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Mediterranean cruise

6 Days in Mar
Europe

Route Details

Day 1

  • Sagrada Familia
  • La Rambla
  • La Boqueria
  • Barceloneta Beach

Our flight arrived in the morning and we had about 4 hours before we had to be on the ship, so we hired a driver to meet us at the airport and take us around the city. We loved Barcelona, friendly locals. Sagrada Familia is amazing to look at (didn’t go in) and the market/La Rambla is a very neat street. It’s crazy to think they never had a beach before the Olympics were held there.

First port: Mallorca

Our first stop was Palma, a quaint town with tiny streets, shops and cafes. We just walked around, got lost. Everyone in our family really liked it.

Second port: Sicily (Palermo)

Once we got out of the downtown area there were some really nice smaller neighborhoods. It was a big city with lots of trash and littering, unfortunately, and wasn’t what we expected.

Third port: Rome

  • Colosseum
  • Pantheon

We didn’t get to spend nearly enough time in Rome as it was a 1.5 hour bus ride each way. Maybe could have gotten to see more if we had customized transportation booked, but it wasn’t the greatest experience. Too many people in your face trying to sell you something, and felt like you couldn’t escape it. I don’t feel the need to return, but my family wants to go back someday.

Fourth port: Savona

Very small town, not too much there. Siesta shuts down everything in the afternoon, so we just walked around and looked at the cathedrals. Also went up Torre del Brandale, a tower with a nice view at the top. A lot of people from the ship went to Genoa this day.

Fifth port: Marseille

Took a bus (30 minutes) to Aix-en-Provence. The quintessential, smaller French town. Cafes, walkable alleys, exactly what you think of when you imagine a perfect French town. Loved it here and very glad we didn’t just stay in Marseille.

 

I was really impressed by Spain and liked it the most. I didn’t think I would, but want to go back there more than any of the other stops. Aix-en-Provence in France was a close second.

I was really looking forward to Italy and thought that would be my favorite. However, I found it dirty and the people were rather rude. Maybe if we got to the non-touristy parts I would have liked it more. There were a lot of political issues going on in Italy also, so some places and streets were blocked because of protests and demonstrations.

We were on the ship Diadema, part of Costa Cruises. Overall I liked it, but what was unique was that people got on/off at each port so there was always new people. Since it is an Italian line and we were in Europe, English speakers (as first language) were the minority. Many languages were spoken for the announcements which we liked but it is not for everyone. The food was good but you had to pay for all your drinks (normal now for cruise lines – they used to have free tea/lemonade/water but now everything costs extra).

Weather was in the 50s in March, rained a little bit almost every day we were there.

Year traveled: 2018

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