I realize that most of you (like me) would prefer to travel Europe on your own and not on a ship. That being said I'm trying to help my parents prepare for THEIR first trip to Europe in 30 years. They will be taking the Norwegian Gem and docking in Malta, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Nice and Barcelona.

I'm setting up GoogleEarth maps of each place they are going. I can see where it seems most ships dock but would like to be able to locate exactly where the ship will be docking. This will really help me in getting them to train stations, close tourist sites, etc. I realize they can get this info once they dock but would like to help them be OVERLY prepared

I'm having a real hard time finding any kind of info on where these big ships dock. Maybe it changes each time like which gate a plane come to. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

This link has port information.
http://www.europeportreviews.com/Rome2.htm
You might also try posting this on the cruise forum.

Hi Wekiva -

For Venice see:

http://www.vtp.it/Default.jsp?language=1

http://www.vtp.it/pages/pdfMappe/generale.pdf


Naples:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/navymaps/naples.html

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Hi W,

The port for Rome is Civitavecchia.

The port for Pisa is probably Livorno.

I suggest that you ask the cruise line where the ships will dock.

Re Civitavecchia....it has many berths and it isn't going to do much good to know "exactly" which one the ship might use on that particular date and the same will apply to Livorno.

What I CAN tell you about Civitavecchia is this: the railroad station is about a ten-minute walk from the port <b>entrance</b> and the ship may be docked anywhere beyond that.

Some sruise lines will run a free shuttle bus to the port entrance but no further.

There will be taxis which congregate dockside there...plenty of them BUT many will balk at only going as far as the train station; rather, they want you to hire them for the trip all the way to Rome in many cases.

The train O/W to Rome (also stopping at San Pietro) takes about an hour (the milk run) and costs a few Euro.

As to Livorno...it is a poorer situation than Civitavecchia...the port area is NOT within walking distance of the RR station; a cab all the way to the train station is the best bet there IMO.

As a follow-on..trains Livorno-Pisa take about 15 minutes.

You might want to go over to www.cruisecritic.com for alot of info on ports for European cruises. Some ports are much more conducive than others for &quot;do it yourself&quot; exploring. Depending on how much your parents want to see in each port it might be best for them to schedule the ship's excursions. For example, in Rome, by the time they go from port to train to into Rome and then get oriented I don't think they could maximize their hours in Rome. To pack in the &quot;must sees&quot; I think they would cover more ground with an organized excursion. Also at Cruise Critic there will be cruise reviews of their ship whcih should give them alot of helprful information.

Hello,
we are also going on this cruise with another couple and I was interested also. Great to get this information. LucyW

Ships dock in one line along the main dock area in Barcelona, there are buses to transport you into the city for a nominal price. Do not book a taxi its not worth paying out a lot when you have the excellent bus service. To see the sights in Barcelona there are many options such as the tour bus (downside to this is you will face LONG queues to get on the bus plus you may not neccesarily wish to see all on the bus route such as the football ground, etc) or private tours such as offered by www.geocities.com/bcn_tours which take you to the places you want to see. Chat to Alan he's very helpful and loves the city with a passion. Travel to the train station has to be by taxi (around &euro;30 euros) as the train service is a disaster at the moment with the building of a new high speed train system.