Zana711

Cash only on the bus for single & return tickets. If you want to purchase the daily hopper ticket, then you can purchase online if you wish - https://www.citibus.gi/tickets-and-fares. Have a wonderful port day in Gibraltar!

Thanks for your kind words! Appreciate it! @edinburgher

I did the walk in around 35 minutes with another couple. Mind you, the last 10 minutes is uphill! So it's definitely possible to walk. If you're one of the first lot of folks to disembark, you'll beat all the group tours, as I did to the cable car. My honest recommendation is to play it by ear. It depends on how hot it is. I did it on a really hot April day around 30C but I did it early and I was at the cable car station by 9am. I'm certainly glad I didn't do that walk at midday! My blog post talked about walking in the heat! 😂 Another option is the shared shuttle from the port - they are 8-person taxis and I think they charge €3-5 to take you to the cable car station. But obviously they want to wait till the taxi is filled before they go.

The Blue Metro Line 3 goes to the city centre (Syntagma and Monastiraki) station and costs €9. Alternatively there is a X95 express bus to Syntagma Square. Bus departs more frequently (every 15-20 mins) and train departs every twice an hour. So depends on whether you're staying close to Syntagma Square. If you're staying close to a metro stop, I would just use the metro all the way. If you're interested to go from the city centre to the port after your pre-cruise stay in Athens, I've got directions on my blog post: https://diycruiseports.com/embarkation/athens-to-piraeus-public-transport

If you're in a hurry, then I would just take a taxi from the cruise terminal to Placa Real. Note that there is a surcharge for taxis leaving the port of €4.30. I have taken a taxi from the port to somewhere very close to Placa Real (Liceu metro stop) and the fare was €14 including the surcharge. Given the Blue Port Bus is €3 each and assuming there's more than one of you, you don't save that much. If Barcelona is a port stop for you, walking to Pl. Real on La Rambla from the port bus stop near WTC is about 15 mins and from memory, it's all on flat ground. I would just walk, if you're able to.

I was in Valencia in February this year, so I can provide instructions on where to find the bus to Old Town. The stop is called "Manuel Soto Enginyer - Comandància Marina" (click on it to find it on Google Maps). The port shuttle bus will take you to the terminal - "Trasmed-Grimaldi". You can see that the bus stop is about 3 minutes walk away. Hop onto Bus #4. You can now pay with a contactless card on the bus and a single ticket is €1.50 to Old Town. If you're interested to read how I did a DIY excursion in Valencia, here's the link to my blog post: https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/valencia-cruise-port-diy-shore-excursion-guide

To add on what's been said, Marseille is relatively easy to explore on one's own, given the free port shuttle bus. Once you get off the port shuttle, it's also a relative easy walk on flat ground to the closest bus stop and metro stop. If you're comfortable using public transport (tram, bus), then you're okay to wander around on your own. Someone mentioned Palais Longchamp, there's a tram around the corner from where you get dropped off by the port shuttle bus. And it stops right outside Palais Longchamp, so that's easy to see on public transport as well. You can pay via contactless card on the tram, too. I did just that on my first trip to Marseille from the cruise port on my own. If you're interested on how I did my DIY excursion, here's my blog post. https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/marseille-cruise-port-diy-excursion-guide

Aside from what's been said, I would add Palais Longchamp and walking around the Le Panier area. The Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde is really worth seeing, even if you don't want to visit churches, as the views from there are wonderful. It's at the top of the city, so can see all of Marseille. It's easy to take the Bus #60 from either the MUCEM St Jean stop or outside Vieux Port metro station. The bus will take you to the top - you can pay via a contactless card - perhaps less fun than the petit train but it runs more frequently and is cheaper. If you're interested to read more about my experience of doing a DIY excursion in Marseille - here's my blog post: https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/marseille-cruise-port-diy-excursion-guide

From the cruise port, there is a bus called No 5&10 (yes, five and ten, not a typo) operated by Citibus. (Citibus is a different company to the government-run company running the local buses). The bus stop closest to the port is called “North Mole Road“, a 8-10 minute from the cruise terminal on flat ground. Just exit the cruise terminal gates and keep walking straight till the first big roundtable and you should see the bus stop. Get off at the last stop called “Boyd Street Terminus (Cable Car)”. A return bus ticket is £2.40 or €3.60. If you want to see the rest of the island, a day “hopper ticket” is £6 or €9. I did a DIY excursion from Gibraltar cruise port as well. If you're interested, here's my experience of seeing Gibraltar on a DIY excursion! https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/gibraltar-cruise-port-diy-excursion-guide

For a group of 10, it's definitely worthwhile to get a mini bus private transfer, as it will work out to be a reasonable cost as well as much more comfortable for everyone. In case you do want to do how to travel by train on your own, here's my experience of having traveled to Ravenna to embark on a RC cruise: https://diycruiseports.com/embarkation/venice-to-ravenna-cruise-port

I have visited Santorini twice - once was in mid-August with 6 ships onboard, including a completely full Odyssey of the Seas. My best tip is to have an early start, know how your ship's tenders will work in Santorini as soon as you board the ship, and to catch the bus to Oia straight away, rather than sightsee in Fira and then go to the bus station for Oia. If you're interested to read my experience of surviving that "6-ships in Santorini" day 😂 - here's my blog post! https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/santorini-cruise-port-diy-shore-excursion-guide

To clarify, there are now two ports at Mykonos - the new port and the old port. The new port will allow ships to dock while you may be tendered into the old port. If your ship is docked on the new port, then there is a local-run shuttle bus for €2 cash one way. It will drop you off about 0.3 miles from the centre of town and you can walk to all the attractions from there, Little Venice and the windmills. If you're interested, here's my experience on exploring by myself at Mykonos - https://diycruiseports.com/diy-port-guides/mykonos-cruise-port-diy-shore-excursion-guide

I'm afraid that post-pandemic, both Celebrity and RC have been pricing solo use of a double cabin to more than 200%. Their rationale for this is that on average, a passenger will spend 60% on their paid cruise fare on top on extras once they are onboard the cruise. (This info was in the Royal Caribbean Group's report to shareholders). So to compensate, both Celebrity and RC marks up the difference if the cabin were to be occupied by a solo. The new Edge series ship DO have solo infinite veranda cabins that typically start selling at 160%, about the same premium as NCL marks up their solo cabins. I've seen those solo cabins on Celebrity Apex and while there's quite divergent opinions on the ship's infinite verandas, those solo cabins get sold out in a flash.

If you're based in the UK, look for special solo cruise price deals at Passion for Cruises - https://www.passionforcruises.co.uk. If you're open to traveling last minute, from Southampton or elsewhere, do searches on https://www.cruiseplum.com/solo-supplement-deals. The deals are priced in US dollars but not that hard to convert either on Google or go to the cruise line's UK website to price the deal. Virgin Voyages are also doing "no single supplement" deals this summer for all their Med cruises. https://www.virginvoyages.com/cruise-deals/solo-sailing It's quite easy to get deals without having to pay double; I guess you just have to be "on the ball" and look a bit harder to get them.