Going on the Spirit this June (fly out on the 13th which is a friday ) Going for 2 weeks . Can't wait.
Has anyone just been or come back?

Just wanted some upto date info on the ship, shows etc....

Can you have your clothes dry cleaned or do you have to use the laundrette ?

HI,
Does anyone know of the excursions that are going on the Jewels of the Med Iternery, we are visiting Trapini, Barcelona, Toulon, Seronto & pompeii and a few others. does anyone know of the excursion that go? also are they worth doing oor is it better to go places yourself??
does anyone know the costs??

any replies greatly appreciated..

thank you

We went on a JOTM cruise on the Spirit in 2005 but the destinations were not quite the same as yours. That said we have been to both Barcelona and Naples (for Pompeii).

Typical Barcelona excursions are trips around the city, to the football ground and to the beach. Barcelona is an easy city to get round yourself and it's not really worth paying for an excursion, especially if you're with a group or family.

Naples has a reputation for crime but how founded that is, I'm not sure. The port is not a particularly nice place to be. Excursions from there tend to include Pompeii, Vesuvius and Capri. We went to Pompeii which is about a 20 minutes coach ride away. I imagine DIY excursions are straightforward, though.

Barcelona - the city excursion is an expensive but ok way to discover the city - however, it is easy to diy and the open top bus tour which leaves from near the port entrance is an excellent and cheaper way to view the city. The metro is alsonear the port and is even cheaper and easier - but you need to know what you want to see beforehand. Would recommend the Gaudi houses and Park Guell - Monjuicc is also good to wander and see the olympic sights - the museum is worth a visit.

Toulon - there is a tourist train which leaves the port and tours the town - you can get off in the town centre and it is a very pleasant walk back to the ship - there was a lovely market on when we were there, and the quayside is pleasant to wander along.
Pompeii is great - we took the ship excursion - we have also done the Sorrento/Amalfi excursion, but the traffic can be very heavy and I have heard complaints about the time spent on the coach.

Hope this helps.

Gill

HI,
thanks to all who have replied.
we are going in about 5 weeks time and really looking forward to it.
thanks for the advice, we dont really want to do the amalfi excursion, have heard its long windy roads?!? unless im getting my wires crossed? anyway, one of our party isnt fussed on long windy journeys! lol.
what are the excusrsion prices like? are they reasonably priced??

Naples has a reputation for crime

The port is not a particularly nice place to be.

are these anything to worry about??

thanks

Martyn

Naples does have a reputation,

On our last trip we walked from the port to the main Arch. musium with all the stuff from pompei and back just using a regualar street map about an hour each way, we did try to find the station on the way back for future trips. on the way there we part was through a student/uni area.

We felt save even though the area on the way back did not look that good. people were friendly when it was obvious we were just wandering about

If you get a proper tourist map there are some walking tours that go past loads of little sites, excavations churches etc so you could plan better than we did.

I think you have to just dress down and take the basics with you, 1 CC some cash and keep stuff in a bag/rucksack like you would do in any big city, One trick I have seen someone do is to use one of those kiddy lunch coolers for the camera accesories, they are padded and looks like you have lunch/snack with you rather than expensive cameras.

They have(may still) have problems with garbage men strikes so the city is generaly a bit of a dump but look past this and there are some great old buildings and streets.

The traffic near the port is madness and italian drivers are crazy.

windjammer,

thanks for the info,
the camera bag thing sounds like a good idea.

thank you for all the advice!!

We too did Jewels of the Med a couple of years ago but we did DIY at all the ports.

Don't want to put a dampner on anything but with people mentioning Naples not being safe, Barcelona is notorious for pickpockets and scams. Just go to google and type in "pickpockets Barcelona" and you will get reams of information on the different scams.

We had read all this before we went so were extra vigilant, when we returned to Barcelona for a 3 night stay. On the last day some guy attempted to pickpocket us on the Metro. Fortunately he did not get anything but he was working with 2 others and were giving coded signals to each other. They got off the tube at the same stop as us and ran up the platform and got back on the front coach. I will never ever return to Barclona because of this as it really shook me up. What is really sad is the police do nothing with these pickpockets except take them in for a couple of hours and let them back out again.

As for Naples I didn't feel afraid there. We went to Capri (not on an excursion) and caught the hydrofoil just round the corner from where the ship berthed. The only thing we saw was a beggar hassling people who were queueing to buy tickets for the ferries.

Must speak in defence of Barcelona - we have visited several times on cruises and also had 3 city breaks there - we didn't feel it was any different to any other big city - eg Rome, London etc - just be cautious. Last time we were in Naples another passenger was robbed - its a sad fact of life that big cities can all be unsafe.

Gill

thanks for replies. . i do agree with Gill about any city being an unsafe city, i suppose you have just got to have your wits about you really.

does anyone know any of the prices the excursions are onboard the ship?

Flying out Friday morning

Can't wait

Going on our first cruise on Friday, any advice please on the following -

Towels. Are pool towels supplied.

Gala Night. Dinner or Lounge Suit.

Excursions. DIY or with Thomson, if Thomsons any idea on the cost of the Rome trip.

Transfers. Do you collect your cases as usual and find your coach, somebody told me it was different
for cruise passengers.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Gerard

Gerard
Pool towels are provided,£10 deposit requested but you can change them as often as you like.
Collect from + take back to pool attendant.
Most people wear lounge suits.
Most ports you can do DIY,Thomson excurtions very expensive,Rome i think £60---£100.
they do a Rome shuttle for about £35.
Pick up your bags from carousel + report to rep she will tell you your coach number,take your bags to coach yourself.
Enjoy
Johnny C

We was on the spirit in may, did not pay anything for pool towels, they were left in your cabin for you to use then left them in bathroom to be changed like you would do with bathroom towels. We did all the tours with thompsons, Menorca was the only one you could get off and walk to the harbour. We did rome £96 i think, it is a long way away from the ship about an hour at least, it depends if you just want to wander around at a slow pace or with a guide.

if you list ports of call, I would be happy to give an opinion on diy v's ship excursions.I think the most difficult diy's are Florence & Rome, but lots of (adventurous) people do them.

We were on in the summer and pool towels were exchanged in cabin, as previously said. I would say it is 50/50 dj/lounge suit - neither are out of place.

Thanks very much everyone for the advice, a great help.

Gill, the ports we are visiting are -

Toulon
Livorno
Civitavecchia
Olbia
Mahon

Thanks again

Gerard

Should be Villefranche, not Toulon. Toulon is on Jewels of the Med, next Friday on the Spirit is Mediterranean Renaissance.

ok - these are my opinions:

Toulon - little sightseeing train runs from port round the more interesting areas of town - get off in the town - there was a fabulous provencal market there when we were there in the summer. There are lots of nice streets to explore then walk along the marina back to the ship

OR

Villefranche - there are a couple of pretty streets back from the portside, and its also nice to wonder along the quayside - there is also a little train which runs from the port - though not sure if its out of season now. We once took the train from Villefranche along to Monaco, which was an excellent day out.

Livorno - didn't like the town at all, not for tourists

Civitavecchia - can't comment - did Rome a couple of times, so now prefer to relax on board - the ship is empty!

Olbia - also a bit disappointing to walk around - one or two nice shops, but thats it.

Mahon - very pretty to walk round - quite a steep climb from the port up to the town.

Hope this helps - did our 3rd Spirit cruise last summer - loved it!!

Enjoy - feel free to get back with any more questions.

Gill