gstdog
DIS Lurker
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2018
DAY 14 – MARSEILLE: This was our last and final stop on the cruise. On a previous cruise to Marseille, we took the bus up to Aix-en-Provence and absolutely fell in love with the city. We wanted to go again, but also try to see some lavender fields since they were in season. I struggled finding the right tour, so I had hired a private driver via Bonjour Provence for 450€. Our original plan was to be picked up at 8:45am, and then drive a little over an hour north to Valensole to do a tour of the lavender fields and a small village in that area. Afterwards, the driver would take us to Aix-en-Provence around 1pm, where we would spend a few hours exploring the city. Then we’d head back to the port around 3:30pm.
However, since it was just me and DD, I was rethinking our plans. This day was really a trip for DW, and I worried that DD would be bored. Plus, it was a lot of time in the car to drive away from the port of Marseille. I asked DD, would she prefer to drive for an hour to go see fields of flowers, or would she rather stay in town and go on a boat to visit an old castle? She picked castle, so we canceled the driver and instead made plans to visit Château d'If. For those that don’t know, the island castle was eventually converted to a prison (think Alcatraz) and was made famous by the classical novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.
We got off this Disney Magic and decided to take the free shuttle into the city, which drops passengers off in front of Cathédrale La Major. However, that still gave us a 20-minute walk to the Old Port, the heart of the city. In retrospect, I wish I had taken a taxi for 25€ and saved some time (and kid energy).
To visit Château d'If, you need to buy tickets on the ferry from the Old Port. You can buy them right on the water from Frioul If Express Shuttles. We got there at 10:30am and were able to buy two tickets for the 11:40am ferry for 22€ for the two of us. The 11:00am ferry had JUST sold out when we got there, which meant we had to wait over an hour.
I wish we had gotten there sooner, but I can chalk that up to my last-minute planning. Had this been my ‘A’ plan, I would have researched the departure times for the ferry. Since we had to wait, I thought about doing the hop-on/hop-off bus to tour Marseille, but the trip took an hour in total, which would make us late for our 11:40am ferry since you are supposed to board early.
Instead, we decided to grab a quick bite. I had assumed we’d do a charming French café, but I gave DD a choice, and she picked Burger King. DW was furious that I wasted the opportunity, but I was in the mindset of making DD as happy as possible since it was just the two of us. Besides, I always find it charming to explore a restaurant that I know in US. DD got some chicken nuggets and an apple sauce, while I got some kind of french fries with ham and cheese on them. In retrospect, DW was right--this was dumb. We should have eaten somewhere better.
We hopped on the ferry at 11:40am. The ferry ride itself took about 15 minutes to get to If Island. The ferry was a fun ride with good views of the port, but be warned that there were only a couple of spots where you could be outside and in the shade. Otherwise, you are in the full sun. I didn't bring sunscreen, so I had to keep pulling DD into the shade to keep her from getting burned.
We arrived at the island at 11:55am. Tickets were 6€ each to enter the museum. The chateau itself was fantastic—DD and I both really enjoyed it. I wished we had watched a documentary on it ahead of time, but they had some good history on signs that you could read. I’m not an Instagram person, but there are so many amazing photo backdrops, plus some great views of Marseille in the distance.
We hurried a little towards the end of our time there, because I wanted to get on the 12:35pm ferry back. That would give us about 40 minutes total on the island. The next ferry would leave at 1:15pm, and I felt like that would be too much time. In retrospect, I think you could easily spend an hour or more if you take more time exploring. They had a nice little cafe on the island with snacks, plus bathrooms. They also have a gift shop.
When you are ready to head back to the Old Port, you go back down to the dock to wait in line. Regardless of how long you stay, make sure you don’t get stuck on the island longer than you want, because ferries only leave every 30-60 minutes. Be warned, it takes longer going back to Marseille (about 45 minutes) because you stop at Frioul Island on the way back. The tickets I bought only allowed one stop, but if you wanted, you could buy a multi-stop ticket and visit Frioul also, which looked interesting. If we had more time and I had planned ahead of time, we might have gone to explore.
We got back to Marseille's Old Port around 1:20pm. We wondered around the city a bit just to explore. I wasn't very impressed with Marseille. I'm sure it's a wonderful city, but compared to other stops, it didn't have the same charm to it while walking around. I could tell that DD was slowing down, so I decided against doing anything else, and grabbed a taxi back to the cruise terminal, which ended up costing 25€.
We got back to the ship around 2:30pm, and went to the pool and relaxed. I did Facetime with DW to tell her about our day...and that's when I got in trouble for Burger King!
We started to do a a little of the packing before dinner that night. Afterwards, we went to see the show Dreams, which is fantastic. The music and the performers were so great, and it was such a wonderful way to end the cruise.
This was our last night on the ship. DD and I were super excited to see DW and DS again, plus really excited for some extended time in Barcelona. Because we had tested positive for COVID, Delta required us to delay our flight from July 19 to July 21. This meant instead of just one day in Barcelona, we’d get three days! The good news is that in Spain at the time, you are considered ‘safe’ seven days after a positive test. That means we'd get back to 'normal' again and try to salvage the rest of our vacation. This was especially important for DW who had now been in quarantine for EIGHT days!!
The next post will be about our first day in Barcelona, where we tour Park Güell, La Sagrada Familia, and a Flamenco show.
However, since it was just me and DD, I was rethinking our plans. This day was really a trip for DW, and I worried that DD would be bored. Plus, it was a lot of time in the car to drive away from the port of Marseille. I asked DD, would she prefer to drive for an hour to go see fields of flowers, or would she rather stay in town and go on a boat to visit an old castle? She picked castle, so we canceled the driver and instead made plans to visit Château d'If. For those that don’t know, the island castle was eventually converted to a prison (think Alcatraz) and was made famous by the classical novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.
We got off this Disney Magic and decided to take the free shuttle into the city, which drops passengers off in front of Cathédrale La Major. However, that still gave us a 20-minute walk to the Old Port, the heart of the city. In retrospect, I wish I had taken a taxi for 25€ and saved some time (and kid energy).
To visit Château d'If, you need to buy tickets on the ferry from the Old Port. You can buy them right on the water from Frioul If Express Shuttles. We got there at 10:30am and were able to buy two tickets for the 11:40am ferry for 22€ for the two of us. The 11:00am ferry had JUST sold out when we got there, which meant we had to wait over an hour.
I wish we had gotten there sooner, but I can chalk that up to my last-minute planning. Had this been my ‘A’ plan, I would have researched the departure times for the ferry. Since we had to wait, I thought about doing the hop-on/hop-off bus to tour Marseille, but the trip took an hour in total, which would make us late for our 11:40am ferry since you are supposed to board early.Instead, we decided to grab a quick bite. I had assumed we’d do a charming French café, but I gave DD a choice, and she picked Burger King. DW was furious that I wasted the opportunity, but I was in the mindset of making DD as happy as possible since it was just the two of us. Besides, I always find it charming to explore a restaurant that I know in US. DD got some chicken nuggets and an apple sauce, while I got some kind of french fries with ham and cheese on them. In retrospect, DW was right--this was dumb. We should have eaten somewhere better.
We hopped on the ferry at 11:40am. The ferry ride itself took about 15 minutes to get to If Island. The ferry was a fun ride with good views of the port, but be warned that there were only a couple of spots where you could be outside and in the shade. Otherwise, you are in the full sun. I didn't bring sunscreen, so I had to keep pulling DD into the shade to keep her from getting burned.
We arrived at the island at 11:55am. Tickets were 6€ each to enter the museum. The chateau itself was fantastic—DD and I both really enjoyed it. I wished we had watched a documentary on it ahead of time, but they had some good history on signs that you could read. I’m not an Instagram person, but there are so many amazing photo backdrops, plus some great views of Marseille in the distance.
We hurried a little towards the end of our time there, because I wanted to get on the 12:35pm ferry back. That would give us about 40 minutes total on the island. The next ferry would leave at 1:15pm, and I felt like that would be too much time. In retrospect, I think you could easily spend an hour or more if you take more time exploring. They had a nice little cafe on the island with snacks, plus bathrooms. They also have a gift shop.
When you are ready to head back to the Old Port, you go back down to the dock to wait in line. Regardless of how long you stay, make sure you don’t get stuck on the island longer than you want, because ferries only leave every 30-60 minutes. Be warned, it takes longer going back to Marseille (about 45 minutes) because you stop at Frioul Island on the way back. The tickets I bought only allowed one stop, but if you wanted, you could buy a multi-stop ticket and visit Frioul also, which looked interesting. If we had more time and I had planned ahead of time, we might have gone to explore.
We got back to Marseille's Old Port around 1:20pm. We wondered around the city a bit just to explore. I wasn't very impressed with Marseille. I'm sure it's a wonderful city, but compared to other stops, it didn't have the same charm to it while walking around. I could tell that DD was slowing down, so I decided against doing anything else, and grabbed a taxi back to the cruise terminal, which ended up costing 25€.
We got back to the ship around 2:30pm, and went to the pool and relaxed. I did Facetime with DW to tell her about our day...and that's when I got in trouble for Burger King!
We started to do a a little of the packing before dinner that night. Afterwards, we went to see the show Dreams, which is fantastic. The music and the performers were so great, and it was such a wonderful way to end the cruise.This was our last night on the ship. DD and I were super excited to see DW and DS again, plus really excited for some extended time in Barcelona. Because we had tested positive for COVID, Delta required us to delay our flight from July 19 to July 21. This meant instead of just one day in Barcelona, we’d get three days! The good news is that in Spain at the time, you are considered ‘safe’ seven days after a positive test. That means we'd get back to 'normal' again and try to salvage the rest of our vacation. This was especially important for DW who had now been in quarantine for EIGHT days!!
The next post will be about our first day in Barcelona, where we tour Park Güell, La Sagrada Familia, and a Flamenco show.
That said, it did seem to have a Gaudí design aesthetic, so it felt appropriate after our visits to Park Güell and Sagrada Familia. 
We weren't sure what happened, but it was possible she either 1.) left it at the breakfast place, 2.) it was stolen, or 3.) left it at the hotel. This was a huge bummer--not only were we missing a phone to take pictures, but there was also the stress of thinking the phone was gone. Spoiler alert--it was back at the hotel (but we didn't learn that until much later that night). Whew! 
The kids got a pizza, DW got some falafel, and I got the Paella Marinera. We thought the food was excellent, an 8/10. Now, we did order the kids Cokes that came in massive glasses, that was a mistake as they were 10€ each. From reading the reviews, most of the negative ones are about the drinks, which are a big rip off (especially alcohol, but we don't drink). Other than that, it was a great meal, and I would recommend it. The total bill was 78€.
It was a big debate for me and DW. Had they called us from the hotel, I would have said yes. However, we had already packed, checked out, and mentally prepared ourselves to be home later that day. Saying yes meant finding another hotel and then planning out another day. Ultimately, we decided it was time to go home. 
