5 night Mediterranean

[Candycane83]

Hello! So I had to cancel our cruise this summer and we booked one for next summer instead. We booked a 5 night Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona. It will be myself DH and DS5, will be 6 when we cruise next year. What would you recommend for the Livorno port? I’d like to see Florence but was thinking Cinque Terre is nice too... has anyone been? Any recommendations? How about Rome and Cannes? I know it’s still a year out but I just love planning. Lol!

 

[Marc D]

Cinque Terre is a group of small traditional mountain villages, while Florence is a major city with plenty of landmarks. Both are wonderful and deserve a visit, but they are quite different.

In Rome, if you’ve never been, I would hit the major sites like the Coliseum and the Vatican. They will require the full day when you consider the long travel between the port and the city.

In Cannes, I’m sure you’ll get options to visit small surrounding villages, or maybe a food or perfume factory. I would do those instead of visiting Cannes itself.

 

[Candycane83]

Cinque Terre is a group of small traditional mountain villages, while Florence is a major city with plenty of landmarks. Both are wonderful and deserve a visit, but they are quite different.

In Rome, if you’ve never been, I would hit the major sites like the Coliseum and the Vatican. They will require the full day when you consider the long travel between the port and the city.

In Cannes, I’m sure you’ll get options to visit small surrounding villages, or maybe a food or perfume factory. I would do those instead of visiting Cannes itself.

Yes, it’ll be our first time to all these places! So hard to choose but I’m sure I would like to come back to Rome and even Florence. I guess this is why I was thinking of Cinque Terre. Thanks for your recommendations!

 

[fredandkell]

Hello! So I had to cancel our cruise this summer and we booked one for next summer instead. We booked a 5 night Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona. It will be myself DH and DS5, will be 6 when we cruise next year. What would you recommend for the Livorno port? I’d like to see Florence but was thinking Cinque Terre is nice too... has anyone been? Any recommendations? How about Rome and Cannes? I know it’s still a year out but I just love planning. Lol!

See the link in my signature for our trip report for last year’s 5-Night Med - great trip! (If on phone turn sideways to see signature.)

 

[Joel0917]

We did a small group to Pisa. But u can literally catch a cab. It is a hot final one mile walk no matter how you hey there.
In Rome we hired a privat tour. It was $700 for all four of us and included morning private tour of Vatican and then hitting all the major sites in Rome by car. Literally our driver drove up right as close as he could . Would tell us some history about the spot and the. We could get out and explore. We passed the Disney groups walking a few times and they walked miles. I was in an a:c car being driven spot to spot. We could only do the outside of the forum. We also had a fantastic lunch near the Vatican our driver arranged for us.
I can try and find the name of the company we used. But it was so worth it to go private. In the end it was $200 more than dis year but so worth it.

 

[Mommb]

I completely agree that if you want to see specific sites in Rome or Florence, a private tour will allow you to see much more than a Disney Cruise excursion, and will allow you to adjust the itinerary based on what your family wants to see.

The historical area of Florence is easily walkable, so you could take the Disney Florence on Your Own bus excursion to get to the city, see what you want for a few hours, then take the bus back. My family did that twice. It makes for a long day, but you can sleep on the bus in the afternoon.

In Rome, the top sites are spread out, so having a driver is a help. There are several highly rated companies that will pick you up from and drop you off at the ports. We have had wonderful experiences with Rome in Limo and Joe Banana Tours, but there are others too.

I have not been to Cannes. From Villefranche, we have just taken the train to Nice and to Monaco and walked around, but that would be farther from Cannes.

I also highly recommend spending a few days in Barcelona before or after your cruise — there is a lot to do there.

 

[Candycane83]

See the link in my signature for our trip report for last year’s 5-Night Med - great trip! (If on phone turn sideways to see signature.)

Great trip report!! I just finished reading it and lucky me because I was looking at the tour you did at Cannes! I can’t imagine my 6 year old or my husband enjoying that at all! Especially with the heat! Lol! Lots of great tips in your report, thanks!! I especially like the subway ticket tip

We did a small group to Pisa. But u can literally catch a cab. It is a hot final one mile walk no matter how you hey there.
In Rome we hired a privat tour. It was $700 for all four of us and included morning private tour of Vatican and then hitting all the major sites in Rome by car. Literally our driver drove up right as close as he could . Would tell us some history about the spot and the. We could get out and explore. We passed the Disney groups walking a few times and they walked miles. I was in an a:c car being driven spot to spot. We could only do the outside of the forum. We also had a fantastic lunch near the Vatican our driver arranged for us.
I can try and find the name of the company we used. But it was so worth it to go private. In the end it was $200 more than dis year but so worth it.

Thanks! I read a lot of people recommending private tours especially for Rome. I’ll definitely look into this. If you can find the tour name, that really be great! Thanks!!!

I completely agree that if you want to see specific sites in Rome or Florence, a private tour will allow you to see much more than a Disney Cruise excursion, and will allow you to adjust the itinerary based on what your family wants to see.

The historical area of Florence is easily walkable, so you could take the Disney Florence on Your Own bus excursion to get to the city, see what you want for a few hours, then take the bus back. My family did that twice. It makes for a long day, but you can sleep on the bus in the afternoon.

In Rome, the top sites are spread out, so having a driver is a help. There are several highly rated companies that will pick you up from and drop you off at the ports. We have had wonderful experiences with Rome in Limo and Joe Banana Tours, but there are others too.

I have not been to Cannes. From Villefranche, we have just taken the train to Nice and to Monaco and walked around, but that would be farther from Cannes.

I also highly recommend spending a few days in Barcelona before or after your cruise — there is a lot to do there.

I’ve read about Rome in Limo here a few times! They sound highly rated! I’lL look at Joe Banana too! Thanks! Yes, we are definitely going to be at Barcelona at least 3 days before! I need to look into Livorno more, seems like a lot of choices there!

 

[tlprice]

I would involve your son (and husband) in the planning. I took DD11 on the 7 day last year that began in Barcelona and ended in Rome. We talked a lot about what we both really wanted to see for our first time to these places. We did mostly half day excursions while on the ship, but spent a couple of days in Barcelona prior and several days in Rome after. I knew if I tried to drag my DD around on super long excursions every day, she would hate Europe and never want to go back. I feel like we had a really good balance of sight seeing and ship time and we both loved it.

In Cannes if you can do some sort of beach day, your son might love it. We went to Villefranche instead of Cannes and I wish we had just walked around town and spent time at the beach instead of going to Monaco, which was my least favorite place.

I would just prioritize what you most want to see and know that you can't do it all and will just have to go back again someday.

 

[fredandkell]

I would involve your son (and husband) in the planning. I took DD11 on the 7 day last year that began in Barcelona and ended in Rome. We talked a lot about what we both really wanted to see for our first time to these places. We did mostly half day excursions while on the ship, but spent a couple of days in Barcelona prior and several days in Rome after. I knew if I tried to drag my DD around on super long excursions every day, she would hate Europe and never want to go back. I feel like we had a really good balance of sight seeing and ship time and we both loved it.

In Cannes if you can do some sort of beach day, your son might love it. We went to Villefranche instead of Cannes and I wish we had just walked around town and spent time at the beach instead of going to Monaco, which was my least favorite place.

I would just prioritize what you most want to see and know that you can't do it all and will just have to go back again someday.

Totally ditto @tlprice here about wishing we had just done a beach day in Cannes instead of hoofing it to Monaco, which was the suck. I mean, it was pretty, but the heat, expense, and travel time canceled it out.

 

[Candycane83]

I would involve your son (and husband) in the planning. I took DD11 on the 7 day last year that began in Barcelona and ended in Rome. We talked a lot about what we both really wanted to see for our first time to these places. We did mostly half day excursions while on the ship, but spent a couple of days in Barcelona prior and several days in Rome after. I knew if I tried to drag my DD around on super long excursions every day, she would hate Europe and never want to go back. I feel like we had a really good balance of sight seeing and ship time and we both loved it.

In Cannes if you can do some sort of beach day, your son might love it. We went to Villefranche instead of Cannes and I wish we had just walked around town and spent time at the beach instead of going to Monaco, which was my least favorite place.

I would just prioritize what you most want to see and know that you can't do it all and will just have to go back again someday.

I have started talking to DH but it’s still far away he’s not really interested in talking about it yet, lol! As for DS, I think I need to decide where we’re taking him then get him interested in those places! @fredandkell mentioned an exotic car place in Cannes, I would probably look into that since my little one loves cars, lol! I guess I want to see what options I have so I can start getting them involved (basically have a place to start.) our cruise actually starts and ends in Barcelona. We’re thinking of adding Madrid and making it to a 2 week trip. I figure we really need to do a land tour of Italy in the future and this would be a good taste

 

[babyruth]

Barcelona is lovely. I still need to upload pics so I haven't done a trip report yet but we just came off the June 8 med cruise. In Cannes we walked to see the Palais, the Casino (very underwhelming don't bother with that one) and Rue Meynadier, which is a long street of cute shops. We bought wine and baguettes of course! At the end of the street up a little hill is an open air market. Go early because they start closing by lunchtime - it's similar to La Boqueria in barcelona which you have to go to! but smaller. Then we went to La Croisette beach. For us there was plenty about being in Cannes and we didn't feel the need to go do an excursion. if you stop in Genoa I highly recommend a food tour with doeatbetter. Livorno I can't speak to because we visited family in Corsanico near Lucca that day. In Naples we did a half day Pompeii tour and then went for pizza near Piazza Jesus. We didn't do ANY Disney excursions. I researched and planned and saved literally thousands by using other operators (with a party of 7 I'm not kidding on the saving amount!) We actually hated Rome lol. What a dirty smelly rude city. Trash EVERYWHERE. Like NYC on steroids. New Yorkers are way nicer ha!

 

[lilsonicfan]

In Cannes I would definitely do a beach day. There are free public beaches to the left of the port area when you get off the tender boat. It’s also a pretty easy place to wander around.

We went to Cinque Terre although we docked in La Spezia, not Livorno. I loved the one village we were able to visit. So beautiful.

We used Rome in Limo and we were so, so thrilled. Although you have to pick a tour in advance, the driver is ultimately yours for the day so if you want to change things up, it is easy to do. It was 600euros for 5 of us, easily the best money I spent all trip. Next year we are hoping to do a cruise that embarks in Rome so we get more time there but for one day, highly recommend RIL.

 

[Candycane83]

Barcelona is lovely. I still need to upload pics so I haven't done a trip report yet but we just came off the June 8 med cruise. In Cannes we walked to see the Palais, the Casino (very underwhelming don't bother with that one) and Rue Meynadier, which is a long street of cute shops. We bought wine and baguettes of course! At the end of the street up a little hill is an open air market. Go early because they start closing by lunchtime - it's similar to La Boqueria in barcelona which you have to go to! but smaller. Then we went to La Croisette beach. For us there was plenty about being in Cannes and we didn't feel the need to go do an excursion. if you stop in Genoa I highly recommend a food tour with doeatbetter. Livorno I can't speak to because we visited family in Corsanico near Lucca that day. In Naples we did a half day Pompeii tour and then went for pizza near Piazza Jesus. We didn't do ANY Disney excursions. I researched and planned and saved literally thousands by using other operators (with a party of 7 I'm not kidding on the saving amount!) We actually hated Rome lol. What a dirty smelly rude city. Trash EVERYWHERE. Like NYC on steroids. New Yorkers are way nicer ha!

Thanks for the tips on Cannes!! Unfortunately, we’re not stopping at Genoa but I will keep that info for next time. I saw there were food tours for kids at Barcelona that I’m looking at more.

In Cannes I would definitely do a beach day. There are free public beaches to the left of the port area when you get off the tender boat. It’s also a pretty easy place to wander around.

We went to Cinque Terre although we docked in La Spezia, not Livorno. I loved the one village we were able to visit. So beautiful.

We used Rome in Limo and we were so, so thrilled. Although you have to pick a tour in advance, the driver is ultimately yours for the day so if you want to change things up, it is easy to do. It was 600euros for 5 of us, easily the best money I spent all trip. Next year we are hoping to do a cruise that embarks in Rome so we get more time there but for one day, highly recommend RIL.

Rome in Limo sounds great. How early did you book?

I’m really leaning towards Cinque Terre! Sounds wonderful!

 

[Joel0917]

follow up on earlier - for rome we used Miles & Miles - it was very good!
In Pisa we used Tuscany bus to get to the Tower drop off. you are on a schedule, but other option would be taxi from the city.
Cannes - we did a snorekling 1/2 day that was awful. no fish. and we really were the "lowly" americans on that tour. it was not fun.
we did the beach right off the pier. It is very rocky. and a long swim to the diving platform. Bring a towel.

 

[Candycane83]

follow up on earlier - for rome we used Miles & Miles - it was very good!
In Pisa we used Tuscany bus to get to the Tower drop off. you are on a schedule, but other option would be taxi from the city.
Cannes - we did a snorekling 1/2 day that was awful. no fish. and we really were the "lowly" americans on that tour. it was not fun.
we did the beach right off the pier. It is very rocky. and a long swim to the diving platform. Bring a towel.

Thanks so much for the info!! We’ll probably avoid snorkelling then lol!

 

[lilsonicfan]

Rome in Limo sounds great. How early did you book?

I’m really leaning towards Cinque Terre! Sounds wonderful!

I believe about 6-8 months in advance. They had a promotion where If you paid in advance it was a 10% discount. They use a US based bank account for those transactions.

 

[Candycane83]

I believe about 6-8 months in advance. They had a promotion where If you paid in advance it was a 10% discount. They use a US based bank account for those transactions.

Awesome, thanks!!

 

[Kellycanada]

Hi. When we did the Mediterranean cruise with our kids we tried to balance our tours by throwing in some fun kid activities. In Rome we went to Gladiator school and the kids loved it. We hired Rome in Limo and they took us to the Coliseum and some other sites first, before heading to Gladiator school. We went to Cinq de Terre as it was a long day of travel to get to Florence. We went on Angelo's boat tour and we spent the day boating past the 5 villages and he made lots of swim stops for the kids. We docked at one village and went for an amazing 12 course lunch. In France we went up into the mountains and went river rafting. My kids still talk about that cruise 5 years later (we did a 12 day one). We booked all the tours on our own.

 

[Candycane83]

Hi. When we did the Mediterranean cruise with our kids we tried to balance our tours by throwing in some fun kid activities. In Rome we went to Gladiator school and the kids loved it. We hired Rome in Limo and they took us to the Coliseum and some other sites first, before heading to Gladiator school. We went to Cinq de Terre as it was a long day of travel to get to Florence. We went on Angelo's boat tour and we spent the day boating past the 5 villages and he made lots of swim stops for the kids. We docked at one village and went for an amazing 12 course lunch. In France we went up into the mountains and went river rafting. My kids still talk about that cruise 5 years later (we did a 12 day one). We booked all the tours on our own.

OMG! The Cinque Terre Tour sounds amazing! I’ll look for this tour operator for sure! Thanks so much for the tip!

Gladiator school sounds great! Would definitely try that!

I’d love to go for river rafting but my son might be too small for it.