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Anyone been on a mediterrean cruise? Information and advice about shore excursions appreciated.?

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Yes we did a cruise of the Mediterranean in October of 2005.  Our cruise started in Barcelona Spain on the Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas and was for 12 days.  We stopped in Nice/Villafrance first and we did the tour to the mideval city of Eze, including lunch which was good, and then on to Monte Carlo.  The Eze part was interesting and so was the time in Monte Carlo.  But DO NOT pay the $10 per person fee to go inside the casinos, its just not worth it and you cannot even take your camera with you.  The Monte Carlo part also was very crowded to get to from the bus park to the place where you enter the casinos. That tour ended with a stop in the town of Nice which again was OK.  I would give this a 5 on a 10 point scale.

Our next stop was Florence/Pisa and that was a good stop.  We did a combo tour that included a walk through Florence to see some sights narrated by a guide and into a church where Galileo and some other famous people are buried, and the on to Pisa to see the leaning tower.  I give this an 8 or 9 out of 10.  It was good.

Our next stop was Civichivechia, the port city to get to Rome.  Its an hour away from Rome by bus on the highway and the tour we took included the Vatican/Sistene Chapel and the Colosseum with a lunch included.  I give this a 9 or 10 based on the good historical sights available.  This was a very long tour and we got caught in traffic which made us late getting back to the ship and we missed our early dinner seating.  But it was worth it

Our next stop was Naples and we did the tour to Pompeii which I loved after having read a so much about it.  The tour of Pompeii was preceded by a tour of an olive and lemon farm that as kinda interesting.  I give the Pompeii part a 9 and the other part a 5 maybe.

Our next stop was Athens and we did a tour that included a narrated tour of the city after a visit to the Acropolis.  The Acropolis part I gave a 8 or 9 based on historical significance, the city toue maybe a 5.

We then went to Santorini, Greece and we did a tour that went to a couple villages on the Island and then ended up at a winery for some samples.  If I go back to Santorini I would skip the winery and tour and just get off the ship and browse the town nearest the port.  I other words do it on your own if you go there.

We also stopped in Mykonos and it was my favorite of the stops in Greece.  Again, do not do a tour just go into town and browse on your own, that's what we did.

We stopped in Kudesari, Turkey and we did the tour to Ephesis.  This was a 10 stop as far as I am concerned.  If you are Christian or Moslem, or even Jewish you should feel moved by it.  Our tour included Ephesus and a lunch before they dropped us back at the market near the pier.

The Med cruise was great but it can be very tiring since there are so many historical sights to see and usually on back to back days.  We were tired and really enjoyed the "at sea" days in between.  When we returned to Barcelona we took a tour  that included transfers to the airport.  It had stops at the Gaudi Church and a Gothic part of the city.  It was worth the time and effort.

NOTE:  Beware of pickpockets in Italy and Spain.  Carry your money and credit cards inside your clothes (go to Target or Brookstones or some other store that has the travel pouches that you wear around your body).  I carried in my pocket just a few Euros and the rest of my money, credit cards and passport  in a zip bag (to keep it from getting wet with perspiration) inside the pouch and tucked into my undershorts in front.  In Italy and Spain there will be Gypsies, some with kids tagging along, with their hands out begging for money.  Ignore them because if you give one money others will come.  Also in some places beware of pickpockets disguised as tourists with cameras hanging around their necks.  If you are in a group on tour and you see a person hanging around close by who was not on your bus and does not have a tour sticker on his/her clothes, its probably a pickpocket and beware.

We are headed for a western Med cruise in a couple weeks, so I can report on thhat one next  month.
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