erby2283

In 2019 we booked with mtours.me and had a wonderful day.  We booked the Perast - Budva - Kotor tour. They were four of us and I think the price was 70 euro per person. It was a lovely day with amazing views.  I would have liked more time at the end to actually visit Kotor Old Town - that's my only complaint.  You could probably ask them to revise to tour a bit to allow my time in Old Town if you preferred. We stopped and had a big lunch as a group and we all chipped in and bought our guide lunch as well.  To me, the highlight of Kotor is the view sailing in and sailing out.  I was out on deck the whole time.  Simply amazing.

My email said the description of the tour was as follows:

08:00 – 08:20 Short ride towards Perast
08:20 – 09:45 Boat to the island of Our Lady of the Rocks, church, museum visits and free time in Perast
09:45 – 10:45 Panoramic driving to Budva, photo stop above Jaz beach
10:45 – 11:45 Walking tour of Budva old town, and some free time
11:45 – 12:15 Driving to St. Stefan (Aman Resorts); photo break
12:15 – 13:00 Driving back to Kotor via Trojica hill, photo break
13:00 – 14:00 Kotor old town walking tour

Price includes:

• Pickup from the port/hotel and drop-off
• Guiding services (licensed English speaking guide)
• Private transportation with a modern car or minivan (parking and fuel costs)
• Taxi boat to the island Our Lady of the Rocks and back
• Entrance fees for Our Lady of the Rocks museum
• Ferry boat fee
• Panoramic photo stops along the way (Jaz beach, Sveti Stefan, Trojica hill above Kotor bay)
• Tourist taxes and maps for the old town of Kotor

Some pictures from that day.

I know Venice is high on your priority list (it would be for me too if I was lucky enough to get back that way).  However, just wanted to offer another tip.  When thinking about airfare, please do consider flying to or from Bologna rather than Venice. Even if it's just one way.  The price difference may be well worth it than if you flew into Venice. You could always fly into Bologna and then stay in Venice for a day or two post cruise and then fly home from Venice?! Or try vice-versa.  

May want to check with Celebrity.  Had a cruise friend book a May 2023 Norwegian Fjords from Southampton cruise with them today and it was $799 GBP for a Veranda. Great price for booking so close to sailing.   

Have you checked airfare?  When I do mock bookings, I generally find cheaper rates flying into Bologna than Venice.

6 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We booked the Icon for March.  Booked immediately when booking opened.  Price has increased by over 20% for our suite-  

Same.- except ours has doubled in price (in May 2024).

We had a 10:25 flight from Barcelona to Lisbon (for a few days post cruise).  We carried our stuff off the ship and took a taxi to the pier and don't recall having any issues.  I believe we were off the ship by 7:30 and at the airport by 8.

16 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I could not agree more on Kotor.  And, you got to Venice prior to the cruise ship ban -- awesome!  

And before Covid! So sad you can’t sail in anymore. Glad I did a FB live and have video to look back on it as we sailed into the canal. Now I’ll have to choose a cruise that embarks in Ravenna and spens a day or two in Venice first. 

Just remember that's their holiday season and airfare and cruises tend to be more expensive.  Many will also say it's too hot...but I live in the south and love 90's and high humidity so Aug in Barcelona didn't bother me. 🙂 

You can find some really good deals if you can wait until Sept.

Took my one and only (so far) European cruise in 2019.

As for ports, I LOVED Venice.  Maybe it was because we had an overnight there and could just walk around and not care about time - and being able to see the city at all times of the day and night.  So many amazing churches, and foot bridges, and food... I just adored it.

By Kotor was by far the most amazing port to sail into/out of.  I can't even explain the beauty of the mountains and how they surround you...and it goes on for hours! Hope I can make it back one day.

2 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

I hope that you didn't jinx yourself!  😮 

Was thinking that as I typed...🤪

I had problems for the longest time being able to see my cruise on the app.  Then all of a sudden, one day it was just there. People kept saying the screen should look like this and was nothing like what I was seeing. Not sure what the issue was but no problems since.... (fingers crossed).

As someone who makes sure I am physically in my a lounger at 7am on sea days to make sure I get a spot I really want, I think this is great. 

My vote would be Option 2. All three start and finish in cities that (in my opinion) require more than one day to explore and you can extend your vacation a couple days on either side to explore Venice and Rome - and I really like those ports! I had my one and only trip to Europe back in 2019 and was away for 19 days - a true bucket list trip....I so want to go back but haven't made it yet.

I would say focus on which ports you really want to visit - my main areas of interest were Italy but I also  absolutely loved Barcelona (which option two gives you two days there) and Nice.  But on my trip, since it may be the only time I ever got (get) to go, I choose a port intensive cruise to many different places because it was more about quantity....not quality. I needed to check off as many different ports as I could because who knows when you'll get back.  😜

You could also do some mock bookings with airfare and see which may be the best economically.  We actually added on 3 days in Lisbon post cruise but once you're in Europe, it's really easy and cheap to get to most other cities.  So if one itinerary is calling you, but doesn't hit a stop you really want to visit, look into flying to that city post cruise and staying there for a few days.

ps - take me with you.

4 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

I'm extremely happy to hear this.  We are heded out on a long trip in a couple of weeks...Flying to Rio de Janeiro and doing a 13 night Transatlantic on Celebrity Infinity, ending in Lisbon,,,we spend a few days there, then fly to Barcelona to catch the Symphony of the Seas, then home from there.  We booked the LAX-Rio and the Barcelona-LAX legs on CelebrityAir/RCCL Air2Sea, but the options they had for Lisbon to BCN were a little crazy and way overpriced--and all needed to change planes in Madrid.

I found a flight on TAP--direct Lisbon to BCN, less than 2 hours, 23 kg of luggage each included, for $76 US per person...less than a third of what we were looking at through the cruise lines...and saving us several hours...

Hopefully, our experience will be as good as yours. 

Once you get to Europe, it’s pretty cheap to fly to most places within it. The hard part is getting there economically. Enjoy your trip. It sounds amazing! 

I booked one of these at Breezy Bay for our May 2024 Icon sailing - they only had 3 left and South Beach was already sold out - even though it was around $100 more. The description of what I was getting wasn't very clear online so I watched a few online videos people had posted.  Ours was $219 for the day - $244 with taxes. I was really surprised these were already almost sold out 14 months before sailing. 

22 hours ago, moposh said:

I wouldn't even know how to find roll call in other location.

Just search for ship name and date of sailing.

I personally enjoy all roll calls bc not everyone is on all of them.  I have many lifelong friends that I have met on CC roll calls so this is usually my first go-to place for my sailing.

On 3/7/2023 at 8:17 PM, marazul said:

It makes no difference, but be aware that mondays most museums are closed, but the Vatican and Colosseum are open.

I was just about to say...not on a Monday.... 😜.  Our 12 day cruise just happened to land with our Florence stop on a Monday so we weren't able to get into the Accademia Gallery.  Just as well I guess, as it gave us more time on our tour to walk around and explore. 

I used them for all three stops in Italy and my stop in Villefranche.  I had no concerns after reading so many wonderful things about them on these boards.  It can be scary and confusing the first time because of all the unknowns.  When we used them in Salerno, I was so hoping time would allow us to make it to Positano, but the traffic was too bad and we had to go back.  They are in constant contact with others in the know regarding traffic. There are several threads on here about this tour company - 95% positive I would say. I'd book them anytime.

On 2/7/2023 at 12:49 PM, VitaminSea53 said:

Does anyone have first hand experience with Welcome Pickups?  I am thinking of booking them for 3 cities we will be visiting.  Reviews are mixed - they either love them or hate them....

I used them arriving in Barcelona to hotel and in Lisbon from our apt we rented to the hotel. Both were fine. I was nervous bc I had never used them and our flight to Barcelona was delayed.  This was back in 2019 so not sure if they still do it this way but the drivers communicate through the "whats app" app.  As soon as I found out my flight was delayed, I notified them.  My driver sent me a message while I was waiting to go through customs that he was there and waiting and where to meet him. I would have no issue using them again.

We just took a taxi (we had an early flight though and actually carried our stuff off ship). Must have been no later than 7am though. 

I did use Welcome Pickups though when I arrived and again to get to the airport after we traveled to Lisbon post cruise for a few days.  They were easy to work with and our driver was waiting when we arrived even though our plane was delayed.  I did notify them as quickly as I learned we were going to be delayed though - but still nice to know our ride was still there and waiting.  They use whatsapp to message you upon arrival. 

We used TAP from Barcelona to Lisbon for a few days post cruise. Seemed to be very efficient. Short flight but everything went off without a hitch. 

On 2/20/2023 at 11:19 AM, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks.  Can you tell me that bottom of what hill?  (See @marazul's comment above.)  Also, about how long did it take for you to get up to Eze Village?   Thanks!

Look for my pictures in post #36.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2746620-vision-of-the-seas-mediterranean-review-aug-10-22-2019/page/2/ One of them towards the end has a picture with a caption of us looking down towards the parking lot.  If this helps, I was 45 when I went but needed a new (which I finally got last year).  Thankfully celebrex got me through that trip wonderfully and it didn't stop me from doing anything.  But there's no way I could have walked it had I tried to go last year before my replacement. 🤨  There's plenty of places to stop on the side and rest. So I guess it depends on the disability.  

On 3/14/2023 at 11:40 AM, tusconcam said:

 Hi there. My dw and I are wondering if there are any small group tours that follow what we saw months ago on Celebrity's excursions, a combination of Nice, Ez and Monte-Carlo/Monacco? We are on Celebrity Edge and in Nice May 5th this year/2023.

The mix was just what we were looking for. If anyone has any ideas/links for such a tour please let me know here and/or muskoka cam dot g mail dot com. Thanks so much. 

We hired Italytours.eu for a tour in Villefranche.  They don't advertise the tour on their website but you can email them and see if they still offer one. We spent the morning in Nice and then had lunch in Monaco and had a some time to walk around.  We then drove through Monte Carlo and stopped to take pictures of all the elaborate cars parked at the hotel but no one in our group was particularly fond of staying there long.  Then we went up to Eze.  There were only four of us on our tour and Guy (prounounced Gee) was a fabulous guide - it was my favorite tour of the whole trip.  This was back in  2019 so I'm not sure of the cost - maybe around $100 USD each? Well worth it to me.  

Edit: I never did finish my review (bad me) but if you click the link to Vision cruise in 2019 you can see photos from this tour.

On 3/11/2023 at 10:11 PM, NicNac4498 said:

Unconfirmed, but I believe the musical onboard will be Wizard of Oz.

 

"Wicked" perhaps? I would think that would fall more in line with their latest shows. 

As a non-drinker I almost always get the Refreshment Package bc I do enjoy plenty of soda and 2/3 mocktails a day.  I was holding off buying it because it's always been $29.99 (10% off) in the planner while most other packages where 20% off - so I was holding off for 20%.  Well that was dumb bc they just increased the price and now it's $33.99 (with 10% discount).  I should have just bought it and then canceled and rebooked if I saw it at a lower price.