16 Day Transatlantic Tours and Info

[jasman]

Hi, My fiance and I are going on Carnival's 16 day transatlantic cruise in late October. We are experienced 40 something cruisers but have never been to any of these ports before. We will be visiting, Civitavecchia, Italy, Barcelona, Spain, Palma de Mallorca,Es, Mallaga, Spain, Funchal Madeira, Portugal, as well as St Maarten, (which is the only one we've been to before). Can anyone let us know if it is possible to get our own shore tours etc. when we arrive in these ports? Must see things in any and all of these ports etc. or are we better off booking the tours that Carnival offers? Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, J&W
Also, the dates are oct24 thru nov 9, any weather info would help.

[Willy Paul]

You can find guides by putting out the question on this board and others. In Barcelona you can do your own tour using the Bus Touristic(17 euros per person for one day. 21 euros for 2 days). It is a get on get off bus that makes three seperate tours of the city and you can get on and off whenever you want to. We used it for two days this past August and got to see many of the sites. We just did not have enough time to see all.

[Kuki]

Hi, My fiance and I are going on Carnival's 16 day transatlantic cruise in late October.

Jasman...

Scoot on over to the Carnival board. We have a group from CruiseMates on this cruise, plus we've hooked up with a bunch of others on the same cruise. Lots going on, and you should feel free to join in!

As for the ports, it's not like the Caribbean where you'll find tour guides offering tours at the pier. If you want to do full fledged tours you'll have to pre arrange it with private companies (Port Promotions and ShoreTours are 2 that I know of), do Carnival tours, or explore on your own via bus or taxis.

Barcelona is a wonderful city, and the hop on, hop off bus is not a bad idea, in that you can be on more of your own pace. A ship's tour, you'll only move as fast as the slowest person.

Palma de Mallorca is fairly easy to do on your own, using the ship's shuttle to town, and your feet.... unless you want to get out of the city.

Same is true of Funcah, Madiera.

Malaga is the only stop I haven't been to. There a few of us have signed up for the Jeep Rally tour with Carnival. It's half a day, and should give us an overview of the area, and a half day to explore on our own.

I'm told the tour to Alhambra from Malaga is a must do... but we passed because half the time is spent on a bus getting to and from.

Hop on over to the thread we have going on the Carnival Message board. Sure you'll get lots of info and opinions there.

Hope we get to meet onboard!

[Parrot Mom]

Since we started from Barcelona and did on our own a pre-cruise for a fraction of the cost we hired a driver and it was fabulous..from 10:30 to 4:00 including a stop for lunch...we saw so so much in one day.. In Malaga when got off the ship and to the area where the buses drop you off we met up with another couple and hired a cab and went up to alittle village and then along the beautiful beach and marina...he dropped us off downtown where we stopped for lunch.. Rome...rather than go to Rome somebody hired a guide and eight of us went off to Tuscany...It was the highlight of our cruise...ORVIETO, MONTEPULCIANO AND PIENZA.. We left from Barcelona and went to Nice, Corisica. Rome, Malagal, Puerto Delardo, Nassau and Ft. Lauderdale.. would do it again