCL excursion is pricey. Is it much more scenic than Sorrento?

Last summer we did the Pompei/Sorrento/Capri tour and it was our favorite day of the cruise. I highly recommend this tour. Sorrento is such a cool place; we had a fabulous lunch there, got some amazing gelato and also bought some wine and limoncello at amazing prices. The people there are so friendly and we had a blast walking around before we got back on the bus to go to Pompei. We saw Capri in the morning before Sorrento and it is so beautiful. We would love to go back to both Capri and Sorrento and spend more time there. I also want to see the Amalfi Coast but it was so far away that we would've spent too much time on the bus so we will come back and see it on our own another time.

 

[Saamh]

Last summer we did the Pompei/Sorrento/Capri tour and it was our favorite day of the cruise. I highly recommend this tour. Sorrento is such a cool place; we had a fabulous lunch there, got some amazing gelato and also bought some wine and limoncello at amazing prices. The people there are so friendly and we had a blast walking around before we got back on the bus to go to Pompei. We saw Capri in the morning before Sorrento and it is so beautiful. We would love to go back to both Capri and Sorrento and spend more time there. I also want to see the Amalfi Coast but it was so far away that we would've spent too much time on the bus so we will come back and see it on our own another time.

Thanks! That's exactly the info I was looking for.

 

[kikids]

Does anyone know where the "Rome On Your Own" coach does their drop off and pick up in Rome?

We're thinking of doing Rome on our own (I've been there several times, the family has not) as we have specific places we want to see and DS wants to walk around the city. I've looked at the various port adventures but this appears the best for us. DW doesn't want to take the train.

Thanks in advance.

Don't do it! I cannot express enough what a mistake Rome on Your Own is. You can read about it in my TR but it was the worst of all ports/excursions for us on our med trip of 2013. First, everyone meets at one of the ship clubs which gets packed, then ID's are checked and you are assigned a number, then you wait for your bus, including everyone with stollers to get onboard. Then it's a long bus ride with a driver and a tour guide on board who will try to sell you on the tours his company is offering.

To answer your question, they drop you off at the Vatican. But you can't just get off and run, you have to wait til everyone is off the bus, walk through the underground parking garage and be shown your meeting point which will rendezvous at 330. At this point, for us, it was after 10 am. So we had about 5 hours to see Rome before getting back so we didn't miss the return bus. We wanted to see the coliseum which is waaaaay over on the other side of the city.

I did complain to guest services that they advertise more like 7-8 hrs in Rome but they argued that they don't control traffic or how fast people move, which I understand. I didn't expect a refund, I just suggested they rethink their procedure and drop off point, but they said they are contracted with this bus service and have no choice.

Fortunately, passengers do have choices, and I highly recommend the many tour companies who will pick you up in a town car at the ship and get you to Rome more efficiently.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We did the Sorrento, Pompeii & Positano tour through RomeinLimo. They were great. The coast is beautiful and Positano is such an adorable little town. When I get a chance I will post some pics. I took off work today to get some errands/phone calls done and so far I'm getting a lot of disboards posts done.
I've been to Capri before and if you want to go there, it needs to be an all day visit, not shared with other places. That would just be too much running around. My family & parents really wanted to see Pompeii so that won out.
I loved that RiL was waiting for us at the pier and could go at our own pace & not wasting time waiting around for others. I can't see spending so much on airfare & cruise fare then skimping on the excursions & end up missing out on so much to see in Italy. We used RiL for all 3 Italian ports and it was totally worth it and much less than if we booked the same excursions through the ship. We were able to get a private guide for the Vatican & Pompeii. If your group is large enough you automatically get a guide in addition to a driver.
Also they have a sign up sheet if you're looking for a small group to share costs with to save money. That still would be heavenly compared to the big bus tour we did for Nice/Monaco booked through DCL (using up OBCs) and wasted a lot of time waiting for 40 people to gather at multiple stops. Some never returned to meeting place after Monte Carlo and after waiting almost 30 mins for them, the bus finally left without them. RiL was a waaay nicer experience.
Since we split our costs with my parents, it worked out to around $900 per couple total for all 3 ports.

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Does anyone have any suggestions for Cinque Terre? I'm traveling with my DS and my mom so I would rather not have to take trains by myself, etc. I'd much prefer private transfers but when I consulted with Rome in Limo this is what they said:

"For Cinque terre we can only arrange a round trip transfers since the driver and the car is limited to all the 5 town, the driver can drop you off at the 1st town help you plan your day out there and then get you on last town and take you back to the ship."

Not sure if that's the best option. Thoughts? Suggestions? DS will be almost 5 (2 weeks shy) and mom is 72. We are using Rome in Limo for Rome.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Does anyone have any suggestions for Cinque Terre? I'm traveling with my DS and my mom so I would rather not have to take trains by myself, etc. I'd much prefer private transfers but when I consulted with Rome in Limo this is what they said:

"For Cinque terre we can only arrange a round trip transfers since the driver and the car is limited to all the 5 town, the driver can drop you off at the 1st town help you plan your day out there and then get you on last town and take you back to the ship."

Not sure if that's the best option. Thoughts? Suggestions? DS will be almost 5 (2 weeks shy) and mom is 72. We are using Rome in Limo for Rome.

https://www.papillonservice.com/tours-from-la-spezia-port.php

We are using papillon for Cinque Terre I have got a good price and they took me to Florence last time.

 

[gatorfreud]

We are planning CT but on our own - so this may not be that helpful. I just looked and seems the train station is about 2 miles from port - so we may try and take a cab there, I assume there are tons waiting to take you to the train station.

I think we will go to Vernazza first, then monterosso for lunch and beach, then take the ferry all the way down to 1st town (riomaggiore I think? or manarola). then Train back to La Spezia.

I looked at a ferry to monetrosso, but on the timetable I saw it was like 2 hours.. I do NOT want to spend that long on a ferry! I don't see any kind of direct one, but it may exist. If you use a tour company, they would likely go direct I would think.

I think from my reading Vernazza is the prettiest town and Monterosso has the best beach, so you may want to factor which towns have what you want into the plan!

Have fun!

 

[gatorfreud]

hmmm... wait, something else says 20 min walk to train station.

 

[mrslfc]

I am looking forward to reading through all of this information!!! We are booked on the 23rd August Med Cruise, this will be our first Cruise and I am so excited!

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

https://www.papillonservice.com/tours-from-la-spezia-port.php

We are using papillon for Cinque Terre I have got a good price and they took me to Florence last time.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've reached out to them!

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

We are planning CT but on our own - so this may not be that helpful. I just looked and seems the train station is about 2 miles from port - so we may try and take a cab there, I assume there are tons waiting to take you to the train station.

I think we will go to Vernazza first, then monterosso for lunch and beach, then take the ferry all the way down to 1st town (riomaggiore I think? or manarola). then Train back to La Spezia.

I looked at a ferry to monetrosso, but on the timetable I saw it was like 2 hours.. I do NOT want to spend that long on a ferry! I don't see any kind of direct one, but it may exist. If you use a tour company, they would likely go direct I would think.

I think from my reading Vernazza is the prettiest town and Monterosso has the best beach, so you may want to factor which towns have what you want into the plan!

Have fun!

I'd like to do it on my own but then I chicken out and change my mind It's the whole "traveling with a child and older adult" that gets me I hope you have a fabulous time on your tour!

 

[Sir William]

To answer your question, they drop you off at the Vatican. But you can't just get off and run, you have to wait til everyone is off the bus, walk through the underground parking garage and be shown your meeting point which will rendezvous at 330. At this point, for us, it was after 10 am. So we had about 5 hours to see Rome before getting back so we didn't miss the return bus.

Thanks for answering the question. I don't want to be anywhere near the Vatican Wednesday morning. We'll do a private tour so we can see what we want, when we want.

 

[slg]

When will they post all of the excursions? Almost all of the excursions in Athens list the acropolis and we did it last year so I'm hoping that they will come up with some new stuff for Athens. Plus I want to know what they are going to offer at the new ports.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

The shore trips will have to be released soon, concierge can book then at 120 days and in fact can request from shoreside concierge from 150 days pre cruise.


My late July cruise books at the end of a March.


If anyone is going to Rhodes please look at going to Lindos it's a fantastic and beautiful place a great day out, an hour by coach, bus or taxi from Rhodes town.

 

[bearsgirl]

For past Med cruisers, did you see people who missed the ship at Civitavecchia?
That is my main concern with taking Disney transport vs. other companies.

 

[heatherbelle]

So I've been reading the 34 page guide to Venice that was posted on the first page of the thread. For those of you who have been to Venice, how did you get to the actual port? We are looking at a hotel just outside the city proper which is very close to a train station - so it will be easy to get us and the luggage from the hotel to the train - but what about from the train to the terminal? I saw that there is a bridge to walk to the main area where the People Mover is- but that it could be difficult walking with significant luggage. Any tips?

Thanks!

My advice would be to book a taxi transfer, they will drop you right at the port by the ship. I used Suntransfers, you can use them for both Venice and Barca. I have now used them 4 times, very prompt at collecting you and more importantly very competitive on price.

 

[bearsgirl]

Don't do it! I cannot express enough what a mistake Rome on Your Own is. You can read about it in my TR but it was the worst of all ports/excursions for us on our med trip of 2013. First, everyone meets at one of the ship clubs which gets packed, then ID's are checked and you are assigned a number, then you wait for your bus, including everyone with stollers to get onboard. Then it's a long bus ride with a driver and a tour guide on board who will try to sell you on the tours his company is offering.

To answer your question, they drop you off at the Vatican. But you can't just get off and run, you have to wait til everyone is off the bus, walk through the underground parking garage and be shown your meeting point which will rendezvous at 330. At this point, for us, it was after 10 am. So we had about 5 hours to see Rome before getting back so we didn't miss the return bus. We wanted to see the coliseum which is waaaaay over on the other side of the city.

I did complain to guest services that they advertise more like 7-8 hrs in Rome but they argued that they don't control traffic or how fast people move, which I understand. I didn't expect a refund, I just suggested they rethink their procedure and drop off point, but they said they are contracted with this bus service and have no choice.

Fortunately, passengers do have choices, and I highly recommend the many tour companies who will pick you up in a town car at the ship and get you to Rome more efficiently.

I am bummed about your experience because I was thinking the exact same thing you were when you booked it. We won't have to worry about missing the ship and can do our own thing walking around Rome. Who would you have hired if you could do it again?