First Med Cruise - private shore excursions

We are doing our first Med cruise on Sept 6th on the Norwegian Epic our of Rome. I was stunned to see the prices on their website for their excursions especially the Pompei, Sorrento, etc location. $467.00 Canadian for one person for the tour we are interested in which seems incredibly expensive. Can anyone recommend some reliable private tour companies for that port as well as the Florence/Pisa stop.

First, Europe is not cheap.

Second, many places can easily be done on your own. Just takes some research.

Third, just look down the board for ideas and recommendations. For example, a very popular and frequently recommended company, the awesome Rome in Limo, operates in both Florence and Naples. So booking two trips with them will get you a discount.

We are doing our first Med cruise on Sept 6th on the Norwegian Epic our of Rome. I was stunned to see the prices on their website for their excursions especially the Pompei, Sorrento, etc location. $467.00 Canadian for one person for the tour we are interested in which seems incredibly expensive. Can anyone recommend some reliable private tour companies for that port as well as the Florence/Pisa stop.

Yes, the tours offered by the cruise ship are very expensive and, in my humble opinion, not of the quality you will receive on a tour with one of the local operators. I suggest that you check-out the rollcall for your sailing (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2440215) to join with or form some private groups.

Pompeii & Sorrento are very easily done on your own using local transportation (Circumvesuviana train) and, bonus, it is very inexpensive to do it this way. To save even more $$$, Rick Steves offers downloadable audio tours of Rome & Florence and they are great for first time visits (https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours).

Livorno to Pisa/Florence: you can take a taxi to the train station & then onward to Pisa/Florence or you can get a group together on your roll call & book a private transfer. On our Med cruise, we got a group of 8 together on our roll call and had the driver all day (no guide). It was great and cost us each about 40 euros. We used Tuscany by Taxi (http://www.tuscanybytaxi.it/) and our driver, Ricardo, was wonderful. He offered suggestions for lunch in Florence, took us up to Piazzale Michelangelo (for the views & church) & then dropped us near Santa Croce & met us near the Duomo at the agreed upon time.

There are lots of great recommendations on this forum - you need not book the overpriced tours via your cruise line.

You've come to the right place. There are a number of private tour companies recommended for just about any Italian port if you just take some time to go through the posts. (Or use search, assuming it is working...;))

Almost all of the recommended companies can and should provide a better experience than a large bus ship tour. But do be aware that most of the services recommended are for DRIVERS not GUIDES. Drivers can get you around the sites you want to see and can usually pick up and drop off right at the ship. But they cannot accompany you into the site and guide you.

Some companies will arrange a guide (at significant extra cost) for you for key sites -- such as the Vatican museum. You also are often asked to arrange your own tickets for entry.

As the previous poster said, Europe is expensive. Hiring a car for the day isn't cheap due to the distances involved in reaching some cities from port (a least an hour to Rome, 90 minutes to Florence, etc.) and the cost of gas.

There are also options to do some ports on your own. For example, you can take a local train into Rome and get yourself around on the local bus and metro for about 12 euro per person. (Plus entry fees, of course.) And in most cases you can buy tickets online yourself to save waiting in line when you get there.

If you have any specific questions about ports, feel free to ask for more info.

I second checking your roll call to see if you can get a group together.

For Livorno, we used Italy Shore Drivers and had 2 vans (16 people). Gianmaria was excellent! We were off the ship and in Pisa before all the crowds. It was a quick stop for pictures then onto Florence for a brief visit and then finally a wine-tasting/lunch in Tuscany. Highly recommend the tour with them. It was a memorable day and we got to meet and get to know 4 great couples from our roll call who helped fill our vans.

Roll call seems like the way to go.. we've already set up two tours in Gibraltar and in Jerez which are running half the price of the HAL tours. But be aware of the ports with tenders (you'll be late?) and also the no guarantee you'll be back on time for departure which is what HAL tours guarantee.

;p

But be aware of the ports with tenders (you'll be late?) and also the no guarantee you'll be back on time for departure which is what HAL tours guarantee.

;p

The issue of being late back to the ship is very over-hyped by the ships. In all of the years (10+) that I've been reading the Med forums, I can only recall a couple times when someone posted about missing the ship. Once was an almost unavoidable catastrophe.

The recommended companies are very protective of their good reputations. They will get you back in time -- just be sure you listen to their advice re: timings of stops.

The issue of being late back to the ship is very over-hyped by the ships. In all of the years (10+) that I've been reading the Med forums, I can only recall a couple times when someone posted about missing the ship. Once was an almost unavoidable catastrophe.

 

The recommended companies are very protective of their good reputations. They will get you back in time -- just be sure you listen to their advice re: timings of stops.

Totally agreed. Much overhyped by the cruise lines, and much worried about by cruisers, with absolutely no evidence of any problems. Many vendors promise to get you to your next port if there is a problem.

We are doing our first Med cruise on Sept 6th on the Norwegian Epic our of Rome. I was stunned to see the prices on their website for their excursions especially the Pompei, Sorrento, etc location. $467.00 Canadian for one person for the tour we are interested in which seems incredibly expensive. Can anyone recommend some reliable private tour companies for that port as well as the Florence/Pisa stop.

We used Rome In Limo in for 3 ports in 2011 and will be using them again for several tours post-cruise as well as several ports. Have no problem with them - they are great and you do get a discount for multiple ports. Definitely check your roll call to see if others want to join you and split cost.

Trust us, you don't want to go on the ship's tours which move at the speed of the slowest person in the group - often someone on a walker. You can see more and have a excursion that is more tailored to your interests with a private tour. They cost less but have about double to triple value of the ships' tours!

Been to the Med twice on cruises (doing #3 in October) and have always used private tour companies. Make sure to get on your roll call and see who else would be interested in joining you. Most of the companies have very comfortable air conditioned vans that seat eight so you split the charge eight ways. Makes it so much cheaper than paying the very high prices set by the cruise lines. I did notice that this year it seems that the price has gone up from two years ago but it still is much cheaper than the cruise lines.

Thanks everyone for the tips. The roll call for this cruise is the one beginning Sept 3 in Barcelona. We are picking up the ship on Sept 6 in Rome. Definitely researching some private tours - simply can't pay the prices NCL wants and converted to Canadian dollars, they are about $350-$450 per person per tour.

Enjoy the cruise as we had a fantastic time on our first Mediterranean cruise!! In regards to private tours, we found a gem in Domenico and Private tour in Italy!! We used him in all three ports and have sent numerous friends and family to him over the years including both of our kids.

http://www.privatetourinitaly.com

He speaks excellent English and is extremely knowledgeable and easy going!

Regards,

Frank

"Go Jays Go!!!!

Private tours are great but You do need to find others to share the tour with or the cost may be as high as the ships tours. Italy is expensive!!

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There are many here who are DIYers when it comes to visiting ports. If you are open to this, give us some idea of what you are interested in, whether you want to just get a glimpse of "everything", check something off a list, see a few things in detail, want to go slow to sample the local culture, etc, You can also do a little searching on this forum - lots of people have had questions just like yours and have received good information. Pay particular attention to cruisemom42 and hlitner - I consider them the best informed contributors here.

Those ports are not scary places - millions frequent them. You do not have to know the language (just know a few key phrases and always "please", "excuse me", and "thank you") to enjoy a foreign port.

Wow, that seems a bit steep! Is that for PRIVATE tours with the cruise line? Surely not for shared coach tours?

We have cruised the region a few times. There are nearly always and at most ports taxi tours available from the port entrance. Drivers stand there and hold up signs and posters with suggested tours and itineraries and prices.

We rarely take ships tours in Europe, unless it involves a ferry ride, such as the island of Capri (stunning) from Naples. Event THAT is totally doable with public transport, but we were too lazy to walk the mile to the ferry terminal.... For the Capri tour we basically used the transport to and from Capri as provided by the cruise line and participated in a cable car ride, but then we told the guide we would meet them at an agreed time by the pier in Capri and we did our own thing for most of the day.

OK, back to the issue on hand: We used a company called Share a Shore Excursion in Italy (www. all in one word .com) a number of times. They have a fairly decent assortment of tours for a number of places in Italy. Never an issue with these guys.

Yes. The roll call is the way to go !!! If u start three tours you can get a discount you. I've used italytoursharing.com several times now and they have been fabulous!! I'm booked with them again this June.

Last June I took the tour from Livorno that went to Florence, Pisa and the chianti region that included lunch at a private family winery. It was excellent. And very good wine!! I like the tours where lunch ( with wine-lol) is included!!

the Italy toursharing tour from Naples to positano and sorrento which includes lunchs at la taggliani. Is amazing. The views and food are to die for!! Enjoy your trip. U will get addicted like me!!

I believe you mean http://www.latagliata.com in Positano - truly one of the best dining experiences one can have in life !!!

I second that Mattyboy. The afternoon lunch that we had at La Taggliata overlooking the Amalfi goes down as one of the greatest moments I have experienced!

I can only echo the same comments of Brenda on italytoursharing. We have used their services several times and twice for Naples. They were absolutely great!. Paulo our first tour driver for Joe Bananas Iimos stopped and bought us drinks and snacks and was very knowledgeable about the area. We did Sorrento, Pompeii, and Positano on our tour with lunch at La Taggliata. It was great as others have noted.

Best tour we did by far was Florence/Pisa I had did my research and booked Papillion, we had 8 people from our roll call cost was 75 per person or 95 if you wanted them to pick of tickets with skip the line to David museum, which half our group did. Driver was just great, in a brand new Mercedes van , loads of room , 3 of us were 6' 4" . We also had the option to do a wine tasting at a organic winery (free) or spend more time in Florence, we did the wine tasting and all loved it.

We will NEVER regret using private tour companies on our first Med trip (or the 2nd). We used Rome in Limo, Joe Banana and Bob's Limo. Each driver was fabulous and while you can do Pompeii on your own, it is one of the places we had a guide and it was worth EVERY CENT if you want to get the most out of your time there. There were 5 of us (family group) and the cost was much better than the big buses. They were able to take us straight to the spots, while the big buses had to park some distance away are certain places. They purchased our tickets ahead of time and knew just what time to make the reservations to see the David (which was INCREDIBLE) and we researched what we wanted to see and took their recommendations into account. We had an amazing lunch on the beach on the Amalfi coast, an incredible ride in a fabulous Mercedes van with plenty of room and ice cold bottles of water. We saw twice as much as passengers that went with the ship tours....and their reputations depend on getting you back to the ship in plenty of time. When we returned from on of our tours, my daughter had left her purse in the back floor of tthe van. The driver was long gone and one call and he stopped, found the purse and made a speedy return to the ship to put it in her hand. Would not hesitate to use any of them again and hope one day to be using them again!

i can totally understand what you are saying. We have done two trips now to the Med and a third in the works. I have blogged about all our trips and what we have done in each port and all of it was done independently.

You can click on the label section on the left and pick the port and it will open all the blogs about that port. I have shared links and as much info to help others.

http://vickieandbernietravel.blogspot.ca/2015/10/flying-to-rome-via-london-oct-19-2015.html

There is good advice here, We are booked in every port with our upcoming Med cruise this fall with operators recommended on this board, no excursions through the ship. We have filled out our group of 6-8 with others from our Roll Call to make groups of 12 in most ports. We are keeping the tours still small, but still affordable. :cool:

The only advise I have to add to make sure that the deposit/tour is refundable if the ship does not make it to port. Many operators do ask for a credit card to hold for security or a deposit. Our itinerary has already been changed by the cruise line twice and we had tours booked at both cancelled ports. No problems with either operator cancelling our reservation without penalty. Also, tender ports occasionally cannot tender due to weather conditions, so make sure they will not charge you if you cannot tender at the last minute. Most of the tour companies recommended here meet that requirement. Cruising has a few more time limitations than if you were on a land vacation and missed ports are one of those limitations.

Enjoy your cruise!

Lots of great advice already. I'd chime in that private tours that I've had in last 10 years of travelling have almost always been a flat fee based on the length of the tour and size of the vehicle. Everything else is pretty minor. My rule of thumb for a small vehicle for an entire day it's going to cost ~$1000. If you only have two people that works out to $500/person but if you have 6 people (where I've seen a jump in price) you are now at $167/person. I remember one funny time in Istanbul where my partner and I were the only two people in a 12 person mini-bus.

Moral of the story is find an extra 2-3 people and the price per person of the private guide will drop quite a bit. And for me guides are worth it. Even though I do research before I go the guide always knows even more. And any good private guide will gauge the groups interest really fast and make modifications to the tour as you go along (with your consent of course). That's how we ended up in a eco-village in Helsinki to look at some interesting modern architecture or sneaking into the old Olympic Stadium to look at marble sculptures in Rome. Any guide that wants to work more will make sure you get back to the ship on time so I wouldn't really worry about that too much.

Sorry I can't help you specifically with the places you are going but I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.