DIY trips in the Med

[moonshine17]

Hi,

Just joined up !

We are doing our first Med cruise in May after doing eight cruises mainly to the caribbean. We have booked some really excellent tours on the internet which are better and cheaper than the ships tours but don't really know what to do with this one. Has anyone tried any tours booked this way?

We are going on the Ruby Princess Grand Med tour so I am interested in Naples,Florence, Rome and Athens.

Any help would be appreciated.

[kimanjo]

DD and I did a 14 Night Med on Azamara. The only ship port excursion we did was Tunisia. The rest we did on our own. Love doing it that way. You learn so much, buses, trains etc.. If you are adventurous, I would say go for it. Our ports were Portofino, Marseille, Sete, Monte Carlo, Pisa/ Florence (livorno), Barcelona, Malta, Tunisia, Sorrento, Rome (Civittevechia),

 

I should say we did "book" any tours. We did it on our own.

 

The best thing you should do is check the port of call section on these boards, and go country by country, there is LOTS of information posted by lots of people.

 

Any questions ask away!

[hubofhockey]

If you want to book private tours or take non-princess sponsored tours, your best bet might be your roll call. We are also doing the Ruby Grand Med a few weeks after your cruise. I have set up private excursions for 8-16 people on my roll call for Athens, Pompee/Amalfi Coast, and Florence and smaller ones in Istanbul and Ephesus. Booking private tours on your own could be VERY expensive. You are better off sharing costs with others on the roll call.

 

The true "DIY" involves getting on a train or a bus and going to places you want to see. We are doing that for Mykonos (beach), Rome and Monte Carlo (we are headed to Nice). I tied to post a link to the best instructions on how to use trains as best way to get to Rome. But this board blocked it. Please let me know if you want good instructions and I can e-mail them to you for both Rome and Nice.

[eandj]

Do your research for each stop here in the ports of call section and in a good tour book, like Rick Steves. Then when you decide what you'd like to do, head to the Roll Call board for your cruise. There is where you can join others to fill a van/car of cruisers to get the best rate. There is always a "leader" who will book the tour, get names, room numbers of those interested and set up a meeting pre tour to meet ( or use the X party to do that). You pay for the tour on that day so no money exchanges hands until after the tour. We did 3 tours in Italy this way, met wonderful people to share the costs and got the personalized treatment and service that no cruise tour could offer. Have a great trip. I'm jealous;)

 

Hmmm... I just reread your post and you said you already booked the tours? Are these in private car? Or a van that can seat 8 or so? If you can, to save money, see if you can find fellow cruisers to join you .

[hubofhockey]

Hmmm... I just reread your post and you said you already booked the tours? Are these in private car? Or a van that can seat 8 or so? If you can, to save money, see if you can find fellow cruisers to join you .

 

I think OP meant earlier cruises taken. I agree that the 8-16 people tours set up on roll calls is a good way to meet people and save money. That's why I am going in that direction.

[moonshine17]

Hi, Thanks for the replies. The roll call sounds a good idea, I would feel better doing a tour with a group of people and its a nice way to meet people.

I'm not used to using this site yet as I only joined today so I will have a good look round it.

[kestrel]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I also suggest that you check ports of call, roll call, and get a good tour guide (e.g., Rick Steves, Frommer's). Additional information:

 

Naples: We did Pompeii on our own by taking trains. It's pretty easy. However, if you plan to do Amalfi Coast, then you will need to book cruise shore excursion or private tour. If you book a private tour, then you will have to watch your time closely. Passengers did miss their cruises there due to the terrible traffic.

 

Florence: It's quite some distance away from the port. You can take train, book shore excursion or book a private tour. Once you arrive in Florence, it's pretty easy to explore on your own. However, you will only have limited time and won't be able to see a lot.

 

Rome: Again you can take train, book shore excursion or book private tour. It's about one hour away from the port. You won't be able to see all in day no matter you choice DIY, shore excursion or private tour. Therefore, you will have to do some research and decide your priority.

 

Athens: We DIY to Acropolis, Agora and National Archaeological Museum by taking taxis and Metros. It's pretty managable.

 

Though private tours are generally cheaper than cruise shore excursions, they are still quite expensive in Europe. If you have a tight budget, you may want to consider DIY and use public transportation in some ports.

[Andee]

Athens: This was our disembarkation poert. We booked Spiros from athens taxi dot net to pick us up at the ship, take us on a half day tour, and drop us at our hotel.

 

Naples: We docked here, but were supposed to tender into Amalfi, so had booked with Giovanni from http://www.tourofitaly.com for a full day tour of the Amalfi coast, with stops in Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, and Sorrento.

 

We were very satisifed with both companies.

[chipmaster]

Hi,

Just joined up !

We are doing our first Med cruise in May after doing eight cruises mainly to the caribbean. We have booked some really excellent tours on the internet which are better and cheaper than the ships tours but don't really know what to do with this one. Has anyone tried any tours booked this way?

We are going on the Ruby Princess Grand Med tour so I am interested in Naples,Florence, Rome and Athens.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Welcome to CC,

 

Med is a great cruise, you should have a blast! By internet tour I hope you mean private tours. They are the way to go, they may not be cheaper unless you can fill the car/van but no question you'll see more and as others suggested fill the vehicle from roll call and you'll be cheaper too.

 

Of the 4 cities you mentioned I think Athens is easiest to DIY as the others can be. But these 4 ports do have so much to offer and when you have a private vehicle over a bus for 40-60 you'll find you'll see just so much more. I/We did private in all the ports you mentioned, if I was to return by cruise, I'd likely do it private again as its simply "the" way to see these ports with limited time even if seeing the same attractions, no better way!

 

Good luck!