Med Excursions - Can you wait til you get off ship?

[wnorman]

If it worth just waiting until you get off ship to find people offering excursions at each port on the med cruise OR must you book ahead. With every caribbean cruise in the past, we just got off the ship and talked to the people around the port that were offering excursions (all very reasonable). All of the excursions through rome in limo etc. seen fairly high priced (or is that the norm for Europe) - can't imagine what carnival's prices will be ????

[trvlgirlmq]

I'm not sure if I would want to leave this up to chance. There are many other companies other than Rome In Limo that offer the exact same thing for less money. If you search through the ports of call boards you can get lots of ideas. Also use TripAdvisor to research tour companies. I have booked with 3 different companies I found here on CC and all came in less than RIL. It takes time and dedication but this is the kind of trip that takes lots of work to make a success.

 

Companies I have booked:

 

Sicily: Sicily Limousine Services

Naples: AP Tours

Livorno: Tuscany by Taxi

 

Izmir: Ephesus Shuttle

[elaine5]

yes and no. In most ports, you will not find the vendors with pre-made excursions. What you will find is taxi drivers who will take your on a "tour" for a fee--some are great and a fair price, others, not. In Europe, IMHO, it is far better to research what you want to do and make a plan. In some places, you can wing it--as long as you have a DIY back up plan. Livorno, Rome, and Naples are easy to wing it, as you can just take the train/bus and then DIY. But, you still need to know train schedules, what you want to see, etc. For many ports, a few hours simple research is all it takes to have a plan for an easy and inexpensive DIY.

Also, you need to know the fair price on something to know whether the taxi tour a decent value. For ex., when we were in Corfu, Greece, we took the 1 euro port shuttle to town, then got on a 3 euro public bus (that I found out about from others online) for 15 minutes to the beach. A family of 4 from the ship took at taxi to/from the same beach for 150 euros. Similar thing for a taxi tour to Pisa vs. just taking the ship's shuttle and then the train. For some, we paid for excursions, such as Avignon and Aix en Provence in Marseille and Cinque Terre in Livorno--both were excellent. I highly advise investing in Rick Steves Ports of Call book to get an idea of what you want to do. Some ships offer express transportation in Europe without a tour. We did this in Athens for $29. Elaine

Edited March 12, 2015 by elaine5

[fuddrules]

Can you? Certainly. But you also run the risk of hooking up with a less than average tour.

 

One thing with the private tours that no DIY tour would have helped us with is maximizing out time in the ports. We did RIL in both Rome and Naples and saw much more than we could have on our own.

 

When a van is waiting for you almost as soon as you hit the end of the pier and off you go, that's efficient. When you're delivered to a Vatican guide who takes your print off tickets and blows right past everyone right to the ticket window and gets your admission tickets, that's efficient. When the same thing happens at Pompeii, that's efficient. When your driver knows the ins and outs of the best way to avoid crowds and get to point A to B, where to park, picks you up at the exit of an exhibit and whisks you off to the next exhibit, that's efficient.

 

Nothing could be more efficient and far cry from a DIY tour. It's impossible as a DIY to accomplish what a RIL (or similar tour) could as you don't have a car or have a ton knowledge of the lay of the land. If you did, why take a tour at all of what you already know? It would be like me touring my hometown. Been there...done that and I charge a lot less :D

 

However, that's not ideal for everyone or every visit. It's costly. It's not go with the flow and take it all in stride. It typically is a little more regimented if you want to get your money's worth. It doesn't HAVE to be that way, but that's usually what happens. But you get a full day while maximizing your time in port.

 

Since we've already have done that in Rome and Naples it's doubtful we'll do it again. Our next time will be more leisurely and less costly, by choice. But if someone has never been to Rome or Naples, I can say the RIL type tours are fantastic and well worth the extra money.

Edited March 13, 2015 by fuddrules

[elaine5]

I would agree with fuddrules about efficient touring. However, here are some considerations:

1. with a family of 4+, private tours, excursions can add a lot to the cost of a trip. I cannot justify $500+ for 5 persons, when I can DIY for under $100. Times 5+ ports, private tours add several thousand dollars to the trip.

2. if you have kids/teens, a full, efficient touring day can seem more like the Bataan death march to them. Our first trip was like that for many ports--I just wanted my tweens to see it all. But then I found that part of the fun was walking down streets and taking photos, exploring, and many gelato and shopping stops.

For the 2nd trip, with our young teens, we learned to plan only 1/2 day of simple touring except for a few not to be missed places. We did a 10 hr tour at one port (at $1000 for an excellent private tour) and would do it again in a heartbeat. But, in Naples, we opted for DIY on the train to Pompeii and return at our leisure--our teens were ready to head back by 2pm. If we had paid for a private full day tour that continued to Sorrento, my kids would have still rather been back on the ship.

We found that some easy DIY 1/2 days and 2 or so some private or ship excursions was the right mix for us and doesn't break the bank.

Edited March 13, 2015 by elaine5

[HLGW60]

Having a licensed guide with the special license plate can make a world of difference in terms of efficiency as an earlier poster mentioned, Our RomeInLimo guide was able to get into side streets that regular traffic is not allowed and could park. It all depends on what the purpose of your trip is and how much you want to see in a day. If this is your trip of a lifetime and you don't think you'll be financially able to do it again.....then of course you want to make efficient and good use of your time. Research .....research.....research. I can't stress this enough. Rick Steves Mediterranean Ports book does a good job of recommending which ports are DIY and which ones are better using your ship's shore excursions or private tours.

[MrMileStoner]

It depends on the port, but if you have to ask the question, you are likely better off booking something in advance or taking a ship tour.

 

European excursions tend to be all day and often cover relatively long distances. Fuel is not cheap.

 

Rome is not adjacent to the port city of Civitavecchia, and Italy is no stranger to transportation strikes.

 

For a port such as Dubrovnik, you can easily get transportation to/from Old Town and walk the wall on your own or do some other things.

[elaine5]

concur with Mr. Milestoner. I cannot imagine just walking off the ship without a tour booked or a well-researched DIY plan. I probably put more hours into researching each port than I am actually in the port on the cruise. OTOH, we are going to Calif. this summer and I am just going to go with the flow and maybe do 1-2 hrs of research beforehand.

[hbrote]

Everyone is correct, plan and book ahead of time. Join your particular Roll Call here on CC. You will find folks try to get others to join there tours or you can plan a tour and offer it for others consideration. I have filled tours on roll calls with no problem. I also suggest you plan each port. Europe is not like the Caribbean, you will find numerous vans waiting for there preplanned customers. I, personally, have never found anyone selling tours when you get off the ship. Tripadvisor, Rick Steve's, Rome in Limo, Sicily in Limo, I personally have used. I think that the planning for a European cruise is half of the fun. Best of luck and enjoy you cruise.

[heatherbelle]

Hi agree with everything said above, we are big DIY fans in Europe, tour are very very expensive whether they are private or with the ship, but if you have spent a lot of money getting to Europe I. The first place and may never go again then it is probably worth paying the money for the likes of Rome in Limo etc.

 

However here is what I noticed on my last trip, we always always headed out of the port past the taxis and on a bit and found the prices of official and non official (that's another story) cheaper, BUT the taxi driver couldn't speak much English which was fine for us as we only wanted to be driven somewhere. In Athens we paid I think it was 80 Euros, that was for a non speaking tour, so he dropped us at the Acropolis, museum, Zeus , into town at the Plaka, the changing of the guard and old Olympic stadium, he waited whilst we looked around and had two hours in town for lunch too, so I though that was good value for money, I was anxious about not been too long as we had left our DS (15) on the boat sleeping. Others on my group found a coach trip that was 25 euros each and had pretty much the same tour but with a guide.

 

In Dubrovnik taxis at the port ours was excellent 50 euros for a 1 hour tour dropped off at the Pile gate.

 

Messina, tours again at the port, where people shared large taxis to get to Nessina for two hours, we walked out of the port where we met with a guy who charged us 80 euros the others were charging 120 at the port. Well he wasn't a taxi driver I think he was an old godfather LOL! no seat belts in the car no taxi badge, anyway we survived, saved 40 euros and it's a funny story to tell people he was a lovely chap who wasn't a day under 80. He waited for us and we paid him when we returned to port. A bit of a mistake, but you live and learn.

 

There were also taxis at Naples too.

 

Next time I am going to hook up with people on CC who have been before and just want a taxi somewhere and share one at the ports. They had up to 10 seater people carriers waiting to whisk folk away.

 

So to answer your question yes it can be done at port, but gave a plan of how much it should cost, some pirts gave prices pinned up and know where you want to go.