Med ports on your own - 2011

[Anal Annie]

emilymad - not sure which port is "best". We're going in August because that's the best month for us to vacation at this point in our lives (DS swims through the end of July and school starts up the last week of August for us). This is the first time that DCL is going to Palma so there is no history with DCL to look back on but it seems that a lot of the UK cruisers have been to Mallorca as destination vacations (ie seems quite popular with them). Personally we are hoping for a quiet beach kind of day at Palma with a break from heavy touring & sightseeing.

But now I am always on the prowl for new cruise peeps so I'd say anything to recruit you for the August 13th cruise!!

 

[emilymad]

emilymad - not sure which port is "best". We're going in August because that's the best month for us to vacation at this point in our lives (DS swims through the end of July and school starts up the last week of August for us). This is the first time that DCL is going to Palma so there is no history with DCL to look back on but it seems that a lot of the UK cruisers have been to Mallorca as destination vacations (ie seems quite popular with them). Personally we are hoping for a quiet beach kind of day at Palma with a break from heavy touring & sightseeing.

But now I am always on the prowl for new cruise peeps so I'd say anything to recruit you for the August 13th cruise!!

August 13th is when we would go if we do August! I was thinking it would be nice to have Palma as a beach day too. It seems there will be lots of running around on the other stops. I think I have to do some more research on DCL to convince my DH. Thanks!

 

[lmb]

Has anyone had experience with young children paying/not paying for the coliseum? The description regarding this is so vague.

 

[ga9497]

Has anyone had experience with young children paying/not paying for the coliseum? The description regarding this is so vague.

This is what I found
Newborns and very young children pay nothing

When I was in Italy years ago young children referred age 4 and younger
The discounts you see on various websites for children of other age groups only refers to EU residents, not US

The exception is the Vatican Museums they offer discounts for anyone under age 18 no matter where you reside

 

[ga9497]

August 13th is when we would go if we do August! I was thinking it would be nice to have Palma as a beach day too. It seems there will be lots of running around on the other stops. I think I have to do some more research on DCL to convince my DH. Thanks!

On the August 13th sailing you will in La Spezia on August 15th Monday
Monday is the day the museums are closed in Florence. It is also a major holiday in Italy. Whatever you plan on doing on this day I would check to make sure things will actually be open

 

[Anal Annie]

On the August 13th sailing you will in La Spezia on August 15th Monday
Monday is the day the museums are closed in Florence. It is also a major holiday in Italy. Whatever you plan on doing on this day I would check to make sure things will actually be open

This is true for all of the DCL 7-night Meds. They are all in La Spezia on Mondays. That was another reason that convinced us to try to do Pisa and Cinque Terre on our own. No point schleping all the way to Florence if not everything is open. But that's OK...we were not interested in commuting 5 hours round trip to do it. If the tower isn't open on the 15th we may skip that as well & just do Cinque Terre. (I know the Vatican is closed on the 15th so I was glad we weren't in Rome that day.)

 

[emilymad]

On the August 13th sailing you will in La Spezia on August 15th Monday
Monday is the day the museums are closed in Florence. It is also a major holiday in Italy. Whatever you plan on doing on this day I would check to make sure things will actually be open

I had no idea! Thank you so much for this information! We aren't 100% sure on what we wanted to do but we were thinking of going to Florence. A lot of the other cruise lines dock closer to Florence but I don't know on what day. I guess I better check.

 

[biomechgirl]

La Spezia is the only port I'm still undecided on. Florence is definitely out since most of the big museums will be closed. I thought we could go to Lerici and see the castle/dino museum but it seems that is also closed on Mondays. Don't really care to go all the way to Pisa just to look at the tower (kids are too little to climb). I'm also not sure I want to do Cinque Terre with the kids

It seems like there might be some okay beaches between La Spezia and Lerici so we may try to get to one of them for part of the day and then spend the rest of the day exploring Lerici and/or La Spezia. Since the next day is Rome I'm okay with taking it kind of easy at this port. I just wish I could find more information about the area around La Spezia so I could come up with a good plan for the day.

 

[CandyMandy]

Monday is the day the museums are closed in Florence.

As another mentioned, this is true for all the 7 day sailings, which is the reason I and many others won't even consider them. For to go all the way to Italy and not be able to experience the greatest single collection of Renaissance masterpieces on earth (the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, examples of what is in there below) is like going to Disney World for the first time....and skipping the Magic Kingdom.

Botticelli, The Birth Of Venus

Caravaggio, Bacchus

Raphael, Madonna of the Goldfinch

 

[makaylee]

As another mentioned, this is true for all the 7 day sailings, which is the reason I and many others won't even consider them. For to go all the way to Italy and not be able to experience the greatest single collection of Renaissance masterpieces on earth (the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, examples of what is in there below) is like going to Disney World for the first time....and skipping the Magic Kingdom.

Oh boy, I guess I shouldn't tell you that we were in Florence last month and we did not set foot in the gallery even though it was open.

 

[ga9497]

La Spezia is the only port I'm still undecided on. Florence is definitely out since most of the big museums will be closed. I thought we could go to Lerici and see the castle/dino museum but it seems that is also closed on Mondays. Don't really care to go all the way to Pisa just to look at the tower (kids are too little to climb). I'm also not sure I want to do Cinque Terre with the kids

It seems like there might be some okay beaches between La Spezia and Lerici so we may try to get to one of them for part of the day and then spend the rest of the day exploring Lerici and/or La Spezia. Since the next day is Rome I'm okay with taking it kind of easy at this port. I just wish I could find more information about the area around La Spezia so I could come up with a good plan for the day.

Try Portovenere. Small town about 15 minutes from La Spezia and on the coast. Not sure how the beaches are, haven't researched it but if you do a search for the town you will come up with options and photos. You can also go to Portofino for the beach

The taxis, trains, buses will be operating on a holiday schedule on August 15th

Just know that most of the beaches are pebbles and not sand

 

[ga9497]

This is true for all of the DCL 7-night Meds. They are all in La Spezia on Mondays. That was another reason that convinced us to try to do Pisa and Cinque Terre on our own. No point schleping all the way to Florence if not everything is open. But that's OK...we were not interested in commuting 5 hours round trip to do it. If the tower isn't open on the 15th we may skip that as well & just do Cinque Terre. (I know the Vatican is closed on the 15th so I was glad we weren't in Rome that day.)

yes that is true on the 7nt sailings but the issue is not only that it is a monday but Augsut 15th is Ferragosto and a holiday in Italy which means other things may also be closed. Trains, buses and taxis may not be running as often

It is doable but takes a little more research to make sure you are informed on what your options are not only for the sights but also for transportation if you aren't taking a DCL excursion.

 

[MadHatterMom2]

Rome in a Day for Cruisers/

Thought this might be helpful for those planning for Rome. The Ron in Rome blog is full of helpful info about Rome - very detailed with lots of pictures. This recent entry is for cruisers.

Thank you so much for posting this link. We've just decided to be adventurous and do Rome on our own. This link will help a lot.

 

[Anal Annie]

yes that is true on the 7nt sailings but the issue is not only that it is a monday but Augsut 15th is Ferragosto and a holiday in Italy which means other things may also be closed. Trains, buses and taxis may not be running as often

It is doable but takes a little more research to make sure you are informed on what your options are not only for the sights but also for transportation if you aren't taking a DCL excursion.

Thanks, but I think I am obsessive enough to be sure to plan this day out right before we go. Like I said in my other post, if the Vatican is closed on the 15th the Tower may likely be as well...I've already figured as much. But they don't post the option to even buy the tickets for the tower until 45 days out - and they don't appear to have a closing schedule listed that I could find on the website either. I have just gone & sent an email to an @info email address that I found on the website but who knows if I will receive an answer or when... SO I suppose I may still have to wait until June 28 to plan on whether or not we're doing Pisa if I can't confirm what's going on. If they reply I will post the results here.

SO FAR the train schedule on RailEurope is listed the same that day as it is for any other...but there are no prices available for that far out yet. So once again, we'll have to wait to see until they update their schedules (I think at 60 days out). I really don't feel like giving DCL $130 pp or whatever it is they're charging for that ferry to Cinque Terre especially since it's probably the same one the general public rides too. Hopefully the ferry and the train will still be running even if on a modified schedule so that we can still do Cinque Terre on our own. If the tower is closed we'll just go over to Monteorsso and spend the morning at the beach there which is supposed to be quite nice (and more of a sandy variety than most).

 

[biomechgirl]

Try Portovenere. Small town about 15 minutes from La Spezia and on the coast. Not sure how the beaches are, haven't researched it but if you do a search for the town you will come up with options and photos. You can also go to Portofino for the beach

The taxis, trains, buses will be operating on a holiday schedule on August 15th

Just know that most of the beaches are pebbles and not sand

I did a little more research yesterday and sort of have a plan now. I think we will probably take the bus to Lerici, do some sightseeing there and then walk along the gulf or take the bus back towards San Terenzo to spend some time on the beach (looks pretty sandy in some pictures I found), eat lunch and maybe see the castle there. Then take the bus back to La Spezia and probably just go back to the boat. Depending on time and how the kids are doing we might try to see Portovenere too but I'm not going to count on actually making it there.

 

[bibbidibobbidibecky]

Would it be possible to go to Pisa first thing in the morning. Basically see the tower--my kids are too young to even go up in it--maybe have a quick lunch by the tower (I was there 10 years ago and there were several restaurants right by it, which I assume are still there). And then take the train to Levanto and walk around there for a couple of hours before heading back to La Spezia.

I want to show my kids Pisa but the adults would like to see something new.

So would we have time?

TIA!

 

[Anal Annie]

Would it be possible to go to Pisa first thing in the morning. Basically see the tower--my kids are too young to even go up in it--maybe have a quick lunch by the tower (I was there 10 years ago and there were several restaurants right by it, which I assume are still there). And then take the train to Levanto and walk around there for a couple of hours before heading back to La Spezia.

I want to show my kids Pisa but the adults would like to see something new.

So would we have time?

TIA!

According to the RailEurope schedule (as it's posted for right now) the timing for that plan would be very similar to the one we were planning to do for Pisa & Cinque Terre. If the tower is open on Aug. 15th we'll probably try to do both. If the tower is closed to visitors that day we'll probably skip Pisa & just do Cinque Terre. (I haven't heard back from the tower yet regarding that date.)

Anyway, the trains from La Spezia to Pisa take anywhere from 51 min. to 1 hr. 15 depending which one you catch (some apparently have more stops than others). Then the train from Pisa to Levanto takes 1 hr. 16 min. Finally, the train back from Levanto to La Spezia is only about 30 min. on average. I think it sounds completely feasible depending on how long you spend in each place. You might find it's still too early for lunch in Pisa if you go early like we were planning to do (I was planning on lunch in Monterosso.)

 

[ga9497]

Thanks, but I think I am obsessive enough to be sure to plan this day out right before we go. :.

glad to see you have looked into it. I was also posting for people that may have not done as much research and may not be aware that it is a holiday or that the museums in Florence are closed on Mondays

 

[emma2]

bump to page 1

 

[Joan1]

Found this site with some good information on using the trains in different port

http://ftroute.com/ItalianTrains.htm