Is NO ONE booking ship shore excursions???

[euro cruiser]

...our 3 ports Naples, Civatavecchia(Rome), Livorno(Florence/Pisa)...I wonder if we could possibly do ONE of the 3 on our own. Hubby has bad knees so need to keep that in mind.

I'm sure you could do one of the three on your own.

 

From a logistical standpoint, I think Naples is the easiest to do on your own because once you arrive in the port, you're there. No need to get to a train station or other conveyance if the city is what you're interesting in seeing. Even if you'd like to spend your day on Capri, it's easy to make the (very) short walk from the cruise ship terimal next door to the high speed ferries. On Capri, a cab, bus or the funiculare (the most fun, IMHO) gets you up to the main piazza.

 

Rome is probably the most challenging to do on your own, both because of the logisitics of getting there and because it's really a walking city.

[Lsimon]

On our 2007 Med cruise we did SHIP'S excursions in many ports. In the past I've not been a big fan of ship's excursions, but did some at these ports due to traveling companions preferences. Well I was quite surprised. For the most part all of our excursions were excellently done and we had great times on all. The only one that was very expensive was an "Exclusive Amalfi Cost" tour which, while expensive, was one of the best excursion tours I've ever boon on - ship's or private.

 

Our favorite was the excursion to Rome which included the Vatican, the Coliseum and a surprisingly excellent lunch for our larger group. our guide was great and we thought the value was very good.

 

At ports where we wanted to see areas close to the port or that lent themselves to just browsing we ventured out on our own. At ports which were similar but very distant, such as Florence, we did the ship's "on your own" tour which is basically just transportation - with left us with no concerns about retuning to the ship timely on the 90 minute heavy traffic commute. And at ports where we felt the need for guides, entries to facilities that often had long lines, or multiple stops with driving in between we opted for full ship's excursions.

 

I posted reviews of all of our stops in the older port of call forums, but I also repeated them for each port in our photo site which you can view if you CLICK HERE.

[deniuh]

DH and I like to venture out so we try to book as many private tours as possible. Sometimes though we are forced to take the ship's tour. A good example is, we are sailing Princess later this year. The ship docks in Mykonos on a Monday, and we want to visit Delos. Delos is closed to the public on Mondays, but Princess has a special deal with the Greek government that allows them and only them to visit Delos even though it is closed. If we were to book a private guide/tour they would not have the permission to go to Delos. These are the situations where we find the ship's tours to be necessary.

 

Good luck planning, you have to do what you are most comfortable with Either way Europe is a beautiful place and you are in for a treat. Just be ready to spend more if you book with the Ship.

[Terpnut]

 

Have sent email to RIL to inquire if they still have availability for our 3 ports Naples, Civatavecchia(Rome), Livorno(Florence/Pisa). We should save some, but primariily we get to customize tour to OUR interests.

 

Although, I wonder if we could possibly do ONE of the 3 on our own. Hubby has bad knees so need to keep that in mind.

 

All three ports involve huge travel distances so RIL will do a great job for you. Also keep in mind that they will/should give you a discount if you book tours in all three ports with them. And if your party is small, I strongly recommend you find others on your roll call to share the tour so that your own per person costs are reduced substantially. This way, you will save alot of money versus a ship excursion and get a MUCH better and more personalized experience. :)

[nparmelee]

We fall into the category of those who usually end up doing a mix of ship, private and on our own, although our last cruise this May we only did 1 private tour and the rest of the ports on our own, and that was 13 ports. If you feel overwhelmed by a port and the logistics, by all means look at sharing a private excursion or a ships excursion. If the ship excursions are going to sites you want to see and experience, there is nothing wrong with them at all. Private excursions, and sharing them to reduce costs, can be great if the ship excursion doesn't quite do what you want to do but the logistics are somewhat daunting or time is somewhat limited. Some ports are definitely easier to do on your own than others.

 

It all comes down to your comfort level with the port. For some people it all comes down to the cost, it can be quite a bit cheaper to do things on your own, but for us its comfort level with the port. It makes no sense to us to go for a cheaper route but be stressed out about getting to a location and back to the ship on time. If you do decide to do a port or two on your own, always have backup plans in case things don't quite go as you planned.

[Got2Cruise]

This was our first time to Europe. We opted for the ship's tour, either an extensive one, or "on your own". I live in NY and deal with public transportation every day. I don't want to deal with such matters on my vacation, I want to relax, jmo. The tours offered by Royal were very well run. They are run by well respected tour agencies in each country, and the guides are very well trained. Also the price listed are in U.S. dollars not Euros. If you want a no-stress, no-brainer vacation, the ship's tours are fine.:)

[annaalli]

We are two older ladies with mobility issues. I researched for 18 months, had all the plans nailed. I planned to do a lot of the ports on our own, but upon arriving in Paris, I soon discovered my friends limited mobility.

 

We did okay in Rome for 3 days pre-cruise. We used the Ho Ho bus to get close to the site, still a lot of walking, but it was doable. We shared a transfer with 2 other couples from our roll call. Once on the ship, the behemoth "Grand Princess", we were even in trouble there. Our cabin was toward the stern, and the show room is in the bow. We only made it there once.

 

We arrived in Monte Carlo to no taxis on the pier. We walked and walked, but never made it to the top. We turned around after a couple of hours and headed back to the ship. We lunched and napped onboard. Decided to go back on the pier to a small souvenir shop we had seen. This time when we debarked we had to go into a building, and there was an information desk. My friend (ever outspoken as she is) went up to complain that there were no taxis as the map (from Monte Carlo Visitor Board) said there would be. And it really wasn't very accommodating to disabled travelers. We were then told there was an elevator to the top, we wouldn't have had to do all those stairs that we tried to do.

 

This scared us, so for Livorno, we signed up for a ship's tour. We did winetasting in Tuscany with a side trip to San Gimignino (beautiful feudal walled city). We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, even though a 4 hour tour was $99.00.

 

Back to independent plan for Naples. We were going to hydrofoil to Sorrento, train to Pompeii and back to Naples. We were stopped in our tracks when the Captain announced we were at one of the docking area and the hydrofoil pier was at the other end. There would be a shuttle.

We debarked at 8:15 thinking we had plenty of time to make the 9:00 hydrofoil, only to be told the shuttle wouldn't leave until 9:00. We ended up hiring a taxi to take us to Pompeii and Sorrento at 100 EUR pp. But it was our best day of the entire 21 day trip. We were treated like royalty. He was our own personal driver, taking us where we wanted to go. He even escorted us across the street in Sorrento and carried our purchases for us. Pointed us to a very nice restaurant for lunch (he disappeared) I had read on CC that it was a nice gesture to purchase guides lunch, but I couldn't do that as he was nowhere to be found. He came back about an hour to an hour and a half later and we headed back to Naples. He was such a sweetheart, he played CDs of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra and got such a kick out of us singing along with the music.

 

We had booked ship's tours for Santorini and Kusadasi just for the safety factor of two women alone in these distant lands. Both were very enjoyable.

 

For Athens, we had joined with another couple from our roll call and hired a taxi driver. Again he was our own personal driver. He stayed with the taxi and waited for us at each stop. These taxi drivers are not guides, as most European countries require you to be licensed to be called a guide, but they do know the lay of the land and what there is to see and do.

 

Venice we were totally on our own, and by the end of the cruise we were thoroughly disgusted with mis-information, lack of information, total lack of assistance from Princess, we were going to take a taxi to Piazzale Roma where our hotel was. I put that on the debarkation card, and the purser's desk called our stateroom and informed us if we hadn't pre-arranged transport, there would be no taxis at the pier. We were forced to pay Princess $24 pp for a 5 MINUTE ride to Piazzale Roma. Then to add more confusion, our debarkation letter said "put the silver" tags on your luggage and set it outside your stateroom by midnight. Yet looking at the tags, they were "gold". Trek to the pursers desk to enquire, and he looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. He then said, oh it's a good thing you caught that, with "gold" tags your luggage would have gone to the airport. We would have been looking for our luggage having no idea where it had gone, as we were staying in Venice 2 post-cruise days, not flying home that day, also noted to Princess. There was no apology, he just quickly handed me the "silver" tags. And when we debarked, there indeed WERE NO TAXIS at the taxi queue.

 

I would suggest going to your roll call and seeing if anyone wants to share tours. You will definitely save $$$ as the price is per vehicle whereas the ship's tours are per person, and usually cost a lot more. The groups are usually smaller and more personable. Whatever you decide to do, have a Plan "A", then also a Plan "B" for when "A" falls apart, which it can and will. Our whole trip it became a standing joke "what could go wrong today?"

 

Even our departure coming home, I had originally scheduled for Saturday, November 1. About three weeks before departure, I received an email that our return flight had been cancelled on Sat and we were moved to Sunday. Now mind you I work and had to report to work on Monday, so a Sunday flight was really cutting it tight. I called the airline and tried to get on some kind of flight on Saturday, but it ended up being a big Holiday and there was nothing I could do. SO deciding to make the most of an extra day in France, I always wanted to see the beaches at Normandy, we would use the extra day for that. Only big problem, when we left Venice in the rain and arrived in Paris in the rain, it was foggy, rainy and traffic congested, so we canceled the rental car and just stayed at the hotel shut inside because of the nasty weather.

 

Be prepared to roll with the flow. Many many many things went awry on our trip, but we still had a wonderful 3 weeks in Europe exploring the Mediterranean. And now we look back and just laugh at all the little things that went wrong. Have a wonderful time planning your trip, then taking it.

 

What a terrific and thorough reply. Do you happen to have the name of the driver you had in Naples? He sounds like just the person my husband and I would like to hire in May. Thanks

[jennide]

Ship shore excursions are expensive and they make me feel like I'm on a school field trip. (Not my idea of fun!) My husband and I prefer to strike out on our own, so the information on this board is very helpful.

[hkto]

I think which type of excursion to choose is purely individual and depends on cruiser preferences. There are pros and cons for either type. It also depends on port; some out the way places are not easily reachable on public transit (or there is a time constraint).

 

Personally I am not a big fan of bus trips especially for city tours that can be done independently (or by hiring private operators) and more cost effectively. This forum definitely helps to make that educated choice by providing how to logistics, costs, contacts. etc.

[Hlitner]

We are long time fans of independent travel but also understand that there are many factors that drive folks to organized tours. However, what is not often mentioned on many of these CC threads is the cost associated with organized excursions be it cruise line sponsored or private. We have often (perhaps too often) been approached by other cruisers during our trips who recognize my name from the CC boards. A very common discussion is when somebody complains that they really had no idea how expensive it would be to cruise in the Med. But, many of those folks would rather mortgage their first-born than do anything on their own because of so many fears (get lost, miss the ship, not see everything, etc etc). In most cases we are personally very anti cruise ship excursions because of the relatively high cost and large buses. Private excursions are a great option for many cruisers and the Roll-Call boards are the best place on earth to find a similar thinking group. But cruisers (particularly my fellow Americans) really need to get over their phobias about independent travel, because we continue to think that this is the best way to discover the real Europe (and rest of the world), interact with locals (instead of a bus full of other cruisers), sample the best local cuisine (not at the large tour restaurants), etc.

 

Hank

[hubofhockey]

Hank, you make a lot of good points. But the best way to discover the "real europe" also not in 8-10 hour time slots that you get in port time from cruise ships. That's why the private and roll call excursions work better for us. You don't have to worry about wasting time or time logistics. I suppose doing things independently makes sense if you have time and are comfortable with the language and the time or for those a bit more adventurous. But if I'm paying $6K for a 12-day cruise and another $2.5K for flights for two people, I am not looking to save $50 or $100 per day by trying to do it on my own. If I really thought I would get a better quality service shuttling to trains to buses and back and forth, I would do it.

 

As far as booking ship excursions go, many do it because either it takes little effort to sign up that way or because they feel safer (not worrying about missing a ship or getting ripped off by a vendor). I would bet that ship excursions are still more popular than private tours, roll call tours, and do it yourself days. Most people on cruises probably don't know what a roll call is or even what cruise critic is. They just see the beautiful list of excursions from the cruiseline and book them.

 

We are long time fans of independent travel but also understand that there are many factors that drive folks to organized tours. However, what is not often mentioned on many of these CC threads is the cost associated with organized excursions be it cruise line sponsored or private. We have often (perhaps too often) been approached by other cruisers during our trips who recognize my name from the CC boards. A very common discussion is when somebody complains that they really had no idea how expensive it would be to cruise in the Med. But, many of those folks would rather mortgage their first-born than do anything on their own because of so many fears (get lost, miss the ship, not see everything, etc etc). In most cases we are personally very anti cruise ship excursions because of the relatively high cost and large buses. Private excursions are a great option for many cruisers and the Roll-Call boards are the best place on earth to find a similar thinking group. But cruisers (particularly my fellow Americans) really need to get over their phobias about independent travel, because we continue to think that this is the best way to discover the real Europe (and rest of the world), interact with locals (instead of a bus full of other cruisers), sample the best local cuisine (not at the large tour restaurants), etc.

 

Hank

[Onessa]

Ships excursions, private tours, on-your-own all have a place.

 

The first time we went to Athens - we did a ship's excursion. Didn't know if we'd ever be there again. It was a nice excursion but even though it was November and our ship was the only large cruise ship in port, ALL of the buses for the am excursions got to the Acropolis within 1/2 hour of each other. We were herded up the hill and around the sights. It was not a great experience, but we got a lot of information, we didn't get lost and saw what we came to see. Afterward we were held "hostage" for an hour at a knick-knack shop before being returned to the ship.

 

The last time we went to Athens - we took the train in and used the subway system. There was construction on part of the route and thank goodness for a kind Greek woman who translated the instructions for the alternate transportation. We ended up in the Platka district and wandered around for a bit before making to parliment for the changing of the guard, spent some time in the National Gardens and then went up the the Acropolis and then to the new museum. We grabbed a taxi back to the ship for a bargin price (after negotiating). It turned out to be a wonderful day and cheap 1E each for the train/subway, 15E each for DH and I for the Acropolis -- DD was under 18 and thus free, 18E (with tip) for taxi rideback. And there was NO ONE at the Acropolis when we were there -- I have snapshots that without cropping have nobody in them.

 

Would I have changed our first trip? No -- it was right for that time. Was the second trip "better"? Yes - but it didn't make the first trip "bad"

 

We research and do what we feel is right for us: sometimes a ship's tour, sometimes a ship's sponsored "on-you-own" excursion, sometimes a private tour, sometimes completely independent. We research and budget accordingly.

 

On our last trip our costs for a port ranged from zero (Mykonsis where we tendered and since we had been to Delios twice before, we just walked around Mykonosis town) to 350E for a trip for 4 with our own driver to the Amalfi coast (stopping where we wanted and when we wanted). We were herded through Ephasis along with 20 other busfuls of tourists in Turkey, but were again the ONLY people on the street in Oia on Santorini when we first got there at 7:30am.

 

Read the boards, do your research, figure out a budget and, as Tim Gunn would say, "Make it work!"

[jefsto03]

I should have added an additional comment to my previous post about taking private tours or doing things on your own. We are big fans of the "Roll Call" boards here on cruise critic. I mention this for those that may not even know about those threads. For couples or other small groups looking to do a private tour (or go on their own) with some other cruisers, the Roll Call board is the perfect place to find other like minded cruisers. In fact, last year when we decided to rent a car in Livorno and drive to Cinque Terre, we thought it might be fun to take another couple (not to mention splitting the cost of the rental car). I posted a message on the Roll Call for our cruise and within 2 hours we had another couple who wanted to go on our "personal excursion." They mentioned that they also wanted to see the Leaning Tower, so we simply cut our time by an hour at Cinque Terre and drove them to the tower. It turned out to be a fun day.

 

Hank

 

Hank - My wife would love to see both Cinque Terre and the leaning tower. How would I go about renting a car from Livorno? Any suggustions for someone who has done the trip? If it appears do able for us I will certainly do as you did and post it on Roll Call and see if I can find another couple interested in joining us.

[Hlitner]

Hank - My wife would love to see both Cinque Terre and the leaning tower. How would I go about renting a car from Livorno? Any suggustions for someone who has done the trip? If it appears do able for us I will certainly do as you did and post it on Roll Call and see if I can find another couple interested in joining us.

 

Actually, we did exactly what you propose (Cinque Terre and Pisa) on a cruise that was in Livorno on May 1, 2008. In fact, we found another couple right here on the CC roll call and took them with us which cut our cost in half. There is now a real problem getting rental car dealers to deliver cars to the pier and Hertz seems like the best bet (their direct web site is http://www.sifracar.com) . The only down side to Hertz is the cost. You would also want to rent a GPS unit to keep you from getting lost and get you back to the port. You have to get an early start and drive to Riomaggiore (you go through La Spezia) where you can park. At that point you are at the southern most town of Cinque Terre and you explore by walking, using the train, or taking boats between the village. If you still want to go to Pisa then you will have to leave Cinque Terre a bit early (by 2:30 at the latest) and drive the 1 hour to Pisa. After a quick look-see at Pisa you then drive back to the port (about 20 min). One caution about Pisa is that much of that town is now what they call a ZTL which means restricted driving zone. If you happen to venture into that zone they will get you with the cameras and you will find a nasty fine added to your credit card (this can take months). We have not fully solved the ZTL problem in Pisa (you need to know the correct streets you can use and where to park) so you would want to get the latest info from Sifracar (the local Hertz franchise) who should be able to provide you with a map with the appropriate route through Pisa.

 

Hank

[euro cruiser]

One caution about Pisa is that much of that town is now what they call a ZTL which means restricted driving zone. If you happen to venture into that zone they will get you with the cameras and you will find a nasty fine added to your credit card (this can take months). We have not fully solved the ZTL problem in Pisa (you need to know the correct streets you can use and where to park) so you would want to get the latest info from Sifracar (the local Hertz franchise) who should be able to provide you with a map with the appropriate route through Pisa.

There is a large outdoor car park north of the Piazza dei Miracoli that we used a few years ago. I can't remember if we had to pay for parking or not, I don't think so, but I'm not sure. There was a shuttle bus that took us from the parking lot to the Piazza and back. The lot is located on Via Fazio degli Uberti - if you put that street into a google map and look at the satellite view, you'll clearly see the lot.

 

There is another lot even closer, information is here: http://www.visitpisa.it/en/utilities/details.html?cId=40

[tomko2]

Great info as we "pull it all together."

 

Looks like we can do Valetta & Cannes on our own.

 

Have sent email to RIL to inquire if they still have availability for our 3 ports Naples, Civatavecchia(Rome), Livorno(Florence/Pisa). We should save some, but primariily we get to customize tour to OUR interests.

 

Although, I wonder if we could possibly do ONE of the 3 on our own. Hubby has bad knees so need to keep that in mind.

 

7 days and 5 ports is the most intense cruise we've ever been on -- and with those being 5 Western Mediterranean ports, need I say more??!! And I turn 60 that week ... what a way to celebrate!! gramwii

 

 

Congratulations on your upcoming B'day! My DH celebrated his 60th on the Legend OTS (12 nights) from Rome in 2007. Last August we did a 12 night Med. cruise from Barcelona on the Brilliance. Photos in the link below.

In both cases we did a lot of pre-reading, learned lots from the Boards including reading Reviews and had help from others on our Roll Call. We pre-booked some entrance tickets to save time and did a mix of ship and self tours. Here are our reviews:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=33168

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=57957

 

Have a wonderful cruise and a Happy Birthday.

[BigGuy25]

I'm one who also agrees that both types of tours (ship's and private) have their place. And, folks should do what they feel most comfortable doing! The biggest difference is traveling with a small party in a van or car instead of a large tour bus with 60 others.

 

We cruised a long time before I was brave enough to venture out on a private tour. But, it was incredibly liberating!! We got to pick where we went, where we ate, how long we stayed, and where we wanted to go next. No waiting around for that "last" passenger to make their way back to the bus.

 

Often, if you can find another couple to share the private excursion, you'll save a lot from what you'd pay on the ships excursion. Sometimes, even 2 people are less that what you'd pay onboard.

 

The biggest tip is to do the research. I never use a company that doesn't come highly recommended by our fellow Cruise Critic posters. We're on a 12-day Princess Holy Land cruise in July and I currently only have a ship's tour booked in one port with private tours in Italy (Rome-in-Limo), Egypt (Ramses), Israel (Guided Tours Israel). Other ports we'll be wandering on our own.

[TrojanHoosier]

My family and I (7 total) are sailing on the July 2 Pacific Princess Holy Lands cruise, too. We're looking at Ramses Tours for our excursion out of Port Said, and I saw you've already booked with them. If you don't mind my asking, how did you find out about Ramses? They seem like a well-reviewed but smaller operation. Also, did you choose the Museum or Sakkara for your afternoon? Did you have to request lunch be included? It was not mentioned in the original description, and I was told it would be $15/person extra. I've exchanged a few emails with George in the past few days, and it has been very cordial and quick. We're new to Egypt, and I'm trying to get answers to suit all 6 of my family members, so I thought I'd reach out to a fellow cruiser (and Buckeye)! Also, you mentioned a tour operator for Israel. Have you booked thru Guided Tours Israel? I'm reeling at the idea of being herded thru these amazing sites with 60 other semi-interested people, so I'm trying to get my family onboard for these private tours. Thanks for your reply...

[BigGuy25]

TrojanHoosier ... and much of my family is in Indy!!

 

As for Ramses, I did all of my research right here on Cruise Critic. Ramses is very well reviewed ... and, I never felt they were that small! We'll be going to the museum in the afternoon. We're doing just one day with them out of Port Said. Guided Tours Israel is also very well respected here on CC. We've booked them out of both Haifa and Ashdod.

 

With Ramses it will be just me an my DW. We're sharing the two Israel excursions with a mom and daughter that we connected with through our ship's Roll Call section of the site.

 

Have a great trip. What ship?? What date??

[Hlitner]

I have a theory about CC and cruise line excursions. We suspect that a majority of folks that do book the cruise ship excursions (and there are plenty of passengers who do take these tours) never read CC or post here. We have often had chats with other passengers when we are on European cruises and they will often ask us how we know how to do things in the ports. They express frustration with finding out detailed info and tell us that they book the excursions because they are afraid or just don't have enough information about the ports to do things on their own. Another frequent complaint is that the on-board port lectures are all aimed at getting passengers to book the tours and there is little help for the independent passenger. Those of us who are more adventuress and independent depend on the web for information and most of us know that CC is the best place info exchange regarding ports. Another important web site (more helpful for land trips) is tripadvisor.com which can help pinpoint the best tourist sites.

 

Hank

[m steve]

and my partner booked most days on land thru HAL. It's a lot easier and although I would prefer a smaller group I don't want any slip ups. I sometimes have trouble doing a lot of walking so I can stay on the bus and read the guide book as to what I am missing. We have prepaid and it was about $3000 for both of us. I don't think we could have saved a lot and now that's a past expense. And we get all those HAL bonus days for booking.

[hkto]

I think only cruise lines know the exact split of percentage of people who book thru them vs independent. We were on Jade in summer of 09. I think there were 20 to 25 full size buses on the pier in Livorno and at close to 50 people per bus I guess it was around 1000 people. Ship was full (2500+ passengers) so do the math.

 

Personally I would justify ship's tour if it goes to a hard to get place either on land or water. For the ones that go to established destinations like Florence, Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, etc don't make economical sense for me. I doubt that people see more there (more likely pace is slower due to a large crowd).

[chipmaster]

Before I discovered CC I generally assumed cruiseline was the one/smart and only way.

 

Now I think in many ports the one/smart way is independent, especially so if one wants a small crowd, fast/efficient and most bang for your buck. It always requires some more research. For people who enjoy the big bus and comfort of the crowd and that experience of course cruise line is always the way to go.

 

A reputable private excursion business that is in it for the long haul depends on sites like this or travel sites for repeat business. There is too much competition for a private operator to have a reputation of bad drivers, bad experience or the worst a missed ship. Anyone who ends up missing the boat on a private tour probably has themselves to blame as much as anyone else. Do your research and you'll be rewarded, want to follow the herd is always the safe and a bit more expensive option as well, not wrong just different, afterall aren't we all on a huge ship and a big herd. For me I like to have a little personalization after that big herd experience on the ship ;)

[tom_uk]

I have a theory about CC and cruise line excursions. We suspect that a majority of folks that do book the cruise ship excursions (and there are plenty of passengers who do take these tours) never read CC or post here. We have often had chats with other passengers when we are on European cruises and they will often ask us how we know how to do things in the ports. They express frustration with finding out detailed info and tell us that they book the excursions because they are afraid or just don't have enough information about the ports to do things on their own.

 

.....

 

Hank

 

That's our experience as well. We were in Istanbul last autumn on Celebrity Solstice, and I had researched using the trams really thoroughly. We were off the ship just after 2pm, on a tram by 2:15, and walking into the grounds of Topkapi Palace before 2:30 - everything went really well. That evening several of our table companions were expressing unhappiness about their afternoon. They'd all been booked on ship's excursions around Istanbul, and had run into traffic congestion, made heavier because of the additional traffic/security caused by the IMF meeting that was taking place in the city! As a result it had taken them a bit more than an hour to get from the ship to the old part of the city. When we explained what we had done, not only were they envious (which, I must admit, felt good) but also astonished that we knew what to do. "How did you find out about it all?" was the frequent question, and they were generally astonished when we told them about Cruise Critic, various blog sites, etc. And these weren't stupid people: two of them had been teachers, and one of the others was a well-known lawyer.

 

Of course, the other side of the coin is that regular posters here invest a *lot* of time in this community. Perhaps other people simply don't want to make that investment in time.

[texancruzer]

Of course, the other side of the coin is that regular posters here invest a *lot* of time in this community. Perhaps other people simply don't want to make that investment in time.

 

Ahh... valid point. As I posted recently, I had spoken with an acquaintance who was getting ready to leave on a cruise..... when I asked her what ship etc. - she didnt have a clue. And she was leaving in a week !!! :eek:

 

Some people don't want to hassle with research etc. Some people can't imagine NOT researching stuff and...... some people have every last minute planned out. I fall in between 2 and 3 - knowing that it is good to have some "unplanned" time too - so as to soak up some of the area I am in.

 

We still do some ship tours(not many-but some), some private tours and some DIY.... just depends on where, how long, what I want to see and how much time I want to invest.