This was a 14 day Med cruise from Southampton, visiting Barcelona, Ajaccio, Rome, Livorno, Genoa, Marseilles and Gibraltar.
There were 3 in our party, myself, my disabled husband and my 6 year old son.
Outward Journey - We were due to fly from Manchester to Southampton the morning of the cruise, but it was explained to us that if we were late for embarkation, we'd have 4 days to kill before picking up the cruise in Barcelona. So we flew down the night before. We stayed in a 4 star city centre hotel that's part of a well known chain. It was pretty tatty and a bit smelly. We were really disappointed with Southampton city centre. We thought that with all the passing cruise traffic, you would see more investment in it, but it felt quite run down. Sadly you really wouldn't want to spend any time there.
Large and roomy. Great walk-in shower. Decor a bit tired and dated.
It was a 5-10 minute walk into town. There were sight seeing buses and a land train to take you around. The ticket office is at the start of the main square, right by the port. Napoleon's house is a 10 minute walk from the ship. There were some nice restaurants in the side streets near Napoleon's house.
If you're going up the tower or into the other buildings, see if you can buy the tickets online before you get there. Pisa is less crowded in the morning than the afternoon. Boarding the trolley car was a bit chaotic. Lots of pushing and shoving and young families were unable to sit together because people wouldn't move to accommodate them. This part of the trip needs more organisation.
The port is right in the town. We took a sight seeing bus to the Ducal Palace. Because there was very little information in English, we couldn't work out initially what there was to see there. Once up the stairs and in the main throne room, we found some information in English. Up the tower to the cells, and a bit more information. They were showing a film in relation to the history of the cells but all in Italian. The sight seeing bus was worthwhile.
City tour with a 3 block walk to Sagrada Familia. The walk was an incredibly stressful experience because there was a full coach load of people trying to stay together and keep the guide in sight while crossing 3 main roads in amongst the summer crowds and heat. It was probably one of the most stressful things I've ever done! We used earphones in Sagrada to listen to our guide and a number of earphones were not working. You need to be 100% fit to do this tour.
Marseille has a lot of graffiti and litter everywhere. The bins were overflowing and smelly. The best part was the old port, with all its restaurants. We took the land train to the church on the hill but didn't have time to get off and have a look around. The land train was worthwhile.
A private taxi tour of Gibraltar. We toured the island, when into St Michael's Cave and then to see the apes. We were then dropped off in town. The bus/taxi rank was so busy, we decided to walk back to the ship. It's a 20 minute walk, but felt longer in the heat.