Voyager excursions vs. private -- any ideas?

[juezruth]

We are on the Voyager May 12-19, Rome to Barcelona. Have never cruised before and don't know if the ship's excursions to Livorno, Sorrento, and Portofino are worth it. Interested in sharing private tour at any of those stops? Any ideas you have would be great...thanks.

[ComoCruiser]

My husband & I are with you on the Voyageur; I'm certain you'll enjoy the cruise experience! This will be our 12th cruise, 4th with RSSC, and the cruises we have taken on the Navigator & Paul Gauguin were the most memorable ever! As for shore excursions we usually mix: a few from the ship's list; a few private that I arrange through the internet & a few self-guided. We have previously visited Sorrento for 2 days with RSSC: the Pompei excursion is a fairly lengthly drive but very interesting, but I must say that if you can afford to splurge book the Positano & Lunch at the San Pietro. The views along the Amalfi drive are stunning, Positano is colourful (stop for a Limoncello!) & the view from the hotel one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. We also stopped on this tour at a ceramics factory; very upscale; in hindsight, wish we'd bought something to ship home. In Livorno we're going to book the Siens & San Gimignano tour with the ship. Have already been to Florence which can't truly be given justice in 4 hours or so. And have read of some cruisers missing their ships due to traffic or train delays when on their own. If you're delayed on a ship's tour (as happened to us in Panama once) the ship will wait for the group. Portofino we're going to walk on our own (up to Excelsior Hotel). But we are booking a private tour in 1/2-day Monte Carlo & would welcome the company if you're interested; visit www.dream-tours.com & look at the Cultural Tour. It got good reviews on Cruise-Critic from a RSSC Diamond passenger last year. Counting the days; it's still winter white here in Canada!

[ComoCruiser]

Quick update: DreamTours don't want to do a half-day on May 16th (business is too good I guess!); have offered us a full day at much more cost. Not interested so will look for other options & will keep you posted.

[A J Theodore]

You pose a very good question. It is always difficult to decide whether to use a cruise line's tours or to book on your own. I confess up front that I am not generally a fan of cruise line tours (including Radisson's) for the reasons below. Here are some thoughts:

 

The advantages to using a cruise line tour are:

1. There is an ease and convenience of booking it through the cruise line.

2. If it is a well-established cruise line (Radisson, Carnival, Crystal, RCCL, etc.) and it has repeatedly called at that destination and will do so in the future, the chances are good that it has lined up reputable local tour operators and guides.

3. The local tours are usually appropriate to the clientele and general interests of the passengers of the individual cruise line.

4. If you have never been somewhere before, the ship usually offers a good, basic overview tour as good as you could get otherwise.

5. If the tour is late, they will usually hold the ship for the tour bus' return.

6. If you book on your own in a strange location without strong recommendations, you may not get a very good tour.

7. You may be able to complain to the cruise line if something goes wrong and, ocassionally, get some results. This is particularly true when something serious goes wrong during the tour itself. Some tours will actually have ship's personnel on them and this seems to work wonders for avoiding and/or remedying any problems that arise during the tour itself (particularly important in third world countries).

 

The disadvantages of using a cruise line tour are:

1. Each tour is put together for the general clientele of the particular cruise ship. The tour must appeal to a broad range of those persons and to the general interest of those persons. If your interests are not the same as any of the tours, you are out of luck. The tour guides will be generalists and usually will not probably have specialized knowledge of your particular interests - remember they are catering to the mass of people who take their tours. Therefore, read the advertisement for the tour carefully to be sure what it consists of. Expect a different types of guides for a pub tour of London and a museum tour of Paris and a general sightseeing tour of anywhere.

2. On a related note, if you have particular interests that are not part of the itinerary, you are, again, out of luck, unless there is a very particular tour offered to cater to that interest. If you want to do and see very particular things or engage in particular activities that are not the specific focus of the tour and/or you want a particularly knowledgeable guide, you will not get it and you are better off not taking a ship's tour. Again, read the brochure very carefully.

3. Tours are generally inflexible, they do not usually make adjustments for the interests of individual members (for example, if some tour members want to stay at a museum longer than planned, it probably will not happen). Private tours can be highly individualized and even adjusted during the course of the tour itself.

4. If one person wanders off at a stop, for example, and holds up the entire busload on the tour, the remaining stops will usually be shortened so that the bus gets back to the dock on time.

5. In some places, the arrival of a cruise line tour bus is a magnet for hawkers, panhandlers, pickpockets, etc. Hard to enjoy the sights when you are trying to watch your pocketbook. Not that you can't have the same types of problems on private tours, though.

6. Price. Cruise line tours, Radisson included, are almost always more expensive than individually booked tours. Cruise lines act as agent for the tour operator and the price includes a cruise line commission for booking the tour (as much as 100% in some cases). Price is getting to be a very serious consideration in Europe and Asia today.

7. Radisson, like all cruise lines, fully disclaims any responsibility for the tour operator's acts or omissions (read the fine print very carefully in the cruise advertising brochures and the cruise line's contracts) so that in case of a problem, the cruise line can just choose to ignore it.

 

Note also that some cruise lines can help you line up individual tours in some locations. This combines some of the advantages of both types of tours, but the price can still be steep.

 

Over the years, I have taken several Radisson tours. They have all of the advantages and disadvantages described above. I have never found them to be outstanding but then I have never found any of them to be completely unsatisfactory either.

 

Hope that this helps.

[juezruth]

Thanks for the thoughts. I am concerned about trying to see as much of Florence as possible and realize that we will be there on a Saturday. I assume that will make it very crowded and expect that a cruise-arranged tour might make things easier. So I am going to opt for that trip...hoping to avoid long lines at the Accademia.

Is there any real reason to book before the cruise begins? Has anyone ever had a problem on RSSC getting onto one of their excursions?

This is my first cruise so I am full of questions and appreciate everyone's insights.

[neviboy]

AJTHEODORE, This is the finest for and against private excursions that I have ever read. If anyone, on ANY board , asks the question they should be referred to your post. On all of our cruises we have used our own research (half the pleasure of cruise planning) and used our own methods of private excursions with the rare use of ships' tours. We have never been disappointed. One tip when using the taxis at the dock is to translate into the country language exactly what you want to see and the cost. You can go to freetranslation.com. for this service.

Sometimes I have lined up a service for a private tour and while not making a monetary commitment, have advised that I will e-mail from the ship a day before docking and advise of plans.

[A J Theodore]

As to your specific question, always book as soon as you know you want the tour. Once a tour sells out, you are out of luck.

 

While you didn't ask, I note that you will be in Florence well before the influx of summer tourists, which should ease things substantially. Thus, depending on your interests, a private tour may still be a good option.

 

From the comment about the Accademia, I assume you are interested in art. If so, I hope that your tour (whether private or through Radisson) will include substantial time in the Uffizi Museum - one of the greatest in Italy if not in the whole world. Depending on where the tour stops for lunch, I would almost forego lunch to have extra time there or, perhaps, the Pitti Palace.

 

Have a marvelous time.

[englishlee]

Hello everyone

 

One of the reasons why your chosen Monte Carlo sightseeing company might not be keen on doing a half day tour is that much of the town , especially around the harbour and Casino area will be hell on earth at that time as it's only a few days before the Monaco Grand Prix and there are restrictions on what roads can and can't be used. Even pedestrian access is more difficult than normal. I will be on the cruise that arrives in Monaco on the 9th May and even then we will be affected as per the text below that I posted on the roll call section of these boards. By the time you get there it will be worse.

 

Hope this at least helps you come to a decison what to do. I'm catching the train to Nice for the day when we're there.

Regards

Lee

 

The Monaco Grand Prix (Formula 1) will be on from 20th May for 3 days. This means that at the time we will be in Monaco (9th May) it is very likely that many of the roads in the harbour / port area will have restricted pedestrian access as this is where many of the grandstands are built, and they start building early!

 

We were there at about the same time a couple of years ago and the number of places where you could actually cross the road were frustratingly limited, as was the amount of pavement (sidewalk) space available.

 

Further away from the harbour it is not so much of a problem (except around the Casino area).

 

If you're interested in seeing what the route of the Grand Prix (or want to walk the circuit) here's a link.

 

http://www.monaco.mc/monaco/gprix/