Freedom of the Seas - Western Med in June 2017

[kathleendsm]

Having had a great cruise on Liberty, I just booked Freedom for a Med cruise in June of 2017! We'll be in stateroom 1864 (the "larger panoramic ocean view stateroom") which I think a few here have been in, does anyone have any thoughts on it? Our Liberty cruise was in a grand suite, but with flying to Barcelona and wanting to do lots of excursions, concierge didn't necessarily seem worth the extra cost for a port-intensive cruise. However, this room was fairly close to the square footage, though I'm a little bit nervous about giving up the balcony.

Looking for tips and favorite things to do in Italy and France! I think our stops are Naples, Rome, Florence, Marsailles and Nice.

 

[ldo]

I suggest you also try cruisecritic.com ports of call for idea. For Naples, it's easy to DIY to Pompeii and it costs less than $100 for a family of 4 for the day. For Florence (Livorno) you can also DIY to Pisa (but takes some preplanning and leg work) or to Florence but, I would just go to Pisa, as you are sandwiched between other long days. We have also done a ships tour of Cinque Terre--amazing, esp. if you are into landscape photography. For Rome, we love the Coloseum. For Marseille, we did a ships tour of Avignon and Aix and really liked it. For Nice, it's easy to take a bus to Eze or the bus/train to Monaco. Nice is very nice to walk around. I would DIY bus to Eze or Monaco in the AM and then walk around in the afternoon. We have also done a ships tour of a perfume factory (think winery tour but with perfume) and then to Gordon and St. Paul de Vence. A bit pricey, but very good tour. We try to save $ when we can easily DIY and take ship or private tours where is would be logistically tougher. In Barcelona, if you fly in early, do Fat Tire bike tour. Great voervewi of the city and very fun.