Wasn't sure whether to post this on the Roll Call board or here but thought here would maybe get a few more views. We're lucky enough to be on the Voyager in October with some wonderful people visiting ports:
Sorrento
Portofino
Livorno (for Florence)
St. Tropez
Barcelona
Port Mahon, Menorca
Monte Carlo
Based on where Voyager docks/tenders, how many of these ports are just wanderable? We've already got a car and driver for Rome. We know of a couple of excursions we probably don't want to miss, but our last two family cruises have been VERY excursion intensive and we're thinking that we may take some of these stops and just wander on our own. We seldom all do the same thing anyway, but some of the best memories I have from past cruises are just wandering rather than sitting on a bus listening to a guide. I know I will get good advice from you all. Thanks!

Sue: We plan to do Portofino, St Tropez and Sorrento on our own - we have done the Amalfi Coast drive - we're on B2B so second time in Sorrento we'll do Capri on our own - don't know what we'll do exactly but we like just going off and figuring it out without a guide or bus etc

Hi Sue, we are just going to roam around in St. Tropez and Portofino.

I am still working on what to do in Menorca, any suggestions?

Not a one. Though I'd love the horseback riding I haven't been on a horse in so long I would be incapacited for days after that! Has anyone done the Herculeneum through RSSC?

We are a cruise of happy wanderers it appears!

Sue, I was debating between Herculeneum and Pompeii and I chose Pompeii for two reasons, the size of the ruins and I have just always wanted to see it!!

You absolutely should see Pompeii.. go in am though as it is alot of walking and gets hot.
If your ship is docking in Sorrento then you must save time to just wander the streets of Sorrento ( the shopping is so great) and every other store offers lemonchella <sp?> tastings ( and do buy some).. also buy music boxes ( all the gorgeous Swiss style music boxes ( although Italian inlaid wood type) are all over and very reasonable as compared to US.
And take time to sit in a cafe and just enjoy that pretty town.

Sue,
Portofino you can do on your own/ and or take a city bus to Santa Margarita as in the Pinot Grigio wine.. (only about 6 bucks there too )
which is an easy few miles away..
Barcelona we have discussed in ports, but if you missed it there is a hop on hop off bus for day trippin' through the city.. you buy your ticket for one or two days of unlimited riding ( double decker English style bus) with commentary ( silly) and you can jump on and off as you wish at all the sights.. or you can hire a car-mini van with driver at about 40 EU per hour
http://www.barcelonataxi.com
( only one we use, others here may have other suggestions)

Menorca ( BUY PEARLS)..it is easy to do on your own.. but there are all kinds of hokey tours to pearl museums.. get a cab if you just like to wander
For Monte Carlo you can wander on your own all over.. if you want to venture out to surrounding vilages you can take the train ( but.. if you want to just do it easy- hire a car/ driver) my recommendation there is Jean Marc @

http://www.dream-tours.com/
have fun!

Sue, can't wait to meet you and your family! I'm like the others going to do Capri in Sorrento (already did the Amalfi coast on another cruise. Planning to be on my own in Portofino. Have a Guide (private) in Livorno and Barcelona. In Port M we have no plans. Monte Carlo we disembak and have a private guide for the day because we are leaving the ship.

Since none of us seem to have anything planned in Port Mahon, maybe we can find a fun excursion and do it all together!
Maybe Todd can find us something fun along the lines of the canopy excursion but a little more sedate for all us girls :)

Some things suggested on a Menorca website :)








I didn't know the Romans drove cars. :rolleyes:


Has anyone else researched this port yet? I am open to all suggestions!

Sorry, can't remember where someone asked about Nice. From latest editin of Departures Magazine. It's long. Karen, Feel free to move to appropiate heading.

Update
Côte d'Azur

When F. Scott Fitzgerald arrived on the Côte d'Azur in the twenties, he immediately got caught up in the exuberance of the day, writing that "whatever happened seemed to have something to do with art." After 80 years the same can be said about the French Riviera of the 21st century. These days, virtually every new development—hotels, shops, restaurants, galleries—is linked to experimental design and a contemporary artistic ethos. The epicenter of reinvention is Nice, France's fifth-largest city, where urban improvement is speeding along—literally. By early 2007, an electric tram will zip around town, alleviating traffic and pollution. The exhibition space Maison des Projets opened recently in a converted electric plant in the middle of the Old Town outdoor market. And in a decisive shift toward utilitarian art, the new Louis Nucéra Library commissioned Niçois artist Sacha Sosno to design its administrative office: a monumental cement cube resembling a man's head sitting on a giant neck and shoulders. Also, the city has turned its beachfront promenade into a sculpture garden with the mammoth works of such notables as Bernard Venet and Niki de Saint-Phalle. "These days the art scene is bubbling with creativity," says Cédric Teisseire, 37, founder of La Station, one of the metropolis's most progressive galleries. "Since the beginning of the century, Nice has been a cosmopolitan crossroads, and it's the mix that contributes to the effervescence."

Still, some things never change—especially on the Promenade des Anglais. After a massive overhaul, the sculpted Art Deco façade of the newly rebuilt Palais de la Méditerranée gleams like the lights on the Bay of Angels, Nice's classic "string of pearls." Built in the twenties by American billionaire Frank Jay Gould, the legendary seaside casino fell into disrepair and everything but the façade was demolished in 1990. Now the glamour is back, re-created in an updated Deco style, with a huge casino, a gilded lobby, and 188 bright, colorful rooms with wenge and sycamore furniture. (The general manager, Christophe Aldunate, hails from its sister hotel, the Martinez, a half hour away in Cannes.) On the third floor, chef Bruno Sohn prepares excellent Mediterranean specialties at Le Padouk, the dining room flanking the poolside terrace and bar (the eggplant-and-tuna cannelloni stands out).

Farther down the promenade, in the Old Town, architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte has given the Hôtel Beau Rivage a stylish, if sober, makeover (Matisse would never recognize his former digs), even remodeling the property's trademark blue deck chairs. The 118 rooms alternate zenlike grays and blues, incorporating black walnut furniture and bathrooms studded with beach pebbles set in resin. Across the street, the hotel restaurant, which serves grilled fish and salads, sits on a private beach.

Elsewhere, minimalism prevails. The Hi Hotel, which established the designer Matali Crasset as one of France's best, is an unobtrusive eight-story white rectangle on a residential street. But much more awaits behind the fuchsia glass doors: a high-tech playground of 38 rooms, a hammam, a deejay-attended lounge, a self-serve "laboratory" of organic dishes presented in glass jars, and a flowerpot-shaped rooftop pool. There are nine room styles—among them, Indoor Terrace is a luminous loftlike space featuring a sunken bed on a teak sundeck, and Technocorner comes equipped with a sliding DVD screen visible from the bathtub and bed, as well as a chaise with integrated headphones and speakers. "Guests should feel not at home," Crasset says. "We're offering them a completely different experience from the usual."

The same is true at Kei's Passion, a tiny restaurant on a tranquil square in the center of town, where Japanese chef Keisuke Matsushima concocts exquisite Mediterranean dishes with subtle Japanese touches. His octopus salad with coriander is superb, as is the delicious foie gras with fresh almonds and lemon confit. The beef mille-feuille with wasabi, however, is deservedly Matsushima's most popular dish. Another foreign newcomer outshining the locals is a young Finn named Jouni Tormanen. The Alain Ducasse-trained chef's teeny, très cozy haute-cuisine bistro, Jouni, has become an insider hangout for perfectly prepared fresh-off-the-hook fish and divine chocolate tarts.

Nice's smart set has also been turning up on Rue Defly, a street swelling with hip shops and galleries, just steps away from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. One shop worth noting is Espace Helenbeck, which specializes in vintage and antique furniture decorated by established contemporary painters. Look for everything from a Louis XV chair revisited by a graffiti artist to a show by the sculptor Arman. Among the block's newest arrivals is Les Eaux de Mars, a boutique selling one-of-a-kind silk-screen jackets and skirts for women and kids.

As the creative spark that ignited Nice radiates outward, chic Riviera towns from Monaco to the Italian border are similarly dusting off the old-world fustiness. One of the area's best small hotels, Cap Estel, which opened not long ago in Eze (just east of Nice), is hidden away on a quiet five-acre peninsula. The immense Belle Epoque-style palace once served as a hideaway for celebrities of the day, and after it sank into decrepitude in the nineties, the new owners spent more than three years—and a rumored $50 million—turning the place into an immaculate compound (very much in the manner of Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda). The three bungalows feature teak and marble terraces that face the sea, and the five huge suites in the main house include kitchens for guests bringing along a personal chef (there's no restaurant and only breakfast and poolside fare are served). Cap Estel also has a cinema, a seawater infinity pool, and a bay-windowed gym with a pool.

In Monte Carlo, Hôtel Métropole, which hogs an enviable corner near the Casino square, was another vestige of more splendid days, until the Boustany brothers decided to give their father's Belle Epoque beauty a multimillion-dollar push into the new millennium. They teamed up with interior designer Jacques Garcia and Michelin-starred chef Joël Robuchon, and as a result Monaco has turned a page. The opulent 146-room Italianate palace is classic Garcia: Florentine reds and beiges, Roman columns, and Napoleon III armchairs upholstered in modern floral-patterned fabrics. There is also a sexy heated outdoor seawater pool, a terrace restaurant, and a streamlined spa with 13 treatment rooms that will offer waxes and massages in January. Whisking and mincing is very much under way in Robuchon's pristine open kitchen, where a dozen chefs prepare French-Mediterranean tapas: lobster ravioli, baby squid with thyme and chorizo, caramelized quail with truffles and apples, and desserts such as Mauve for Maud, a medley of blackberry sorbet, cherries, and violet whipped cream.

At the edge of the Côte d'Azur, on the Italian border, lies the sun-drenched town of Menton. It has always been a jardinier's dream, home to some of the country's most interesting, exotic gardens (Val Rahmeh is perhaps the best of the public grounds). And now the town will have a hotel worthy of its heritage with the reopening of the Hôtel Napoléon. The three luminous new seaview suites are named after Menton's own artists, Jean Cocteau, Graham Sutherland, and Ferdinand Bac (who designed the private Colombières garden). The rest of the hotel is like a mini museum. The terrific collection includes original photos and drawings by Menton's favorite sons, as well as vintage posters from its biennial. In fact, it seems that all of sleepy Menton is waking up to the town's treasures. Currently in the works is the construction of a museum devoted to the so-called Prince of Poets, Cocteau. As a longtime Riviera resident, he foresaw the inevitable: "You have to do today what everyone will do tomorrow," Cocteau wrote. "The poet remembers the future." Words the Côte d'Azur is finally taking to heart.
—LANIE GOODMAN

Address Book

CAP ESTEL From $730 to $11,370. 1312 Ave. Raymond Poincaré, Eze; 33-4/93-76-29-29; www.capestel.com

HI HOTEL From $215 to $465. 3 Ave. des Fleurs, Nice; 33-4/97-07-26-26; www.hi-hotel.net

HOTEL-CASINO PALAIS DE LA MEDITERRANEE From $445 to $3,310. 13-15 Promenade des Anglais, Nice; 33-4/92-14-77-30; www.lepalaisdelamediterranee.com

HOTEL & PLAGE BEAU RIVAGE From $330 to $730. 24 Rue St.-François-de-Paule, Nice; 33-4/92-47-82-82; www.nicebeaurivage.com

HOTEL METROPOLE MONTE-CARLO From $550 to $5,900. 4 Ave. de la Madone, Monte Carlo; 377/9315-1515; www.metropole.com

HOTEL NAPOLEON From $125 to $260. 29 Porte de France, Menton; 33-4/93-35-89-50; www.napoleon-menton.com

JOUNI Dinner, $120. 10 Rue Lascaris, Nice; 33-4/97-08-14-80; www.jouni.fr

KEI'S PASSION Dinner, $90. 22 Ter Rue de France, Nice; 33-4/93-82-26-06

ESPACE HELENBECK 6 Rue Defly, Nice; 33-4/93-54-22-82

LA STATION 10 Rue Molière, Nice; 33-4/93-51-75-41

LES EAUX DE MARS 11 Rue Defly, Nice; 33-4/93-01-47-17

Insider Tips

A L'OLIVIER (7 Rue St.-François-de-Paule; 33-4/93-13-44-97) is the place in Nice for beautifully packaged olive oils from Italy, Turkey, Spain, and Greece, as well as local nectars on tap.

Oenologist Antoine Soave's new wine shop in Nice, COTE-VIN (14 Rue St.-François-de-Paule; 33-4/93-84-63-60), carries a terrific selection of local Bellet wines, produced in the lush hills behind the city.

Nice's HIP HOLISPA (2 Rue Longchamp; 33-4/93-16-00-20; www.hip.fr) is a futuristic salon and spa with a line of massage oils and treatments derived from sea crystals and Amazonian flowers.

Sir Lawrence Johnston's recently renovated JARDIN SERRE DE LA MADONE, in Menton (74 Rte. de Gorbio; 33-4/93-57-73-90; www.serredelamadone.com), is a 1924 dreamscape of rare tropical species. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday, April 26 to October 31.

Three years and $30 million later, November marks the unveiling of the meticulously restored gold leaf-and-frescoed SALLE GARNIER, the opera house in the Monte Carlo casino (377/9806-2800; www.opera.mc).

Thought I'd bump this back up to see if anyone has new or different plans. We're still debating - too many choices!

Anyone have any fun Menora ideas yet?

I found a bird watching tour. Is this what you have in mind?

Betty, something not as hair-raising ;) I was hoping for something like bungee jumping or a canopy excursion :)

Well, so far I guess we need to plan on eating cheese and drinking gin!

Just got an e-mail - docs are in!!!! :woh: :woh:

How about hand gliding while drinking gin from that terrace you show above? That should be thrilling.

I know - it is time for me to go to my room for a time out.

Sue, I thought the Gin factory tour was sort of cool! I have never seen one before :)

Gin - not just for breakfast any more. And after enough gin the hang-gliding will be a snap! Or is that the bungee jumping?

There was a gal on Oceania cruise board who lives in Palma ( and does private tours )..I have emailed her to see what she knows about Menora for you Karen and all. Perhaps, she can give you some suggestions, since she lives there.
At least maybe where to buy gin lol

Claudia, that is very sweet of you!! :hug:

Now we're down to the Pompeii vs. Herculaneum. Herculaneanm seems better preserved, but Pompeii is so famous! Any chance of doing both via private guide? The way the excursions are arranged it seems that one can't do both aticking with RSSC excursions. All ideas are welcome!

And thanks Claudia!

While the gal is not doing tours any longer I did get this email that shows her suggestions for that area. When we went we followed many of them and had a wonderful time there, while many others just found the main shopping street

Not positive if it covers where you guys are going so help so. ( Do you stop in Palma?)

In and around Palma


Bellver Castle: a circular fortress overlooking the Bay of Palma dating from the time of the reconquest (1299) when the Christian kings of Cataluña took the island back from its Moorish invaders who had controlled it for 5 centuries, along with the major part of the mainland of Spain.

Well worth climbing the 55 steps for the sake of the view from the battlements from which you can gaze over the panorama of Palma and its harbour.

Some of the rooms house collections of artefacts from local archaeological digs (only really of interest to the specialist student) and some “repro.” statuary.

Small admission charge. Free on Sundays



Pueblo Español: a charming complex built in the 1960’s as a craft centre. A “village” with cobbled streets, surrounded by fortress ramparts, containing reproductions (scaled down in some cases) of famous buildings from the whole of Spain e.g. Granada’s Alhambra Palace, Sevilla’s Toro de Oro etc. and other buildings in the architectural styles typical of various regions of Spain. Craftsmen working here include potters, rug makers, and artists. Small shops sell a range of handicrafts and souvenirs.

Admission charge. Free on Sundays



Cathedral: Rococo splendour with stained glass and other fittings by Gaudi the famous Barcelona architect who spent many years on the island. Interesting treasury. Limited opening hours, closed on Sunday

Admission charge.

Please note that, due to the complete impossibility of parking anywhere near the Cathedral, I will not be able to accompany you inside the Cathedral.



Ca’n Joan de S’Aigo: an amazing ice cream parlour in the back streets of the city that has barely changed since it was first opened in the year 1700. In those days snow was brought down from the mountains to make the ice cream. These days they use more modern technology but it is fresh daily. The most traditional flavour is almond (served with a wedge of almond cake), but there are other flavours too depending on what fruit happens to be in season. A charming and little known place to end your day with a delicious ice cream. One of the best-kept secrets of the island.



The old quarter: Can only really be visited on foot as the narrow streets were built before the time of the automobile. Splendid patio courtyards can be glimpsed through wrought iron barriers. Traces of Moorish architecture (Arab baths). A few quirky shops of interest and some excellent “tapas” bars. Evening excursions could include a visit to “Abaco’s”, a totally OTT bar that looks more like a Zeferrelli film set with extraordinary décor, fruit heaped on the floor and metre-wide floral decorations all in a private palacio setting. Very much a place to “see and be seen at”. Hugely expensive drinks in enormous goblets.



Puerto Portals: A fashionable modern marina frequented by the real and also the wanna-be celebrity jet set. Luxury yachts and chi-chi boutiques. A place for morning coffee at a terrace bar while planning the décor of your next floating palace J





Within an hour’s drive from Palma
(suitable destinations for half-day trips together with a look around Palma)



Valledemosa and La Cartuja: A sleepy village in the hills behind Palma that has now been closed to all traffic except residents and opened to the tourist trade. Even so, it has managed to retain much of its essential character and charm. La Cartuja is a former monastery, which was converted into a sort of hostel. Here, the famous composer Chopin and his mistress Georges Sand spent an unhappy winter hoping in vain that the Mediterranean climate would be beneficial for the maestro’s advanced tubercular condition. Sand immortalised it in her book “Un Hiver à Majorque” which is not at all complimentary towards the Mallorcan people. However, they have had the last laugh by selling millions of copies of it to the tourists ever since. The village was also the home of the only Mallorcan saint: Saint Catalina Tomás and most of the houses are decorated with a pottery tile or two depicting scenes from her life.


La Granja: a country manor house, which has been in the hands of the same family for centuries. One can wander around freely and see all the rooms set up much as they would have been for hundreds of years. All local crafts are represented here and especially interesting is the weaving of the traditional Mallorcan cloth (an interesting item to consider purchasing – especially good for curtains and terrace furniture). There are also displays of old agricultural machinery, oil and wine presses, a dispensary (herbal remedies) and even a rather harrowing torture chamber. Local people in traditional costume demonstrate Mallorcan culinary traditions and you can sample such specialities as sausages, hams, doughnuts, fig cake and various pastries. On Tuesdays and Thursdays there are also displays of folk dancing, falconry etc, put on especially for coach parties.





All-day excursions


Soller, Lluch and the northern coast: If you are visiting Mallorca off-season, an interesting and different part of your excursion could be a train ride from Palma to Soller (of course I would drop you at the train station and pick you up at the terminus). The train dates from the early 1900’s and is delightful, although not the last word in comfort (wooden seats in some carriages). The hour-long trip chugs through the mountains and then winds down the hillside through orange groves to the lovely little town of Soller, where there are a couple of very good shops for hand embroidered linens (excellent prices) and olive wood.



Please note that this trip is not recommended for the summer months when the train is very crowded and getting a seat requires a wait of up to one hour.

There is also a charming little tram car that takes visitors from the town of Soller to the sister port of Puerto de Soller built around a sheltered bay (1/2 hour ride). The tram goes very slowly through the main streets of the village and passes through residents’ back gardens and small orchards where you can almost lean out and pick an orange or a lemon off the trees. Guaranteed to give you a taste of the “real” Mallorca!



From the port, it’s just a short ride up to the village of Fornalutx, an artists’ hide-away, which remains relatively unspoilt. The streets are still paved and the views are startlingly beautiful. A couple of good restaurants make this a convenient place to stop for lunch.



Then on through the mountains, past the man-made lakes that supply Palma’s drinking water, to the monastery of Lluch, a major place of pilgrimage and still an active monastery. The statue of the Black Virgin is especially revered by Mallorcans and some 40,000 of them walk the 48 km to here from Palma on the night of the last full moon in August.



Time permitting, a stop could also be made at La Calobra: a curious little beach between towering cliffs, reached via a tunnel cut through the rocks, after a tortuous climb down a twisting road of hairpin bends. Spectacular views.



Return to Palma via the villages of Selva and Mancor de Valle and the 3rd largest town on the island: Inca, the heart of the leather industry.





Soller, Deia and Valledemosa: a combination of what you have already read about above. By train or road to Soller, tramcar to Puerto de Soller and then lunch in Fornalutx. Then heading westwards along the northern coast instead of east, passing through the village of Deia, made famous as the retreat chosen by English literary giant, Robert Graves.



Return to Palma with a stop in Valledemosa (see above) and visit to a glass factory where you can see the artisans blowing the glass.





Pollensa, Formentor, Alcudia and the east coast: about an hour’s drive across the central plain of Mallorca will bring us to the town of Pollensa, which in Roman times was the capital of the island. We can visit the 365 Calvary steps leading to an old chapel at the top of the hill, but if that thought is daunting, then I should add that it is possible to drive up there too. You don’t have to walk up all 365 of them J

On then to Puerto de Pollensa for a stroll around the port and seaside promenade with lunch in a restaurant overlooking the beach. Next to Alcudia with its medieval town walls and narrow streets to be explored on foot.



Passing through the modern beach resort of Puerto de Alcudia we make our way down the east coast returning to Palma either by way of Petra, the birthplace of the monk Fray Junipero Serra, one of the early fathers of Catholicism in California and purportedly the founder of San Francisco – or, alternatively via Manacor the second largest town on the island where we can visit a pearl factory and/or showrooms and a factory shop for olive wood items.



Caves of Ham or Drach, Pearls, Leather


For the dedicated shoppers amongst you, we could organise a tour to take in a glass factory to see the glass blowers working, the pearl factories and their showrooms in Manacor, a shop specialising in traditional Mallorcan pottery and the leather factory outlets of Inca.



This could be combined with a visit to one of the famous cave complexes of the island, (Hams or Drach), both of which have underground lakes where you’ll be entertained briefly by musicians floating around in fishing boats. What the performers lack in musical talent is compensated by the extreme romanticism of the setting J









Shopping


Palma: in the central downtown area we have some very elegant shops for fashions and accessories. We think of these as quite expensive, but I am told that their prices compare very favourably those of their counterparts in the States.



Should the weather be bad (unusual in Mallorca) there is also a modern shopping mall, near the port where your ship docks, where there are many interesting shops and boutiques.



If any of the following are on your shopping lists, then we can certainly include visits to the appropriate shops/factory outlets:

- pearls : real, cultured or artificial, the best place to be sure of what you are buying is almost certainly the elegant little boutique representing one of the big pearl companies that is to be found on Palma’s main shopping street. A big range to choose from and guaranteed fixed prices (a good quality single strand of Mallorca pearls will cost about $80+)

- hand embroidered household linen (table cloths, mats, hand towels, bed sheets etc): the best prices I’ve found are in Soller, where there is a very helpful shop

with a good selection to choose from

- leather (shoes, belts, coats, jackets, bags, purses, accessories): we’ll visit the factory shops in Inca

- olive wood (salad bowls, chopping boards, ornaments, desk accessories, spoons and spatulas, pestle and mortar sets, chess sets, jewellery, knick-knacks): either the factory shop in Manacor or a specialist shop in Soller

- Mallorcan coarsely woven cloth for curtains /terrace furnishings: best in Palma

- traditional Almond Blossom perfume (a light day-time fragrance which features an almond flower head floating in the perfume: most drug stores and souvenir shops

Pompeii is fabulous.. you could do both with private driver ( depends how much time your port stay is)..if you want a private "guide" you must hire one , the drivers by law there are not allowed to tour you through Pompiee..( need to be licensed guides only).. you can have your driver set it up in advance or hire one at the gates or get the guide book and self tour .

Claudia, Wow, thanks for all the info for Menorca!!

Only problem, I think this is for Mallorca, different island.

Thank goodness you are back and using your brain - I can see me running around with wrong island info -

And that's a very funny image!!

Joanna, I don't think I would notice that anything was wrong! All those islands look the same to me. :)

You are probably right - just tell me where I am and what I should do - Menorca Mallorca whatever!!!

Karen, you're right, they all look the same. Only problem would be trying to find Palma and all those neat sites on the wrong one. That's a great bunch of info for Mallorca, though. I think that island is on the SNAP itinerary next year.