Okay, as promised here's my post trip write-up of what we did/what to do if you're wanting to follow a similar itinerary/tips/etc., just incase anyone might find this helpful for their planning in the future. This would assume one is purchasing Rick Steve's Med. Cruise book so keep that in mind as well.
Barcelona
We arrived in Barcelona the afternoon before embarkation day – 3pm to be exact. This didn’t give us a ton of time to explore and truly appreciate the city, but thanks to our hotel’s location we were able to take comfortable walks to the Sagrada Família (20~25min, but straight shot – no turns!) and market area (15 mins, also straight shot). For those interested, we stayed in the
Olivia Balmes Hotel which I highly recommend. Beautiful hotel, extremely friendly and helpful staff, and convenient location.
From the airport I believe we paid around 35-40 euro for a cab, and I think 20 to from the hotel to the port.
Wine tip: a 5 to 7 min walk away from the hotel (spoiler, another straight shot) is a small grocery store called Bonpreu. Go here to max out your 2 bottles per person carryon allowance for embarkation day. The Mrs. and I walked out of here with 2 bottles of Cava and 2 bottles of Tempranillo for under 20 euro total, and these were easily some of the best wines we’ve had. We’re by no means wine snobs or proclaimed experts, but we drink more wine than I should probably admit from $7 bottles to $150, and we were both blown away with the quality and value. That’s Spanish wine for you!
Naples
Oh Naples… I’m still not even sure how I feel about this city. We decided to hoof it from the boat to the train station, and our first “welcome to Italy” experience was a sidewalk littered with empty booze bottles and a pile of literal human feces. I chose not to omit this detail because I thought you should know what you might encounter if you too choose to walk to the station. Please note, we never felt unsafe on this walk, it was just rather unsightly so be warned. Additionally, it’s a 25 min walk and you’re about to do a fair amount of walking over challenging terrain if you’re headed to Pompeii. A cab might be worth the fare if you’d rather “just not”.
Once at the train station you’re going to want to ask for tickets to Sorrento. It’ll be the express train which departs shortly after 8am (cost 3.90 euro per person). It’s important to note that you won’t find any train to Sorrento on the departures board until minutes before the scheduled departure. Don’t ask me why, but it seems the Italians can’t be bothered to post this information until the last minute. This created quite a bit of panic for us at first.
The train ride to the Scavi di Pompeii station is about 30 minutes. Exit the station making a right turn and a few steps down the road on your left is the entrance to Pompeii. A ticket to explore the ruins is 13 euros per person.
If A++ were allowed (and they’re not because that’s just silly), that’s what I’d award Rick Steve’s audio tour. It hits all the highlights without wasting your time looking at the same things over and over – because several of the structures look the same. An hour and a half, or two, and you’ve taken it all in conveniently before the large groups and shore excursions begin mobbing the place. Feel free to wave as you pass them coming in on your way out, fleeing the sun before the heat of the day!
Back at the station, a 2.80 euro ticket to Napoli on track 2 gets you back to Naples.
Back in Naples, find a cab right outside the station and pay him 10 euros to take you to the Architecture Museum, which is the starting point of Rick Steve’s Napoli walk. We enjoyed most of this walk, especially the number of pizza carts peddling personal sized pies folded in fours for only 1.50 euros, as well as espresso at Café Mexico!
Rome
Holy hell I think I’m still recovering from our day in Rome. I don’t know why it feels so taxing, because we’ll do 7 days in Disney World averaging 13 miles walked a day no problem, but here 10 miles felt like 40. Completely worth it though!
Shuttles from the ship will take you to a bus depot outside the port gates. A 2 euro ticket gets you into town right at the train station. Bypass the shop claiming to sell train and other tickets and head into the main station to purchase a BIRG ticket for 12 euros. You want this ticket, trust me. Round trip and you’ll have access to the subway which is too easy not to use, especially if you’ve ever navigated NY or Boston’s.
If you only heed one piece of advice from my entire post(s), please make it this: GO STRAIGHT TO ST. PETER’S BASILICA. DO NOT PASS GO. DO NOT COLLECT 200 EUROS. Boat>Shuttle; Shuttle>Bus; Bus>Train; Train>St. Peter’s Basilica. You will either not get in, or waste half of the precious time you have in line if you do not make this your first stop.
I want to disclose that I don’t consider myself religious, and I get the feeling that there may be others out there in the same boat wondering if it’s even worth going inside the Basilica. That answer is a resounding, YES. It’s probably the most impressive thing you’ll see on this trip – perhaps your life even. If you love or admire stunning architecture, you will be in awe at the beauty and size of the basilica. Rick’s Basilica audio guide is really great here too.
After the Basilica we headed to the Vatican Museums (we had reserved tickets a couple weeks before the trip, and you should too if you plan to go). I’m probably simple minded, but I came across several other couples on our cruise who felt the same way so I feel obliged to share my feelings about the Museums here in case anyone wants to save themselves some money and gain back more of their time doing other sight seeing. There’s beautiful art everywhere in the museums. Some of the best in the world I’m told. But even the Sistine Chapel failed to live up to it’s hype after the Basilica. I can appreciate art, but I’m obviously not a lover or an art history major, so I feel like I spent a couple hours here just to say I saw the Sistine Chapel. It’s beautiful and I think if you want to, you should definitely see it, but all I’m really trying to say here is don’t feel bad or pressured to if it’s not your thin because you’ll likely enjoy spending those hours elsewhere.
Leaving the Vatican you should head to the nearest Subway station on the A line, usually only a 7 to 10 min walk. Take this to the Termini station where you’ll hop off and look for the B line Colosseo stop. This stop drops you off right out in front of the Colosseum, where you can get in the express line because you’ve already booked your tickets (you did right?!).
Rick’s audio guide inside the Colosseum is enjoyable here as well. From here, we took a quick walk through the Forum, omitting the audio guide as time was precious, and once out made a detour to the Trevi Fountain. We didn’t plan on visiting the fountain as Rick only gave this a “single triangle” so we thought our time would be best spent hitting up the 2’s and 3’s of his book. After looking at so many ruins though, it was nice to side trip over here (a fairly easy walk from the Forum) and finish our day in Rome looking at something beautiful and still functional! There’s plenty of great dining and shopping around the Trevi Fountain, and I’m sure you’ll find this area to be a highlight of your day in Rome as well.
From the Trevi, find the nearest subway station (which will be on the B line) and work your way backwards – head to the Termini station, switch over to the A line and take to the Ottaviano stop. Walk back toward the Vatican cutting across St. Peter’s Square, perhaps waving at the people in the massive line waiting to get to the Basilica still (and saying “Thanks JayhawkCruiser for advising me to go here first thing in the day” in your head), and back to the train station for your trek back to the boat.
Livorno
We decided to spend the day in Florence for our port stop at Livorno. To get there, a free shuttle bus from the ship will take you downtown. The bus stop for the bus to the train station is within walking distance from where the shuttle bus drops you off at, but it was raining fairly heavy this morning so we decided to share a cab with another couple also going on their own. The cost for all 4 of us was 10 euros. At the train station, a ticket to Firenze S.M.N. (Florence, and the end of the line) will cost you 9.40 euros, and time wise you should budget 2 hours travel from the time you leave the ship to the time you arrive in Florence.
Arriving in Florence we walked the very short distance to the Duomo which we admired from outside only – but the exterior is magnificent and a show all its own. From here you can start the Rick Steve’s Heart of Florence Walk, which we really liked. Before Rome, our plan was to purchase a Firenze card and explore all the museums, see the real David, etc., but after Rome we were museum-ed out so seeing the replica David outside was good enough (and saved some coin since the cards run over 70 euros a piece). The walk isn’t terribly long, which leaves you with plenty of time to shop, eat, and explore this beautiful, beautiful, city. Yes, it deserves two beautifuls.
Here’s a few random notes based on things we did/bought..
Ties – If you wear one everyday like me, or know someone who does, stop by Ateseta ties which is located across the west corner, north end of the Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge lined with shops). I was able to pick up the most beautiful silk tie I’ve ever seen in my life for just 25 euros.
Gelato – It seems like there’s more gelato stands per sqkm here than anywhere else in Italy, and it’s all good. Trust me, we sampled several shops, and they’re all damn good.
Lunch – Caffe Duomo is a great spot for a bite to eat. It’s outdoors too! They have a really excellent house red table wine that’s remarkably cheap – 7 euros for ½ litre (2/3 of a bottle), 11 euros for 1 liter (1 1/3 of a bottle). Tasty paninis will only set you back 6 euros as well. You can find this café on the east side of the Duomo, literally around back if you’re looking at it from the front.
Wine – Well priced, value wines can be found at the grocery store adjacent to the tracks at the train station. For a higher end selection, still reasonably priced however, try Eataly, which is just a few steps north of the Duomo on Via de Martelli.
We left Florence with enough time to spare a walk from the train station back to the shuttle bus stop, which allowed us a chance to stop at Bar Civili to try their famous Ponche – a Livorno delicacy. I can’t recommend going here and trying one of these enough. A Ponche is sugar, rum, espresso, and garnished with a lemon peel, served warm in a small glass. It’s cheap, boozy, tasty, and overall just wonderful. The bar itself is fun and I got the impression that it doesn’t see tourists very often as the small crowd was very local – but everyone was extremely friendly and glad we stopped by.
Cannes
Cannes is beautiful, but there isn’t a whole lot going on here so we decided to hop the train for a short ride to Nice. Our plan from the beginning was for this to be sort of a slow-paced discovery & recovery kind of day – a Nice way to end 4 long port days in a row (cheesy pun intended).
From the train station we walked to the Le Negresco Hotel, enjoying the beautiful sights and lovely architecture along the way. From here we walked along the promenade towards the Marché aux Fleurs (market), allowing us to enjoy views of the beautiful blue waters on our right. The main market area is packed with stalls peddling fresh fruits, cheeses, breads, meats, and other goods such as candies, soaps, and crafts. We purchased some fresh raspberries to enjoy while we browsed the scene, in search of more wine and gelato. We enjoyed venturing up and down the quaint streets that surround the market, getting “lost”, and taking it all in. The small alleys truly are picturesque.
Recommended Wine & Gelato Stops: For gelato, head over to Oui, Jelato located in the courthouse square just steps away from the market area. For wine, Coté Vin, which is also near the market area. They have a great selection of local rosé, and champagne. We purchased a bottle of Champagne Collette which we had not tried before that we both really loved.
From the market we traced our steps back to the train station and headed back to Cannes. Once in Cannes we strolled back to the tendering dock area, stopping for a beignet at the roadside vendor across the dock before boarding the boat back to the Magic.