What did you do in 2011, that you would recommend for someone this year ?
Okay, dug up our old itinerary at last. I don't know if any of these are happening/not happening, nor did I cross reference for ports that we're visiting this time around, but hopefully it helps...or at least gets folks even more excited to plan! All of our excursions in the Med 2011 were through
DCL -- it was our first cruise ever, we had our two kids with us (including a then-6-month-old!), and we wanted no drama. We were happy overall, and we've done all DCL excursions ever since, except for our whale watch in Alaska, for which we really wanted a private charter. But I digress...
Palermo: A Day on the Farm -- definitely worth doing, IMHO. Wonderful food, unexpected 6 course lunch, and the fresh cheese we helped make was delicious! We didn't know what to expect for this excursion, so this turned out to be a lovely surprise. The "farm" was an Italian villa set up in the hills with gorgeous views and interesting architecture.
Naples: The Hidden Treasures of Herculaneum -- WAY cooler than the reports from folks who went all the way to Pompeii, in our opinion. It was much closer to the port, and the city was really well preserved. The tour was fascinating, and our guide was great.
Rome: Jumping Back into Eternal Rome -- every single person on the ship (it seemed) was going on one of the zillion Rome options DCL offered that day. Ours hit some highlights (St Peter's, the Coliseum) and had a mediocre lunch. The guide was pretty bad, and the little wireless earphones that they handed out for this tour didn't work well because our guide didn't care about speaking into the mic. The DCL cast members along with our group were very helpful and sympathetic, but it still fell on the "won't do again" list. We haven't decided what we are doing for Rome this coming summer. It might be our one "do on our own" gamble, or maybe we'll book a private tour.
We didn't leave the ship in La Spezia (went to the spa instead), and in Corsica, we just wandered around on our own and went to a lovely beach -- much better than getting bussed to a beach and having to pay extra.
Villefranche (Nice): Nice and Eze with Wine and Cheese -- this was very cool. The wine tasting and tour in Nice were both great fun (though the tour was a bit too short for our taste), and Eze was an interesting old fortified city (though the tour here and self-exploration time was too long in our opinion). The wine at the tasting was actually pretty good, and the winemaker who spoke with us was hilarious.
Could it be because I haven't paid in full?
