Recommended or Not Recommended Excursions for Western Mediterranean cruise?

We are going on a port-intensive 12-night cruise in October on the Explorer, stopping in Koper, Split, Bari, Argostoli, Catania, Rome, Florence/Pisa, Monte Carlo, Marseilles, and Palamos (Barcelona). We have been to Rome, Florence and Barcelona, seeing the usual sights in those cities. We have never been to the other ports on the tour. Each port has several excursion choices that all look great! :hearteyes:

Has anyone done any of the excursions at these ports through Regent and if so, what do you recommend or not recommend?

We are happy to pay for any Regent Choice excursions and are also willing to look at private tour options if you think this would be better, as we are going with two other couples and can split the cost.

The choices for excursions on this itinerary are vast. I think Regent offers a great selection, and you need to pick depending on what you like to do. We often use the regent provided transportation to get to where we need to be then break off and do our own thing. Just be sure you tell the guide what you are doing first, so that they aren’t worried they lost you.

Thank you Rachel, that is exactly the problem we are having! So many choices........

My husband and i like more active tours and dislike long bus rides. The biking tour in Lucca (at the port for Florence) is excellent and would definitely do again. In Catania, we went up a funicular to a smaller town, then were able to just explore on our own. In Marseilles, we went to several towns, I think three, in Provence and had a lot of free time at each. Aix en Provence is wonderful. St Paul de Vence from Monte Carlo is also great. But it is hard to go wrong in this area. We just avoid anything that says panoramic or sounds like a bus tour. The more walking, the better, for us.

Eze from Monte Carlo is interesting too (much closer than St Paul)-- also some of the hill towns. I very much like St Paul de Vence (better than Eze) though it, like Eze, has too many shops for my taste. (I don't enjoy shopping at all.) Nice we find wonderful, especially the Chagall and Matisse museums, if you enjoy museums. (Fine one in St Paul as well.) Walking along the Promenade in Nice is very pleasant, as is the market. Good restaurants too.

I agree with Rachel: biking tour in Lucca is very good. Even if you don't enjoy biking, the town itself is handsome and interesting.

Aix is probably our favorite town in Provence.

If you're not interested in hauling into Rome, the Etruscan tombs excursion, much closer, is very good.

Have you checked the Ports of Call section on CC? Lots of good info there and you can ask specific questions to help narrow your choices.

Have fun.

Tinkermom1, thank you for this post. We are doing the Barcelona r/t in July and was also having trouble deciding on some of the ports that we haven't seen. RachelG you are correct a lot to choose from, and my perfectionist is getting starting to come out.

I’m interested in this thread too. It’s making me happy because I’ve already reserved the bike tour in Lucca and a tour of St Paul de Vence. We were fortunate to have visited Florence and Nice previously. Thanks for the thread. The excursion to Sienna looks wonderful too. I’ve already had the privilege of doing a private tour of the Vatican on another occasion, even though pricey, it is well worth it if you have never visited the Vatican.

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Sienna and San Gem (can't remember the spelling-- that superb town not far from Sienna) are among our very, very favorite places in Italy. I'd have loved to revisit them on one of our Regent cruises (had visited several times in earlier days on land trips), but the tours were too long for us. If folks don't mind long days, I'd urge that tour— both really places special imo.

San Gimignano

Also: Catania:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/travel/catania-sicily-budget-frugal.html

Second the motion as to Etruscan Tombs excursion. Did this last April when aboard Explorer from Miami to Venice. As I expressed to the John, a Brit, and the Cruise Director, these were "Tombs with a View". Experience it, and you will see what I mean. A manageable group of about 25 persons, plus a competent guide and a professional driver.

That excursion also, almost as an aside, listed having a "light country lunch" at a farmhouse on the way back to the ship. Anything but. A delicious, full lunch with various wines. All produce, as well as meat, chicken, and pork, was grown/raised on the property.

This was a regular, not special tour option. No additional cost. A delightful time. One of the best of many excursions we have taken on Regent over the years.

And, of course, there is Pisa. A long day, but totally worth the time. And again, another fine lunch.

GOARMY!

I’m interested in this thread too. It’s making me happy because I’ve already reserved the bike tour in Lucca and a tour of St Paul de Vence. We were fortunate to have visited Florence and Nice previously. Thanks for the thread. The excursion to Sienna looks wonderful too. I’ve already had the privilege of doing a private tour of the Vatican on another occasion, even though pricey, it is well worth it if you have never visited the Vatican.

 

 

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Thank you for the information. I saw that tour and wondered if it was worth it. Didn't know if I wanted to spend so much time at the Vatican.

The Etruscan tombs tour is very good as far as the tombs, but we had a horrible bus driver who got lost taking us to the lunch place. We drove around lost for about an hour while he tried to figure out where we were supposed to be going. The tombs were very interesting, and the lunch was good--once we got there at 2:30 pm.

RachelG:

Glad my wife and I were not on that bus! Our Guide timed the time at the Tomb complex down to the minute. On the bus--to the farmhouse. Our driver sat down with the owner and his wife for lunch--so, he had done this trip before.

GOARMY!

We did a cruise a few years back with stops in Koper and Bari, and did tow very enjoyable excursions which I think are on offer on your cruise.

In Bari we did Enchanting Alberabello, which included a short stop inside one of the trullis. Seem to remember quite a long drive to get there, although driver took a different route back to the ship, which made it more interesting. Worth it to see Alberabello which was lovely and very interesting.

In Koper we did the trip to Lake Bled, which was a very long day but again very enjoyable - the boat trip across Lake Bled was enchanting, we had a really good guide and an enjoyable lunch

Thanks for the replies everyone! I just purchased Rick Steve's "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" which I am hoping will help us decide where the best use of our time is when in port for only one day. :)

Thanks for the replies everyone! I just purchased Rick Steve's "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" which I am hoping will help us decide where the best use of our time is when in port for only one day. :)

I may be wrong but doesn't Rick Steve's give information on budget itineraries/excursions, etc.

I may be wrong but doesn't Rick Steve's give information on budget itineraries/excursions, etc.

And is that a problem? Perhaps should look at his take on NCL cruises.

And is that a problem? Perhaps should look at his take on NCL cruises.

Regent does not do budget excursions.:rolleyes:

Regent does not do budget excursions.:rolleyes:

Based on what you have posted about Regent excursions, they certainly sound like budget. What am I missing? Honest question.

Based on what you have posted about Regent excursions, they certainly sound like budget. What am I missing? Honest question.

In my opinion, they are middle of the road excursions - not luxury - not mainstream. Some Regent Choice excursions are definitely luxury - going to Michelin star restaurants, etc. Thank you for asking an "honest question".

Editing to say that some luxury and premium cruise lines do offer some included excursions but they are basically bus rides around the city. While Regent also offers those, many of their excursions are quite good. The issue is too many buses arriving at the same place at the same time. Some passengers enjoy those but those of us that have traveled extensively would rather not be part a bus caravan visiting over-crowded places.

In my opinion, they are middle of the road excursions - not luxury - not mainstream. Some Regent Choice excursions are definitely luxury - going to Michelin star restaurants, etc. Thank you for asking an "honest question".

 

Editing to say that some luxury and premium cruise lines do offer some included excursions but they are basically bus rides around the city. While Regent also offers those, many of their excursions are quite good. The issue is too many buses arriving at the same place at the same time. Some passengers enjoy those but those of us that have traveled extensively would rather not be part a bus caravan visiting over-crowded places.

To which luxury and premium cruise lines are you referring that offer "basically bus rides around a city"?

It may surprise you but not everyone considers Regent to be the singular luxury cruise line.

Thank you Travelcat2 for your honest response!

Yes, Rick Steves is a "budget traveler" which we definitely are not, lol. But, apparently the book describes every port and the areas near the ports which makes it a lot easier for me to determine where I want to go if I only have a day.

My husband and I have traveled extensively in Europe, usually spending a month there every year for about 20 years. We are new to cruising having only been one one cruise several years ago in Alaska with our teenagers who are grown and married now. We usually rent an apartment wherever we are in Europe to use as a base to travel from and have utilized private guides extensively.

We are going on this cruise with two other couples. Although we all have the financial resources to hire private guides, we would rather not do this for every day of our cruise when there are included excursions or Regent Choice excursions that would be less expensive if we hired a private guide.

So, what to do? I would love to hear about other's specific experiences with Regent excursions on these ports.

I have the Rick Steves book on Northern European cruise ports for our upcoming Arctic Splendors cruise. Though he tends to look down his nose a bit at cruising, his books do provide good information. The book I have gives a brief overview of the typical ship's excursions in a port, gives suggestions for do-it-yourself ways to explore the area, provides detailed information on how to get from and to the port or potential ports (worth the price of the book in itself), helps with mass transit info, and then gives typical guidebook info on the major sights of the area, suggested restaurants and shopping, and hotel info if the port is one often used for embarkation/debarkation or overnights.

The book is written on the (very fair) assumption that excursions are not included in the cruise price, and are generally overpriced and you can do better with other alternatives. He gives ways to DIY, but on rare occasion says that your best bet is the cruise line excursion. The orientation is how to make the most of your brief time in any given place.

I guess what I'm saying is that, if there is a Steves book that covers much of your cruise, it can be a good tool in planning, whether it's to plan what excursion to take or plan a route of your own, or some combination thereof.

Rick Steves does a good job with his guidebooks and his recommendations are generally sound. I have one misgiving however and that is, whenever we have found ourselves somewhere mentioned in one of his books or on his website, it's packed with American people slavishly following his advice. He has a large following!

No doubt I've said this already, but picking up on Tc's last post: We too have traveled extensively, for decades and decades and decades long before we tried cruising (which we much enjoy though we thought we would not). For the past dozen years or so we've enjoyed the large majority of Regent's excursions, some more than others naturally, but in general we've found them quite good. We now and then do a Regent's Choice excursion and have felt that many of our included excursions were just as good. When Tc says that "most of us who've traveled extensively" prefer such and such a way of doing, I'm not sure she's correct. Just wanted to note that she's not speaking of us nor of many, many well traveled people that we know. No harm or argument in not enjoying included excursions anymore, or excursions on bus or whatever. But I thought it was maybe important to note that many of us are just fine with Regent excursions.