Land Tours

[ellbon]

I started with this line late dec 2010 when they went thru the canal and have done 16 cruises with them.

I am learning hat the biggest problem now is the size of tours. it went from a nice group of 15 to 20 or so to 35..

Several tours were cancel due to lack of guests. i missed a museum i wanted due to that problem. in some cases the size was so big they gave you awful listening things. unless you were near the guide i gave up..

in two cases i rented wonderful audio tours and enjoyed myself. just showed up before the bus left.. belboa was ruin for me due to the tour. had fun on my own later.

I have no idea why the jumo jet size like RCI etc unless it iis money. if it is then go find private tours and enjoy your port of call.

[Bill Leiber]

I started with this line late dec 2010 when they went thru the canal and have done 16 cruises with them.

 

I am learning hat the biggest problem now is the size of tours. it went from a nice group of 15 to 20 or so to 35..

 

Several tours were cancel due to lack of guests. i missed a museum i wanted due to that problem. in some cases the size was so big they gave you awful listening things. unless you were near the guide i gave up..

 

in two cases i rented wonderful audio tours and enjoyed myself. just showed up before the bus left.. belboa was ruin for me due to the tour. had fun on my own later.

 

I have no idea why the jumo jet size like RCI etc unless it iis money. if it is then go find private tours and enjoy your port of call.

 

Hello Robin -

 

I will be sharing your comments about your frustration with our shore excursion program with our global tour operation management team. After 16 voyages, starting in late 2010 through the present, it seems that your level of satisfaction has diminished.

 

When I have completed my information gathering, I'll be able to share with you our operating standards that hopefully will provide us with a better understanding of what is important to meeting and exceeding your and our other guests' expectations when participating in an Azamara Land Discovery tour. Also, what are the implications that it has on our management of the network of ground operators that ultimately deliver the experience?

 

Please be patient while I gather this information. In the meantime, thank you not only for your valuable loyalty but your candid feedback as we move forward on improving the overall Azamara experience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Sleep7]

Hi Bill!

I don't know if my humble opinion about Azamara shore excursions is the optimal one to take into account because we usually only take one per seven day cruise. But I guess all opinions count so here goes. Most of the ports we visit we are very happy to just wander around the town for the morning.. come back to the boat and have lunch (and a glass of wine :)) and then grab our laptops and go back into town. We find a cafe with wifi and then wander some more. That being said.. I thought both of the full day shore excursions that I booked thru Azamara were GREAT! 2 years ago we took an all day tour to Cinque Terre from Portofino and this year on the Quest from Venice on 9/21 we took a full day tour in Albania that we thought was amazing as well. Both tours were on a big bus and frankly I liked the impersonal nature of being in a big group. I didn't feel like I was up close and personal with the guide or driver and had to make small talk to be polite if I didn't feel like it. I felt that the large group was handled well and everyone was taken care of. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a fan of a "class trip" type of tour run by the cruise line. ;)

P.S. I'm not sure I was in the majority about loving our port day in Albania but I thought it was fascinating. We took the tour that went to Tirana and Kruja with lunch. I learned so much about Albanian history I feel like I could teach a class on it! Outstanding tour guide.. interesting sights and a delish lunch to boot.

[uktog]

I think this could be a very useful thread as those who use the ships excursions could use it as a route to give feedback to Azamara.

 

I would like to ask Azamara to encourage as many of the companies on their supply list to use the Whisper or equivalent headsets and guide on microphone for when guests are touring places. This allows the whole group to progress at the pace best for them (within reasonable boundaries) and still be up to speed with facts.

 

All I can say is for all the tours I have been on when they have been used, I seem to have the best photos and highest knowledge retention compared to similar type tours when they have not been available - I can take time to take a picture without feeling worried I am holding up the group and on those days when my mobility is less good I also do not get stressed that I am holding others up - on smaller groups I feel much more pressured.

 

I know we each like different things, just sharing my perspective

[Travel2Learn]

For the most part, I do not like large tours. It's difficult to hear the guide, see, and take photos. Walking with a crowd is also very difficult. Now when I book a tour, I ask in advance the size of the group, etc. The response determines if I go with the group or cancel.

[nordski]

I think this could be a very useful thread as those who use the ships excursions could use it as a route to give feedback to Azamara.

 

I would like to ask Azamara to encourage as many of the companies on their supply list to use the Whisper or equivalent headsets and guide on microphone for when guests are touring places. This allows the whole group to progress at the pace best for them (within reasonable boundaries) and still be up to speed with facts.

 

All I can say is for all the tours I have been on when they have been used, I seem to have the best photos and highest knowledge retention compared to similar type tours when they have not been available - I can take time to take a picture without feeling worried I am holding up the group and on those days when my mobility is less good I also do not get stressed that I am holding others up - on smaller groups I feel much more pressured.

 

I know we each like different things, just sharing my perspective

 

 

I agree with everything you say about the Whisper sets although with two caveats:

 

1./ In a few cases, and only a few, the guides seemed to think of the Whisper set as a "smart phone" and let the technology remove them from any human contact with the poor souls who made up their not so merry troupe. Perhaps a session or two without the set could reawaken those necessary bonds.

 

2./ In a labyrthine setting, namely Herculaneum, it was easy for people to remain within audio touch of the guide and then suddenly be completely lost. In such a location it might be best to reconsider their use, or fine tune group-management.

 

Otherwise the Whisper sets have been a great boon, and in the vast majority of cases we have really enjoyed our guides and presence of staff members from the ship. It's nice to interact with said staff members in a different setting.

[uktog]

I agree with everything you say about the Whisper sets although with two caveats:

 

1./ In a few cases, and only a few, the guides seemed to think of the Whisper set as a "smart phone" and let the technology remove them from any human contact with the poor souls who made up their not so merry troupe. Perhaps a session or two without the set could reawaken those necessary bonds.

 

2./ In a labyrthine setting, namely Herculaneum, it was easy for people to remain within audio touch of the guide and then suddenly be completely lost. In such a location it might be best to reconsider their use, or fine tune group-management.

 

Otherwise the Whisper sets have been a great boon, and in the vast majority of cases we have really enjoyed our guides and presence of staff members from the ship. It's nice to interact with said staff members in a different setting.

 

Great points, I have not experienced either of these two points but it is good to know they can happen - I would love to know what "standards" Azamara sets for quality of guide as that would address No 1 nicely.

 

I too like the way that the staff members work on these excursions and in fact they are really useful for "sweeping up the rear platoon" when we have the Whisper sets.

 

I was unsure what the OPs issue with the sets was because she also talked about hiring an audio guide which is almost the same in many places. Hopefully she will come back and explain what her issues with the sets is as we may all be missing a problem with them

[ellbon]

Hello Robin -

 

I will be sharing your comments about your frustration with our shore excursion program with our global tour operation management team. After 16 voyages, starting in late 2010 through the present, it seems that your level of satisfaction has diminished.

Bill, this is true and most of it is with the tours. the ones i hated were with the listening device as it falls out of ear or if i am slow from taking pictures i am out of range and can not hear at all.

i stil love the ship's crew and my cabin.. i love hte larger city ports that ican walk around on my own and see the same things Azamara sends people too. my big disapointed came in barcelona when i wanted to get inside a museum and the ship canceled the tour and i spent 40 Euros RT and could not get in and get back before we sailed. i ddi see a a guest back door her way in.. part of me wsih i had treid that. very upsetting.

 

When I have completed my information gathering, I'll be able to share with you our operating standards that hopefully will provide us with a better understanding of what is important to meeting and exceeding your and our other guests' expectations when participating in an Azamara Land Discovery tour. Also, what are the implications that it has on our management of the network of ground operators that ultimately deliver the experience?

I was told to my face on the ship-more than once-that a tour would not run with less than 30 to 35 people. that is ok on the ferry boat one i did-could of done that on my own too. we had free time at each stop. but this is not only not fair to the guest but to the local operator who lost out on money that day.. 20 guests beats no guests at all. i was also told to my face to put it all on facebook and it was by the land tour person from the Quest. Ibeleive the local guides do not like it any better. they keep losing guests taking pictures and wandering around.

One tour was at 9 am and the stores were open by the time the tour was over the stores were clsoed to around 5 and guess when we sailed?? the tour should of been at 1 pm so we would ahve the mornign free to wander on our own .. the only reason i tool that tour was fro the wine stop. there were other tours that allowed you to shop - not this one.

 

Please be patient while I gather this information. In the meantime, thank you not only for your valuable loyalty but your candid feedback as we move forward on improving the overall Azamara experience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

you are welcome!! i am still loyal - moving onto the Quest for the winter and three weeks in the summer. for the record some of the ports that i loved will do my own thing in 2015.

 

thank you for tryign to help me and others.

[ellbon]

Hi Bill!

I don't know if my humble opinion about Azamara shore excursions is the optimal one to take into account because we usually only take one per seven day cruise. But I guess all opinions count so here goes. Most of the ports we visit we are very happy to just wander around the town for the morning.. come back to the boat and have lunch (and a glass of wine :)) and then grab our laptops and go back into town. We find a cafe with wifi and then wander some more.

I do a lot of that but some ports you need to drive over an hour to see anything.. i nevr come back for lunch as i want to enjoy lunch in town and get a feel of the city or little town.

 

That being said.. I thought both of the full day shore excursions that I booked thru Azamara were GREAT! 2 years ago we took an all day tour to Cinque Terre from Portofino loved that place-was there this summer. now have art work hanging up from there.. it was shipped home from one of the ferry stops. .this is a port you could do it yourself. in the end i had a nice but quick lunch and ice cream. and this year on the Quest from Venice on 9/21 we took a full day tour in Albania LOL that we thought was amazing as well. Both tours were on a big bus and frankly I liked the impersonal nature of being in a big group. I didn't feel like I was up close and personal with the guide or driver and had to make small talk to be polite if I didn't feel like it. I felt that the large group was handled well and everyone was taken care of. So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm a fan of a "class trip" type of tour run by the cruise line. ;)

P.S. I'm not sure I was in the majority about loving our port day in Albania but I thought it was fascinating. We took the tour that went to Tirana and Kruja with lunch. I learned so much about Albanian history I feel like I could teach a class on it! Outstanding tour guide.. interesting sights and a delish lunch to boot.

you were lucky- i too kthe other tour. .the church was great. food cold.. long 2 hours both ways to be rushed there. our bus was the last bus back.. ship was called to wait for us to go see that so called Roman ruin. after the one in sardina nothingcan compare!! i never need to go back there again-ever. all other ports were great.

i had wonderful days sightseeing on small private tours..

bus tours of 35 need to go away! 20 is fine!

[ellbon]

 

I too like the way that the staff members work on these excursions and in fact they are really useful for "sweeping up the rear platoon" when we have the Whisper sets.

someone was always waitng for me asi was taking pictures, found a new corner or run into a bathroom in one port.

 

I was unsure what the OPs issue with the sets was because she also talked about hiring an audio guide which is almost the same in many places. Hopefully she will come back and explain what her issues with the sets is as we may all be missing a problem with them

 

they fall out of my ear. the audio guides i got were the nice standard museum ones that you press a gren button and listen.. i could go at my own pace and stop and smell the roses- linger longer in a room etc.. as long as i knew where to meet i was there on time.

 

in 2011 in europe i ued private guides a lot but the ship turs were like 20 people. so what happened?

[Sleep7]

Hi Robin!

Yes.. I do agree.. the people who were on your tour that day didn't enjoy it near as much as we did. They all felt it was too much driving just like you said.

We happened to luck out on the Albania tour we were on.. it was great.

As far as taking independent tours I guess I'm too squeamish a traveler to venture out on one. I would worry the whole day about a flat tire.. being delayed.. standing on the pier waving goodbye to the ship.:rolleyes:

That's just me though. So big tour bus or small tour bus.. I'm just happy to be on a tour that the ship is in charge of.:)

[ellbon]

Hi Robin!

Yes.. I do agree.. the people who were on your tour that day didn't enjoy it near as much as we did. They all felt it was too much driving just like you said.

We happened to luck out on the Albania tour we were on.. it was great.

 

I was wih Adraina on my tour and the biggest problem all walking was up or down hill .i had my sandals on and another woman had broken her leg over a year ago .so we walked very slowly. nevr had a problem with sandals walking until that day.. more hilly than i thought it would be..

Adraina felt it was not a safe tour for msot of the guests. .but the church was great. if i had known we would have 0 free time to enjoy the town i would of switch to your tour. Adam Walker loved it. .I came back and went to the spa to soak and use the steam room.

As far as taking independent tours I guess I'm too squeamish a traveler to venture out on one. I would worry the whole day about a flat tire.. being delayed.. standing on the pier waving goodbye to the ship.:rolleyes:

That's just me though. So big tour bus or small tour bus.. I'm just happy to be on a tour that the ship is in charge of.:)

 

i understand that.. but i have done private tours in several countries including Mexico in the past.. this winter in Mexico and Spanish countries looking at more ship tours but many involve a beach or on a boat so will not deal with a guide talking into a machine.

One day you will change your mid. .i did soem great tours this summewr with only 7 guests-- time to breathe, take an extra picture, enjoy a drink or ice cream. all on how you feel. when the ship leave at 8 or 10- not a big deal.

Robin

[azevedan]

Bill -

Let me also vote that the ship's tours allow too many people. In our Azamara Eastern Med cruise, we had several tours that were just too big. In Jerusalem, the group was too large and we frequently had to wait for stragglers. In Cyprus, we not only had full buses, but the buses caravaned and almost every stop was so packed as to not be enjoyable. On the tour to Delos, there was a decent size group; 15 or so - really the limit for enjoyability, IMO. Also did a couple of smaller private tours and a couple of 'wander arounds'. On our upcoming cruises, we have only booked 1 ship's tour each - in Panama City, because I was concerned about distances to the tour we wanted to do, and in Croatia to do some hiking (and I *really* hope that's not an overcrowded tour!)

Thanks for listening.

[ellbon]

The emoticons might seem a bit strange here at Azamara compared to other boards. Maybe there is a difference. We have a direct line with Azamara management tru this board as Azamara has apointed Chief Blogging Officer Bill Leiber to answer our queries and give us information as of first hand. Many of the emoticons have been put there by people who are devoted to Azamara and certainly are not trying to make Azamara look bad. We are all trying to improve the product. Some changes are for the better and some are potentially for the worse. We all voice our opinions in different ways and when Robin puts in a :mad: I interpret it as "Hey, Bill! This is important" I think Bill knows most of the frequent posters on this board and I don't think many of us react to these emoticons like you just did. It is good of you to point out your reaction to the use of "faces" so that we all can think twice before we use emoticons. Thank you for a valid and very important reminder to all of us. ;)

 

I did and do feel thsi was important. One of my issues on the cruise was quickly fixed by talking to Philip. the example was many of us sunbathe on Deck 11. i notice guests not removing towels or empty glasses. The day we went down/up the river from Seville the deck looked awful and no bar waiters. After that crew travled up more often and chekc to see if peopel needed drinks. but more importantly checking on the towels.. i never did understand why grown people do not clean up after themselves.

Again I was asked to post about land tours and did. the guides are still good, the wine was good but tours are to big.

i do want Nill and Andy to know this is important.

I mention antoher day how the Qyest off loads guests for Azaming Evenings. .we seem to do it a little different than hte journey. So on our comment sheets for the event i made suggestions and both were done.

So i do beleive right or wrong the little faces help! i use happy ones al lhe time and the thump up too.

Right now i wsih our Azaming Evenings were different when i go thru canal twice, But Bill did explain very nicely the problem thee compared to Europe.

over all the 4 events i went to were excellent- one bus ride was bad and one only had sweets. So you learn! you deal! but al lthe music was mind blowing.

Thanks again for explaining about the little faces etc.

[uktog]

[color=red

Again I was asked to post about land tours and did. the guides are still good, the wine was good but tours are to big.

i do want Nill and Andy to know this is important.

 

When you say you were asked to post who asked? Just trying to work out how many had the issue - if it was the rest on your tour, try and encourage folks like that to post themselves as it will give Bill more of a sense of the scale of the issue and guest feeling.

 

I hope it wasn't crew asking you to post!

[ellbon]

When you say you were asked to post who asked? Just trying to work out how many had the issue - if it was the rest on your tour, try and encourage folks like that to post themselves as it will give Bill more of a sense of the scale of the issue and guest feeling.

 

I hope it wasn't crew asking you to post!

 

Ann

 

does it matter who asked? somewhere in my first post i did answer that. Also i did say tours were canceled due to lack of guests.. word is out the tours are to big so people are not going!in majpr cities guests can walk to half the palces the ship is taking you or people are getitng small private tours.

[uktog]

Robin

I think it does - the views of staff and the views of guests come from very different perspectives and I never saw CC as being the forum for staff views.

 

I have been back to your thread and I apologise, I see in post 8

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1926768 you said it was a member of staff who asked you to raise the issue here, I had not picked that up before.

 

I hope this is not an emerging trend given how much the officers say "tell us and let us fix it in board" in the past (and they did!)

 

So have we got a change in the belief officers had that they could sort things out or some more junior staff have views on policy and feel guests can be the outlet for issues to be raised.

 

My experience is not that guests are leaving excursions in droves, previously groups were an acceptable number in my view, but I will be watching for any signs of change next month

[ellbon]

Robin

 

 

I have been back to your thread and I apologise, I see in post 8

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1926768 you said it was a member of staff who asked you to raise the issue here, I had not picked that up before.

 

Anb, there are officers and crew. officers do not run tours or deal with MIA on tours it is the staff or crew. whatever wors you perfer.

 

I hope this is not an emerging trend given how much the officers say "tell us and let us fix it in board" in the past (and they did!)

 

Who sets and works with the local tour operators? Who cancels tpurs not full?

 

 

 

My experience is not that guests are leaving excursions in droves, previously groups were an acceptable number in my view, but I will be watching for any signs of change next month

 

Tours were cancel in several cities due to lack of guests.. In the old days a tour would run with less than 20 not anymore or at least not in Europe!

Acceptable to me is 20 on Azamara.. 30 and more on big ships. Now Azamara doing the 30 or more. so when a museum tour i wanted does not sell out it is cancel. On two cruises at least 6 tours were cancel. i got the numbers comparing what is offered online or on the ship. .compared to what tours went that day by the dailys..

[uktog]

Thanks, I fully understand the points you are making re the tours being cancelled and how that affected you, its happened to us before and we have made last minute local arrangements to make sure we were able to do what we wanted.

 

However, I remain concerned if there is an issue on board (and that includes the situations re tours) that staff are not taking ownership of the issue and from what you say are telling guests "they can do nothing and please post the problem on cruise critic".

 

That is a classic cop out - the Hotel Director is responsible on board for shore excursions, if the issue is arising because of a central directive, the shore excursion staff should be feeding this up to the Hotel Director.

 

Whilst they may not necessarily be able to magic back the tour you want, they should be taking your feedback and acting on it, not saying I can do nothing, your best bet is to moan on cruise critic, sorry.

 

I certainly do not want these boards becoming the dumping ground for onboard issues that staff would like raised to get the attention of head office management - they have their channels for that.

 

PS I am aware there are officers and crew, I use the word staff as a generic term

[ellbon]

Thanks, I fully understand the points you are making re the tours being cancelled and how that affected you, its happened to us before and we have made last minute local arrangements to make sure we were able to do what we wanted.

 

i took a taxi RT for about 49 Euro's and the line was so long i would of missed the ship if i had tried to get in.

 

However, I remain concerned if there is an issue on board (and that includes the situations re tours) that staff are not taking ownership of the issue and from what you say are telling guests "they can do nothing and please post the problem on cruise critic".

 

I am not sure of this but i wrote a letter to the head of the tour department on the ship.. at that time it was due to size of tours and the rebooking of the tour of afternoon to morning. i felt i wasted my time on tour as he shops were closed or closing at 1 pm.. at that time i was told to post on here my feelings as she could do nothing . .that MIA was making them cancel tours if not full enough.

 

That is a classic cop out - the Hotel Director is responsible on board for shore excursions, if the issue is arising because of a central directive, the shore excursion staff should be feeding this up to the Hotel Director.

 

Ann. After 16 cruises i do not feel this way at all. Are you 100 percent sure he is??never saw him helping with problems. i did see hime helping only during Amazing evenings not other tours.

 

Whilst they may not necessarily be able to magic back the tour you want, they should be taking your feedback and acting on it, not saying I can do nothing, your best bet is to moan on cruise critic, sorry.

 

was not told to mona but voice my thoughts.. I also commented on all cruise surveys.

 

I certainly do not want these boards becoming the dumping ground for onboard issues that staff would like raised to get the attention of head office management - they have their channels for that.

 

PS I am aware there are officers and crew, I use the word staff as a generic term

 

Ann, looking forward to what you say next month.

[procter]

It sounds like an edict from Miami that unless tour group is a certain size it MUST be cancelled!!

I do not believe that if was within the power of Heike, Richard or Philip (hotel directors)that they would willingly cancel to upset cruisers.

I estimate that a bus /driver/+ guide would cost approx $1500 per day and Miami would want at least triple that to achieve their margin.

It looks better on the margin front to cancel cruise tours than satisfy customers.

That is the bean counters view of the world.

The fact that unhappy cruisers are complaining over the internet(it does not compute") let alone the fact that these customers tell their friends and probably look elsewhere in future!!!

[Jade13]

I have no idea why the jumo jet size like RCI etc unless it iis money.

 

Of course the reason is money and profitability. RCCL/Azamara is a public company and running tours to make a profit.

 

On our last Azamara cruise we took mostly ships tours, enjoyed the small groups, but knew it wouldn't last. In fact, I spent two months before that cruise emailing Miami almost weekly to find out if they had the number to run the tours. At the time most required 25-30 people. We had 6 out of 9 tours in danger of being canceled just 8 weeks before our cruise, which was stressful. The reason I hadn't put together private tours was due to a combination of a small roll call for a destination where tour guides were expensive, late change in itinerary due to Egypt being canceled, as well as the ships tours being significantly less money than they are now before the 50% (old) savings. Just about all of those tours were under $50.00 for a full day with lunch. Most went and most had under 20 participants.

 

In the end we hired private guides for 2 days in Israel since that was our main reason for the itinerary after Egypt was canceled. We were fortunate we booked a private tour on the first day in Israel as we went to Haifa instead of Ashdod, and while the ship canceled all of its tours the first day because of the late arrival and port change, our private guide drove to Haifa to pick us up.

 

The more expensive tours (such as one going overnight to New Delhi, Agra and Taj Mahal) might have a smaller group because of the expense. But you have no control over the group size, and I doubt Azamara will be turning away those booking. They could try to limit the bus sizes, but as mentioned they still turn into a caravan, especially if the tour guide is shared amongst multiple bus loads of people.

 

Most of Azamara's tours sound like they are now no different than the ones being offered by RCCL, Celebrity, and others.

[riandei]

This topic is very interesting. We usually dont book ship tours due to the size of the group....i was planning on booking all my tours with aza...the prices seemed reasonable and previous posts stated they were enjoyable....im starting to have second thoughts and may look in to private tours. This is not good for aza as i realize they make a good bit of money on tours.

 

One of the attractions of aza is its smaller size....so you are not traipsing around with 2000 people in a port. Was hoping the same for its tours.

 

Keep the posts coming....more info is always welcome. :)

[3418ahl]

Unfortunately, seems like this tour situation may cause a vicious cycle...less people booking ship tours due to fear of cancellation cause more cancellations, etc.

[ellbon]

i an very :confused: why people here say it is the hotel director over the 4 lovely people who are involved wih tours on each ship..

My last Journey was in 2012 but i have jsut done in 2013 about 10 cruises wih the Quest. The numbers jumped from 2012 to 2013 a lot. Even the few tours i did in S America were smaller than the numbers now.

How do you do Yara Roberts cooking school with more han 12? her home will not hold more! The same for the wonderful boat ride to see the seals..

Yes, it comes from Mia not the ship!!!!:(

I watch my fiends work hours canceling tours. .In some cases they knew the day the cruise started they would not get enough. In oter cases they were hoping the new goal was met. i sut read above a # like 30. it has now gone to #35.

I admit there are some tours in Mexico i am bookingthru the ship but many involve the beach or a boat ride. oters i ahve to travel over an hour esch way.. then it becomes a safelty issue will i get back in time...

For now on in major cities i will book private or walk on my own.

As always the bottom line is money. There are enough people who are still afraid to go onthere on and wil luse ship tours. .there are others who want that tour and it will never happened due to lack of guests. So as my first post said look at private tours when you can.. or walk on your own.

A very good example was my day in Seville- i walked to the Alhambra and the catheral plus lunch and some shopping. The ship charge for this lovely day. Much easier to go on ypur own. For those of you who ahve trouble walking it takes about 15 to 20 minutes each way so take a taxi. stil lcheaer than the ships tour.