Thanks Diana and MLD for the good information.
The hop on hop off tourist bus -- do you buy a pass for that? We're
staying in the Las Ramblas area.
Also, did you get the vaporetto pass when you arrived in Venice or did
you purchase it online ahead of time? Thanks for the heads up about
the Murano factory taxi ride and hard-sell. I hear it's extremely
expensive to buy anything in Murano.
We were in Nice in 2004 (after a Viking cruise from Chalon Sur Saone to
Avignon) and stayed for a couple of days. We had a car and went to Eze
and drove through Monaco but didn't get into the big casino (much to my
husband's disappointment). This is something we might do this time
(although the ship's excursion only allows about an hour in the
casino-- I guess that's enough time to lose).
We've also been to Rome and Santorini. We had several days in Rome
before a cruise back in 1999 and saw everything we wanted to see
(including the Pope). We may skip the Rome excursions. We also LOVED
Santorini (we took the donkeys up to Fira -- what an experience).
We're excited about the places on this itinerary that we haven't seen
yet --
Barcelona, Florence, Naples, Athens, Dubrovnik and of course Venice.
Again, I appreciate your input very much!
Rosann
MLD wrote:
> Good comments--We got to Barcelona about 2 days before picking up the cruise
> so we had plenty of time to get around. I think that taking the hop on-hop
> off tourist bus is the best idea along with doing Ramblas.
> In Venice--You can do it all on your own. Walking around and taking the
> vaporettos (water buses) will let you see and get to where ever you want to
> go. If your stop is more than one day (usually two days) buy a 2 day
> vaporetto pass. Also, let yourself get hustled to the Murano factory via a
> free water taxi ride. If you don't buy anything you kinda get left on our
> own to get back to where you started--that's one time the vaporetto pass
> came in real handy. The sales people hang on you like a coat and get a bit
> pis****d if you don't buy--the prices are outrages. In summary--Skip the
> ship's tours in Barcelona and Venice.
> MLD
>
>
>
>
> "D Ball" wrote in message
> news:4g278cF1kcudlU1@individual.net...
> > Hi, Rosann,
> >
> > We did that cruise in June 2004. What a great itinerary! It is hard to
> offer
> > specific advice without knowing a little more about your travel experience
> > and interests. The most important thing for you to do at this point (and
> > fast!) is to check out some travel guides from the library to learn about
> > each place you are visiting and determine your priority "Must See's."
> Then,
> > you can pick and choose excursions based on what you want to accomplish.
> >
> > To get things going, I will assume this will be your first visit to this
> > part of Europe and you want to see the highlights. I will offer a few
> > suggestions I think are appropriate for first-timers. If you've been there
> > before, or are an experienced traveler and prefer independent
> explorations,
> > let us know--we did the entire itinerary on our own & highly recommend it.
> > Note, when I refer to "excursion" below, I mean through Celebrity or
> through
> > a private tour operator. You can learn LOTS of helpful information about
> > excursions and tour operators in these ports at
> > http://www.cruisecritic.com -- go to the Ports of Call>Europe boards.
> >
> > Barcelona - Recommend the hop on, hop off tourist bus
> > http://www.tmb.net/en_US/home.jsp to get you to the major sites, plus a
> > several-hour walk on the Ramblas pedestrian boulevard of shops with
> fabulous
> > people-watching
> >
> > Villefranche - Excursion to St. Paul de Vence, Eze and Monaco or some
> > similar combination
> >
> > Livorno - Excursion to Pisa (leaning tower) and Florence (the Accademia to
> > see David + one other major site, e.g., the Uffizi Gallery or the
> > cathedral/climb to the dome + lunch, strolling and shopping, incl. the
> Ponte
> > Vecchio bridge). This is a busy day--the alternative is a trip to a Tuscan
> > town, e.g., Lucca.
> >
> > Civitavecchia (Rome) - Most excursions can get you inside for a full tour
> of
> > the Colosseum + Vatican City (museums, Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's
> > basilica), as well as drive you by/make short stops at several popular
> > landmarks, e.g., the Forum, Circus Maximus, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain,
> > Spanish Steps, the Via Condotti and area "5th Avenue" shopping, etc.
> >
> > Naples - Excursion to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
> >
> > Mykonos - beach/city walking day on your own
> >
> > Santorini - beach/city walking day on your own; highly recommend excursion
> > (or negotiate a roundtrip taxi ride or take the city bus) to Oia village
> for
> > sunset.
> >
> > Athens - excursion to Acropolis, original Olympic stadium, museum + time
> in
> > the Plaka for lunch, shopping and strolling
> >
> > Dubrovnik - city stroll, lunch and shopping on your own, including walking
> > the walls -- you can spontaneously join a walking tour, also refreshing to
> > charter a small boat ride at the marina where you tender
> >
> > Venice - book the Secret Itinerary tour of the Doges Palace (just Google
> > it), otherwise, plan to walk all over and use the vaporettos (water buses)
> > to get around and also visit Murano and other islands
> >
> > These are just some ideas to get you started.
> >
> > The Millie is a lovely ship. There are many reviews of her Mediterranean
> > voyages at the Cruise Critic site.
> >
> > Have fun researching & planning. I recommend you move quickly, as
> > availability on popular tours could become an issue.
> >
> > Diana Ball
> > near Houston, TX
> >
> >
> >
> > "SunnyFL" wrote in message
> > news:1151063377.016575.69320@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > Has anyone been on Millenium's Barcelona to Venice cruise? Looking for
> > > opinions on shore excursions and also would appreciate ideas on what to
> > > do pre and post cruise (we have 2 full days each in Barcelona and
> > > Venice). We leave 8/15/06.
> > >
> > > Any comments on the ship itself?
> > >
> > > Thank you.
> > >
> > > Rosann
> > >
> >
> >
|