Are there any restrictions for cruise passengers?

In regards to what? Immigration? Covid? Cost? Behavior?

Your question is a bit short on details. Assuming that neither port is the port of embarkation or disembarkation, but merely ports of call- you should be able to spend the day freely in port. You will scan off and on the ship and the port authorities would be notified if someone did not return to the ship by gangway up.

You should check with the cruise line you are booked with, and check at intervals as things change. I’ve been on several post covid cruises, and each one had different restrictions, and restrictions that changed frequently and not always with a lot of notice.

Sorry, for the muddle headed question. After I booked, I noted that all the ship excursions were fully booked. That made me wonder if people are just nervous about traveling independently, or if cruise passengers can just go off on their own. I'm an independent sort and plan way ahead, but this time I have only two weeks.

So, I can just walk off the ship without a contact tracer form or anything else? We will bring our vax cards and passports.

Your cruise company will have specific Covid protocols listed on their website. If there are any rules about excursions you will find them there.

Your passport will also determine if you need a VISA to do this.

For independent exploring, your cruise line can give you details as to how they operate. On some cruises, the ship keeps your passport, you get essentially a paper identifying you as a passenger. But yes, you should be able to either explore on your own, secure the services of a local guide, or plan something ahead.

The problems I hear from Cruise Passengers are along the lines of:

-"The ship stops in Florence"...well the ship does not, it stops in a port on the coast, an area with few services, with maybe taxis hanging around, so you need to figure out how to get into town without a paid excursion. Even if the ship actually stops in the port of the city advertised, it is off at a cruise ship dock, not the center of town, and not in an area conducive to a pleasant walk into town. Some places are better than others regarding buses and taxis to somewhere interesting.

• Time restraints, especially if easy transport is an issue, remember you need to be back to the ship well on time, or get left. A paid excursion guarantees this, on your own, you need to manage your time.

I would spend some time looking for websites specifically for cruise travel. People on there know all the ins and outs of a particular port, what you need to do for transportation, even local tour companies. Wish I could give you a website or two, but do not have any good suggestions. You could google "cruise ship port/dock (french city)" that may yield some info.

Rick Steves guidebooks have a specific one for Med cruises which should provide good details and alternatives to the ship's organized excursions. You could see if your local library has to it to borrow or you could purchase on line.

Again, in order to know whether or not you need to book an excursion thru the cruise line, or can just walk off and do your own thing, you need to contact or review your specific cruise line policy (or the country policy for each port the cruise is stopping in, but the cruise line will have that info). It’s not a blanket answer for all cruise lines or ports, and an answer valid today, may not be valid next week.

For example, in January we were on a Caribbean cruise in which one port was cancelled due to a testing requirement that couldn’t be met by the cruise line, two other ports required you to book via a government approved tour provider (either via the cruise line, or some available in port on a first come basis once you docked) and the last two ports had no requirements other than masking. The day before the cruise started, one of the two ports dropped their requirement for government approved tour operator and allowed you to explore on your own.

And just because all of the excursions are currently booked doesn’t mean they won’t add more, so check every few days or as you feel like it. On all 5 cruises I’ve taken since August, the excursions were fully booked, dropped, and added on a semi-regular basis.

From my limited experience you are MUCH better off doing it on your own. We have never had a positive experience with a cruise sponsored tour -- I have done so much better organizing my own either tour or independent visit. Cheaper and more importantly BETTER.

For what it is worth...

Here is an example of a website like I mentioned, the link is for Nice, lots of other ports on the site. No recommendation for the site, just the first one I saw.

https://www.whatsinport.com/Nice.htm

It talks about where the ships dock, how to get into town, suggests some tours or things to see, etc.

Having just completed a cruise two weeks ago (albeit not in Europe) it was okay to simply leave the ship without a planned excursion, engage in a ship sponsored excursion, arrange for a private excursion through the ship’s concierge, or arrange my own. Unless the cruise line has restrictions that preclude leaving the ship unless on one of their excursions you have great options. Notwithstanding, I would simply arrange my own.