I was helping my friend Winnie plan her first Mediterranean cruise. She said she wanted a cruise that went to the best ports and avoided the worst. It was an impossible task so I sent her to these
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#MediterraneanCruiseTips #MediterraneanCruisePortTips #BestMediterraneanPorts
00:00 Start
00:20 So Many Choices
00:43 Gateways
05:30 Overly Popular
07:30 Beautiful but Popular
37 Comments
corsica mallorca sardegna are only available by cruise ship
Malta is amazing.
Do your research! For some ports, like Rome, Florence, Istanbul, Athens, the cities are much too big to cover in one day and see everything you’re supposed to see and you’re better off taking a separate trip via land if you can swing it. You could do something closer to the port, like from Civitavecchia you could go to Ostia (original port of Rome, crazy good ruins and mosaics) for others, like Kusadasi where Ephesus is really the only thing TO see and you can see it in a day, a cruise is totally worth it. Bear in mind the HEAT. omg. the Med region is HOT in the summer. comfortable, loose clothing and COMFORTABLE SHOES is the key. We loved our med cruise, but I called “boat day” for some ports/cities i had already seen and took advantage of the quiet ship, pool,and AC. 😊
I 100% disagree with you about the city of Livorno. The promenade (a 2-minute walk from the port) is a beautiful area of shops and restaurants that showcases the historical and modern beauty that the city offers. There is a Livorno food and market tour that is offered at the city center. Near the end of the promenade, you'll find the Terrazza Mascagni, which is a phenomenal place to view the spectacular sunrises and sunsets of Livorno. If you're looking for more of a historical tour of Livorno, the Fortezza Vecchia is an expansive array of 20'+ walls, canals, and towers that lead you to small, ancient churches, and monuments. On the walk, you'll find local fishermen bringing in their catch of the day or mending their nets. The best part of this quaint city is the lack of tourists. The cruise ships immediately bus their passengers to Pisa and Florence, allowing Livorno to remain traditional and remarkably enjoyable as a relaxing alternative to the larger Italian port cities.
This guidance makes me appreciate İstanbul’s cruise port—separate from the cargo port—that much more. It also helps that it’s centrally located.
Comment re Kusadasi – whether you're going on an excursion which takes you to the home of the Virgin Mary or to Ephesus (or both . . . and Ephesus is the "must see" if you have to decide between the two), most excursions will end in Kusadasi with a "demonstration of the art of Turkish rug making" with snacks & drinks. This finale ultimately becomes a sales pitch to get you to buy a rug. I say this not to be necessarily pejorative but as a word of counsel – we've been in and out of Kusadasi twice and, on one occasion, bought a very nice rug which arrived at our home roughly a month after we returned from our sailing; i.e., if you do choose to attend such a demonstration and are taken by one (or more) of the rugs, the price you pay will include shipping, customs, etc. to get it to your doorstep.
Helpful!
Naples or Napoli has beautiful areas to shop, eat & stroll not far from the ship. Just put Gucci in Maps & begin your walking tour.
I so agree with this the ports are a gateway to where you want to actually go, another port is Gibralta
I loved Genoa port
I don’t think I want to do a Mediterranean cruise anymore. Thank you for your informative video.
One of your best videos Gary, thank you.
You need to learn some proper Italian pronunciation.
Weird, most of the comments below are off topic. The video subject is the Carribean, the comments down below, are mostly of the Mediterranean.
Price is low hence, food is limited compared to other cruise liners so it’s not really not a negative factor I think.
I do Mediterranean cruises and took the day tour to Rome. It was incredible, bus trip no issue at all and the bus would appear and disappear as needed to get to all the main sites around Rome. Then also stopped at beautiful small islands and towns as well as being right at Canne. I highly recommend it. You’re bringing your incredibly comfortable hotel with you, with restaurants, entertainment and relaxing areas.
pronunciation tip – chivitaveckia (not vechia)
Very helpful and particularly nice to have forewarning of what to expect.
Please pronounce the names correctly like Civitavecchia etc
The Mediterranean is beautiful and stunning. You just have to find the right time to do it. We have been doing a cruise starting from Venice to Croatia and the Greek islands in spring (April-May) and it was not crowded. Even Mikonos was lovely because it was off season.
northern europe? rivers po elbe guadalquivir, rhone douro main rhine danube?
sorrento positano? salerno? cadiz for seville , malaga for cordoba or granada;
milano(genova), paris(lehavre), london(harwich), brussels(zeebrugge), hague(rotterdam), hamburg( kiel bremerhavn), berlin( travemunde warnemuende) , malbork ( gdynia),
plitvice lakes from zadar or split?
which douro calls on madrid, or munich from rhine main danube?
Santorini was such a let down. Absolutely beautiful but so frustrating and unpleasant to walk around.
Good information as usual! The cruise that I am interested in leaves from Civitavecchia, but we plan to stay in Rome for a few days before and then go to the port only the day before the cruise. Even in the Caribbean, we don’t usually stay in the port cities anyway.
I would recommend to see Rome, Florence and Venice and other major cities just consider land based vacations. I always recommend cruises in med on smaller ships that go into beautiful ports that are more difficult to reach by land and you can see many ports and countries Seeing those major cities with large cruise excursion groups is really not that fun.
I agree Valletta is a remarkable port and provides a gateway to a very interesting city.
It would seem that taking a cruise is not the ideal way of visiting these large cities. Given the short time ship is docked and the travel distance one would have a very short time to see the attractions. This happened on a recent cruise on Royal Caribbean when the ride into Paris was six hours round trip with only three hours to see the sights. And it was quite expensive and there was the complication of the ongoing strikes.
When i stay in these areas, I avoid the days when cruise ships are in port. Large cruise ships are destroying many of these ports, and this from a person who has done over 30 cruises.
We are taking the more expensive and faster train and have bought our tickets online. Is this train in the same area as the one you showed on the video? (Frecciabianca train)
Ravenna and Trieste are both interesting little cities on their own. Especially Ravenna. It is the capital of Byzantine art outside of Istanbul!
The “cch” in words like vecchio and Civitavecchia is pronounced like a “k”, not an English “ch”.
You are missing Gibraltar in the list of Mediterranean ports
Once you are in Naples, then visit Naples!
Many of the best ports are really insufficient time to visit on a day trip and may be best visited for several days after the cruise.