edinburgher

Wheeled suitcases and steps both up and down are not usually a good combination, so be prepared to carry your luggage over each bridge you need to cross to reach your hotel and when leaving it. And never book a gondola shorex from a ship as you are unlikely to get one for your sole use so. be prepared to ahare. OTOH a private hire should ensure you have sole occupancy. Venice is a wonderful city to explore on foot and to get lost in, happens to almost everyone at some point, but not seriously lost as you can usually get back on track quite quickly.I would recommend you take the vaporetto along the Grand Canal and explore on foot for the remainder of your time.

Having never been to Zante/Zakinthos I cannot comment but our DD spent a week there on vacation and assured us that there is "nothing to do there apart from the beach" and never intends to return. OTOH, Mykonos is at least scenic and pretty so there at least options. And sometimes weather plays a part too, especially if you are travelling at the height of summer in very hot temps. Maybe he could look for something like a jet ski rental or a jeep tour or whatever other adrenalin rush activities might be on offer. There should be info found on any "adventure-type" tours by internet searching.

Not everywhere has to have an element of "excitement" Sometimes a -pleasant, more relaxed day with a nice lunch and pretty/interesting/scenic things to see can be just as enjoyable, and if your days prior to arriving into Mykonos have been long and/or busy, Mykonos is a good enough place to enjoy some down time at a relaxed pace.

How strange. After reading what you wrote, I tried a few minutes ago and quite a few appeared. Did you include the words "self guided" in your search criteria? And if you are good with" techy stuff" try gypsmycity.

In that case you should read reviews about Cafe Florian before going in. Tripadvisor and others. Very expensive even for a cup of tea or coffee and you pay extra if the "orchestra" is playing outside and that extra isn't negotiable. It is known for being a bit of a tourist trap. And do remember that in Italy there can be different charges for anything you order depending on whether you are inside standing at the bar for your tea/coffee, (cheapest) or inside but sitting down,(more expensive) and most expensive is usually sitting down at an outside table. There is also usually a set cover charge for "bread" with a meal order. When choosing Venice hotels, many visitors will take intoaccount the number of bridges which need to be crossed to reach their hotel from a vaporetto stop, as luggage needs to be carried across them unless you use the porter service usually found outside the train station or pay $$$ for a private water taxi.One of the reasons for the area around Piazzale Roma being so popular for accommodation is because that is the last point where taxis buses and trams can run to, and is usually the arrival or departure point for tourists. If you will be first time visitors, I cannot reccomend enough that you go to the VENICE FOR VISITORS/Europe for visitors website which is a really excellent source of information for all things Venice. That should be your first point of reference although there are many others including Tripadvisor. As above, we have visited Venice 7 times and never felt the need for a gondola ride. We have seen cruise pax on shorex uncomfortably filling a gondola (maybe 4 or 6 persons?) and also seen them several times going around bumper to bumper (do gondolas have bumpers?) in convey and neither experience appealed to us.

Or if it might be new to you, consider a side trip to Syracuse, a town we really enjoyed. In many port towns and cities we have had great success in finding walking tours which we can do independently, by simply googling something like "self guided walking tour of "X"

We visited Delos in the morning then spent time wandering the narrow (and very white) streets of the pretty town including the area by the windmills and Little Venice. It was a very pleasant day. And don't forget to look for Peter the Pelican usually found close to the harbour. And do internet search for Mykonos Tourist Info, also sites such as Tripadvisor for inspiration.

And keep an eye on train strike dates as the strikes continue with no obvious sign of agreements being reached with the unions. Closer to your travel dates, you should check regularly to see if your train(s) will run on the days you hope to travel.

Spa services are a concession. The cruise lines have teamed up with companies that sell some products and services onboard their ships. These concessions recruit, train, and employ the crewmembers within their department,meaning that it is the concessions themselves who make the decisions and set the pricing. And this is the reason why concession staff do not receive a share in onboard tips, but require to be tipped separately for their services.

kameaB Not at all trying to put you down, just wanting to offer some constructive advice. You are creating a research and logistical nightmare for yourselves by "trying to fit a square peg into a round hole" ! The tours you are describing above are PUBLIC tours best suited to visitors on land trips, not cruise passengers, due to the difficulties of logistics and port timings which you are describing above. Why are you even looking at them? What are they offering that cannot be done some other way? There may be the very occasional one which fits your port timings and location, but these could be rare. If ship shorex are sold out, look at exploring independently either on foot, by taxi, or by public transport, or a combination of more than one of these. Some parts of the world have extensive public transport options which makes this a relatively easy option. And in some ports it is common to find taxi tours in addition to rides to get you from A to B. Your other option would be to use only companies which are well regarded here on CC for the small group PRIVATE tours they run specifically for cruise pax. Timing is organised around ship arrival and departure times,they pick up at the port and finish at the port with itineraries and timings agreed ahead of time. So very much easier. Yes, for 1 or 2 persons they can work out too expensive but they commonly accommodate up to 8 or 10 persons and the more you have the less costly it is. You have the option of trying to find others on your Roll Call who might like to join you on one you have arranged, , or check your Roll Call for any fellow pax who have already set up a private tour somewhere and are looking for others like yourselves to share with them. And some companies can tell you when you enquire, if any other pax from the same ship are interested in the same tour on that date and can themselves help put a group together. There is a huge amount of info to be found on the internet to help you plan sightseeing, also guidebooks and other resources, and much info here on the CC forums so I would encourage you to approach your trip planning from a totally different angle and actually enjoy it, because port planning is for many an fairly enjoyable element of the overall trip experience.

It depends on the port location and ease of accessing the location(s) we want to visit. We only do a shorex when the destnation is further from the port and outside our DIY comfort zone, or if the journey would be too challenging to DIY by taxi or public transport. To a cetain extent it also depends on which region of the world you are sailing as in some, it is recommended that shorex, taxi or private tours are recommended. It is personal choice. If you are happy to pay $ssss for shorex in every port and be part of a 50 strong group at all times then go for it. If you would rather shorex in some ports and DIY or private tour in easier ones, you need to do your research/homework before you leave home so that when you leave the ship you know where you are going and how to get there. With much info easily found it isn't difficult to do, you only need time. Which part of the world will you be sailing?

Both Visby and Kristiansand are easily walkable from the dock. We found Kristiansand a little underwhelming and only walked around, with the area closest to the sea our preferred pathway. Otherwise we found little to interest us so you may need to do some thorough research to find more to your liking, perhaps even venturing out of town. OTOH, we really liked Visby. It is also a popular vacation destination for Scandinavians due to its appeal. Such a pretty town to explore on foot. There should be many images and much info found online if you look. It was a lovely weather day for us so that helped, but it was also a welcome and relaxing break from several days of fairly intense Scandinavian city sightseeing and I think you will enjoy your time there.

As an afterthought, it would not surprise me in the least if the Gib shorex option gets dropped once someone at your cruiseline realises the challenges they would face trying to take a Spanish coach across the border and a Spanish driver and Spanish guide into Gib- to work. For the shorex to work, more than likely that you would need to stop at the border with pax crossing on foot and picking up a local coach, driver and guide once across, then reversing the procedure for the return to Spain. This I do not know for certain, it being an educated guess, but others may know and can advise. As leaving EU/Schengen and entering the UK,there would be a border control and passports required, again showing them for the return to Spain/EU/Schengen.. There are a number of nationalities entitled to enter the UK visa free, so your nationality would need to be checked against the list of visa free qualifying countries.

This was posted while I was writing my reply above.(post #6) i would think Gibraltar as a touring option from Cadiz is a most unusual option as the more usual selection would include touring white villages of the area, Jerez or Seville, with perhaps a walking tour of Cadiz also in the mix. And due to the ongoing territorial dispute between Spain and Gibraltar/UK there can be long delays in both directions when crossing the border between the two. Also be aware that Gibraltar is not in the EU, nor is it a Schengen country. I would absolutely stay in Cadiz and explore independently as so easy to do, the town has much to offer and is popular with visitors.

I cannot think of any port call where tours of both would be offered on an either/or basis as they are not close neighbours and are in different countries. .If your cruiseline is offering tours of both because you will be stopping in both(?? it really isn't clear the way you worded your question) be advised that both can be toured without any need for a shorex, Gib quite often chosen by taxi tour as it is steep and quite hilly, Cadiz you only need cross the street and you will already be in the (flat) historic centre. And presumably they will also be offering tours at your other port calls? Plenty of previous threads about both and would be worthwhile reading.

Very sorry, but I don't fully understand either as most would refer to the AREA as THE Costa Brava. The way you described it makes it sound like a single town which is is the reason for the confusion. Perhaps you could clarify for best replies? Yes, the Costa Brava is for scenery, with the Northern Costa Brava more highly rated. And Girona is a wonderful town to visit. The area is also known for "gambas/shrimp" especially those from Palamos, a town we spent a port call day in. You will find special mentions of "Gambas de Palamos" on menus throughout the region, highlighting the quality of the dish. But the Costa Brava it is also reknown for "all things Dali" if that is what you are referring to and opening hours for the museum at Figueres and for his former home should be easily found online..

Choose your beach with care. Worth reading this warning on a thread from earlier this year: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2920075-beware-of-this-restaurant-in-mykonos-it’s-a-scam/#comment-64930038

How long is this tour? With your description of NIce, Eze and Monaco, it could be a full day tour in which case how will your 7 year old cope? And the others too! There should be an indication of the amount of free time in each location somewhere in the tour description and I suggest you read it very carefully before committing to the tour, as you may find that you will be in the coach for the majority of the time with only brief stops along the way. Would you all enjoy that? And would it be worth the expense? And if the stops with free time are too brief with not enough time in an any of the locations to do very much,(eg less than an hour or even less than 2 hours in Nice and/or Monaco) is it actually worth doing the tour? (Please refer to final paragraph) I say that as Villefranche is in a good location to visit Nice and/or Monaco independently by train at much less cost than a shorex for 5 persons would be and you can decide as a family which sights/sites would interest you most. And you can go at your own pace and stop wherever you choose for as long as you choose, and also decide where you would like to have lunch. And back to my note above about potentially short stops of an hour or less, you would need to take account of five of you needing to use some of that free time for toilet/bathroom stops, (and maybe more than once). and lose a little more time by being back at the coach a good 5 or perhaps 10 minutes before the departure time at each stop, so subtracting those times from the free time at each stop would give you a more realistic estimate of the amount of actual "free time".

The Cafe Royal and the Guildford Arms almost next door to each other on W. Register St. Edinburgh, almost across from the Balmoral Hotel, are both historic and beautifully decorated. Both are very well known and there will be many images and reviews of both to be found online. Having said that, Edinburgh is packed full of historic pubs in both the centre and the area along the Royal Mile/High St, way way too many to even begin to suggest a small number.. If you really do only want to walk around, then head for the area between the Castle and Holyrood Palace (Royal Mile/High St) and also down into the nearby Grassmarket as you will find many many pubs along the route and can decide which appeal to you most. There are also many interesting and historic sights along that same route, so you could take in some "sightseeing" without actually trying to take it in if that makes sense..

OP, My bad and apologies for that. As Nov 1st is NOT a UK holiday, it had totally slipped my mind that it absolutely is a holiday in many mainland European countries. You could still explore Cartagena by yourselves. Do check Toms Port Guide Cartagena and use that as your guide. Cartagena is relatively compact to explore on foot and is mostly flat so not at all difficult to do. As you can begin exploring once you cross the street in front of the dock, it would be nice to go off the ship for a stroll even if most attractions will be closed, and VMax has said that cafes, bars, restaurants will be open.

AJ , per Abe Lincoln as it seems appropriate. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.” its the life in your years" Life is short. Go for whichever itineraries most appeal to you.

firstly, the common sense that you would apply in any large city. Leave all jewellery and valuables on the ship, including ear rings and watches. Leave passport on the ship and carry a copy. Carry only one credit card and as little cash as you think you might need (you will have one credit card for other purchases) Keep a tight hold of cameras, smart phones etc and never leave them on a table top or on the ground next to your feet. Secure wallets, purses etc with an additional pin, wear cross body or in front not back, and ensure any zips cannot be easily opened. Be aware of those standing close to you. And importantly, before leaving home, I suggest that you familiarise yoursef with some of the commonly used "distraction techniques" used by thieves so that you are immediately aware should anyone try any of them on you. Simply Google something like "Tourist scams in Barcelona". Barcelona is an amazing city, so please don't let a fear of being pickpocketed spoil your enjoyment.

Is it absolutely ESSENTIAL that you have a tour company for all three of the above? Cartagena Spain is especially easy to DIY as ships dock in the city centre so you only need cross the street and you are there. Before deciding, do have a look at the very excellent Toms Port Guide Cartagena (google it) which has been highly recommended here on CC for a number of years by those who used it. There is an easy to follow walking map with images and descriptions. I think if you look at this you will appreciate that no tour company is needed and you could follow the suggestions on Tom's Guide at your own pace, stopping wherever and for however long you choose. I would however check opening hours are still current, in particular as your arrival on Nov 1st is actually winter and different opening hours may apply.

The regular public buses ARE direct between the two and with travel time around 25-30 minutes definitely worth considering.

Another option for you to consider is a Bosphorus boat ride/tour. When cruise ships pass along the Bosphorus they sail quite far out from shore, but the local boat trips and ferries stay close to shore so you get much better views of the shoreline buildings and palaces. There is also no need for an actual bout "tour" with commentary if you are happy to use one of the local ferries. The only differences are, the cost is much less and there is no commentary. They all leave from and return to Eminonu so quite convenient for you. We have used Turyol ferries and had no complaints. There should be info found online with timings, ticket cost etc and reviews to help you decide. Istanbul is a fascinating city so you will have a wonderful time whatever you decide.