how much to budget for 12 day grand med cruise for ports/excursions typically?

[NalCruiser]

I'm trying to get a totally ballpark figure of what it would cost (just at least approximately in a range) to see the main things on a 12 day cruise in the med

 

for those who have been, was wondering how much did you budget/spend?

For a combination of private/on your own/ship tours?

 

the cruise I am looking at is on the NLC spirit so ports are

 

Venice (probably will do some grand canal stuff)

Athens (see acropolis either on our own or tour)

Istanbul

Ephesus

Naples

Rome (probably private tour)

Livorno (probably private tour)

Toulon

Barcelona

[rebeccalouiseagain]

As a ballpark figure- I'd say $ 50 pp per day. Obviously some places will be cheaper than others. My son and I did a 10 day cruise and I spent $1000 on excursions. The tours are less for kids than for adults.

[Cornishpastyman1]

I'm trying to get a totally ballpark figure of what it would cost (just at least approximately in a range) to see the main things on a 12 day cruise in the med

 

for those who have been, was wondering how much did you budget/spend?

For a combination of private/on your own/ship tours?

 

the cruise I am looking at is on the NLC spirit so ports are

 

Venice (probably will do some grand canal stuff)

Athens (see acropolis either on our own or tour)

Istanbul

Ephesus

Naples

Rome (probably private tour)

Livorno (probably private tour)

Toulon

Barcelona

From memory, here's roughly what I spent

Venice People Mover return trip €2, 24 hour vap ticket €20, Doge's Palace €16, Campanile €8 St Mark's Basilica €10

Athens €4 each way to Acropolis plus Acropolis complex fee €15 ?

Istanbul Topkapi entrance fee 25 TL, Harem and extra 15TL, Hagia Sophia 25TL, Blue Mosque - free, Basilice Cistern 10TL, Galata Tower 12TL, plus 2TL per tram ride, say you'll need 3-4 of these in a day

Ephesus Took private tour for 6 and it cost about €25-30 each. This might be a bit flaky because it was a far while ago, and you can add 15TL if you go into the Terraced Houses.

Naples Train to Pompeii €12 Entrance to Pomp and Herc €20 (get combo ticket)

Rome Colosseum 3rd level and Underground tour, which also gives entrance to Forum and Palatine Hill) €27.

Florence Taxi (for 6) to and from port to train station €25 each way, Train to Florence €15 ?, climbing the Duomo €8

Barcelona Ship-port blue shuttle bus €3, T10 ticket €10, entrance to Sagrada Familia €14 (Parc Guell is free but I went into Gaudi's House €5.

All the best, Tony

[sandij]

We're doing a 10 day cruise that includes Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Mallorca, Sicily, Tunisa and a couple stops in Italy, Florence and Naples. I booked everything through the cruiseline and it ran 1200.00 for the two of us. Of course this doesn't include the two days in Rome before the cruise.

[cberge]

Whatever you budget plan to almost double it..if you don't then put it away for the next trip...really.You will find more ways to spend money than you thought.

[Lidoturtle]

I'm trying to get a totally ballpark figure of what it would cost (just at least approximately in a range) to see the main things on a 12 day cruise in the med

 

for those who have been, was wondering how much did you budget/spend?

For a combination of private/on your own/ship tours?

 

the cruise I am looking at is on the NLC spirit so ports are

 

Venice (probably will do some grand canal stuff)

Athens (see acropolis either on our own or tour)

Istanbul

Ephesus

Naples

Rome (probably private tour)

Livorno (probably private tour)

Toulon

Barcelona

 

We are doing this same itinerary. May 23 from Venice. Are you on that ship? we are planning a private tour in Rome. Lidoturtle

[ondeckatsea]

I agree with the $1000 to $1200 estimate. It's expensive but how many times will you be going there. We did all ship's tours, they were excellent and we felt secure. Venice is easy to do on your own and 2 years ago we got free tickets to St. Mark's on line and it eliminated any lines. We are going again on April 30th, most of the same ports so we will take different tours. We got a great price on our guarantee veranda cabin so we don't feel bad about the expense of the tours.

[Cruisfan]

I agree with the $1000 to $1200 estimate. It's expensive but how many times will you be going there. We did all ship's tours, they were excellent and we felt secure. Venice is easy to do on your own and 2 years ago we got free tickets to St. Mark's on line and it eliminated any lines. We are going again on April 30th, most of the same ports so we will take different tours. We got a great price on our guarantee veranda cabin so we don't feel bad about the expense of the tours.

From what site did you find the free tickets to St. Mark's? Was this a random search?

Cruisfan

[dogs4fun]

From what site did you find the free tickets to St. Mark's? Was this a random search?

Cruisfan

 

I know of no site where you can prebook tickets to St. Mark's basilica for free.

However, you can prebook & avoid the queues (€1.50 pp) at:

http://www.venetoinside.com/en/saint_mark_s_basilica/

jill

[agabbymama]

As a ballpark figure- I'd say $ 50 pp per day. Obviously some places will be cheaper than others. My son and I did a 10 day cruise and I spent $1000 on excursions. The tours are less for kids than for adults.

 

I'm going to up that figure just a little and say $100 pp per day (or 50 EURO). Other threads have stated, if you don't spend it, bring it home and save it for the next trip.

 

Most of the ships tours we did were $99 pp. Private tours (with other CC members from our Roll Call) ran 30 EUR pp. Our DIY day in Naples ended up costing us 100 EURO pp BUT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Our best day of the whole 21 day trip.

 

I like to look at viator dot com to get an idea of what tours are offered in the different cities for price comparison against the tours offered by the cruiseline. I booked a couple in Rome and Venice, all paid in US $ before we ever left home. They were great too.

 

You don't want to spend all that money and time getting over to Europe and not be able to enjoy it, when a little forsight and planning is all it takes.

 

Have a great cruise!

[lovestx]

Here's a summary of what we spent for excursions in June '12. There were two adults and two teens (mostly considered a total of 4 adults). When I add it all up and divide, it came to 51Euros per person per day (counting our 1 1/2 days in Istanbul as 2 days). Some days were much cheaper and some days were much more.

 

 

 

Santorini: private transfer (23 CC people went) to Oia 60 Euros, Cable Car 32 Euros plus dinner

 

Ephesus: private tour 310 Euros

 

Athens: on our own using Metro, short cab from Metro to ship and Acropolis entry 55Euros

 

Istanbul: 1 1/2 days of a private tour including tip, transport and museum fees 540 Euros

 

Mykonos: was cancelled but would have been private resort day 120Euros

 

Naples: Kids did ship tour of Pompeii $112; we did private tour of Amalfi Coast 320 Euros

 

None of this included any meals we ate off the ship or transport to and from trip. We know we saved a LOT of money by doing private tours that I arranged pre-trip.

[Hlitner]

Pricing out the cost of a Med cruise is very difficult and really subject to personal preference. For example, for a decent full day tour of Rome (from Civitavecchia) one can easily pay $200 per person. On the other hand, if you are an independent travelver (like moi) you can probably duplicate that same tour for as little as $50 per person (by using the train). It is the same in all of your ports. We would not take a single tour/excursion in any of those places (we have been to all those ports multiple times) and our cost per day would be relatively low. It is actually possible to exceed the cost of your cruise by taking expensive excursions in each port.

 

Hank

[heatherbelle]

We are doing a private tour in Sicily this year and this is €260 for three of us.

 

For Naples the prices are higher, for example for three of us to do a tour of the Amalfi coast it's closer to €420 ouch. Instead we are going to catch the hydrofoil to Sorrento and I reckon it will cost around €90 return for the three of us.

 

If you go DIY then it can all be done quite cheaply, however you do not cover as much as you would either on your own private tour or on a ship tour.

 

If you want to share private tours with your roll call, look at Rome in limo shared tours and I think go italy or something like that do shared tours too. Or. You can arrange your own.

 

Don't try and do everything, it's just too tiring and the heat is draining. I know it's hard as people do want to see it and do it all as people are travelling a long way. Remember you are on holiday. One of the highlights for me on our last cruise was going to Capri on the hydrofoil. A lovely relaxing way to travel. Rome is a blur, as we were rushing round trying to see as much as possible.

[chipmaster]

DIY can be cheap or exepensive depending on how you like to eat and travel and what you buy.

 

At least for us we walked venice and were simply eaters. Figure 25-30 euro/day minimum for food/water and add to that if you like sitdown eating, nicer stuff and or coffee, bottled water etc.

 

Public transportation is cheap, but to and from port in a foreign country can be a challenge and limit the valuable short time in port.

 

private or ship cruise can run easily 100-200 bucks/person/day not including the above costs for fees for entrance etc. Going private helps but you need to plan, and a private vehicle can easily run 500/day. if you want guides at sites that can be another 10-20/person or 100 for the guide.

 

The best thing is price out what you see in various online travel sites as well as know how you travel.

[FairyGodmother55]

We are doing this same itinerary. May 23 from Venice. Are you on that ship? we are planning a private tour in Rome. Lidoturtle

 

Lido Turtle ( and Nalcruise)

 

We are on the May 23rd trip! Any room left on your private tour? What are you doing?? We really want to see the Vatican and the Colossium!

[Eightydays]

Be prepared to spend twice as much as you think you will and count yourself lucky when you don't. I have had to lend money to others rather than watch them decide not to visit a highlight of the cruise because they were not prepared for how much it can all add up.

 

You will also save quite a bit by arranging your own private tours (or with others on your cruise). Places like Venice are relatively easy to do on your own (e.g. walk or take the water shuttle to St Marks Square, visit St. Marks and Doge Place, walk to Rialto Bridge and get lost in some alleys;), have a meal, then back to the ship). Also, Athens, Istanbul and Barcelona, and maybe Toulon, where you can take the train and bus to Aix-en-Provence, are easy to do on your own, as others here have pointed out.

 

Whatever you decide to do, enjoy! The Med is our favorite itinerary. It's all good.

[doyleb]

Our DIY day in Naples ended up costing us 100 EURO pp BUT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Our best day of the whole 21 day trip.

!

 

May I ask what you did in Naples? It's our last stop on our upcoming Princess cruise and the last port I have to make plans - and I'm not have much success making up my mind ! Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[notentirelynormal]

Let’s see. I looked it up. It was for me, by husband and mother I spent a total of €4790 for transfers, tours and admissions. I spent additional for the hotel (around €1000 and food. I took another €600 for spending cash but found that most places took credit cards so used that instead. The 1 to 3% didn’t affect me that much. For the convenience, I don’t care about paying $3 on a $100 purchase. That did not include the tips which added another 10-15% to my total.

 

So add that up I spent around €2100 per person plus for a 10 day cruise with a 3 day stay in Rome beforehand. By the time I paid the upgrades on our flights (using FF miles), the hotel and food we spent over €6000 in total.

[mrobstad]

I thought I'd troll this thread and see if I can help. I took a 12 day med cruise last summer. TRY TO GET A GROUP OF 8 TOGETHER AND BOOK ROME IN LIMO. You'll see lots on CC about them. It's easy to get a group together on your roll call and you sign up with them on line. I was fortunate o join three RIL tours: Rome...inc. Vatican and Colosseum; Naples...which didn't include Naples but rather the Amalfi Coast and Positano. Lunch at La Tagliata for the most unbelievable view in Europe. Florence (Livorno) which included Pisa, Pompeii and t the last minute we threw in Tuscany...and Florence. We went to see David (separate fee) but I knew we should have gone to the Ufizi. Each trip was about 80-90€ for seven of us. If we had 8, it would have been cheaper. RIL charges $800 for the day. You tell them what you want to do and see and thy help. Museum entrance fees are extra and you prepay them, but unless you want to stand on line for hours at the Vatican, take RIL. they get you right in! Worth the day price. The cruise excursions were typically double our pice, and we saw so much more! I'd figure a minimum of 100€ per person per day, definitely not 50€. Venice transportation is probably 26 pp per day. EVERYONE agreed that spending more time in BURANO would have been ideal! It's a charming, uncrowned island! Enjoy!

[chipmaster]

This is variable and depends on interest and means..

Ports can be done for 50 euros or less DIY or 150 euros for private or about the same for the cruise ship tours.

 

 

I'm trying to get a totally ballpark figure of what it would cost (just at least approximately in a range) to see the main things on a 12 day cruise in the med

 

for those who have been, was wondering how much did you budget/spend?

For a combination of private/on your own/ship tours?

 

the cruise I am looking at is on the NLC spirit so ports are

 

Venice (probably will do some grand canal stuff)

Athens (see acropolis either on our own or tour)

Istanbul

Ephesus

Naples

Rome (probably private tour)

Livorno (probably private tour)

Toulon

Barcelona

[hobbess]

Also, Athens, Istanbul and Barcelona, and maybe Toulon, where you can take the train and bus to Aix-en-Provence, are easy to do on your own, as others here have pointed out.

 

My upcoming cruise will be my first cruise so I'm probably more cautious than most. But, Toulon and Ephesus were the two ports on my Mediterranean cruise that I wrote off as too impractical to try to do it yourself. Plus, when you added up all the costs of trying to DIY from Toulon to Aix, it didn't seem like you were saving a significant amount of money vs the shore excursion as compared to other stops.

[TSUmom]

I thought I'd troll this thread and see if I can help. I took a 12 day med cruise last summer. TRY TO GET A GROUP OF 8 TOGETHER AND BOOK ROME IN LIMO. You'll see lots on CC about them. It's easy to get a group together on your roll call and you sign up with them on line. I was fortunate o join three RIL tours: Rome...inc. Vatican and Colosseum; Naples...which didn't include Naples but rather the Amalfi Coast and Positano. Lunch at La Tagliata for the most unbelievable view in Europe. Florence (Livorno) which included Pisa, Pompeii and t the last minute we threw in Tuscany...and Florence. We went to see David (separate fee) but I knew we should have gone to the Ufizi. Each trip was about 80-90€ for seven of us. If we had 8, it would have been cheaper. RIL charges $800 for the day. You tell them what you want to do and see and thy help. Museum entrance fees are extra and you prepay them, but unless you want to stand on line for hours at the Vatican, take RIL. they get you right in! Worth the day price. The cruise excursions were typically double our pice, and we saw so much more! I'd figure a minimum of 100€ per person per day, definitely not 50€. Venice transportation is probably 26 pp per day. EVERYONE agreed that spending more time in BURANO would have been ideal! It's a charming, uncrowned island! Enjoy!

 

Thank you for the info on RIL - We are wanting to do the Vatican and Colosseum with them. Right now there is only 3 of us but I will check the roll call and see if others would like to join in. If not $800 may be expensive but it will be worth it to me because it is a dream of my DH and SIL's to see these two places.

[danmidge24]

Jan and Dan will definitely go on this excursion. Email - danmidge347@hotmail.com

[danmidge24]

Jan and Dan will definitely go on this excursion. Email - danmidge347@hotmail.com

This is the url for a tour from civitavecchia to rome{includes Vatican and Coliseum}-cost $52.65 per person for up to 25 people.

http://www.getyourguide.com/rome-l33/rome-full-day-tour-shore-excursion-from-civitavecchia-t11061/

[delily]

Look at the cost of the ship tours if you intend to use them. They seem more expensive than usual for this particular itenerary. There are very few that are less than $100. My final cruise bill for two: $2900. My ships excursion bill for two: $3200. But those are small group tours. It just depends on what you want to do and how much you want to spend.