mediterranean cruise

Jim - you need to go to www.cruisecritic.com and look at their messageboards for information on Princess Cruise Lines as well as the different ports. Cruisecritic is geared towards cruises and will have information about shore excursions.

Dina is right, you can get lots of info on each of your ports at cruisecritic.com. Also, there is a Rick Steves book on Med. ports, which you may find useful.

We have been on six European cruises and rarely use the ship's excursions unless there is something unique about the excursions. You need the mind set that the ship is just transportation no different than arriving via train or car. You need to do a trememdous amount of prior research on each port so that you know what you want to do and see. Generally, not always, our first stop is the nearest TI when we book tours, generally walking, that we have identified through prior research. Sometimes a private tour guide is recommended for that city and we set it up in advance. There are always a host of private guides and taxi drivers willing to do tours just outside the gate where the ship docks. We have used them and never been disappointed. But ask a lot of questions and make sure their English is good enough for you. The big advantage to ship excursions is that they do all of this work for you but the disadvantage is that they tend to be expensive with a lot of hurry up and wait. It is just a question of your confidence in your ability to do the preplanning.

We have also taken a lot of cruises and Frank is correct in that cruise excursions are more expensive, and you need to do a lot of research if you plan to do your own thing. We have done both. One thing to consider if you are new to this type travel is that the ship will wait for you if you are on one of their excursions and are late getting back to the ship. There have been a number of times when there was unexpected weather, traffic jams (happened to us twice), mechanical problems with a bus and the ship always waited. On the other hand we have seen folks running along the pier as the ship was pulling away. Those people had to get to the next port on their own. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen. Of course if you are just going to get off and walk about the town there should not be a problem getting back. Just something to consider. TC

That's my question too! The only difference is that I am starting in Barcelona and catching the Serenade of the Seas a couple of days later. My question includes the food - I do not eat seafood and amy a bit picky, and the overall economy and the condition of the folks in those countries. How has the economy recession affected the people there and is there much high prices and more petty crime as a result?

The best suggestion made is to go to the Cruise Critic website. There will be a message board for many of the cities that you will be visiting and a message board for those sailing on your cruise trying to put together private excursions. I have not sailed before on Princess, but in general, private excursions are normally the way to gomuch smaller groups, less expensive, and drivers willing to alter the itinerary, time permitting, to suit the interests of those on the excursion. On a Med cruise we made last October, we used private drivers at nearly every port unless we were simply going to visit the town. Nearly always we had booked well in advance a driver whose reputation we had checked out, and we had our excursion group in place. We had absolutely no problems and always got back to the ship well before departure. Regarding the places to which you will be travelling, some quick observations: 1. Venice is extraordinary. One of our favorite places in the world. We did book a Venice walk through Viator, which we enjoyed. 2. We ended our cruise in Rome and had a driver pick us up at the dock and show us Rome for the day, including the Vatican. Note that to tour the Vatican with a guide, we had to have a private guide, whom the driver arranged for, and had to buy on-line our admission tickets in advance of the trip. 3. We did not go to Naples, but went to Amalfi and arranged for a driver to give a drive of the Amalfi coast, stoppping in several towns including Sorrento. The Amalfi coast was a high point of the trip. 4. We also arranged for a driver in Monte Carlo who gave us some linited time in the city and then took us to Nice and several towns in France.

I wanted to thank all those who have replied to my request on shore activities for our upcoming cruise, so much information that I am begining to put to use now. Thanks one and all it is greatly appriciated. Stay tuned I will be asking more questions gang.
Jim