My daughter and I are taking a 12 day cruise and hitting Rome, Nice, Barcelona, Athens, Ephesus, to name a few. . .
My question - to book the tour or no??? If yes - which one - through the cruise ship or some other company??
We have been to Europe a few times, but never on a cruise and never without a car!!
I have received conflicting info - and would love some input. . .
THANKS!
Patsy, this is not a terrific site for cruisers. But there are a few of us. We have done six European cruises over the past few years. Almost never take the ship excursions. Too much hurry up and wait and over priced. With some prior research you can do very well on your own at most ports. Couple of exception -- Russia can be problem because of the visa requirement. For Ephesus we booked a local tour guide because the area you really want to see is about 30 miles away and you lack go public transportation. If you google the location you will get links to local tours.
And contact me off line if you want more info.
PS We strictly follow packing light for cruises and only add one rolling carryon bag for the four of us -- two son. Two daughters would probably add three bags :-)
I enjoy cruising but don't take organized shore excursions. They are expensive and generally not my speed.
I might make an exception for a must see that isn't possible without the tour. Since that hasn't happened yet, I'm still waiting to take an excursion.
Instead I research ahead to find out transportation an activity options. A fun way to go is to stick with some friends from the ship. I've pitched in for a twelve passenger van and driver who took us where we wanted to go for a fraction of the excursion price and much less than a taxi. I've had great experiences when drivers take us to places they like that aren't on anyone's tourist map.
For Rome, you can take a train into town faster than a bus that has to drive in traffic. Unfortunately, you won't have time to see much of Rome. Many of your stops have concentrated touring, so a taxi into the center for a day will be just right.
Hi Patsy,
My family and I went on a 12-day Mediterranean cruise this summer that sounds like it may be the same itinerary. In every city but two (Dubrovnik and Venice), we did a private guided tour. They are expensive but we hooked up with others on the ship to share the cost and after splitting, it ended up usually being cheaper than the shore excursions, plus longer, with fewer people, and much more intimate. The best resource I found for the entire trip was www.cruisecritic.com message boards. You can find your exact cruise on their and then talk to others that will be going on the cruise. And many people will be recruiting others to join them on the private tours they booked. This system was priceless for us--we saved a lot of $$$, met some lifelong friends who we did multiple tours with, and had a much better experience than those who did the shore ex. One suggestion: our guide for Rome was superb www.romeguide.net.
Hi Patsy
I agree with Kristen, we did the same cruise July 2007. We met a lot of people from our crusie on www.cruisecritc.com. We were able to split the cost for transfer to the port from Rome and a couple of excursion.
Thank so much to all of you for these great ideas.
I will definitely try that website, and appreciate the suggestions.
Again - thank you kindly!
