We are on the last sea day of the inaugural Mediterranean cruise to Greece, so I thought I would share some general observations about the cruise and about the excursions we did, either through
DCL or on our own. I have been posting some updates from the cruise on our blog in my sig line, but wanted to gear this specifically towards the kind of info I always look for from DISers who sail before us. This is the first time we have been on an inaugural cruise.
Barcelona: what a beautiful, unique city. Definitely worth flying in early or staying a day or two late (or both) to see this place. You don't want to miss the embarkation city as a port stop. There are two HOHO buses. We used Bus Turistic, prepurchased our tix online for a two-day pass so we didn't have to cram it all into one day. We also prepurchased tix to La Sagrada Familia church and after seeing the line around the building, we were glad we did. You get an hour window to enter, much like a Disney Fast Pass. While we didn't do the towers, others we talked to did and said it was fabulous. We took the metro to see the Magic Fountain, very easy to use. If you plan to use the Metro to get around, look into the T10 cards to save some money. Embarkation was easy enough from the terminal. You still get to board thru deck 3 into the atrium.
Villefranche: I don't know if it was because it was a Sunday, but the tendering process took forever. Our excursion meet time was before 8:00 and we didn't board our tour bus until 10:00. The port area is a bit jammed for buses, so that delays getting started as well. I don't know if any non-DCL excursion people got to tender to the shore early or not, so that might make a difference in any independent plans. As I said, I don't know if it was just because it was a Sunday or what was up. Our excursion was Monaco, Monte Carlo, and Eze. Our later departure made it so we were a little rushed in Monaco to be able to see the palace and also the changing of the guard, but it was a nice day. There was time for independent shopping and photos in each of the three stops. Monte Carlo was pretty much closed because it was Sunday, so not much opportunity to do anything there but hang around. We did get seriously expensive gelato (and have since had better and less costly scoops in other places). Eze was fabulous but I wish we had gone there first as we were tired by the end of the day. Here's a note, though... The tourism office in Eze has free wifi and is right by the parking area and the post office.
La Spezia: we did this port on our own taking the train to Cinque Terre, starting with Monterosso and working our way back to the ship. Tendering was super efficient, we were on the tender by 8:45 and walked to the train station in about 20 minutes which had us in line to buy our CT cards by 9:30. There was a bit of a line but still plenty of time to purchase the ticket, validate it, and get to the right platform for the 9:56 am train. This train is an express and was shoulder to shoulder packed, but the rest of the trip there was adequate seating. Civitavecchia: we used Rome in Limo to pick us up at the ship, so we literally walked off the ship and met our driver. On the way to the city, we passed several DCL buses. And while in the city, we saw a few of the groups, but after having had a bit too much free time on our Villefranche excursion, we were glad we had planned our own day so when we were ready to go from one place to the next, we could. We would use RIL again.
Piraeus: we did the DCL excursion to the Acropolis and Archaeological Museum with lunch in Plaka and some free time for shopping. The museum doesn't take a lot of time, but it was good to see it with a guide. It is set up so you can wander off a bit and still hear what the guide is saying in your whisper set but be able to get some pictures without a bajillion other people in them. The Acropolis is amazing, and we had about 45 minutes time to see and take pictures and make our own way down after a guided your to the top. It was seriously windy and dusty at the top, so hang onto your hats, and sunglasses help to protect your eyes from the sun and the dust.
Kusadasi: we did the DCL excursion to Ephesus, Miletus, and Didyma. It made for a long day but we got to see a lot of that part of Turkey. Our meeting time was 7:45, but they had the first group out the door by 7:40 from our meeting place. I know why they were eager to get going... We were the first group at Ephesus and the crowds behind us swelled throughout the morning. It was hot and dusty on this excursion, too. Our guide was very good and informative, kept the group moving but not too fast. Again, you could step ahead for photos and still hear on the whisper set. Miletus has the theater there and that's about it, and we had lunch in Didyma followed by a visit to the Temple of Apollo. There was a little time for souvenir shopping along the way. When we returned to Kusadasi, they dropped us off just outside the port shopping area so we could see a carpet making demonstration. We opted to skip that and return to the ship as that wasn't included in the tour description that I can recall.
Mykonos: we did this port on our own. There was a complimentary shuttle provided to take you to the town center where you could walk the streets of the old town or along the harbor. You can walk up to where fur of their windmills are. And make sure to look for their pelican. This was a lovely day and there is good shopping there, plus loads of cares, restaurants, etc. We bought postage stamps from a shopkeeper and mailed our postcards from the yellow post boxes along the waterfront.
Valletta, Malta: we booked a private driver and guide through DCL for the morning. They organize this very efficiently, taking us off the ship to meet our ride that was waiting for us. We didn't have a plan for the day except to see as much of the area as we could in the four hours time we had, and not do a lot of walking. So our guide suggested a panoramic drive which was perfect. We saw DCL groups at a few of our stops and were again happy to be making our own decisions about how much or little time we had for pictures and shopping. I am glad DCL makes this available, and there were quite a few groups who took them up on this offer. After returning to port, we walked about 15 minute to where the Barracca Lift is to get to the city of Valletta. It costs 1€ to ride and is worth it to not have to take the stairs. The upper gardens are beautiful and are also another free wifi spot. There is shopping and restaurants aplenty in the area, and if you get a chance, try a pastizzi.
DCL had two new menus that we were aware of: Bella Italia and Greek Isles, both of which we enjoyed. The entertainment on board has been ok with the biggest hit of the non Disney shows being Alfred and Seymour comedy that came onboard in Malta. Of course the Disney productions have been excellent as expected. I hope this is helpful to anyone going this season or planning for next.
Thanks so much for doing such great descriptions. We're considering going back to the Med next year and this is just great info. It's both helping me re-live our Med trip this year and getting me closer to booking a trip for next year 
