7 Day August Med Newbie. Looking for info and tips

[Fladis32]

We are taking a seven day cruise in August. We are looking for someone who's been there and done that. Do you have any thoughts on the feel of the cruise. Do you have any tips to provide? How was the cruise in the Mediterranean different from a regular cruise?

 

[ldo]

the main difference is that it is very port intensive. My one tip would be to enjoy it more and tick less items off your list. Mix a 1/2 day or late morning start after an all day tour the prior day. Assuming you are doing Naples, Rome, Livorno, Cannes, I would do 1/2 day AM trip to Pompeii, all day Rome to see the Colesium, etc., 1/2 day to Pisa and include walking around the town, or Lucca and a quick trip to Lisa vs. Florence, and then a 1/2 day in Cannes. I assume you already have your excursions planned. If not, several places are very easy DIY, such as to Pompeii (family of 4 can DIY for under $100 total--look on cruisecritic and/or google how to take public transit), Cannes (easy bus or train to various places). If you have several all day tours in a row, your party might want to skip evening entertainment and rest, or swim and skip dinner and order room service. We let our 9 yr old son stay in the kids club in the Baltics instead of going with to Tallin, as we had a 10+ hour tour in StP the day prior. We also did that in the Med after 3 days of all day touring. MAke sure everyone wears tennis shoes, not sandals. It's a fabulous experience.

 

[Fladis32]

Thanks. Love these tips'