ChadH1

Cannes, France

This was my favorite port because there is so much you can do here and it's beautiful. As far as tours, pick one. You can't go wrong. This was the one port where I said afterwards that I could come back sometime and spend some time there.

Barcelona, Spain

This was probably my least favorite port. It was nice enough with the architecture and everything so don't take my comment as negative. I just liked the other ports better. Some good shopping there. We took the Gaudi/Barcelona tour. It was good but this is one port where I think you can skip the tours and do it on your own. Watch out for pickpockets.

Messina, Sicily

We took the Mt. Etna/Tarimino tour. Another wonderful tour. Mt. Etna is impressive and Tarimino is pretty and has some good shopping.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Wow is all I can say. I did not know what to expect. I knew the country had been torn up because of the war in the early '90's. It has been rebuilt and it is beautiful. We did the yacht tour. Only 10 people on it so if this is for you book before you leave home. It is pricey but we had fun. Make sure whatever you do you have time to go into the old city. Very pretty. You can do this on a tour or on your own. You can also walk around the ramparts but you do have to pay for this.

Naples, Italy

The town itself is a little dirty from what others told us. We did not go into the town as we did the Mt. Vesuvius/Pompeii tour. It was a great tour. However be warned that the hike up to the top of the volcano is quite taxing. The view is nice. If you really want to see a volcano but don't think you like the idea of hiking., you can wait to see Mt. Etna in Sicily. A much more dramatic experience.

Venice, Italy

Depending on what day you are there, this may or may not apply. We were in Venice on Friday and Saturday. My advice is if you are going on these same days then book your tour on Saturday. We did the Secrets of Venice on Friday. A walking tour. Not great but we liked it because we like to learn about what we're looking out. We left the tour about 5 p.m. and tooled around on our own. St Marks's/Shopping etc. We ate at one of the squares. Food in Venice is....well it's just food. Stay out Friday night, do your shopping and exploring then. Why? On Saturday it was crowded, crowded, crowded. Not for us as we did the Murano/St. George/ Gondola ride tour. It was alot of fun. If you take a gondola ride as part of a tour it's ok. But I wouldn't do one on my own. Too expensive, too short, and not worth the money.

Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy

Very beautiful city. We took the Highlights of Florence and Shopping. Tour was not much. You ride 1 1/2 hours into town, they take you on a 1 hour guided tour, and then you have about 4 hours on your own to shop and sight see. The guided part was so short it would have been better to just do Florence on your own tour. But probably the best thing is to take the train into Florence. Costs about 17 Euros each way I think. We heard this is what the crew does. I don't know where you catch the train off the ship but this is a much cheaper way to go. You don't need a tour in downtown Florence. You can do it on your own. Again watch out for pickpockets.