cruise excursion vs other tours

Haven’t done an ocean cruise, but my 2 cents worth: you’ll get a better experience with a qualified private guide. Or maybe there would also be separate small group tours at the location, just not the through the cruise ship.

From Crete (big ocean ship) to Strasbourg (smaller river boat) and other destinations, I’ve seen huge groups following a cruise group guide who was holding a little red flag on a stick, like a pack of sheep. Nobody could ask questions, and museums and narrow streets were packed with the mass of people. If you can find an alternative, I’d skip the cruise excursion. Just make sure you’re back at the ship in time.

Have you read the RS Mediterranean Cruise guidebook? I'd recommend that you do. Lots of alternatives to the large ship excursions. Small group private tours. Individual private tours. DIY. Read up on the Ports and what they have to offer. Then decide what you want to see and do in the allotted time, keeping in mind that the ship will not wait for you if you are not on a ship excursion. Then decide on what type of excursion you want to do. Ship excursions have their place; especially when it requires travelling a significant distance from the ship.

The specific ports make a difference. Some listed ports (Venice, Rome) are actually quite far from the city. Others are easy walk offs right into the city.

You can see either on your own, it just depends how much research you want to do in advance. Or you can hire an independent guide in any of the ports. Just make sure they get you back to the ship on time or you will get left behind.

Perhaps Cruise Critic is a better source of info. Have a great trip.

hey hey Amanda W
which cruise and what ports are you stopping at? may is a busy month for cruising and crowded in the ports shoulder to shoulder, restaurants full, shops will lines to get in, pay, and get out. everyone wanting to see and do same things, with many wanting to push people around and be rude, rushing to get off ship fast, what time can you get off and how long in port.
pros and cons with tours:
cruise excursions cost more what i hear and read, but do get you back in departure time, not stressing
i did research for things/tours to do in towns/cities and consulted with friends and we decided what we wanted, split cost and watched our time to get back on ship. pays to do your own research and not rely on what others say, which you may not agree. i go to see for myself for good, bad, and ugly.
cruisecritic.com register for free
click boards, find roll call, scroll down to what cruise line, then ship/date
cruiser post ideas, sharing off boat private tours, meeting for fun times. (slot pull, cabin crawl-seeing different cabins, martini tasting at ships bar). wanting only 4-6 people on private taxi tours, people answered post, gave info & cost divided per person and was first come first serve. i looked up private tours , emailed company about what we want and need to be back before departure waiting for reply, agreed what they planned and off we went. great tour to attractions, photo ops, stop for a tasting, no cattle hearding, excellent guide/driver and immaculate van. would do it again in a minute.
lots for you to think about and what you want, do feel free to return and ask more questions. your posts are short and once a month
aloha

As others have mentioned, a lot depends on how far you plan to go from the ship. If it is close enough that you can get back by hoofing it on your own, then a tour might not be needed. On the other hand, if you plan to go a good distance from the ship, a ship excursion might be in order. They get to leave the ship first, which is very important when the ship is tendered. Also, if a ship excursion is delayed getting back, the ship will wait. We've been on many cruises and all sorts of delays have come up. Everything from traffice jams, to injuries, to a van breaking down. But if you are off on your own, then you may very well get left. Several times we've seen people running along the dock as the ship pulled away. Ship excursions do cost a more, but not as much as having to get yourself to the next port. Just offering food for thought.

Hi Amanda:

IMHO, ship tours are first and foremost for those who do less planning or research at the port stop they are visiting.(and there's nothing wrong with that. We're on vacation. Why do I need to use my brain?)
I am betting half the people on a ship tour haven't bothered to get any Euros (or the local currency) and are expecting to use dollar bills to pay for stuff.

IMHO, ship tours (especially with large mega-ships) can be a cattle call, with a bus full of 50-75 cruisers. Many people will walk slow, get frustrated because the locals don't speak English, and complain at dinner about their bad experiences. And in my experience the ship tours tend to be shopping excursions. For some reason, they always seem to visit a place to shop before they bring you back to the boat.

That's why I do my research before hand.

So what ports are you visiting?

Figure out what there is to see in each port and then see if there is a 3rd party tour that goes to the those tour sites- usually the same sights as the ship tour, but in a small mini-van with a maximum of 12 people.

For example, In Ephesus, the ship's tour to Ephesus was expensive and was a bus of 50 people and of course, they stopped at a rug factory.
I found a local tour of Ephesus through TripAdvisor. I found the name of the tour company and contacted them directly. The tour advertised they would meet me at the ship dock and with their mini-van, they only had a maximum of 12 people and included an English speaking guide. I booked this tour, and was met by the guide at the dock. I was expecting 10 other people to join us, but it we were the only two. So we got a private tour of Ephesus for less than the cost of the ship's tours.. As this company catered to ship cruisers, they knew to get us back to the port on time. And yes, we did see the ship tour cruisers at Ephesus at the same time we were there doing the cattle call. They looked miserable.

Now my caveat to using a third party tour is if the tour outing is 6 -8 hours in length. If a third party tour doesn't get you back in time, the ship won't wait for you. If a ship excursion is late, the boat will wait. so in that case, its better to book a ship tour for the peace of mind.

Start with Trip Advisor and see what third party tours are offered in the port you are visiting and see if they cater to cruisers.
There are third party consolidators like Viator, get your guide, and Trip Advisor that will offer tours. I try to find the name of the company they are advertising for and find their website and directly book with them.

Cruise Critic will have good information from cruisers who have visited those ports and some will have recommendations on tours they used. That's where I post all my recommendations.

So to assist you, you need to assist yourself. Good luck and bon voyage!

For each port take a look at what youtube videos by cruisers show. I will be cruising Greece and Turkey next year and have found some excellent videos showing self exploration. I usually self explore, but if the attraction is quite a way from the port ( for example the Alhambra from Malaga ), I do the ship excursion. Some suppliers guarantee getting you back on time, but I have not had occasion to test out the accuracy of this claim!

The biggest difference is that the ship will wait if your excursion returns late. If you are interested in exploring the port, just walk off and enjoy. Keep in mind that schedules may be a guideline, rather than firm. Buses in Athens, for example, very unreliable. At almost every port there will be cars for hire and we have had good luck (especially in Croatia). Last year, on Rhodes, a taxi took us to the beach club, then returned to pick us up and take us to the ship in plenty of time (he knew what he was doing). I booked a private car through the cruise line for next month, because I know that Naples will have traffic, and I want the ship to wait for us. Have a great trip.