From Cannes to Marseille. Boarding the cruise ship.
Как ни посрещна Марсилия, как се придвижихме до круизния терминал и как премина чекирането, четете в настоящия пътепис за Марсилия и кораб MSC Grandiosa, част от поредицата пътеписи “С деца на Лазурния бряг + Средиземноморски круиз + Амалфийско крайбрежие”
SEE THE ITINERARY, SCHEDULE, AND COSTS FOR THE ENTIRE TRIP HERE.
To the previous travelogue in the series: HERE
From Cannes to Marseille
Good morning! We got up very early to be at Cannes Central Station on time, from where we could board the train to Marseille. In fact, the first stop of the Ouigo fast train was Nice, it passed through Cannes, where we boarded, reached the town of Toulon, where we changed the train to a more ordinary and slower train, and so on to the final point - Marseille. We left at 6:31 from Cannes and arrived at 8:43 in Marseille without delay.
Tickets were not very expensive - 72 euros in total for everyone. I bought them from the official website of the French Railways - see here. I received the tickets for the fast train 4 days before the trip by email with specific seats where we stand, while the other tickets for the slow train were without fixed seats.
In fact, the fast train was not very fast. It cannot be compared to the German Railways, for example, but it was comfortable and the trip was calm. We enjoyed a wonderful sunrise and also our route passed through the vineyards of the famous French Provence. Great start to the day!
In the city of Toulon, we had to change the train, and since there was another minute of delay, people in special uniforms with the Ouigo logo were waiting for us, who directed us to the next train. There was a great rush and running, and it was not just us.
Arriving in Marseille, however, we witnessed a sight that we did not even think we could see in France, but rather somewhere in the Arab world. On Monday, at 8:45 a.m. Marseille Central Station - Saint-Charles Station was covered in junk. There was 5-6 times more junk around the trash cans than in themselves - bottles of anything, cans, packaging, cigarettes. And there were many bins and there was the same picture around them all. Just imagine dozens and hundreds of people walking past all those piles of junk still standing still at 9:00 am on a work day! With this, my opinion about Marseille was not only consolidated, but finally nailed that it was the dirtiest European city I have ever been to so far. After this shock and horror of the station and the wandering that the repair of the subway caused us, it was already time to think about how to get to the ship. Meanwhile, we already have 2 previous visits to Marseille where we were able to visit the old harbor, the beach and other sights in the city.
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How to get from Marseille Central Station to the cruise terminal?
There are several ways:
1. От Централната гара Saint-Charles с метролиния 2 (червена) в посока Bougainville (Geze) и се слиза на спирка “Joliette Square” (Joliette). От там с автобус No n°35 T (чиято спирка е до The Docks Village) стигаме до вход 4 на круизния терминал. Спирката се казва “Terminal Croisières”. От там до самия кораб е между 1 и 3 км., в зависимост от това на кой док е акустирал. Задължително се спазва зелената пътна маркировка. Ние се придвижихме по този маршрут като времето пеша изглеждаше многократно повече заради жаркото слънце. Круизният кораб се виждаше от далеч, но разстоянията на пристанището бяха огромни.
2. От Централната гара Saint-Charles с метролиния 2 (червена) в посока Bougainville (Geze) и се слиза на спирка “Joliette Square” (Joliette). След това с безплатния пристанищен автобус се стига до самия круизен терминал т.е. си спестявате и ходенето пеша из пристанището. Работното време е от 9:20 ч. сутринта през 20 минути. Има безплатни автобуси не всеки ден, а само в дните, когато има акустирал круизен кораб. Спирката се намира на 9 Quai du Lazaret. След аптеката и магазина the Pomme de Pain. Има голяма порта с бели решетки. Като влезете в нея ще е необходимо да покажете бордните си карти.
–> Explore and book a discounted budget hotel in Marseille. TUK!
at the cruise terminal
On our boarding passes it was written that 11 o'clock is our check-in time. At the cruise terminal there was a modest welcome drink welcome with sweets + lemonade or juice. Coming from nearly 200 km. Distance, traveling 2 hours by train, then by subway, then by bus and walking with all the luggage for at least half an hour, we did not wait to be invited, but were the first to take advantage of the treat. After us there was a queue 🙂
I had supposedly done the check-in in advance even before we left in Bulgaria immediately after I received the boarding passes for the cruise, but it turned out that we had to check in on the spot again. The ship cards were given to us during check-in. We had to protect them a lot and be with us all the time, because it was with these cards that we would get off at the various ports, return to the ship and possibly buy goods and services on the ship. In the ship card, everything is added up and on the last evening of the stay, each passenger is obliged to check and pay for the amount that has been collected.
We checked in around 11:00 and our room would be ready by 2:00 p.m. We left the suitcases at the cruise terminal and the staff would later bring them in front of our cabin. We were left with only hand luggage. Can you guess which was the first place we visited? The sideboard, of course! We followed with interest the process of preparing the mozzarella, then we ate a lot and with charged batteries we went to look at the ship.
What the ship MSC Grandiosa looked like inside and what services and entertainment it offered, you will learn in the next travelogue.
КЪМ СЛЕДВАЩИЯ ПЪТЕПИС —> On a winter sea cruise with MSC Grandiosa. Life on board.
