Western Mediterranean Cruise

September 29, 2011 | By Linda Smith

I just returned from a 7-day western Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas.  The ship sails out of Barcelona to Provence, Nice, Florence, Rome and Naples.

Barcelona is a great city! It’s easy to get around with interesting museums, the famous Gaudi cathedral Sagrada Familia and delicious tapas and seafood.  We ate at a restaurant called El Lobito where they have a different menu of fresh fish each day – delicious! I would definitely recommend spending at least one night or more in Barcelona before you board the ship.

The ports of Florence and Rome in Italy are 1-½ hours from the pier so to visit those two cities makes for long, but enjoyable days.

I think my favorite stops were in Provence where we went to the small seaside village of Cassis. You take a little train down to the city where we had the best pastries I have ever eaten.

In Nice, we went to the Royal Riviera Hotel in Cap Ferrat for lunch and to lounge by the beach – just a 10-minute taxi ride from the ship. A week at that hotel would be delightful.

September was a great time to visit these ports the weather was perfect.   I would highly recommend this cruise and Royal Caribbean.