Transportation: MSC Cruise Line/
Ryan Air from Frankfurt to Pisa/ use of Trenitalia system
Lodging: MSC Cruise Line,
Airbnb, and
Gianni Franzi Hotel in Vernazza, Italy
Guidebook: Rick Steves' Italy, Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports
In July, my good friend Abby came to Germany for a visit! We have been in the habit of doing girls trips and with me living in Europe, it was the perfect opportunity for her to explore a little of what Europe has to offer.
I picked her up from the airport and we quickly hopped on an
SNCF train to Paris. This spits you out at Gare De l'est and from here you just hop on the metro to your B&B. We spent the weekend seeing all of the major sites and indulging in some wonderful French Cuisine.
After several day trips to places in Germany, it was time to embark on our summer cruise with MSC cruise lines. I had personally never cruised with this cruise line before, so I wasn't quite sure how it stacked up against the other cruise lines that we have used. I will give a brief comparison at the end of this post, but overall we weren't completely dissatisfied and had a great time. The only downside was we paid for an oceanview room, which ended up being a room with a lifeboat view. Abby was needless to say pretty upset, and even after lots of complaining it only resulted in a free bottle of champagne. For all you military folk, Ryan and I have really been happy with booking our cruises through
military cruise deals. They tend to have better discounts and even better if you call and book the cruise.
Our cruise itinerary was as follows: Marseille, Mallorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Salerno, day at sea, La Spezia. Our ship time pretty much consisted of listening to the live music, some dancing, pool time, the gym, and some light summer reading. That part was really relaxing and I love that you can do as much or as little as you want on a cruise!
We flew Ryan Air to Pisa and spent a day seeing the major sites before we took the train up to La Spezia to board our ship.
Field of Miracles
Our first stop was Marseille. We were interested in checking out the town of Cassis and after lots of research on getting there, we realized that first, we could get lost, and second we would have minimal time to even be there. So we opted for the tour through the cruise line to take us there for the day. We met outside the port in Marseille and boarded our bus. From here we drove a very scenic drive to Cassis. It was about a 10 minute walk to the water where we found boat rides to see the Calanques.
After a pleasant boat ride, it was time to wander the cute streets and take a quick dip in the ocean. This area was so beautiful and full of character. If we had the time we would have loved to check out Notre Dame de la Garde, the cathedral on the hill in Marseille, but time was limited.
Speculoos Gelato
Beach in Cassis
Day two was a stop in Mallorca from 3:00 pm until midnight. We met some great people at our dinner table and decided to take on Mallorca with them. I had done minimal research on this stop and after a rocky start, I wished I had at least researched the bus system. After a 15 minute walk we found a small local, rocky, and nude beach. It was so hot and we just wanted the water, so you just have to look past the bronzing bodies on the beach :) We walked for about 20 minutes towards the downtown until we found a bus that dropped us off on the main shopping drag. Palma is a beautiful city with cute streets, great food, gorgeous cathedral, and a killer sunset. I will venture to say that spending more time with a rental car on this island would be a dream. The rest of our evening included some yummy tapas, beers at an English pub, and a nighttime stroll back to the boat.
Random Beach we found with some awesome cliff diving!
Cathedral in Palma
Next up was Ibiza. We arrived at 9:00 am and didn't depart until 4:00 am. With long port times like these, it was easier to see the things we were interested in. At the port we paid 2 Euro for a shuttle boat that took us to the main drag in Ibiza town. This eliminated an otherwise 20-25 minute walk and made better use of our time at port. In the morning, we strolled through the old town and the Dalt Vita, a castle on the highest part of the city. From here, we found a decent beach to relax and take in the warm waters and amazing views. Since dinner was relatively good and free on the boat we took the shuttle boat back to the ship to freshen up for dinner. I was undecided about "going out" in Ibiza. Club tickets are so expensive and the party and DJ's don't get started until 2 am. After lots of convincing Abby and I went into the city and grabbed some drinks at some pubs along the water. We were approached by several people selling "club" tickets for lesser known places for as little as 25 Euro per person, but with time constraints we decided to pass. Some of the bigger clubs to name a few are "Space, Pacha, and Amnesia. A short cab ride later we were back at the ship to sleep before another early morning.
View of Ibiza town from our shuttle boat
Dalt Vita
View from the Dalt Vita
And we found a beach!
Having some drinks out on the town in Ibiza!
The next morning we were up early to explore Olbia, Sardinia. This town is in the Emerald Coast area of Sardinia, with beautiful beaches, luxurious resorts, and a place where the wealthy hang their hats. Our port times were only from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm, so a short trip to the beach was just the ticket. I had researched bus lines ahead of time, which made our day much smoother. From the port, a shuttle bus took the passengers right into town. From here we walked about 10 minutes after a brief stop for some cappuccino, to a bus stop to take N4 ($1.40) to Pittulongu beach. The bus ride took about 15 minutes and dropped us off right at the beach. Several beaches are drop off points for this bus, but this was the beach that we chose.
The beaches at Pittulongu had amazing sand and clear blue waters. The only annoyance were the amounts of beach vendors, but we were able to relax despite that minor distraction. The beach did have restrooms and a cafe for the hungry.
Pittulongu Beach
The last stop on our cruise was Salerno, Italy. Abby really had her heart set on seeing Pompeii, so at 7:00 am we booked it to the train station, hopped on the train to Pompeii, and prayed really hard that we made it back to boat before it left. Once we arrived in Pompeii we split a cab with several other passengers to the main gate to save some time. At the main gate, we were in for a major disappointment. The workers were on strike, which meant no one was getting into Pompeii. We live in Europe and I have been to Pompeii, so it was easy for me to say "That's Europe!" But Abby was not a happy camper. They weren't going to open until 11 am and that was about the time we needed to be heading back to the train station so we didn't miss our boat. At least we tried, and had we been able to get into Pompeii, we would have definitely seen the major sites in enough time to book it back to Salerno. There was a cute cafe so we stopped for some coffee and free WIFI to facetime with our boys for a while. Back in Salerno we had time to meander some of the cute streets and main shopping area before boarding the boat.
Our minimal view of Pompeii and Vesuvius
View of Salerno from our boat
Random Street in Salerno
Our cruise ended in La Spezia, Italy- the gateway to the Cinque Terre. I had heard nothing but amazing things about this part of Italy and I have to agree that it measured up in every way to the hype. Abby and I ended our busy Euro-trip by spending 2 days exploring the area. At the port we waited in an annoyingly long TAXI line to shuttle us to the train station. We bought our tickets to Vernazza at one of the ticket kiosks and in about 25 minutes landed in the cutest village ever! Our hotel, Gianni Franzi, was located right off the main street, but then required about 100 stairs to get up to our room. It was quite a workout, but the it paid off to wake up to those views every morning. This hotel was pricier but included a large breakfast on a private oceanview terrace, had private cliffside decks for its guests, and wine tasting in the evening. The only downside was that WIFI was only in the common area, otherwise the rooms were tasteful and had wonderful air-conditioning. First, set off to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso. This hike involves lots of uphill climb, levels out, and then downhill until you reach the village. It took us around 1.5 hours especially if you are stopping for photos and enjoying the views along the way. Monterosso has the beautiful beaches, but we decided not to swim on this day. Instead, we found a cute oceanside restaurant and had a wonderful dinner before taking the regional train back to Vernazza. Vernazza has several wine tasting shops, so we stopped in one to grab a bottle of wine to enjoy on our private terrace.
Our Private Terrace in Vernazza
Monterosso coming into view on our hike
Beaches in Monterosso
The next morning we spent the morning exploring Vernazza and taking in the view from the Castle's ruins. Cinque Terre is full of trials that connect each village to one another so from Vernazza we began hiking in the other direction toward Corniglia. This hike was similar to the hike to Monterosso in length and difficulty. There is a cute cafe along the hike where it is essential you take a break to get some fresh lemon granita.
Vernal Castle and View of Vernazza from our hike!
Vernazza view from the Castle
Just follow the trail signs and you won't get lost
Coming up on Corniglia on the hike
Corniglia
Once we reach Corniglia and finished mulling around it's cute streets we realized the hike to Manarola was closed. Instead we chose the alternate hike up to Volastra, which is pretty intense, a nice stroll through vineyards, and then back down to Manarola. In total this hike took us close to 2.5 hours, but the views were amazing and it was a nice little workout.
Saying goodbye to Corniglia
Up pretty high on the cliffs and vineyards
Sign in Volastra pointing us to our destination
Manarola
In Manarola, we explored and stopped at a cafe for some pizza for dinner. After a long day of hiking, we decided to take the train back to Vernazza so we could catch our train to Pisa for the night. We easily found our B&B in Pisa and relaxed that evening before our flight the next day.
Now for some Cruise Ship Comparisons. I cannot say that MSC Armonia was a terrible cruise line, but there were some things that stuck out as less satisfactory than our recent cruise on Norwegian.
Pros of MSC Armonia:
- decent food
- decent entertainment
- great destinations
- friendly staff
- discounted prices especially in summer season
- Nice fitness center
Cons:
-Short port times
- no free saunas/steam rooms
- not enough ship activities to choose from
- several languages are spoken and so sometimes the English can be hard to catch at times
- discounted prices but no ship credit included in cost
- must pay for water, tea, coffee, etc with dinner
As you would expect, Norwegian is a bit more luxurious, has better service, better food, better entertainment, has some extras included in the price, and extra facilities that may be used for customers. These things wouldn't deter me from using MSC again, however the big CON is the short port times. You are pretty limited in what you can see in such a short amount of time. Make sure you use this line for places that don't require heavy sightseeing or double check the amount of hours you are at port to ensure you will have enough time to see the things you want to see. Otherwise, MSC is a great option for a discount cruise line in Europe!
To top it off here are some pictures from our time on the Cruise Ship!
