Going on Explorer of the Seas for a Mediterranean cruise. Anything you want me to report back on?

[starvenger]

Figured I'd see if anyone was curious about any of the ports and/or Explorer of the Seas before I headed out at the end of October. The cruise itinerary and our loose plans are:
Athens (Piraeus)
- Have tickets booked for the Acropolis

Mykonos
- Have a trip to Delos

Messina Sicily
- Planning on walking around Messina and Taormina

Mallorca Spain
- Planning on walking around Mallorca

Barcelona (End port)
- Doing a nighttime Tapas tour and Sagrada Familia the next day.

If you want me to find out about anything I'll try my best to report back.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Oh cool. Im interested in Messina Sicily and Barcelona.

I dont do cruise ship excursions, so I'm interested in seeing how you get on just walking around.

Also in Barcelona, things like debarkation, the airport, the hotel etc. Also your tours nighttime Tapas tour and Sagrada Familia the next day sound interesting. How much are they, who are they with, how did you book them.

 

[starvenger]

I dont do cruise ship excursions, so I'm interested in seeing how you get on just walking around.

I'm the same way. I'll only do cruise ship excursions if I'm in Cozumel and I need to head to Playa del Carmen, because those ferries are not reliable.

I'll see if I can create a google map with my actual walking plans.

We may do the hop on/hop off for Mallorca. One of the castles of interest is up on a hill, so it may be better to take advantage of that or some public transit if that's available.

Also in Barcelona, things like debarkation, the airport, the hotel etc. Also your tours nighttime Tapas tour and Sagrada Familia the next day sound interesting. How much are they, who are they with, how did you book them.

Sagrada Familia we booked online. I believe that https://sagradafamilia.org/ is the official ticket seller, and I think you can only book up to 2 months in advance.

The Tapas tour I booked on GetYourGuide. Some excursions on GetYourGuide have a Viator-like markup, but the food tours seem to have no or minimal markup compared to other food tours. But I did look at several different food tours (google "barcelona food tour") and the GYG one happened to work best for us.

I'll definitely report back on the debarkation. But we're in Barcelona b/c my wife has a conference there, so we are actually there for about a week before leaving. I can say that we're staying at the W Barcelona on the pier, which looks like it has an amazing view.