Cruising the Mediterranean in November
My husband Stuart and I just returned from a wonderful Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas. We spent one night in Barcelona and then boarded the Brilliance of the Seas for a 12 night cruise of the Mediterranean. November is a great month for the Mediterranean as it is low season (lower prices), the weather is cool, and there are fewer tourists. It was a little chilly in Venice and we had a short rain storm that turned into hail in Dubrovnik, but other than that the weather was great. Most days were sunny with weather in the 60’s to 70’s. We have learned when traveling in the spring or fall to always pack an umbrella, rain jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, and clothes you can layer so that we are prepared for anything! I just kept thinking how hot and crowed it would be in July at Pompeii or the Acropolis!
Though we personally prefer small ships, I have clients that enjoy Royal Caribbean in Europe and I wanted to experience it myself. We found the Brilliance a great way to see a lot of interesting ports for a great value. The Brilliance of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s Radiance Class ships. It was built in 2002 (refurbished in 2005) is 90,090 tons and caries 2,112 guests. It is a lovely ship and has all the amenities and activities of a large ship—fitness center and spa, casino, lounges, main dining room, casual dining area, pools and whirlpools, etc. It also has two alternative restaurants, mini golf course, basketball court, Royal Caribbean’s signature rock climbing wall, and more! With most days spent in wonderful interesting ports to explore we didn’t participate in many of the onboard activities.
As the airlines have such a problem these days with on time performance, we decided to arrive in Barcelona a day early to make sure we didn’t miss the ship. We were glad we did, otherwise we would have made the ship, but our luggage wouldn’t have, as it was lost in Madrid for a day. A couple we met at the Air Europa lost luggage counter sailed that afternoon and hopefully their luggage caught up with them at the next port. Barcelona is a delightful city and we enjoyed our stay at the newly renovated Rafaelhoteles Casanova. The Casanova is a modern hotel conveniently located near the Plaza de Cataluña and convenient to the metro and restaurants.
Our ports of call were Villefranche, France; Livorno and Naples, Italy; an overnight in Venice; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini and Athens Greece, and ended in Civitavecchia (Rome).
We spent a couple of nights after our cruise in Rome at the Mercure Roma Delta Colosseo with a view of the colosseum from our room! The windows were high, so you had to stand up to see it, but what a view. The hotel has a roof top terrace that is open in the summer and It must be fabulous to watch the sun set over the Colosseum! From the hotel we walked to the colosseum, forum, and many other archaeological sites, monuments, and museums. It was also convenient to restaurants, shops, and a local grocery store.
When cruising we enjoy both the cruise line shore excursions and exploring on our own. On this cruise we mostly explored on our own, partly by choice and partly because the best shore excursions sell out early. My suggestion is to book shore excursions that sound interesting to you online and cancel if you change your mind (be sure to check the cruise lines cancellation policies).
Villefranche, France - Though a picturesque town with a few historical things to see, shopping, and restaurants, most people choose to tour more well know spots like Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Eze, and St Paul De Vence. As we had been to most of these places, except for Nice, we decided to take the train to Nice. The train station is a quick 10 minute walk from the port and Nice is just 2 stops away. You can walk from the Nice train station to the waterfront and old town.
Livorno, Italy – The next day we were in Italy! We took the ship’s shuttle into Livorno, the bus to the train station, and the train to Pisa. From the train station in Pisa it is about a 20 minute walk to the Field of Miracles where the leaning tower and cathedral are located. You can continue on the train to Florence, but we had been there and decided to spend our time in Pisa. The cruise line of course offered many shore excursions, but the one everyone was raving about was the Tuscan Countryside tour and wine tasting. Some very seasoned cruisers said it was the best tour they had ever been on.
Naples, Italy - The ship docked right in town and it was an easy walk to shops, restaurants, and historical sites. I had never been to Naples, but always thought it a dirty, dangerous city without much to see. We walked around in the morning enjoying the sites and searching for a place to use the internet (Found one - 1EU for 15 minutes) and were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed it. In the afternoon we took a shore excursion to Pompeii. We had an excellent tour guide that pointed out many things we would not have noticed if we had toured on our own. So hard to believe buildings with frescos are still around 2000 years later. In Florida we would have torn them down and built condos. I definitely want to go back to this area as there is so much we didn’t get to see –Capri, Amalfi coast, and the Naples Archeological Museum where many of the artifacts from Pompeii are located.
Venice, Italy - We arrived in Venice around 1:00P and left the following day at 5:00P so we had a lot of time to enjoy this fascinating city. Our ship docked some distance from St Marks Square and RCCL offered water transfers ($13 per person round trip) to St Marks. The other options are water taxis (expensive) and the water buses (vaporetti). The vaporetti dock was about a 10 minute walk from the port. It is a great experience to take a vaporetti all the way down the Grand Canal to St Marks Square!
Dubrovnik, Croatia - What a beautiful city! It was heavily damaged during the war in the early 1990’s but has been beautifully restored. We docked about 10 minutes from the old town and the cruise line offered transfers for $8.00 round trip. Taxis were also available to take you to the old town or on tours. I had always wanted to go to Dubrovnik and it was all I hoped for. A wonderfully restored old town with marble streets, historical buildings, and ancient city walls overlooking the blue Adriatic Sea. Clouds were forming as we arrived so we decided to walk the city walls before the rain started. Wrong! First it started raining and then hailing before we were half way around the town! We pulled out our rain gear, got off the wall as soon as we could and ran into a cozy little café to dry off and have the best cappuccino ever!
Santorini, Greece – As I had heard that sailing into to the caldera (crater formed when a volcano erupted in 1500 B.C.) was a breathtaking experience I woke Stuart early so we could be on deck to experience it. I forgot the fact that it was still dark when we arrived and you couldn’t see a thing! The Brilliance of the Seas anchored and we were tendered to the port of Skala. You have three options to reach the town of Fira at the top of the hill above Skala; cable car, donkey, or walking up 587 steps (the same 587 steps the donkeys use). We chose the cable car. The picturesque town of Fira can be explored by foot. Taxis are available to explore the village of Ia or other parts of the island.
Athens, Greece – Cruise ships dock at the port of Piraeus, about 7 miles from Athens. There is so much to see in Athens that this is one port I wanted to take a shore excursion, but waited too long to book and they were sold out. There were four of us that decided to get a taxi into Athens to see the Acropolis and wander the Plaka (oldest neighborhood in Athens). The taxi drivers were everything I had heard they were! They are rude, dishonest, and want to sell you an all day tour rather than just a ride into Athens. After much argument we finally got them down to 20 EU for the four of us, which I think is high, but we were tired of the discussion.
One word of caution when you are arranging your own excursions, be sure you make it back to the ship on time! In Athens we left about 30 minutes late as we waited for people to get back to the ship. Several taxis came speeding in the nick of time, but two people didn’t make it. Bad way to end a vacation!
Sadly Athens was our last port of call. We spent one day at sea on our way to Civitavecchia where our cruise ended. Luckily we still had two days to spend enjoying Rome!
We loved our cruise and visited many places we had not been before and revisited places we had enjoyed in the past. Cruising is definitely a good value, particularly with the USD exchange with the Euro. It is also a lot of fun! After a long day of touring, it was great to get back to our cabin and relax and then meet with new friends in one of the lounges or our dinner table to exchange tales of our days adventures. We will definitely take another Mediterranean cruise. Maybe next November, let me know if you want to join us!
Though we personally prefer small ships, I have clients that enjoy Royal Caribbean in Europe and I wanted to experience it myself. We found the Brilliance a great way to see a lot of interesting ports for a great value. The Brilliance of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s Radiance Class ships. It was built in 2002 (refurbished in 2005) is 90,090 tons and caries 2,112 guests. It is a lovely ship and has all the amenities and activities of a large ship—fitness center and spa, casino, lounges, main dining room, casual dining area, pools and whirlpools, etc. It also has two alternative restaurants, mini golf course, basketball court, Royal Caribbean’s signature rock climbing wall, and more! With most days spent in wonderful interesting ports to explore we didn’t participate in many of the onboard activities.
As the airlines have such a problem these days with on time performance, we decided to arrive in Barcelona a day early to make sure we didn’t miss the ship. We were glad we did, otherwise we would have made the ship, but our luggage wouldn’t have, as it was lost in Madrid for a day. A couple we met at the Air Europa lost luggage counter sailed that afternoon and hopefully their luggage caught up with them at the next port. Barcelona is a delightful city and we enjoyed our stay at the newly renovated Rafaelhoteles Casanova. The Casanova is a modern hotel conveniently located near the Plaza de Cataluña and convenient to the metro and restaurants.
Our ports of call were Villefranche, France; Livorno and Naples, Italy; an overnight in Venice; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Santorini and Athens Greece, and ended in Civitavecchia (Rome).
We spent a couple of nights after our cruise in Rome at the Mercure Roma Delta Colosseo with a view of the colosseum from our room! The windows were high, so you had to stand up to see it, but what a view. The hotel has a roof top terrace that is open in the summer and It must be fabulous to watch the sun set over the Colosseum! From the hotel we walked to the colosseum, forum, and many other archaeological sites, monuments, and museums. It was also convenient to restaurants, shops, and a local grocery store.
When cruising we enjoy both the cruise line shore excursions and exploring on our own. On this cruise we mostly explored on our own, partly by choice and partly because the best shore excursions sell out early. My suggestion is to book shore excursions that sound interesting to you online and cancel if you change your mind (be sure to check the cruise lines cancellation policies).
Villefranche, France - Though a picturesque town with a few historical things to see, shopping, and restaurants, most people choose to tour more well know spots like Nice, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Eze, and St Paul De Vence. As we had been to most of these places, except for Nice, we decided to take the train to Nice. The train station is a quick 10 minute walk from the port and Nice is just 2 stops away. You can walk from the Nice train station to the waterfront and old town.
Livorno, Italy – The next day we were in Italy! We took the ship’s shuttle into Livorno, the bus to the train station, and the train to Pisa. From the train station in Pisa it is about a 20 minute walk to the Field of Miracles where the leaning tower and cathedral are located. You can continue on the train to Florence, but we had been there and decided to spend our time in Pisa. The cruise line of course offered many shore excursions, but the one everyone was raving about was the Tuscan Countryside tour and wine tasting. Some very seasoned cruisers said it was the best tour they had ever been on.
Naples, Italy - The ship docked right in town and it was an easy walk to shops, restaurants, and historical sites. I had never been to Naples, but always thought it a dirty, dangerous city without much to see. We walked around in the morning enjoying the sites and searching for a place to use the internet (Found one - 1EU for 15 minutes) and were pleasantly surprised with how much we enjoyed it. In the afternoon we took a shore excursion to Pompeii. We had an excellent tour guide that pointed out many things we would not have noticed if we had toured on our own. So hard to believe buildings with frescos are still around 2000 years later. In Florida we would have torn them down and built condos. I definitely want to go back to this area as there is so much we didn’t get to see –Capri, Amalfi coast, and the Naples Archeological Museum where many of the artifacts from Pompeii are located.
Venice, Italy - We arrived in Venice around 1:00P and left the following day at 5:00P so we had a lot of time to enjoy this fascinating city. Our ship docked some distance from St Marks Square and RCCL offered water transfers ($13 per person round trip) to St Marks. The other options are water taxis (expensive) and the water buses (vaporetti). The vaporetti dock was about a 10 minute walk from the port. It is a great experience to take a vaporetti all the way down the Grand Canal to St Marks Square!
Dubrovnik, Croatia - What a beautiful city! It was heavily damaged during the war in the early 1990’s but has been beautifully restored. We docked about 10 minutes from the old town and the cruise line offered transfers for $8.00 round trip. Taxis were also available to take you to the old town or on tours. I had always wanted to go to Dubrovnik and it was all I hoped for. A wonderfully restored old town with marble streets, historical buildings, and ancient city walls overlooking the blue Adriatic Sea. Clouds were forming as we arrived so we decided to walk the city walls before the rain started. Wrong! First it started raining and then hailing before we were half way around the town! We pulled out our rain gear, got off the wall as soon as we could and ran into a cozy little café to dry off and have the best cappuccino ever!
Santorini, Greece – As I had heard that sailing into to the caldera (crater formed when a volcano erupted in 1500 B.C.) was a breathtaking experience I woke Stuart early so we could be on deck to experience it. I forgot the fact that it was still dark when we arrived and you couldn’t see a thing! The Brilliance of the Seas anchored and we were tendered to the port of Skala. You have three options to reach the town of Fira at the top of the hill above Skala; cable car, donkey, or walking up 587 steps (the same 587 steps the donkeys use). We chose the cable car. The picturesque town of Fira can be explored by foot. Taxis are available to explore the village of Ia or other parts of the island.
Athens, Greece – Cruise ships dock at the port of Piraeus, about 7 miles from Athens. There is so much to see in Athens that this is one port I wanted to take a shore excursion, but waited too long to book and they were sold out. There were four of us that decided to get a taxi into Athens to see the Acropolis and wander the Plaka (oldest neighborhood in Athens). The taxi drivers were everything I had heard they were! They are rude, dishonest, and want to sell you an all day tour rather than just a ride into Athens. After much argument we finally got them down to 20 EU for the four of us, which I think is high, but we were tired of the discussion.
One word of caution when you are arranging your own excursions, be sure you make it back to the ship on time! In Athens we left about 30 minutes late as we waited for people to get back to the ship. Several taxis came speeding in the nick of time, but two people didn’t make it. Bad way to end a vacation!
Sadly Athens was our last port of call. We spent one day at sea on our way to Civitavecchia where our cruise ended. Luckily we still had two days to spend enjoying Rome!
We loved our cruise and visited many places we had not been before and revisited places we had enjoyed in the past. Cruising is definitely a good value, particularly with the USD exchange with the Euro. It is also a lot of fun! After a long day of touring, it was great to get back to our cabin and relax and then meet with new friends in one of the lounges or our dinner table to exchange tales of our days adventures. We will definitely take another Mediterranean cruise. Maybe next November, let me know if you want to join us!
posted by Annette at
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