Cruising the Meditteranean in 2013

[TrevorW]

Due to the generosity of some life long friends my wife and I will be going on a cruise next September, 12-14 days around the Mediterranean.

It'll be our first time ever outside Australia, after 30 odd years together, so it'll be an experience.

The itinerary includes Spain, France, Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice), Greece (Mykonos, Athens) and Turkey(Istanbul and another port)

The longest spent in any one place is Barcelona (3days).

So you world travellers out there any ideas of things to know, go see and do. Also what would be a good average daily allowance for spending money, I drink my wife doesn't.

Cheers

[strongmanmike]

Very Nice Trevor, should be a wonderful holiday :thumbsup:

Good travel health insurance and ensure Internet Roaming is not activated on your mobile phone :)

Mike

[TrevorW]

Too true Mike, I've heard about those internet roaming disasters

[multiweb]

Florence is a real treat. Make sure you visit the museums and take plenty of pictures. Ponte Vecchio is very cool.

Venice is very nice too. You have to try one of those gondolas.

Mykonos and all greek islands are gorgeous. Athens is a polluted busy place though.

I know Barcelona well. It has a very distinctive church. The coast down to Cambrils is very nice too.

Are you driving through?

[TrevorW]

No driving, we fly into Barcelona from Dubai stay a couple of days then board the cruise ship.

Plan to get plenty of pictures, I've got 3 camera batteries, my charger, a SD card that'll store 4800 pictures, and I'll take a spare card for videos, do you think that should be enough.

[multiweb]

I'd get another SD card. Just in case.
Cool - if you stay a few days in Barcelona try to get to the Pyrenees mountains out west for a day. It's just next door. Not far from where I was born. You've got to try the cheese (Brebis) and the Wine (Moscatel).

[Barrykgerdes]

I know a bit of info that was not released about "cruising in the mediteranean". 35 year ago one of "my" submarines on its way home had trouble with an aerial cable and pulled into the nearest Spanish port.

They met with the port authorities and the local police but could get absolutely no help. However someone told them to see the local chandler. He was the person who really ran the port. They made his acquaintance (couple of bottles of grog) and he took them under his wing and organized everything, Got back to me in Scotland and I scrounged a new cable from the USN (it was official actually) and sent it to them. They fixed the problem and continued to Sydney, and I missed out on a trip to Spain

The moral of this story is that if you get into trouble in the mediteranean the best person to contact is the local ships chandler.

Barry

[Rob P]

Hi Trevor,

A few suggestions for your cruise:

Barcelona;

the Gothic Quarter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Quarter,_Barcelona

the Sagrada Familia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia

Las Ramblas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Rambla,_Barcelona

If you are a soccer fan, Barcelona run tours round their stadium (Camp Nou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Nou)

Rome: so much to see; possibly best to join a tour depending on the amount of time you have in Rome. If you do have the time, it's a great place to wander round. Presumabley the ship is berthing in Civitavecchia; if so be prepared for a bit of a journey into Rome (about 70km)

Naples: If you have time try a pizza in one of the restaurants that lie off the beaten track. And watch the traffic; absolute loonies!!!

Istanbul;
The Grand Bazaar - watch out for forgeries; prepare to haggle and to drink lots of apple tea.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Bazaar,_Istanbul
If you have time take a ferry across Bosphorus and visit the Asian continent!

Can't offer advice on a daily allowance but just be aware that most cruise ships run a cashless system where you pay at the end of the cruise. It has caught some people out. Internet is generally available on the ships but can be very slow (think dial-up rates) and expensive; however that was 7 years ago so may have improved now.

Enjoy the cruise.

Rob (Ex-cruise ship navigator)

[Rob P]

Trevor,

Forgot to add: take an international plug; depending on the build and nationality of the ship the sockets could be of a number of configurations but should be 220-240 volts.

[mithrandir]

Getting there and back isn't cheap even when someone else is paying. Relatively speaking SD cards are, even the Extreme Pro UHS-I my a77 prefers.

You also want something to back up the SD cards that you can leave on the boat. Back up every day and at worst you'd lose one day if the camera gets stolen.

[bartman]

Very true Andrew.....Trevor get a few cards and back them as you go along ( I remember JJJ had some probs with her puter a while back when she was on holidays....)

I have been in and around France when I was young and loved it ( not that you are going to be there, but ....--->>>) Enjoy the moments in the short period of time that you have in the ports of call, but dont let taking pictures dominate your holiday......:D
Enjoy Mate
Bartman

[TrevorW]

Brand new cruise ship "Royal Princess" it's maiden voyage is in June so should have all mod cons and I think the captains not an Italian

[bartman]

Is that the ship you're going on?
Thats Massive!
Looks fantastic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrfGEU9PrEI
Bartman

[TrevorW]

Yes thats it

[barx1963]

Might run into you Trevor. The SWMBO and I are heading to that part of the world at that time of year also (along with about 50% of the population of my hometown it seems. Strong A$ is sending us all offshore!).

Malcolm

[TrevorW]

Good one Mal