kris

We're considering taking a Royal Caribbean cruise from Barcelona, to Corsica, Malta, Sicily,South France and Rome. The ports I don't know too much about are Corsica, Sicily and Malta. Has anyone been to these ports? What is there to do there? Thanks for your help!

judi

Hi Kris, <BR> <BR>I've booked this cruise for July 24. All I know about those ports is what I've read on RCCL's own website. Fodor's European ports of call ignores those sites. Sealetter.com has some info about ports & excursions, but I'm not sure about these particular ports. <BR> <BR>I've read some Grand Princess reviews for info about ports in common with Legend of the Seas, but I don't recall those reviews being helpful with these smaller sites. <BR> <BR>Good luck finding info -- let me know if you find anything on the internet particularly helpful. <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR>[email protected]

kris

Judi-I've found a site on Malta at www.malta.co.uk that has a nice synopsis on each of the cities on Malta. The cruise docks at Valetta but Malta looks like a small island so you could probably see anything on the island. I haven't found anything good on Corsica or Sicily yet except for the Fodor's books. We are taking the May 29th cruise so I can email you and let you know how it is.

judi

Thanks, Kristi. I will look forward to your e-mail. Have a great trip. If either of us finds any info in the meantime, let's send it along.

Lana

We did two weeks in the Med about 8 years ago on a diff. ship. Your ports are all excellent. <BR>Malta is the most thrililng. Make sure you are awake and on deck when you pull into port. Won't be able to describe it to you but it was wonderful. We did the Church drill there and were very impressed. It is not like the normal tours. Corsica is fun too. Went over by boat ant took all the tours. We also too the boat tour to the caves which was pretty fun. I assume they still have the same tours. <BR> <BR>Sicily was at a time when it was not safe to be there. We did go into town but the ship made us take off all watches rings etc before letting us off the shkp because of problems so we did not get to far from the ship. Do go see the church with the three story tower when it rings. <BR>Barcelona is huge but fun to see. We hired a car to take us around. I hope you go the Monte Carlo too. We did several Greek ports and did not care for them. Sounds like you have the best of the lot. Have not been to Rome. <BR> <BR>We did find that the ship tours were the way to go because of the language. But most speak some English. In France they don't like to speak English (pride) but they understand you. <BR>If you have never been on a RCCL Ship you are in for a treat. They are my favorite. <BR>Lana

lynn.chamberlin

My husband and I (and another couple) did a 2-week back-to-back cruise with the same ports (eastern and western Mediterranean) in August, 1997. We had a great time! The weather was extremely hot and if I had to do it again, I would choose a cooler time. I couldn't find my little diary I kept (I'll keep looking). Don't miss the Isle of Capri when you dock in Naples. It's a short walk and then a jet foil ride ($15 per person) to the Island. We took a funicular (train-like contraption) up a mountain to Capri Town and had lunch. I would highly recommend this. We did a few "shore excursions" and most things on our own. Our friends paid $180 per person in Rome and we spent about $40 for both of us by walking, taking a train and just "winging" it. We saw St. Peter's Square, the Cistine Chaple and the Trevi Fountain. Our friends didn't get to see as much as we did on the ship's tour. I'm not sure I'd recommend this to everyone. I think we were just lucky that everything seemed to click. I enjoyed Malta! There are lots of little shops down little alleys. Great Experience. In Barcelona we had trouble finding decent food to eat...Don't miss Las Ramblas and the market near there. Las Ramblas is a shopping area..again lots of it down alleys in between buildings. If you go to Monte Carlo on your own (we did..we took the tender from the ship to the town of Villafranche (spelling?), walked up a hill to the train station, got on a train and went to Monte Carlo. Don't forget to take your passport...they won't let you in the casino without it. We didn't know this and the ship takes away all passports and keeps them. When we got to the casino and got turned away, we were really disappointed. Our husbands even wore long pants on a blistering hot day because you couldn't get into the casino in shorts. We waited until we saw the tour operators from our ship and had them purchase us tickets so we could get in. The Casino isn't "all that" but you need to say you went there if it's important to you. My worst mistake of the whole trip was not taking comfortable enough shoes. I took Aerosole sandles and I should have taken walking shoes. I looked all over in Barcelona and couldn't find any tennis shoes. I finally bought a "fair" pair in Villafranche. Hope you have a great cruise!! You will be exhausted. Every day a different country, different currency, running all day and eating all night!! What a way to go!!