bganor

My wife and I are taking a 12 day cruise this July. We depart from Rome and travel to Naples, Venice, Dbrovnik Croatia, Messina Sicily, Barcelona, Cannes, and Lovorno. Has anyone been on this cruise? It is Carnival Liberty. Are there any suggestions on what to see and not. We were thinking of taking our own excursions, any suggestions of easy access and reasonable prices? Thanks.

Underhill

You might want to post your question also on the Cruise forum.

monicapileggi

Head to www.cruisecritic.com, which is a fabulous cruise web site. You can find the ship that you are sailing on and meet fellow passengers. You can go to the various port discussion boards and read up on what to see/do for each port, as well as finding tour companies.

I did a Med. cruise in 2003, which included some of the ports you'll be visiting. http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/Cruise03.html This is the link to my journal, which may help you. I loved the town wall of Dubrovnik, been to Barcelona a few times (great gothic quarter); Venice is my FAVORITE Italian city!

You can do Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Rome, Cannes, and Venice on your own. Naples too, but I'd stick to a tour group if you want to do Pompeii or the Amalfi coast. Do a tour for Livorno - Florence or Tuscany towns. Again, if you go to the cruisecritic.com web site, you'll meet others and get lots of great ideas.

Enjoy!

Monica

Intrepid1

Actually, IMO, you can do the Livorno stop on your own as well, provided you are willing to take a taxi from the ship to the main railway station. Almost every train from there to Florence stops in nearby (15 minutes away) Pisa where you can easily hop off and do the Tower and then hop on again for the hour-long ride to Florence.

bganor

Thanks for the fast responses and useful tips. I also posted on the cruise forum. Thanks.

LoriNY

I'm taking the same cruise in June. Cruisecritic.com has been invaluable so far.....

LoriNY

oops hit enter to fast. We are thinking of doing most of the stops on our own. In Naples, we are thinking of taking either the publice hydrofoil to Capri, or going back to Pompeii (been there, loved it). In Cannes we are going to take the train to Nice. I agree with Monica, good to see we think alike, we are considering a tour in Sicily (Messina) and Livorno. I've also been told that there are loads of taxis and private cars to hire at each port. Ah capitalism at work.

Steve_James

Bganor - From Naples you're spoilt for choice - Capri, Amalfi Coast, Naples itself, Pompeii, Ercolano, Vesuvius, Sorrento, Paestum ...

From Messina most people head for Taormina.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

bganor

Is there a language barrier when you get off the ship? I'm concerned that we get to a destination and then find out we are not going to make it back in time when the ship leaves.

Steve_James

< I'm concerned that we get to a destination and then find out we are not going to make it back in time when the ship leaves. >

Not a good idea
With good planning around return timetables you avoid that problem ...

Steve

constant

If you're worried about getting lost or missing the ship (it happens!), visit www.cruisecritic.com forums for tons of useful info. Since livorno is your last port, you can probably safely use the trains for your excursions. However, if not, check www.sunflower-tours.com for possibilities for shore excursions from that town.