Full recap of my Mediterranean & Transatlantic cruise with stops in Italy, Monaco, France, Spain, Portugal & Bermuda. Port highlights, tips, photos & honest insights from the voyage.
Last fall we took another transatlantic cruise. It was out fourth. We had previously done several going west; one from Rome to Tampa, and one from Southampton to Galveston. We have done one transatlantic heading east, Miami to Barcelona.
Mediterranean & Transatlantic Cruise: Italy, Monaco, France, Spain, Portugal & Bermuda
This transatlantic cruise was a back-to-back cruise. Our first leg was a Mediterranean cruise with stops in Italy, Monaco, France, Spain, Portugal. Our final stop was in Bermuda on the transatlantic portion of our voyage.
As I mentioned in my last Italy post, we sailed out of Civitavecchia – which is the port for Rome. It is about 45 miles away, and a bit over an hour drive.
We have sailed to and from Civitavecchia before, and knew that it was a very large port. As I posed in my last Italy thread, we knew special permits were required for drivers to enter the port (it is an enormous port). We found out too late that the local taxis didn’t have these permits! Rome taxis did, Civitavecchia taxis did not. < slaps forehead > How Italian.
There are buses that run in the port, but as I recounted in this post years ago, that when we arrived from Sicily, they do not always run frequently. That sunburn was special.
IMO, the “best” way to get to the port was either with a local (as we did this time) who has a permit if staying in Civitavecchia, or simply stay in Rome, leave early that morning, and take a permitted black car.
Now, I am going to pick up our story from the time of drop off at Civitavecchia.
We were sailing Silversea. We had booked this cruise when we were on Silversea from our New Zealand through to Japan four legs last year. We liked Silversea so much, we were happy to get back on for a back-to-back (two cruises in a row on the same ship) just six months later!
We arrived at the port of Civitavecchia about 12:10 pm and we were on the ship by 12:30! We were the only passengers in the terminal when we arrived! The Silversea agents checked us in to the ship with photo, credit card, and handed us our ship key cards. We breezed through security. We would have been on the ship even sooner (!), but Hubby had left something at security that he had to retrieve.
A few words about cruise lines we have sailed. We have sailed on Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Oceania, Holland America, and Silversea. RCCL owns Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea. We have status on Celebrity and so we received a loyalty match with Silversea due to that status. On the long cruise from New Zealand to Japan we received the free laundry perk, and knew we would get it on this cruise, and what to expect with that perk!
YAY!
Welp, turns out that even without our status we would have received free laundry this cruise.
Somehow, we booked a suite for this voyage.
We booked this cruise when on the Silver Nova. I recall a conversation with the booking agent about having “at least” the same size room on this cruise as the last cruise.
We picked a room and thought it was the exact same size.
We thought wrong.
We have done junior suites before where there is a nice sitting area. On the Celebrity Constellation in 2022 we had two full rooms for that crossing – it was a “family room” in the aft of the ship. Those rooms were probably as much space as we had on this ship, but the Constellation (while we love it) is not as nice as the Silver Ray.
This was a full bedroom (with doors that completely closed it in), a very large closet, vanity area, huge bathroom (this picture does not do it justice) with a water closet.
There was a long hall that ended with a very functional desk area, and a nice living room with sofa, chair, ottoman, end tables, and coffee table.
There was also a coffee area with a minibar and fridge. Hubby, once again, fully ultizied this area.
Our balcony on this ship was quite large for a side balcony. The after balcony on the ships we have said are huge, and why we try and book an aft cabin whenever we can.
We received free premium internet (value was about $1200), free laundry (which we would receive with status) and those were very nice perks for the suite. I am not certain how much larger this suite was than the room we had on the Nova, but Hubby said, “I am afraid you will like this and get used to it,” so I am guessing it was a decent amount larger.
Our first stop was Livorno, Italy. I included that in my Italy write-up.
Monaco
Our next stop was Monaco.
This stop concerned me as much as Lisbon due to the hills. I’d been to Monaco before – about 50 years ago! And was like “meh” when visiting as a kid.
Monaco was still “meh.”
We were in port on a Sunday, so most everything was closed.
Hubby and I took a walk around the pier and while there were many boats, it didn’t look like the Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Majorca did, Monaco did not.
Hubby wasn’t interested in the castle or casino, so we walked into town from the port.
He needed something at the store and was trilled to find a Carrefour open, all with French foods. They were selling €600 bottles of wine at a tiny grocery store!
We ate outside at one of the few restaurants open – and considering they have a captive audience, the food was good and not overpriced.
We did get in three miles walking (remember, I still didn’t know I needed a pacemaker, I thought my fatigue was lack of stamina from being ill for a few months).
For the most part, the weather was been outstanding on this trip, and this day was no exception.
Marseilles, France
Our next stop was Marseilles. Hubby wanted to visit his aunt. We usually try and visit relatives when in France, and we had seen her and his uncle (his mother’s brother) two years ago. His uncle passed away last year (at 94) and his aunt is also elderly (89), so we thought we would go visit.
Hubby booked a driver for the day. While hubby is willing to drive in France (and has done so in the past), parking is crazy around where she lives. We also wanted to purchase flowers and some dessert pastries, and there was no way I was driving to circle the block while he ran in.
I do not speak French. Over the years, I have come to understand about half of what is being said during a conversation. But, that isn’t rapid as Hubby’s family is very good about talking slowly for me. That wouldn’t happen in a shop.
The driver and Hubby got on like gangbusters! The driver took us to his favorite patisserie in Marseilles and to his favorite florist (which didn’t open for 30 minutes, so we went to Plan B).
I could also follow more than half of their conversation, so I do think I am getting better at understanding basic French. The nuances I miss, but the broad conversation is fine for me.
We had a lovely luncheon with his aunt, and spent about four hours with her at her home in Toulon.
We then went back to the ship and on to our next port of Barcelona.
Barcelona, Spain
This was a two day stop in Barcelona. Since we had spent some time in Barcelona the year prior, we knew what we wanted to see – Mercat de la Boqueria.
Last year when we visited that market was so packed that we had to shimmy halfway down an aisle, saw nothing, and then we left. This time we got there about 11am (terrible construction on the street where our 5 minute taxi ride turned into 15 minutes) and the first hour of our time there was quite enjoyable.
Since this is a tourist market, it has a lot of take-out items, stools for food at many stalls, and some restaurants.
There is also a lot of pastry, breads, candies in addition to the fruits and vegetables of a produce market. There are also many meat, fish, and cheese stalls.
The second hour at the market was no fun for me as the hordes had descended for lunch.
It was again wall-to-wall people.
After a while, I gave up and went outside where I watched seagulls the size of giant chickens/small turkeys (seriously) sit in wait for crumbs to fall from those that chose to take their purchases outside to eat.
Hubby finished up the last row at the market on his own. He then came and got me and then we went to lunch.
Hubby wanted paella and it was offered at the restaurant we went to (next to the market), but instead he got pimientos de padrón (blistered padrón peppers that he loves), croquetas, and sardines. VERY Spanish tapas menu.
Our second day in Barcelona we did not get off the ship. I was still working on my stamina (remember, we didn’t know about the heart issue) and there wasn’t any touristy things we wanted to do in light of how much time we had spent in Barcelona the last few years.
So, we hung out on the ship and got pedicures.
Majorca, Spain
When we were in Majorca a few years ago, we went on the food tour from hell. I had looked longingly at the Tim Horton’s that visit, barely got 10 minutes in the food market, and we were marched to places at a clip that would do the Marines proud.
We STILL talk about that terrible tour (we bailed early) years later.
We had also discussed what we would do if we ever returned to Majorca (not a tour), so we knew that off to the Mercado del Olivar we would go! And so we went.
What. A. Difference.
The market was filled with stalls and people. It was very different from our last visit three years prior.
A lot of in-season produce and vegetables
You can’t have a market in Spain without olives!
Or ham.
The fish market was bustling and crammed full of people.
I would have loved to have eaten there (there was many places to eat in the fish market) but it was too noisy for Hubby and the seating was all high stools which did not work for me.
We walked the market, purchased some olives, and then we went for a lovely, quiet sit down lunch at Olivar Bistro.
Tucked in a corner of the market, it was very nice. We decided on Spanish tapas – in addition to olives, croquetas, and peppers, we got a lovely meat & cheese tray.
After that, it was off to Tim Horton’s for coffee.
Unfortunately the brewed coffee machine was broken (!!!) so Hubby got a café con leche and I bought a cappuccino.
All-in-all we were quite pleased with our day.
This was another 3 mile walking day, but it definitely did not feel like it. I also hopped (I’d have sworn my hopping days were over) into a cab in the middle of heavy traffic. There was no way I could have done any of those things a month prior. By my journal notes, I had fooled myself into thinking I was finally getting better.
Valencia, Spain
We had a tour planned to an orange grove with the ship. After the “not suitable for people with mobility issues” the night before, we bailed and stayed on the ship.
I am still not convinced it was necessary for us (due to me) to have canceled.
Cádiz, Spain
We had been to Cádiz before. We had also been to the surrounding areas that would have made for an interesting day trip (Gibraltar, Rhonda). We decided – after doing some research – to go to the Mercado Central de Abastos de Cádiz (where we had been before), the artisan market, and some artisan shoppes.
Did I mention that we had done research to plan our day and make certain these places were open on a Sunday?
Pfffft
NOTHING, and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G was open on Sunday.
The artisan market did not exist. (We asked.) There was a flea market set up outside the fruit & vegetable market/fish market, but we don’t need any fleas.
The artisan fan shop? Closed.
The crystal shop? Closed.
The art shop? A store that wasn’t set up for customers.
The market? Open, but only a few prepared food stalls, nothing else.
While we didn’t expect fish (not on Sunday or Monday in Europe), the entire fish/vegetable/fruit market stall area was cordoned off.
Once again, did I mention we had researched to make certain these places would be open? Google sucks.
Walking the streets (easy walking for me), all the shops and most restaurants were closed.
Silversea had flip-flopped this stop after we booked with the Málaga stop. This was so Málaga would be a longer day in port and people could make the trip to Alhambra. This was totally understandable – I thought Alhambra was fantastic when we went and I think everyone who travels in that area of Spain should make an effort to see it. However, that meant the Cádiz stop was less than great due to all the Sunday closures. It didn’t help that our research about what was open on Sunday (basically nothing) was wrong.
We did find a local restaurant we got some favorites – Spanish beer, patatas bravas, and olives, Hubby got soup and we shared blue tuna chicharrones (fantastic!!)
Málaga, Spain
Hubby and I have been to Málaga many times: the airport, the train station, driving through to Fuengirola – but we never explored the city with boots on the ground.
The last time we were in Málaga our driver taking us to Fuengirola was singing its praises, but as we looked out the vehicle window we noticed nothing interesting or exciting.
How wrong we were!
As we had been in the area several times before – for weeks on end – we decided to simply get off the ship and walk around the town. The ship docked fairly close to the historic city center, which is only about a mile away.
Hubby wanted to go to the Atarazanas Central Market, so off we went. It was wall-to-wall people and I told him it wasn’t for me.
He parked me at a little café where I enjoyed (two) fabulous cappuccino and a honey cake while he explored the market.
I got in a good bit of people watching, and when the rain came down as I sat outside under an awning.
After that, Hubby walked us around for a bit. Then, he looked for a restaurant for lunch.
We ended up at a small place that served excellent food and such large tapas portions that we could not finish it all.
Patatas bravas – if you are getting the idea we like patatas bravas, you would be correct! We always order it at our local Spanish tapas restaurant, and we definitely order it when we can in Spain.
We also got a cheese tray, gambas al pil pil (shrimp in a spicy olive oil sauce), some chickpea thing (no thanks, that was all Hubby) and some of the best bread we have eaten on this trip (and that is saying something as we have had excellent bread on this trip!)
It poured on this day, so we mostly stopped at some shoppes (I bought another scarf I didn’t need, this time at a fan shop – go figure!)
Neither one of us are into Picasso, so while that would have gotten us out of the rain, we skipped it.
The Roman Theater was very nice, and since it was “closed” on Monday we couldn’t go in!? No idea what was “closed.” You couldn’t miss it and it is wide open. Maybe a museum or a guided tour is the closed part?
On our walk back to the ship we saw all the stands being set up for the upcoming Christmas market. I bet that is lovely when it is open.
If the weather had been better we would have explored a bit more, but we were pretty soaked in spite of raincoats.
Lisbon, Portugal
Sonny-boy and his wife LOVE Lisbon. They warned me that everything I read about the hills was not an exaggeration, and I needed to take that into account when deciding how to spend the day.
So, with that in mind, we booked a “panoramic tour” with the ship.
Surprise! It was also a river cruise! And it was an excellent surprise indeed.
The drive too and from the cruise ship to the river cruise took about 2.5 hours, and we were on the river cruise for an additional 2+ hours. While not perfect, we did get a great overview of the area and a unique perspective of the city with sites you could never see on land, too.
An observation Hubby & I have made is how often southern European tour guides say the word “important.” Everything is important, or very important. Our guide on this tour spoke for about an hour – possibly 75 minutes – and uttered the word “important” 58 times.
We made a game out of counting.
We have come to the conclusion that there must be a translation issue where several Spanish, French (Hubby couldn’t think of any), and Portuguese words must translate to the word “important.” There can be no other reason we hear it so frequently on guided tours.
Madeira, Portugal
Having been to Madeira recently (on a Sunday) we knew what we did/did not want to do.
I think Madeira wine is nasty, so we skipped that.
The storm clouds were BLACK, so no around the island tour of funicular.
The Mercado dos Lavradores (farmers’ market) was closed last time we were in Madeira, so Hubby wanted to see that, get a custard Portuguese pastry tart (pastéis de nata), and some (zero) Fanta Guaraná pop.
There were at least four ships in port, plus more came in after we docked! Combined with the locals out shopping, the place was packed.
This, combined with some rain, and we tempered our expectations for the day.
The market was very nice, but packed full of people. When I was nearly pushed over by a man rounding a stall, we decided I should park at a café and have a coffee.
Instead of coffee, I ended up with a banana shake that tasted like a big, fat, banana!
While we didn’t see any banana trees this time, we did see a large variety of bananas for sale at the market stalls, as well as hanging outside restaurants.
Hubby made the rounds, purchased a ‘made in Portugal’ coaster (he collects locally made coasters, one per trip), some VERY expensive dried fruit, candy, chocolate, and more. He had a good time in the market.
He then trotted off to a large grocery store. This store is about the size of a Super Walmart – the only store I’ve seen larger in Europe was a Tesco in Scotland. He managed to get his Fanta there.
He came back to collect me, and I held his packages while he went inside a “very nice” (his words) €2 store.
We then found his pastries.
After that, we took the shuttle back to the ship. With how crowded it was in town I decided to pass on lunch.
And with that, we waved good-bye to Europe.
Now, we were on the ship for six sea days.
“What do you do at sea for six days?” you might ask. Well, it depends on the ship.
We have taken a transatlantic on Celebrity, Oceania, Princess, and Silversea. They are all very different experiences, and all offer different levels of entertainment.
By far, Silversea has the least activities and you must be self-sufficient and able to entertain yourself.
Silversea offers S.A.L.T. labs (limited), plus demonstrations in the theater, cards and games (self-hosted) once per day trivia, enrichment lectures, and an evening show.
A lot of people also enjoy the spa and exercise room.
I read.
A lot.
We did our first transatlantic four years ago on Celebrity. That trip will also be our favorite transatlantic because, well, it was our first and it was very new and different. The suite we had was very large. When I caught a cold I spent time on the enormous aft balcony baking it out of me. They offered trivia four times a day, lots of games, officer/crew interactions with passengers, contests, and much more.
With Oceania, what I remember most was trying not to eat too much and gain weight. The food was that good.
The Princess transatlantic cruise offered the greatest quantity and most varied entertainment. That cruise sucked though and even for the “right” price we are unlikely to sail on Princess again. Which is a real shame because we very much enjoyed the Christmas cruises we took a few years ago on Princess, and we do have status. Princess was the line we took our first cruise on over 20 years ago, and it was a different experience back then.
Bermuda
The third time is a charm!
We have been on several other transatlantic cruises where Bermuda was a scheduled stop, and due to weather, we sailed on by.
This time we were able to dock, and we spent two days in Bermuda.
As we got off the ship we were greeted by people from the Visitor’s Bureau who answered any questions we might have.
We headed over to the main Visitor Bureau to find out we had missed the ferry by 20 minutes, and the next one to downtown Hamilton wasn’t for 90 minutes. We would miss our tour if we waited. The ferries were on the winter schedule (our cruise ship was the last one to dock for the season).
Hubby wanted to take a bus, I wanted to take a cab, so we took a cab.
Bermuda is basically two lanes (one in each direction) and three roads (North, South, Middle). Our cab driver was fantastic. She told us about living in Bermuda, how rain water was collected off the roofs, how some people sink wells, how since c ovid people have become hobby farmers at their homes, that none of the vegetables grown on Bermuda are exported, and more!
She took us by the beaches instead of the middle road so we saw some lovely views, hotels, houses, and of course, beaches.
We were warned by the Visitor Bureau and other people that a ride from the port into Hamilton was $55-$60, and our fare was $56. It was well worthwhile to me as we would have seen none of the island from the ferry (which we took for our return trip at $4.50 per person).
We got into Hamilton with 30 minutes to spare before our tour so we did some window shopping on Front Street.
We were in Hamilton on Black Friday, and there were a lot of people out shopping. Everything is VERY expensive as little is produced on the island.
The Bermuda dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so what you see is what you pay. No exchange rate. It also meant we could pay the taxi driver in US dollars, tip the guide in US, etc.
Our food tour was meh to me. Hubby loved it. I felt she walked us all around crisscrossing needlessly. In all we walked over 4 miles, and if you are familiar with how small the shopping area is in Hamilton, well, you understand how crazy our route was.
We did get to try a rum swizzle cocktail. I liked it so much, I ordered one at lunch the following day.
We did NOT have the Bermuda fish sandwich on this tour, and that was a real miss to me. I did order it the next day at lunch – I simply had to try it
Also as part of this “food tour” our guide brought us to a jewelry shop where they made jewelry and trinkets out of the various beach sands on Bermuda.
I restrained myself and only purchased one geometric necklace. I could have done some serious damage in that store. For me, it was the highlight of the tour!
After that, we took the ferry back to the ship.
It was rainy out all day, but when we got back to port the courtesy shuttle was still running so we took a ride to scope out if there was anything in the port area to do the next day. There was, but most of the stands were closed – as I said, we were the last ship of the season.
The next day we got out early to see the shops and food trucks that were still open around the port. This included a local potter and a local artisan store. We ended up at a restaurant in the clock tower ‘mall’ (about 20 shops). That is where I got the Bermuda fish sandwich!
The sandwich is either a fillet or fried fish (wahoo, snapper, grouper), lettuce, tomato, coleslaw and raisin bread!!
Hubby and I split it (it was $23!) and I must say that if I went back to Bermuda, I’d seek out more restaurants with this on the menu. It might sound strange, but it was really good.
I also got a swizzle!
All-in-all we really liked Bermuda. Yes, it is very expensive but the island tourism board was really on top of things. Everyone we encountered was very nice, the island was very clean and beautiful, and I wouldn’t mind going back.
And with that, we sailed for Ft Lauderdale.
When landed in Florida we drove home. We usually take the time to visit friends and/or family, and this trip was no exception. It means we drive over two days, but we do not always get to southeast Florida (a 9 hour drive from where we live), so we always take the opportunity to see relatives or friends!
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