Mediterranean Cruise from Barcelona: A Travel Diary of Naples, Ibiza, Florence and Nice

A fairly seasoned cruiser reporting to you in this article. I will tell you all you ever wanted to know and sound about cruising with NCL. Nine days with Barcelona to Barcelona Western Mediterranean Cruise in Spain, France and Italy with Norwegian Epic. I will tell you about the ship, the ports, excursions, to be or not to be booked or not to book. And this advice is pure gold.

You can board in Rome or Barcelona, but the cruise is identical. We boarded in Rome. We will see Naples, will spend a day at sea, Mallorca, Ibiza, Barcelona, Cairns (but I will take you to Nice) and Florence for two days and then back to Rome.

We boarded early, like really early, like the earliest available time which was between 10 and 10:30 a.m., which was the best decision ever. Normally the check-in takes you staggering three to four hours. Here however it took us less than one hour. By 11:30 we were on board and had a bonus of full day discovering the ship and having three meals: breakfast and lunch normally we would only arrive to the boat closer to dinner time.

Tip number one: arrive a day early and choose the earliest available check-in time. Then it is not so crowded and you can get on board within an hour. Check out the spa, got a pass, went to sauna, had lunch, went to the pool and had a great dinner with Manhattan, one of the complimentary dinings here on board with some live music and the show. We went to see Epic Beatles, which was quite good.

The next day we were in Naples. It was lovely to start the day with a cup of coffee in a new port and then another and then another. Then I’m gonna finish it up with another espresso in Naples. Wait for it… I’m a coffee person. So we had a slow lovely breakfast and we’re ready to discover Naples.

The best part about the port is that it is literally in the city. You step out of the ship and you are there. You’re in the thick of it. It’s absolutely amazing. So you do not, you absolutely do not need to buy excursions on board. There’s a hop on hop off bus right there. There is a stop on the left of the fortress. And if you want to go farther away like Pompeii, there’s a local provider, local guide on the square. It’s on the right side of the square as you step out of the ship. You’ll be facing a few hundred meters. There’ll be a square on the right side of it on the right corner there’ll be local provider and the Pompeii would cost you no 40 euros return or something really really ridiculous in shape.

In Naples we bought hop on hop off and it was 20 per person. So Naples raw, a bit messy, a tad neglected yet full of energy stunning views great food and surprisingly enough a lot of elegance.

Welcome to Italy’s masterpiece: Naples skyline features looming Mount Vesuvius which erupted in 79 A.D., burying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum that you can find within an easy ride from Naples or as it’s known Napoli in Italian.

Napoli comes from Greek word neapolis which basically means new city or new town. This name was originally given by early Greek inhabitants in 8th century because the earlier city was abandoned hence you had the new city.

It’s one of the most iconic cities in Italy one of the most popular destinations in entire Mediterranean. Naples is the third largest city in Italy after Rome and Milan.

The very first pizzeria and maybe even invention of pizza lies with Naples Antica Pizzeria Port Alba was open in Naples in 1830 and is still operating today.

The classic Margherita pizza was named after Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni after she visited Naples in 19th century.

The history of the city is nearly 3 000 years when ancient Greeks founded Naples around 8th century BC since then the southern Italian city has gone through countless transformations and has been under the rule of no surprise there Roman Empire barbarians Spain.

And even Austria just to name a few

Naples became a part of New Italy very recently in October 1860. The city is currently home to nearly a million residents. Several million more live in the surrounding districts.

Thank you for the castle remnants of Naples occupation history

Did you know that there are seven castles in Naples? In fact, Naples used to be referred to as the city of seven castles. Built in 1279 for Aragon and Spanish rulers, Castel Nuovo is one of the most scenic and recognizable architectural landmarks in Naples. You will see it literally once you step out of the ship. You can see it from the ship. This imposing fortress feels like a true castle with its isolating moat and rook-like structures adorning the facade. The castle houses Civic Museum today and the library. So you can visit it if you would want to.

And then we decided to take a break with a cup of coffee and a few pastries. Again, Italy surprises with the prices. It’s very very cheap. So we had two coffees and two pastries for like five euros. And did you know if you’re standing out by the bar and you’re having coffee by the bar, it could cost you three times two times cheaper at least rather than if you sit down. So true Italians actually have their coffee standing up.

What you’re seeing right now, this is a panoramic view that you would get on the route B. As I said many many times, you absolutely have to go with the route B and route A. The earliest everything that was in the city, that was route A. This is route B, very very pretty, takes less than two hours. You don’t have to get off really. You can just enjoy the view on the bus.

Guys, so we’re done with day number two

We are in Naples today. We had a great cup of coffee which you’ve seen already. I did it like any self-respecting Italian would: standing up. And it was great.

A key tip for this particular port: you do not need to book anything with NCL if you don’t want to and I think you’d get a much better deal by just leaving the port. It’s literally five or ten minutes walk to the downtown. You can walk there by yourself. However, I would recommend going like left side of the fortress, the main fortress as you face the fortress on the left side of it. When you pass the fortress on the left side of it, there’ll be a stop for the hop on hop off bus. There you can buy the tickets. There are two routes: route A will take you through the historical Old Town so you’ll see Naples definitely worth doing it’s only 40 minutes. Get off a couple of times. The bus goes every 20 30 minutes so you could check out the city.

What you absolutely do not want to pass is the route B, the longer one that goes in an hour hour tan. It’s a very very beautiful scenic ride on the coastline. It’s very beautiful definitely do not miss that one and the price is only 25 euros per person which is like you know a joke in comparison to other prices will be offered.

Coming back to the ship exhausted was fairly happy we went for dinner had a really good dinner again we went to Manhattan there are other complementary dinings so you could choose from again food is really good so you don’t really have to buy specialty dining packages necessarily because I think it’s fairly good.

Then we went to walk on the ship checked out the sunset my favorite thing to do and had a drink in the evening listen to some live music. The day was great.

Next day was a day at sea

As always we had a slow breakfast I did some yoga and then we spent a few hours in the spa went to sauna which was great then I did some more exercise for which I that I regretted later because it was killing my legs for the next few days I did some climbing I went to a climbing wall it was a bit cloudy but there was a lot of activities by the pool which was fun had a drink fight the pool as always which was great.

The bartenders are super funny and full of energy

Had a lot of food, had a lot of dessert. That’s lunch, guys. That’s only lunch. And then we went for dinner. The dinner was really good again. We actually went to Manhattan and we didn’t go to Manhattan quite a lot. So yeah, it is a lot of the cruising is about eating and the food is really good. I said it many times, can repeat it again and again. So don’t forget to exercise otherwise you’ll bring a few kilos from the cruise not only the memories which we did certainly.

Then we went to see the auction. So there are a few paintings. We should actually see they’re the same ones like every time I go to the cruise to pretty much repetitions of the previous ones but it’s fun to see some of them were pretty cool.

And we are in Mallorca and it’s Spain

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Did not expect Majorca to leave such a deep impression on me. I expected Barcelona to be my favorite port. I think Mallorca beat even Barcelona. I loved it.

We had a slow breakfast. There were options to do The Great Outdoors. You could actually see it on the terrace up on the highest deck or you could potentially and this is a bit of a secret tip here you could go to La Cucina at least on the Outback because it’s really really crowded for breakfast so they opened the La Cucina which has much much better seating. So go there and have your calm breakfast.

The best part of it again you do not need to book anything with NCL. You do want to buy a shuttle bus, a shuttle transfer. You buy it a day in advance. It would cost you I think seven euros return or 15 euros return. I don’t remember and then you are in the downtown. It’s a bit far, it’s not really walkable so I wouldn’t recommend walking but it’s only a 10 minute ride by bus and they go every 20 30 minutes and you’re right in the thick of it.

They take you to the cathedral and from there frankly you can walk anywhere around like 10-15 minutes walk a diameter from the cathedral you would see the best what Mallorca has to offer as far as the old town is concerned.

Mallorca is a charmer

He charmed me and I’m not easily charmed. Dating back the 13th century when Christians reconquered the island, the name of island comes from Latin phrase insula maior which basically means a larger island as Mallorca is the largest island of all Spain and gradually the phrase was mispronounced to such an extent that it became Mallorca.

The impressive La Seu cathedral in Palma is one of Mallorca’s most significant sites. It’s a huge cathedral built on the site of former mosque. The building of cathedral began in 1230 and continued for 400 years.

Very impressive cathedral with diverse architecture and design of Gothic and northern European styles with some influence from great Antonio Gaudi. We’ll talk about him more in Barcelona.

Famous stained glass windows have earned the name of Cathedral of the Light.

From here literally roamed free as I said wonder in any direction from cathedral and you cannot go wrong. It’s stunning all over you during the very heart of Mallorca and old past that Old Town has to offer. It’s right there.

Walk through medieval streets lined up with imposing townhouses, Baroque churches. You’ll find quite a few public squares, fountains, gardens and of course cafes. I certainly took advantage of those.

Cup of coffee

One of the things that I always try to do on my trips and it’s just to slow down and sort of try to behave like locals right so Spanish have the siesta thing and I’m starting mine early it’s like 11:30 now and I’m just gonna sit down and enjoy my cup of coffee.

Life and holidays, culture, nature, entertainment and definitely gastronomy

We actually went wild here, went for a very very large lunch with a lot of tapas. And I’m buying it for the retirement. It’s very popular with Germans and Swiss for retirement. I’m thinking maybe this is a good place to go.

Clear sea

Everyone, including myself, are usually amazed with how blue and clear the water is. This phenomenon is caused by algae actually on the sea bed. Due to these organisms, Mallorca has some of the clearest, most turquoise sea water.

Here you would also find the hop on hop off bus. I would honestly say it wasn’t worth it. We did take it but to be fair the most beautiful sights are right there by the cathedral. You do not have to pay 25 euros per person to see a couple more places. I really don’t think even the amount of time that you have, which is not that much, it’s worth taking the bus ride. If you want to, it’s right there by the cathedral. There’s a first stop, easy. But I think you know, up to you. I if I knew what I would have seen, I wouldn’t have taken it.

And now to the best part: trying the local food

We love absolutely love trying local restaurants and in this case we found a fairly small place which was really really good. Again, close to the cathedral there are many good tapas places. Just check, just Google the ones that have the best reviews. That’s what we did and we had a blast. The food was great and we paid like I don’t know 45 or 50 euros for a massive lunch.

Exhausted but happy as always

We returned to the boat and spent the rest of the time on the top deck just checking on Mallorca from a flower, having a drink, spending time with the pool which was great. The weather was fantastic so it was great to catch up on some swimming and sunbathing. So that was a blast.

And then we had a lunch outdoors. We actually ate on the top deck and for the dinner we finally did what I wanted to do for a while: went to the Asian, the Shanghai noodles place. It’s also a complimentary dining. I have to say udon noodles not so much. The rest of the food was actually fairly decent, fairly authentic.

I used to live in China so I know what good Chinese food is like. If you’re interested in China and food and whatnot there is a top 10 Beijing and bears share a lot about the food.

And we are in Ibiza

It’s a totally crazy unquestionably stunning little darling of the pirates. Yes, those very pirates that was literally destined to be the party island of the world. More about that in just a moment.

First and foremost, the great news, the very great news: again you do not have to book anything with NCL because I’m gonna explain to you how to get to Ibiza for just a few euros.

Do not take the shuttle bus. You’d pay 15 and go back and forth on a shuttle bus but with seven you could buy a ticket here. I’ll show you that tiny booth. You’d have to walk 10 minutes or so to the boat and then for seven you could get a return boat to the Old Town.

You could also get a day pass I think 10 or maybe 15 and you can go anywhere they’re three stops so you can get off anywhere.

I just got one built on and just to reiterate here again: you will just walk you cannot get lost because there’s just only one way one pedestrian way from the port so you can either ask for information in the information center or you can just walk a few hundred meters more across the road again again and get lost because there’s no other way to go there’s only one pedestrian walk there.

I will explain to you how to get to every single port without paying much of anything on your own you do not have to book anything.

NCL because I’m gonna explain to you how to get to Ibiza for just a few euros

You could also get a day pass I think 10 or maybe 15 and you can go anywhere they’re three stops so you can get off anywhere. I just got one built on and just to reiterate here again: you will just walk you cannot get lost because there’s just only one way one pedestrian way from the port so you can either ask for information in the information center or you can just walk a few hundred meters more across the road again again and get lost because there’s no other way to go there’s only one pedestrian walk there.

There’ll be people standing and selling tickets for the city boat and there are quite a few signs pointing to the city boat you cannot miss that and the savings are just starting so I’ll give away a bit of a secret. I will explain to you how to get to every single port without paying much of anything on your own you do not have to book anything with NCL because you can get much better deals if you organize it by yourself and I’m gonna tell you exactly how to do that.

So yeah, if you have any appreciation, super thanks would be very very much appreciated. There is a button underneath the super thanks. So yeah, if you want to tip me, I’m all up for it.

And not all attention to stunning Ibiza

The group of Phoenicians settled here and founded Ibiza in 654 BC. They called the island Ebusim in honor of Bes, the guardian god and guess what? God of dance, music, safety and female adornment. So Ibiza is without a doubt living up to its name.

Ibiza boasts many pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, making it deservedly one of the best beach destinations in Europe, the world arguably. It was popular among Europeans since the dawn of times.

Norwegian King, yes there were such a thing, Sigurd first invaded Ibiza in 1110 to use it as a strategic part of his Crusade towards Jerusalem. The island has also been invaded by Aragonese King James the first in 1235, then by Moors before in 1490 by CPO brothers. So quite a history for such a small island.

Fantastic back in the day when most coastal lines cities and towns and islands were ravaged by the pirates Ibiza has no hard feelings whatsoever. This island was the only place in the world as far as we know that infamous sea raiders honored. It was their little darling and no one touched it. So it was a safe haven.

In 1915 in fact an obelisk was erected in the port of Ibiza in their memory sort of thanks guys for not robbing us.

Pretty much the entire island of Ibiza is UNESCO world heritage site because of whole bunch of things: its biodiversity, culture, architecture, sea life, coastline, what not. It has an outstanding natural beauty, rich heritage and culture, pristine beaches and remarkable landmarks such as Old Town known as Dalt Vila that we’re enjoying right now.

We’re right by the entrance to the old town

I found a lovely coffee shop and as I said earlier I actually do try to take my time and maybe spend half an hour to an hour just sitting in a sidewalk cafe observing people enjoying the atmosphere and trying to sort of feel like locals do.

Return to the boat

Had lunch outside which was lovely right by the pool then went for dinner again. The food was great complimentary no need for anything else.

And the entertainment this particular case concert was so amazing that I went there twice literally guys. I went there at 7:30 and 9:00. Both shows I went to see because it was this good. So definitely do not miss if you have War Chain. You can see how it’s spelled [here].

It’s amazing so do not miss them

And we are in the most awaited port of all: Barcelona. That’s the place I have never been to and Barcelona was the place I really really wanted to visit. And in this particular case we actually did buy the tour with NCL. Was it worth it? Frankly not so much. I would have preferred there is a shuttle. I actually took a shuttle to return. It was fairly short, only three hours observing tour or whatever. It wasn’t that good honestly. I would have preferred to take a shuttle bus and then take hop on hop off.

What I would recommend to do absolutely: get data for Europe, get a data coverage. It’s gonna be worth it if you can navigate in the ports by yourself. You’re gonna save a lot of money and get much much better experience in every single port.

Thank you foreign Barcelona.

Did you know that Barcelona is older than Rome?

No worries, I did not either. One theory about the origins of Barcelona states that city may have been founded by Hercules 400 years before Rome was built. The truth is no one really knows that that’s the case. Maybe it’s just a legend but it sounds really cool so for the purposes of this article let’s just go with that.

According to other traditions, Barcelona has been founded by either Phoenicians or Carthaginians who had trading posts along the Catalan coast. Today Barcelona is the most visited city after London, Paris and Istanbul.

Could have been home to the Eiffel Tower

Yes, the very Eiffel Tower. If everything had gone according to Gustave Eiffel’s initial plan, Paris’ most famous landmark would now be in Barcelona. That Barcelona would have been the second most visited city in the world.

Unfortunately, Spain rejected the architect’s project deciding that it was too radical and did not fit the city’s aesthetics. Little did they know.

In fact, on his visit to the city in 1862, Hans Christian Andersen remarked that Barcelona was the Paris of Spain.

The city is indeed a major cultural center with remarkable history, more than 10% of the city is covered by urban parks. Instead of shrinking, the surface actually grows by about 10 hectares every year. With this kind of trend, if it continues, there’ll be nothing but parks by 2015. But again, maybe not.

The fantastical Sagrada Familia church or cathedral

Other modernist landmarks designed by Antonio Gaudi. A lot of the buildings that are of any interest that were actually designed by Antonio Gaudi.

Antonio Gaudi is considered one of the most important architects with great influence on various buildings in Barcelona. Antonio Gaudi was a huge fan of nature. That’s why when you look at Antonio Gaudi’s buildings you would realize nothing is repeating itself, nothing is identical.

As he himself pointed out that in nature nothing repeats, nothing appears more than once so everything that he did was always unique.

The construction of Roman Catholic basilica Sagrada Familia began in 1882 and still ongoing many years after his death.

Randomly on the square we walked into heaven

We walked into the first place which was amazing and it was self-service. You could pick up any of these beauties that you want and the price would be depending on how many this kind of tiny wooden sticks you would have collected and the cost of which like two between two and two and a half euros but oh my god it was good so definitely have lunch in Barcelona.

Return to the boat with a shuttle bus

Because we did stay behind after the tour then we had a great dinner again loads of desserts.

And the next day we were in Cannes. A new day, a new cup of coffee and a new port. What can be better? And just between us you can actually go down to La Cucina on Epic specifically if it’s too crowded during the breakfast in the main dining. La Cucina is open and it’s so much nicer so go downstairs and just have your breakfast.

There in Cannes

He actually provided tender boats which are free, great, and you arrive there in the downtown Cannes. Because I have been to Cannes before, I actually decided not to stay there. If you want to check out Cannes, check out my other articles or put in the description to check my Mediterranean Cruise article about Cannes. But this time we are going wild and taking a train all by ourselves to Nice. We’ll tell you all about it.

And again, going having coffee as I said coffee on board is not particularly good so be prepared to have a lot of coffee in the port. Took a train by myself. It’s fairly easy, just navigate to the nearby train station which is 15 to 20 minutes walk to the spot with a tender boat brings you to. Then the cost was 15 euros return per person.

Again, a couple of caveats: obviously check the time, make sure that you do go back on time and you don’t miss the boat. That’s of course is the risk that you’re taking if you’re organizing your own tours but if you are reasonably conservative you should not be later for the boat I think. So count for the fact that trains sometimes are late in France so in my case the train was half an hour late or something. It’s usually not very long plus you have a bus which comes to worse you can actually take a bus.

I would recommend aiming to be back I don’t know two hours before your last tender boat.

And now my friends only attention to beautiful Nice

The city is nicknamed Nice la Bella meaning Nice the Beautiful which is also a title of unofficial anthem of Nice written by poet Menica Rondelly in 1912. Nice was popular with humanity like way back over 400 000 years to be precise. Terra Amata is an archaeological site which displays evidence of very early use of fire here roughly 380 000 years ago. So Nice was popular back then.

Around 250 BC Greeks of Marseille founded a colony and called it Nikaia or Nicaea or in other words Nike sort of after Nike not the brand but rather the goddess of victory after which the brand is named as well. It is believed that at some point they fought against the neighboring Ligurians and won. To mark their victory, the city was named after the goddess of victory.

So coming to Nice was very adventurous of me but so far so good. I haven’t made it to the boat yet. I’ll tell you give you a lot more details of how everything happened and yeah I think it was a great trip. A very fast train roughly 30 minutes but do keep in mind they do run late quite a lot so they’re not that punctual so I would recommend leaving an hour or so for the transfer between Cannes and Nice.

Nice has both French and Italian heritage and was a part of the House of Savoy and later became the part of Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. In 1860 there was a public vote and 99% of the population voted in favor of becoming French hence it is a part of France.

The natural environment of Nice and mild wonderful Mediterranean climate with 330 sunny days a year came to the attention of English and Russian upper classes and in the second half of 18th century more and more aristocratic families were spending their winters here including Queen Victoria and her son Edward VII.

Even Winston Churchill loved it. Many Russian stars also were quite fond of Nice and the Russian presence here became so strong that today there are three Orthodox cathedrals in Nice.

Nice was also favored with artists loved by Paganini and Picasso who used to live here and annual festival is held in Nice since the Middle Ages every year in February. The Carnival of Nice: colorful, festive, beautiful event traditionally was the day of lower classes wearing masks and mocking the powerful without any drawbacks.

This time around I was very excited about coming back to the ship

Because this time we had the specialty dining so they saw the fancy restaurants.

That they have on board

They’re not included now complimentary so we had one and we went to La Bistro and it was great. It’s our favorite French restaurant on board and as always did not disappoint. We really really enjoyed the food and afterwards we had the show. It was a great dancing show. We really enjoyed it.

And the next day we were in beautiful Florence

I was very excited about this port. I’ve been here quite a few times but I love the city so much that I was excited to go here again. So what can you do here? We did not do the best thing so I’m gonna learn from my mistakes. So again you do not have to book anything with NCL if you don’t want to. So what you can do and the best thing to do: to buy a shuttle transfer, get onto the shuttle and exactly on the spot where they drop you off there will be local providers and they will offer you Florence for 40 euros return by bus.

We however did not look for easy ways. We took a train by ourselves. I would recommend against it actually. I would recommend taking the tour because we regretted taking a train. It was too much hassle and unwarranted frankly.

And we are in Florence, the birthplace of some of my favorite things in the world: gelato, Renaissance, piano and opera. It was the birthplace of the Renaissance, a political, artistic and cultural rebirth that followed the Middle Ages.

From 1865 to 1871 Florence was actually the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The main site here is of course Florence Cathedral with impressive dome that used to be the largest in the world at the time of its completion and today it remains the largest brick dome in the world.

Thank you opera

Opera originated here in late 16th century. It is believed that Bernardo Buontalenti invented gelato in Florence in 16th century. He was the first that who added eggs and milk and froze it all into the delicious dessert. And I will tell you where in Florence you can buy arguably the best ice cream in the world so stay tuned.

Gucci was founded here if you’re interested in luxury and is still headquartered today.

And now to the food

The most interesting and most important part of a trip: pizza was amazing. Go to this one [here]. It’s actually very close to the cathedral, just navigate there with Google. Go for Napoli pizza, thank you.

And finally ice cream: ice cream was absolutely amazing. You won’t regret it. There will be a line but they do serve fairly quickly so we waited for less than 10 minutes and we even got seated. And the taste was fantastic.

The history of the city goes back to the 6th century BCE

When Etruscans founded a settlement on the hill near Florence. Romans founded a military village at Florence, calling it Florentia in 59 BCE.

The Republic of Florence emerged in 1115 CE and became a very very powerful force. It had its own currency, florin, a gold Florentine coin which became a dominant currency across Western Europe.

In 1339 Florence became the first city in Europe to have paved roads. It was very very advanced.

In 15th century, the Medici rose to power and they were the bankers of the Pope and great patrons of art, commissioning many works of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and many others. And the beauty of their creations you can see throughout the city.

And of course, the famous Medici family came from agricultural Mugello region north of Florence. They were first mentioned in 1230. The origin of the name was very interesting: Medici is plural for medico which actually means medical doctor.

The dynasty began when they founded the Medici Bank in Florence in 1397.

Florence was truly an amazing experience

The food is amazing, the place is amazing, people are nice. We really loved it so take your time, enjoy it.

And the next day

The next day we decided to really relax. We haven’t done much of anything. We just stayed in the ship.

We were still in Florence

We could have potentially gone somewhere but we were so tired already and it was enough. So we ate a lot, we went to bowling, went to play pool. So we just had this kind of very nice entertaining day on the ship.

So that would be all that I wanted to share with you

Thank you so much for joining. If you did like the article, please don’t forget to put a like. Don’t forget to subscribe. Let me know if you have any questions and see you soon.