Hi,
Our 5/26 cruise is fast approaching and we're just wondering if the distance from each port to the closest town ( area of interest) is listed somewhere. In the excursion descriptions it does say that Florence is a two-hour ride from the dock (Yikes! Is it really that long or are they just being conservative?) I am most curious about Barcelona. It's a long day and if it's close enough, we could get back to the ship to change/recharge, etc. Also, what do most people do on such a day? Do they go back to the ship? Do they eat all meals ashore or head back to eat if it's close enough?
Thanks for all your help. I really enjoyed reading all your posts. It added to the excitement of our trip.
See you onboard...we're doing the happy dance!
Rosemary

I think we are docked in a pretty central location in Barcelona so coming back to the ship should be easy. I assume we are tendered in most ports (Sorrento, Portofino, St Tropez, Menorca) and docked in Livorno (and of course Nice and Rome). Anyone know if that's correct?

Thanks, Richard

Richard, Of the ports I've visited, Barcelona, Livorno, Nice and Rome, the ships dock. Tendered ports are Sorrento, Portofino and St. Tropez. Can't say about Menorca as I haven't had the pleasure of visiting yet!!

In Barcelona the ship normally docks very close to town. It's definitely walking distance. You can walk to Las Ramblas and have a great couple of hours there. If you're there overnight they have a night tour that is very good. For Rome the ship docks at Cavitavecchia, which is @ an hour drive from Rome and @ 30-45 minutes from the airport.

Hi Rosemary,

Yes, unfortunately Livorno is approx 2 hours away ( with traffic)from Florence. You could take the train which might be slightly less.
The time I docked in Civitavecchia and took the tour bus into Rome the traffic was horrendous and it took us 1.5 hrs.

Maria: We had driver from C to Rome still took 1.5 hrs to and from - made for very long day - those tours from 8 am till 5 pm wipe me out - BUT would not have changed a thing...wonderful!!!

Firenz, You can also check Cruise Critics Med ports forum as there are several "how do I get to" posts there.

Usually the ships dock in Livorno for excursions to Florence..that time is about 2 hours each way...with a driver (PRIVATE) who will take you direct...if you do ship tours it will take longer for pit-stops..:-0
Barcelona dock is about 5 minutes by bus,20 minutes to walk, eadsy but over a LONG bridge and there are cruise ship buses in the port..they say CRUISE on them, charge about 3 Euro per person round trip, don't loose the ticket they give you, it's for your return to the dock.. you can get the hop on hop off bus on the Las Ramblas for buses to take you to all the "sites" not sure what they charge now .GOOGLE hop on hop off buses in Barcelona..
for a driver in Livorno to Florence email:
http://www.papillonservice.com

Thanks Claudia.

Has anyone ever used papillon service? It seems much better than going with the ship's tour. They claim the difference in travel time is about an hour. That would make a huge difference.
Again, thanks everyone for your help.