Cruise Ports - Part 2:

In part 2 of this blog I will be discussing more Mediterranean ports.

Let us begin this series with Livorno. Livorno is a great port with a lot of great places to see. Two places I would recommend going to are Pisa & Florence. You would think that seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa might not be all that special but it is one of those amazing sights that makes you feel like you have crossed something off of your list. Florence is another beautiful place but is rather far from the port. Florence is a place where you just take in the atmosphere of an old city. You can take a bus from the city of Livorno to the train station and then head to Pisa for around $15 total. Taking a train to Florence would be like $25 total.

The next destination to review is Venice. One of the most romantic and beautiful ports to sail in and away from. Make sure you are on the front of the ship watching us pull into or away from the city. When you are in Venice, I would recommend walking to most of the places. If you can not walk to well I would tell you to take a water taxi to St. Marks Square. The bell tower in St. Marks Square is the bell tower which you can take an elevator to the top for $12. You can get the best view of the whole city from the top. The best time of day to do this would be 6:30pm before they close the elevators. Around 5 pm you can take a Gondola ride. You will see the drivers all around the city, wearing the same outfits. They charge $90 for 30 minutes and up to 6 people per trip. In the evening you should take a stroll to the west side of the city and get some amazing pizza by the water.

The next port is Dubrovnik, Croatia. This is a great port to walk around and see some amazing sights of the old city. You can walk to the bus stop and get a ride to the city. If you like excitement, I would recommend getting jet skis here and taking them all over. There are a lot of beautiful pictures you will take in Dubrovnik.

Messina and Naples are not all that exciting of ports in my opinion. I have yet to discover much to do. Mt. Edna (the volcano) would be my only suggestion for an excursion in Messina, other than that I would recommend walking around the town or staying on the boat and resting up because you are on vacation! Naples has Pompei and Capri. Capri is what I would suggest to see out of Naples. You can take a chair to the top of the mountain and get a great perspective of the area. Pompei is good if you like old ruins and interested in history.

I hope those are good suggestions for you guys. We also have Marseilles, Savona, and Palma De Mallorca, but I have not done anything in these ports that I can write about.

Next week I will talk about my favorite Caribbean Ports and activities, and the blog after that I will get more into ship life, behind the scenes, even some of the drama (which is what many people have been requesting).

Thanks for reading! -*DB