Mirror asked:
Would you recommend ordering land excursions (optional tours) on all ports? Kinda costly but we do not want to come home wishing we did. Please give me your advice if you have been to a cruise.
Travel, Cruise and Excursion Blog
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Here is a great site for rentals and tours!
I have sailed to the Mediterranean and did go on shore excursions from the cruise company. The reason I did this is, one a language problem. I only speak some spanish and of course English. Then there is the time restraints. Rome is at least 1 hour from the port, so do take this into consideration. Finally, do not even consider renting a car or scooter and driving yourself. The drivers are terrible and traffic can be tied up forever. The last reason is also because of the traffic. You certainly do not want to miss the ship if you get stuck in traffic. Only excursions from the cruise company will guarantee that you make it back to the ship on time. The excursions are expensive, but in a foreign port, they are well worth it.
If something looks interesting to you, do it! If not, you can always have a wonderful time on your own, shopping, looking, having lunch, etc. There are a few things you need to be a bit careful about if you go off on your own — first, get a firm price for a taxi before you pull away from the curb! Second, do negotiate prices on things you purchase where it is the norm. Negotiation is welcome in some areas but not others, so ask the ship’s social director or assistants. Finally, make absolutely sure that your watch and the ship’s clocks are together, and don’t be even one minute late getting back to the ship! It will leave without you. (On the other hand, if you are on a ship-sponsored tour that runs late, they hold the ship. The QE2 held for almost 2 hours in Alexandria for those of us returning from an overnight excursion to Cairo — we stayed at the pyramids a bit too long (wonderful at sunrise!) and then ran into traffic, and to top it off, they had told us the day before they’d give us a quickie bus tour of Alexandria on the return, and they did!) HAVE FUN!
Go to cruisecritic.com and look up the port you are stopping at. People can give you good ideas of whether to book one through the cruise line, book one on independently or to just get a taxi or walk around.
I personally really do enjoy having a shore excusion at some stops not all. I would sugest picking some that look the most apealing to you and just do a few really exiting ones. There are always plenty of things to do on teh island if you dont do a “set ” shore excusions. This way you wont feel so stressed to get up to a shore excusion ever stop.
I have been on two cruises in the Mediterranean, both the Eastern to France, Italy, Greece and Turkey and the Western to Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Gibraltar. I found that for me the “must do” tours were:
-the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Florence/Pisa. It has historical significance and a tour from the ship to see it should not be as expensive as others.
-the Vatican City, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and pretty much all of Rome you should not miss. Rome is the one port where you should not do tours on your own as its a good hour from the cruise port to the city and you cannot just walk off the ship and get on a tour. You do have to be concerned about being back on the ship by sailing time as the ship will leave you. The tours will be expensive but if your funds are limited this is the place to spend them.
-Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius in Naples. Pompeii is a historical sight and worth the tour; you can probably get tours of it on the pier.
-The Acropolis in Athens is a historical sight to see and you can see it on a tour for not too much money. In my opinion there is not much else in Athens to see; at least when we were there.
-The Biblical City of Ephesus in Turkey if your cruise goes there; all history and worth the tour.
Some tours that I would skip or go on my own:
-If your cruise stops in Nice/Monte Carlo/Villafranche there is not much to see. We did a tour but it was not that interesting and exciting. Yes we saw the palace in Monte Carlo and Grace Kelly’s grave and Cousteau’s sub. We went into one of the casinos in Monte Carlo and they charged $10 a person admission and you could not even take pictures inside. Save your money here and spend it on Rome
- If you go to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini you don’t need a tour to explore the cities, just go off the ship on your own.
- You can explore Barcelona on your own also. If your cruise ends there you can get a combo tour-airport dropoff if you have an afternoon flight.
Most places we went in the Med, Eastern and Western, we did the lowest priced tours which were generally city highlights and museums. They are usually about $50 or less per person.
go to portsofcallguide.com
and look at some of the ports you will be traveling to.
find out on the cruisewebsites what companies are being used.
book those you want from the companies themselves, its usually cheaper that way.
cruisecritic.com
i would do the ones that sound the most fun to you. also look at recent reviews on sites like cruisecritic.com and see what others think.
best wishes.
(cc)