What excursions to book?

My husband and I have booked the Celebrity Eclipse Western Mediterranean 12 day Cruise in October. I am feeling overwhelmed with all the excursion choices for our first time visit to Europe. My original mindset was to book every port that offered an excursion but now I am rethinking this as we could become very exhausted and have little chance to relax and enjoy the ship. Any advise on what ports to book excursions and what ports to skip or just visit on our own. The ports are Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Gibralter, Malaga, Provence, Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples. All advise greatly appreciated.

Welcome to Cruise Critic! You will have a lot of luck if you post this question under the Europe Ports. Here is the link: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19 Just click on it and it will automatically take you there.

This section is just for general questions...you may get some responses, but you will get many more if you visit the Europe section....plus you can read up on all of the excursions people do. Good luck to you!

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports and see what you can do on your own. I recommend doing half day tours in some ports. Just enough to familiarize yourself with the area and buy a fridge magnet. EM

You are correct about being exhausted after too many tours.

Barcelona: We booked the ship's tour with shuttle to the Sacrada Familia and guide. The rest of the day was on our own. We strolled through Barcelona on a loose itinerary our adult kids had prepared. You could just get the tickets on line. Several ships were in port and all had shuttle busses to Columbus square which is at one end of the Rambla.

Nice: ours was neighboring town Cannes. We booked a tour to Grasse and St.Paul de Vence, but we would have been happy just exploring Cannes or, in your case, Nice. Since the railroad workers are on partial strike, I would not recommend taking the train to another town.

Florence: It's far from port. We opted for Pisa and Lucca. Both very nice and closer. Check the Italy ports forum. Somebody is asking about a private tour to Pisa and another small town. Pisa is well worth it. Go to the information/ticket booth and get a free timed entrance ticket to the cathedral. They also have tickets to the tower and the cemetery. Our guide said they are 7 Euro per person.

Rome: We took the ship's tour to Rome and it was the most strenuous of the tours with a guide who never stopped talking. If I had to do it again, I would probably chose the shuttle (60 -90 minutes) and then the hop-on-hop-off bus. We saw everything of note for a few minutes and with everybody else. The crowds were incredible.

Provence is a region, what's the port's name?

My first thought was that if you want a cruise to relax and enjoy the ship, a Med Cruise would be my last choice, unless I had visited the ports many times before. Med cruises are very port intensive.

The excursions offered by the ships are certainly plentiful. And can be overwhelming unless you have done your research. Then add in the options offered by independant tour operators and DIY alternatives in many of the ports. Mind boggling. Unless you've done your research.

The Europe Ports of Call forum is an excellent place to start. Then join your Roll Call for your ship's sailing to see what your fellow cruisers have planned. Perhaps you'd like to join in one or more of those. The Rick Steve's Med Cruise book has lots of valuable information. TripAdvisor is another good source for independant operators (with reviews) and DIY options. There's your research.

Now pick the one thing for each port that most appeals to you.

Done.

Just want to add that most people are exhausted during and after their Med cruise. It's about the ports. You will come back to the ship exhausted, go to dinner exhausted, and fall into bed exhausted. But, if I may say, it's the good kind of exhausted. :D

You need to research, and you have a bit of time left to do so. Med cruises are port-intensive and you can't go in blindly - you have to research for yourself and book the tours, either ship or DIY, according to what YOU like. I always feel a little leery when people ask "What should I do in ______?" because we don't know you or what your likes and dislikes may be. We can't recommend a six-hour bus tour if someone gets sick on buses. See what I mean?

You can do this. :) Start with the ship's excursions on the official website and go from there. You'll get some ideas of what appeals to you (and what doesn't).

Have fun. :)

Look at SpainDayTours for those ports that are appropriate. They have a good reputation here on CC.

Lots of things to do in ALL those ports, you need to have lots of discussion at home about where your priorities lie.

Then, when you get home, think of it as a learning experience.

Jim

Prior to a cruise we research the local attractions in each port, making a list of everything of interest to us - I use the CC port boards, tripadvisor and general Google searches. I also list any tour companies that provide private tours.

We then book a ship or private tour based on risks and costs.

Ports we visited previously

Gibraltar - probably just walk around

Livorno - we did a tour to both Florence and Pisa. Florence was a guided walk around the centre & Pisa for the tower. Excellent tour, but very long.

Rome - we did an Ultimate tour. We got to see lots of attractions, but spent minimal time at each. Might have been better doing less and spending more time at each place.

Nice - we did a tour to Monaco, seeing the Casino, Changing the Guard ceremony and a palace tour.

We thoroughly enjoyed Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - ordered early opening tickets on-line. Then explore the Gothic quarter.

Also really enjoyed taking a tour of Alhambra from Malaga - the bus ride is about an hour, tour was excellent and the buildings amazing.

My first thought was that if you want a cruise to relax and enjoy the ship, a Med Cruise would be my last choice, unless I had visited the ports many times before. Med cruises are very port intensive.

Done.

Agree! A Med cruise is all about the ports, not the ship. I would also recommend Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports as it contains a wealth of information for first time visitors.

Agree! A Med cruise is all about the ports, not the ship.

Which is why I have NO intention of doing one.

Also, most of the ports could use several days, if not a week or more to really explore. Even a whole day is not enough to do more than buy a fridge magnet and see one or two things.

Also, most of the ports could use several days, if not a week or more to really explore. Even a whole day is not enough to do more than buy a fridge magnet and see one or two things.

Of course, but it gives you a taste of various ports in Europe. We definitely know where we'd want to go back on a land vacation.

We loved our pisa and Florence tour with papillon great driver tour guide , new mercedes van, even had time for wine and tasting at a vineyard , highly recommend this tour

Also really liked Barcelona day tours

Of course, but it gives you a taste of various ports in Europe. We definitely know where we'd want to go back on a land vacation.

Precisely my sentiments. I have traveled extensively in Europe and return frequently to my favorite haunts (London, Edinburgh, Rome, Florence, St. Petersburg, Prague). I also have visited via cruise ship (I usually act as the guide for our familial group in places I have visited multiple times). If not for cruising, I would never have thought of touring Provence (we had a stop in Toulon) - gave me that taste & left me eager for a return visit via auto.

I don't cruise to relax - can do that at home or at the beach house. :)

I think the suggestion to research your ports, and find out which places/things interest you the most. Seldom are excursions required....most things are easy to DIY...but you MUST know something about where you're going! Get the guidebook first and then decide HOW to do those things you want to do and see!

Of course, but it gives you a taste of various ports in Europe. We definitely know where we'd want to go back on a land vacation.

That is easy.

ALL of them. :D

Thanks for all the information and advise! We did the research, found our interests, and voila, booked 6 excursions through the Ships website. Just missing an excursion in Florence but think we may just book after we are on the ship. Loving the idea of seeing a many areas in a short time to get the feel of what areas we really love. I have a feeling we will love all. What is this Meet & Greet thing.

Like a few have said, look for tours that interest you. Someone favorite tour may not be your cup of tea. If you are a shopper, don't worry, the tours seem to always stop somewhere you can spend money. On a lot of the tours, there is a lot of walking. Wear comfortable shoes. I wear a low cut hiking shoe. If you buy shoes just for the cruise, don't get them the week before. Buy them way ahead of time and wear them around to break them in. If you don't, pack some bandaides for the blisters. Plus some areas you really do not want to walking around in sandals. A lot of the tours, you will be gone from the ship most of the day. Another thing is clothing. Some places you visit have requirements. No hats or shoes wore inside the venue. Bring socks if you don't want to walk around bare foot. Certain clothing items can not be worn. The tour description should let you know, what should be worn. You would not want to get there and find out you can not get in because you are wearing the wrong thing.