My Favorite Ports of Call - Episode I

I WAS reading some posts on Cruise Critic (cruisecritic.com) recently, and someone posted a "what's your favorite cruise port?" question (probably done many times on that site). One of the answers I liked best was: "I can only name one?" As you may have guessed from the title of this post, this will be one in a series. More like: "what are some of your favorite cruise ports?" I suspect that as new ports come along, I will adjust, or at least augment these (in just a couple short weeks, we will travel in a direction we haven't cruised - west to Japan, where our primary cruise port for beginning and end of the cruise will be Yokohama. Who knows where that will fit on my list?).

I am more likely to answer this question based on what the port gives me overall access to

BEFORE THE question can really be answered, it seems like we might want to establish some criteria. I am confident that the question wasn't about the physical port, itself. Every port is somewhere in a coastal city. We could, I suppose, define it that way and say: "my favorite port is" "X" because I love "X" city. For me, limiting it that way would exclude at least one top favorite. I am more likely to answer this question based on what the port gives me overall access to.

Sunset; Port of Naples, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2022

USING THAT criterion, the port that tops the list for me is probably Naples, Italy. It's not that I think the city of Naples is necessarily great. Truth is, I don't know yet. Ironically, we have never visited the actual city of Naples. From things I have read, we probably should. What leads me to almost immediately say "Naples," is that it has been - for us - a gateway to some really amazing places. We have stopped there 4 times now. The first time, in 2013, we saw the Amalfi Coast. When we returned in 2017 with our friends, Paul and Linda, we saw it again - this time from a slightly different perspective. The views and the small mountain villages are spectacular. Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello. Each with its own amazing charm. They (and the entire Amalfi Coast) are - in my view - must see destinations. Just offshore and a relatively short ferry ride is the Isle of Capri (among other things: playground of the rich and famous). Naples is also the location of two of the world's most famous, and impressive ancient Roman civilizations - ruins: Pompei and Herculaneum. Naples is the port we have visited multiple times and done something completely different nearly each time. And each time, I found some time to sit on the upper ship deck and watch the "goings-on" in the port. It is a busy, industrial port in the third largest city in Italy. In the early morning, I sat and had coffee and watched the tractors juggling containers to be loaded onto nearby container ships. On our last visit, we were treated to a golden sunset as we watched the homebound traffic on the streets near the port.

Sorrento, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2013

SORRENTO, OUR first stop along the Amalfi Coast, is known for its lemons - and maybe more importantly - Limoncello! It is more of a city than the others, but it has its corners of quiet charm. We found a couple of those.

Positano, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2017

POSITANO, ALONG the coast, is perhaps the most popular spot other than Amalfi. On our first trip in 2013 we didn't stop. We could see it from the high and winding road, however, and when we returned in 2017, we made it a point to stop and walk down the street into the town. As one might expect, it is mostly a touristy location, with lots of "high-end" shopping. It is always very crowded. Later in the trip, our guide took us to one of his favorite local restaurants, with a great view of Positano from above. I thought the views from afar were much more impressive than once we got down into the town.

Amalfi, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2013

ALMALFI, FOR which the coastline is named, is possibly the most physically impressive of the towns along the coast. The inner city is accessed through an arch from the main road along the coast, onto a pedestrian-only main street. The road is low and close to the water here, and there is an expansive beach across the road from the village. The main piazza in the village is known as Piazza del Duomo and is anchored by the beautiful and architecturally stunning Amalfi Cathedral. There are long, wide, steps up to the cathedral front entrance; usually populated by a lot of tourists viewing the church. The beach is a popular vacation spot and there are some pretty high-end hotels and residential properties along the coastline. We thought the black sand beaches were beautiful, but not as inviting as our "Caribbean" sand back home in Palm Harbor.

Beach - Amalfi, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2017

AFTER OUR trip, I was speaking with an old friend who told me he and his wife had spent a month a couple summers back on the Amalfi Coast, in the mountain village of Ravello. In 2013, our trip was not part of a planned excursion, and we were traveling the coast by a taxi hired on the docks that same day. Our driver was nice enough, but spoke very little English, and was not a guide. He opined that we did not have time to get to Ravello. On our return in 2017, we made certain that our planned itinerary included Ravello, and our wise guide took us there by back road early in the morning, before we came back to the ship along the congested coastal road.

Ravello, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2017

WE WERE very glad he did. We had this incredible, charming, and "old school" Italian village essentially to ourselves. We happened to be there on a Sunday morning, and the beautiful old church which - as is common in Italy - anchored the main square (or piazza/plaza) was holding morning mass. We could hear the music from the church.

We had this incredible, charming, and "old school" Italian village essentially to ourselves

RAVELLO WAS was quiet and tranquil, with just a couple small, local establishments for coffee (and presumably food later in the day). I could easily see the draw my friends felt for staying there. I could easily see walking down to the piazza for a cup of coffee in the morning.

Ravello, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2017

IN 2019 we once again returned to Naples for a day stop. Having seen the Amalfi Coast twice, we took the ferry to the small Isle of Capri, some 20 miles south in the Gulf of Naples, in the Tyrrhenian Sea - a part of the Mediterranean. Capri is about 3.5 miles across at its longest point and only just over a mile on the short side. It is one of those islands that seemingly jut out of the ocean for no reason. Unlike many of the islands in the Mediterranean which are volcanic in origin, Capri is formed from limestone. Its soils give rise to vegetation which in many places support beautiful flowers of many colors. The Greek author, Homer called it "The Island of Flowers." We know Capri's history dates back to Roman and Greek times, and that it was known in the later days of Roman occupation for its Hedonism.

Capri, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

OUR TIME there was limited to a day-long cruise stop, along with the 3-4 hours of time it took the boat to get us there and return us to the port in Naples.

Capri, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

IN SPITE of its non-volcanic origin, Capri is similar to some of the other islands we have visited as it is mountainous. Access to the main area of the island is from the shore at sea-level and up a funicular. Once at the top, the views are pretty spectacular.

Piazza at the top of the Funicular - Capri, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

AT THE top of the funicular, one of the primary piazzas spreads out in all directions. You can simply walk in any of them and be out of the busy piazza and stroll the quiet streets, with its mostly very old buildings, views down to the sea, and beautiful vegetation.

Capri, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

WE WALKED a few of the walkways, which are generally very hilly. After a self-tour of parts of the island, we headed back to the funicular for our trip down, stopping for a quick coffee under one of the tents in the plaza above, before heading back to the ferry dock back down at sea level.

The port at Capri, Italy - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

THIS SHORT trip was a bit of an adventure for us. We had not done our homework as thoroughly as we usually do. When we arrived back at the bottom, we learned that we had just missed the ferry back, and that the next one was more than an hour wait. The wait itself was not a major problem. Our big concern was that we would be cutting it very close to our deadline to be back aboard our ship. As it turned out, we made it back with several minutes to spare - and we were not the only ship's passengers on that ferry, as a good number of people walked the very short distance to our ship along with us. In our 15 plus years of cruising, we have had only 3 instances that made us "sweat," a bit. This was one. A couple years back, in Malta, we made it back to the cruise port just minutes before the all-aboard time. That was fine, but they had closed the main gate, and we had a brief moment of panic until we saw some other passengers walking down the way and around a corner, where a much small gate was still open. Our most recent was in South Africa, where we were a full 15 minutes late for the all-aboard time. That was the most nerve-wracking - but still, we knew in our hearts that we were also 15 minutes in front of the ship pulling away from the dock. We made it, but I would not want to do that again. 😓

Pompei (Mt. Vesuvius in the background) - Copyright Andy Richards 2022

BACK IN 2013, on our very first cruise "across the pond," so to speak, one of our stops was the Turkish port of Kusadasi, primarily for the ancient ruins of Ephesus. That was quite a day, and afterward, I thought we had probably seen all there was to see of ancient ruins. We had known for some time that one of the options from Naples (probably the closest of any that we had chosen to this point) were the Roman ruins of Pompei and Herculaneum. We were also aware that part of what made them unique was the cause of their demise. Unlike Ephesus, which was mainly destroyed by raiding Goths (though it also sustained some earthquake damage), the two ruins in Naples were destroyed by the famous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Ironically, the lava, which overflowed the cities, also served to preserve much of them more or less intact.

Pompei - Copyright Andy Richards 2022

OUR MOST recent stop in Naples was in 2022. There were six of us in that group and none of us had ever been to Pompei, despite the admonishments by many I have spoken to over the years that it is a "must-see" and very impressive destination. Our sister-in-law arranged a very nice tour of both ruins for just the 6 of us and I quickly realized I had been short-sighted not to have visited these places sooner. It is an amazing study in ancient civilization.

Herculaneum Residence - Copyright Andy Richards 2022

POMPEI WAS kind of an everyman's city and Herculaneum more of a wealthy persons "resort" kind of place. As such, there were some subtle, but obvious differences which - I suspect - we would have mostly missed had it not been for our very knowledgeable guide.

Kitchen (probably a street vendor) - Herculaneum - Copyright Andy Richards 2022

YOU CAN probably see why we like Naples so much as a cruise port. It is truly a portal to some pretty amazing places, sights and world history. All are reasonably reachable on a day-port stop. I don't know when we will stop there again, but I am confident that we will, as Naples tends to be included on many Mediterranean cruises. As I mentioned, we haven't done a tour of the city of Naples. From what I have read, and heard, it may be worth doing that. Maybe that will be our next adventure in Naples. Either way, there is enough still to be seen in places we have already been, that we won't tire of this port.

Naples, Italy (from our cruise ship deck) - Copyright Andy Richards 2013