Millenium Mediterranean Cruise
SunnyFL
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
D Ball
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" <z3lad...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1151063377....@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
MLD
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" <di...@removespamball.net> wrote in message
news:4g278cF...@individual.net...
SunnyFL
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
main locations is right near Las Ramblas. No big deal. As I recall, there
were two color busses, red and blue that you could take--don't remember why,
could be they went in different directions, don't really know. You buy the
vaporetto tickets at a booth by one of the stops--again, no big deal. The
tickets aren't collected, in fact nobody shows them to anybody, people get
on and off as if the ride was a freebee. But you better have a ticket if
asked to show it--big fines keep everyone honest.
At the Murano factory, the glass blowing exhibition was a joke--just a means
to get you into the showroom. Go, have a look around and then expect to be
a bit insulted if you don't buy. Our guy, as we were leaving said something
like "Can I get you anything, like some spaghetti and meatballs". It is very
expensive there, in fact just down about 6-10 stores down from the factory
there was a place that had some of the same pieces at a much lower cost.
MLD
"SunnyFL" <z3lad...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1151076462.9...@b68g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
A. Pismo Clam
> Naples - Excursion to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast
>
>
> the Plaka for lunch, shopping and strolling
>
>
In Naples, I would go to Herculaneum; most tourists don't even know that
it exists and we were fortunate that it was available to us. It is a
much smaller community than Pompeii and, as a consequence you get a much
better "feeling" for the type of life the doomed inhabitants of this
town lived. Secondly, being a much smaller community, you get to see
much more of it.
In Athens, if it's on your itinerary & should time permit, try to visit
the Temple of Poseidon. I am sure that there are photos of the area on
the Internet, to lure you to this wonderful spot.
Have a wonderful time!
Alain
Jean O'Boyle
> 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.
You buy it at the little booths at the vaporetto stop. Be sure to count the
change you get back. Twice I was short changed. They don't think you will
notice as everyone is in a hurry! But you could tell by the man's face when
my husband questioned him about it and he gave back what he over charged
both times without a word..
As far as Murano, they sell it in all the shops in Venice...I picked up some
small vases and beads (jewelry) instead of going to the factory and be
hustled..I despise high pressure sales and like to take my time to select
what I really like.
Have a wonderful cruise!
--Jean