My Costa Cruise Ports of Call

The itinerary of the Costa Serena started in Civitavecchia Rome.  We had spent a night in Rome before joining the cruise otherwise we wouldn't have had time to see Rome itself.  The hotel was lovely and I would definitely recommend it.  We board the ship in Civitavecchia and headed off to the first port of call.

Our first stop was Naples.  I had only been to Naples a few weeks earlier and the weather hadn't been great.  This time we were lucky and the weather was good.  We decided to do the city sightseeing bus.  The ticket we had let us do more than one route which was well worth the money.  The first route we took was a coastal route which was very scenic and it gave us a great photo opportunity of Vesuvius.  The second route we took was the city of Naples itself.  I had done this previously in the rain but to be honest in the sun the route wasn't any better.

The next day of the itinerary was at Sea.  This gave us time to experience the ship and sit on deck in the sun.  It was very windy on our sea day however it was sunny so we made the most of relaxing.  There is a water slide on the Serena which I was tempted to have a go on but never got round to it.



The next port was Palma.  I was looking forward to going here.  I have been to Majorca on holiday but couldn't remember the trip we took to Palma.  We had paid for the shuttle on the ship was was about €10 so quite pricey.  This took us to the main area where we also did a city sightseeing tour.  With the city sightseeing you get a 10% discount if you show your ticket from the previous tour.  We did a tour of Palma which was good and then we had a look around the ships etc before heading back to the ship.

Barcelona was the next stop.  I have been to Barcelona several times but a long time ago.  We decided here not to pay for the Costa shuttle was was approx €7.  This was probably the wrong decision here as it was quite a walk from the port.  We decided to jump in a taxi in the end.  We also did the city sightseeing tour in Barcelona.  This was also a very good tour and we got to go past the Football stadium.  As we weren't in the port too long we never got off the bus we just took in all of the sights.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine along Las Ramblas before heading back.

The next port of call was Marseilles.  As there was a strike at the port the ship had to tender in which is always an experience.  It was quick and easy and we were soon walking around Marseilles.  We picked up a map and headed to the harbour where again we took a bus tour.  The bus tours are defiantly the way to see everything without doing the cruise line's shore excursions.  I really liked Marseilles and it was nice to take in the bus tour.

The last port of call was Savona.  I wasn't expecting much from Savona but I was surprised.  Unfortunately the weather wasn't great here and as we were there on a Sunday not much was open.  I think that it would be a lovely place if we had been there with the ships and restaurants open.  We walked around here as it wasn't that big to see the main sights and as the weather was bad ended up back on the ship earlier.

I really enjoyed the Costa Serena and the itinerary. We never really do the shore excursions while away as I like to do the bus tours and wonder around shops. The bus tours were all really good value.  I would definitely cruise with Costa again and maybe to take in a Greek Islands cruise next time.