DIY or tour/excursion and why?

[Freshycat]

Hello, first-time cruiser and first post.

 

I'm interested in knowing generally what caused people to prefer tours/excursions over going DIY and what they thought of their choice (ie was it the right one or not)?

 

Disclaimer: I know there is no right or wrong answer, I'm just interested in people's personal experiences. In the end, we will pick what is right for our family.

 

We're going on NCL's 9-day Baltic cruise in August 2019 with extended family and I'm just deciding on cruise excursions for our ports of call (1 day in Warnemunde/Berlin, Stockholm (Nynashamn?), Talinn, 2 days in St. Petersburg). My tentative plan is to do a St. Petersburg 2-day tour with the whole family, but to DIY with my immediate family of 4 for every other port of call.

 

We're travelling with some wealthy family members who are used to premium travel and often try to pick up every tab (including private tours), but I prefer to travel within my own budget. Also, I'd like my young teens to learn how to navigate public transportation in each country they visit -- I think it builds confidence and helps them learn about new places. E.g., this is why I'm leaning toward taking the train in from Nynasham to Stockholm rather than a shuttle to Stockholm, even if it cuts into sightseeing time. But is this a mistake?

 

The kids will see lots of their grandparents, aunts/uncles and cousins for the rest of the cruise so that's not an issue.

[gooch47]

I'm a real worry-wart. I prefer the ship's excursions because I know that MOST of the time the ship will wait if for some reason the tour is delayed. We were on one tour in the South Pacific that was over two hours late getting back.

 

I know that many people say that private tours are careful to get you back on time. I'm just not willing to risk it.

 

As for cost, I consider the extra price you often pay for a ship's tour to be insurance that you'll get back on time.

[AmberCascades]

It depends on where we are and how comfortable I feel about it. In Hawaii we did a ship excursion because it sounded great and it was a small group and there were no other tours like it offered anywhere else. If I find good reviews here and on Tripadvisor, etc., then I will go DIY. On our upcoming cruise there aren't a lot of DIY options and some things are far away and some things I can't find offered anywhere else, so we will be taking more ship excursions. In Mexico and Norway we took local buses to where we wanted to go. So much fun! So cheap! But very low risk as well. It depends on the circumstances, e.g. will we get back in time, is it safe to go on our own, etc. In general, I prefer to go on our own or in a very small group.

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Northern European Cruise Ports. Read about your ports and he will tell you what there is to do/see in the time you have in port. Have your kids read it and decide what they would like to do. Other than SPB you can do it all on your own. You can get a lot of help here from the Ports of Call boards, an the people on your ROLL CALL may have good ideas. You have lots of time to put into research. As to what we have done? WE are lazy, so try to book ship tours with a broad overview of a new country/city. But in the Med we did a lot of DIY. EM

[John Bull]

You don't quote your location but I'm guessing you're British?

 

There are three or more different options....

1. Book ship's tours.

2. Book tours independently either direct with a tour operator or by tour-sharing with fellow-cruisers via your cruise's RollCall.

3. DIY using tours offered at the pier or public transport or Shank's or car rental

 

North Americans (the majority of Cruise Critic members) generally choose No 1 or No 2 (they're unused to public transport)

Brits generally choose No 1 or No 3.

That of course is only a generalisation.

 

Ship's tours.

The simplest & safest. One-stop shopping, no need for research, and getting you back to the ship on time is their responsibility - though that last point is grossly over-played by cruise lines, I've never heard of anyone on an independent tour who's missed their sailing and those DIYers who have missed their sailing were in all but the occasional instance the authors of their own problems - too much alcohol, failure to allow for delays getting back to the port, failure to have a Plan B in case arrangements go belly-up, forgetting the back-on-board time or failure to understand any difference between local time & ship's time. Not a problem for those whose heads are screwed-on.

Downsides.....

- very poor value-for-money

- travelling with a large herd (a long time for folk to alight & re-board the bus at each stop or waiting cos of a long line for toilets or folk who go missing cos they got lost or misunderstood when they were due back at the bus :rolleyes:)

- a rigid schedule and timetable. So perhaps flashing past places you want to explore in depth or hanging around at stops that bore you silly.

- full-day schedules usually include a lunch-stop. All very nice, but when there's lots to see it screws-up an hour or two of your precious time.

- a schedule which sometimes includes wasted time at a shop or "workshop" which pays the cruiseline commission. That's a really infuriating taking-the-mickey waste for those who've paid good money to see the sights. :mad:

 

We rarely take ships' tours. There are occasions when it's the best option - but no need on a Baltic cruise.

 

Pre-book independent tours.

A kind of half-way house. Allows you to pick and choose, usually cheaper if there's at least half a dozen of you, usually it's small-group tours with many advantages over touring with the herd.

One option to consider is pre-booking a tour-share with others on your ship. This can be done through your RollCall

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=110

Select your ship, then scroll for your sailing date - they're in order of the last posting, not chronological order, so you have some scrolling to do. Look for tour-share offers, or ask.

Americans use this a lot, Brits not much. You're on a US ship but if sailing from the UK a large proportion of your ship-mates will be Brits. So your RollCall might be very active, or mebbe not.

Go on there anyway, to say Hi to your up-coming cruise-mates.

Organisations like cruisingexcursions and Viator offer tours. But they're consolidators, they merely sell the tours offered by local tour operators. Almost-always better to book direct with well-reviewed operators.

 

DIY.

Preferred mainly by Brits & other Europeans.

Tours available at the pier are great for the Caribbean, but forget them for a Baltic cruise - there'll be few offerings and they'll be expensive.

And car rental is also unlikely to be needed for a Baltic cruise.

Which leaves.......

Shank's. Possible in many ports like Tallinn, though you might need to start with an over-priced but inexpensive ship's shuttle between ship and city centre.

Public transport. This includes local buses & trams & trains, hop-on buses and hop-on boats, and the occasional taxi hop. All pretty reliable in Baltic ports, but do have a Plan B (usually money for a taxi) if you or the provider screw-up cos its a very long & very cold swim between ports in the Baltic.

You'll need transportation from Nyneshamn to Stockholm, about an hour by rail or road. Only the leviathons port at Nyneshamn, most - including ours - berth in the city. Can't help with that, but something you need to research.

 

All the Baltic ports that I know (but I don't know which ports are n your cruise) are easy to DIY with the exceptions of......

St Petersburg. To DIY you need a Russian visa - this is a little expensive, more important you have to go through a lot of hoops. So almost everyone pre-books a visa-free tour with the ship or with one of the local accredited tour operators.

NB cruise lines try to give the impression that visa-free is only available for those on ship's tours. Misleading rubbish!!! :mad:. No visa required if you pre-book with Alla, SPB, Best Guides, TJ Travel, DenRus, Red Oktober, Anastasia or half-a-dozen other local operators. They sell seat-on-bus (no need for you to put a group together) and their tours are in 16-seat minibuses with all the attendant advantages over big buses.

Warnemunde to Berlin. If that's where you want to go, DIY is very time-consuming. You have a long journey by train, and then you need transport to get round the sights in Berlin - the hop-on bus wastes too much of a truncated port-of-call day. Several of the St Petersburg tour operators offer Warnemunde to Berlin tours, and you might get a discount by booking both tours with one operator.

If you are indeed in Britain, then I suggest you skip the long haul to Berlin. The city is worth at least two or three full days - an inexpensive break by air on some other date.

 

Plenty of advice on Cruise Critic's Baltic forum.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=192

Peruse the threads. And that'll be the best place to ask unanswered questions.

Do give information in your questions - your ship / date / port, your nationality, the make-up of your party, etc. If you don't, some advice can be useless - or even (eg visas) downright misleading.

 

The Baltic is made for cruising.

Have a great one

 

JB :)

[Nebr.cruiser]

We haven't done a ship excursion in years and would only do one if it was some unique experience we couldn't fine anywhere else and/or in the rare instance where the ship tour is better due to time for travel to a site. Once in a while we do the cruise line transfer, for instance last year after a red eye to Buenos Aires, it was really worth it to be transferred to the ship with no hassle.

 

We do a combination of DIY and private tours, depending on the port, whether we have been there before, what we want to do and our comfort level with using transportation options at a particular port. For ports we haven't been to before or that have attractions quite a ways from the port, we usually do private tours.

 

Sometimes we pick up a tour right at the port. So far we have been pleased with our private tours and have enjoyed doing it on our own on occasion. A lot of this comes down to comfort level and flexibility.

 

We are from a very rural area in Nebraska and have little to no experience with buses, trains, etc. but have managed to get ourselves to Rome from Citavecchia via train, with luggage, from Canterbury to London on the bus, and other travel via subway, etc., that is really outside our area of expertise. But, very glad we did these things and also very glad we were together to figure things out! Not to mention driving in Britain! We have stories to tell about that.

 

These are actually some of our most memorable travel experiences

[LHT28]

it depends on the location & where the sights are we want to see

If they are further afield & getting around could be time consuming like SPB we will book a private tour 1st choice or ships tour

 

Most of the time we will do the research before leaving home & DIY tours like in Oslo & Bergen very DIY friendly

 

 

 

Do the research on what you want to see then the logistics of getting to them

 

Then you can make an informed decision that works for YOU

[cb at sea]

Really depends on the ports, and language spoken. If we're in a place where we can't communicate, I'd opt for a ship's tour. In places where we CAN communicate, we generally research our ports, and DIY!

[Blondilu]

I usually do a combination of the 3 brilliantly outlined by John Bull, and for much the reasons he stated.

 

I travel with my 2 sisters. We are born and raised in rural USA and, in fact, have very little experience with public transport. It is in our blood to want to drive everywhere. Did the British Isles two years ago and broke the ice on that one and loved every minute of the freedom gained when you can just go to the train station and get on and go. Or even hail a taxi. Which was another new experience for us.

 

Sometimes it's just easier to go on a ship's tour. We use this option when the site we're going to is a distance away and the bus is used as transportation only ie: they take you there, let you off, give you a "spiel" and then you are free to wander on your own. Or if the excursion is something like the whale watching trip we are going on in our upcoming Alaskan cruise. I looked it up online and not only is the cost of the ship's tour the same as booking the whale watching trip independently, but when I went to the actual website of the company that does the whale watching trips, they re-directed me to the cruise line website. So, again, in this instance the ship's tour is really just transportation.

 

We have taken a few private company tours. They are awesome. They are only less expensive if you share with other people. We don't and sometimes it can be quite pricey. Sometimes split between the 3 of us it comes to about the same price as the ship's tour. But, the difference in experience is night and day. It's like being driven around by an old friend eager to show you all the places they love.

 

DIY is probably the option we use most often. Get off the ship, walk into town, check out the sites, have lunch, shop. If it's too far to walk, catch a ride somehow. We will use the ship's shuttle bus if needed, and if they have one. Sometimes they don't. Taxis are good if not, and there always seem to be taxis at dockside. We did this in Boston. Getting back was problematic, couldn't find a taxi, but before we even figured out how to call one or find a bus we noticed a Hop-On/Hop-Off waiting for passengers. We asked the bus "guy" if he knew where we could get a ride back to the ship and he said "get on the bus, we'll take you." No charge, it was great.

 

Re-cap: DIY is great even if you don't have a plan, and we often don't, but can be a little scary if you're not used to be in the great big "out there" on your own. We aren't, but are learning. One of the things we've learned is that people are mostly friendly and willing to help. Meeting local folks in this way is often my favorite memory of a trip.

 

Private tours are the best, but again if you don't share, they are sometimes way more expensive than a ship's tour. Totally worth it, IMO, but we can't always work it in to the budget.

 

Ship's tours need to be examined carefully. Some of them are pretty lame and not worth your time or money. If they are just meant to get you somewhere interesting and the price is right, I will sign up. Lunch is a nice bonus.

 

However, they can sometimes be something of a "hidden gem". Two such tours come to mind; the tour to The Giant's Causeway in Ireland and a tour to Louisbourg Fortress near Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. In the first example it was really just transportation as the site was 1 1/2 hours away. Couldn't figure out how else to get there. Anyway the driver was very entertaining and probably worth at least part of the fee.

 

The tour to Louisbourg is another example where the tour guide was pretty much worth the price. This guy really loved this place. He had been coming to it since he was a child. The whole way there and back he talked of the history of the era and the importance of the fortress. His enthusiasm and knowledge was amazing. Maybe someone else would be bored, but I was spellbound.

[Freshycat]

WOW, thank you for everyone's replies. Thank you especially to John Bull and Essies Mom for the analysis / tip on the book. ETA: Actually, reading the new posts, thank you for the awesome war stories too.

 

I'm still figuring out how to post (I thought I was posting in the New to Cruising forum but now I have no idea where I posted) so apologies for any protocol violations. I don't know how to quote people so will just answer generally:

 

1. We're from a mid-sized Western Canadian city. Reasonably but not particularly well-travelled. I did England/Germany/France twice with my high school class decades ago and England for a week with DH this year, but otherwise have stuck to major cities or resorts in the Americas. We're cruising as a group of 14 (2 seniors, 6 adults, 6 teens -- my parents and their adult kids & their families). This is the first time in the Baltics for everyone, and the first cruise for most of us.

 

2. Our cruise is the NCL Getaway August 18-27, departing from Copenhagen, then Warnemunde/Berlin, Stockholm, Talinn, St. PB (2 days).

 

3. I have done some executive-class travel through work but when I travel with family, it's fairly low key. We like to get the feel of a city, walk around, take public transport, eat street food, shop open-air markets and discover where the locals go. I don't feel like I know a city unless I've figured out how to get around on its subway.

 

4. Before the cruise, we plan 2 weeks in Reykjavik, Paris and Copenhagen, the latter two places in an Airbnb in the centre of town. The cruise was my sister's idea, it's not our usual mode of travel, but we're open to it and excited about the Ports of Call.

 

I agree, it's a major concern about "missing the ship." But I'm trying to assess the risk. I'm wondering if anybody has ACTUALLY missed their cruise ship or have heard of this happening or whether, as John Bull said, this is highly unlikely unless the traveller has been negligent in some way. Does anybody have war stories? Also, has any experienced cruisers started out pro-DIY but eventually started preferring excursions or vice versa?

 

Specific ports of call & questions:

 

Warnemunde - My preliminary plan is to skip Berlin and enjoy what Warnemunde/Rostock has to offer with my immediate family. I just don't see the 6-hour trip being justified and am worried 5-6 hours in such an amazing city would be an exercise in frustration more than anything. Has anyone ever skipped Berlin and regretted it and why?

 

Nynashamn/Stockholm - The cruise itinerary says "Stockholm" but from what I can glean online, this is likely to be Nynashamn, an hour out. My options are: cruise excursion, private excursion, cruise shuttle, or DIY on train. Has anyone ever tried DIY on train from Nynashamn and lived to regret it, e.g., the trains were unreliable, you wished you had more time in Stockholm, you got off at the wrong stop, you missed the train and couldn't find a taxi, etc.?

 

Let's say worst case scenario, we miss the ship in Stockholm. Realistically, can we get ourselves to the next port of call (Talinn in a day, then St. Petersburg in 3 days) by some other means or is it majorly difficult and expensive?

 

@Sci Fi We tried driving in England too. It was a horror show!!! But we survived and were very glad we did it too. :)

Edited June 4, 2018 by Freshycat

[Essiesmom]

Strongly suggest again that you get Rick Steves' book. It is written to help you DIY. He also tells you at the end of each chapter, what to do it you miss your ship. If you do, it might be another adventure. Unlike the Caribbean, the Baltic and Med. are full of fast ferries. You will see them in the ports, and on the sea. Some are as big as cruise ships, have sleeping facilities or airline type seats, duty free shops, multiple restaurants. With care and your eye on the time, you shouldn't need them. Most of the people who miss ships are in the Caribbean and have spent too much time drinking, shopping, or didn't keep their watch on 'ship time'. EM

[Velvetwater]

Our first cruise was also a Baltic cruise and we did all the ports on our own (Warnemunde, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Helsinki) aside just a 2 day tour in St Petes.

 

We aren't tour guide people and prefer to discover on our own rather than be hearded like sheep. Saying that, we will book an excursion for ease (Visa in St petes) or for an experience (Snorkelling, cooking, jungle skyrope etc). On average we book a max of 2 tours per 10+ day cruise as we feel more travelly that way and save money too.

 

Cruise companies try to make you feel like you need their tours so watch out for the port talks that are actually excursion sales and shop around as some companies can be cheaper than the line.

[John Bull]

OK, so I got it wrong - you're Canuks.

So mebbe I got it half-right? ;)

 

Missing the ship?

Google "YouTube Pier Runners" if you enjoy a laugh.

But don't if you're a bit nervous :D

It's always worth having a Plan B up your sleeve if you think you might miss the sailing (you won't if you use a bit of common sense).

All the Baltic ports except St Petersburg are in the Schengen area - there are ferries & flights and freedom to travel between them - in theory no need even for passports though certainly for flights you will need govt-issued ID like a driving licence. And means of payment. The ship's port agent (details in ship's daily newspaper) will do all they can to help, but its all at your own expense.

St Petersburg is the odd-one-out. You need to make sure you don't miss your ship at the previous port because to enter or depart Russia by any means other than cruise ship or certain ferries you need a pre-purchased visa. So you'd have to catch up with the ship at the port after St P, and totally miss out on that jewel of the Baltic.

But any post or thread about missing your sailing makes me cringe, cos it puts the risk way out of all proportion.:rolleyes:

 

Berlin.

According to my atlas Canada is nearly 16" from Berlin, not as easy as from Britain (under 4").

If it's on your bucket list, and you don't expect to get back before kicking said bucket, then go for it. But it really is worth including in some future European foray.

 

Driving in Britain

Driving on the correct side of the road isn't too difficult.

I drive in North America & continental Europe frequently, and most days I don't collide with anything at all.:)

 

JB :)

[Floridiana]

Specific ports of call & questions:

 

Warnemunde - My preliminary plan is to skip Berlin and enjoy what Warnemunde/Rostock has to offer with my immediate family. I just don't see the 6-hour trip being justified and am worried 5-6 hours in such an amazing city would be an exercise in frustration more than anything. Has anyone ever skipped Berlin and regretted it and why?

 

Good idea to skip Berlin. Public transportation is fine. Advice here and on trip advisor.

 

Nynashamn/Stockholm - The cruise itinerary says "Stockholm" but from what I can glean online, this is likely to be Nynashamn, an hour out. My options are: cruise excursion, private excursion, cruise shuttle, or DIY on train. Has anyone ever tried DIY on train from Nynashamn and lived to regret it, e.g., the trains were unreliable, you wished you had more time in Stockholm, you got off at the wrong stop, you missed the train and couldn't find a taxi, etc.?

 

I would take the cruise shuttle into Stockholm.

 

 

Let's say worst case scenario, we miss the ship in Stockholm. Realistically, can we get ourselves to the next port of call (Talinn in a day, then St. Petersburg in 3 days) by some other means or is it majorly difficult and expensive?

 

I don't know the ferry schedule, wouldn't risk it. You would not be able to get to St.Petersburg because you have an excursion voucher not a full visa.

 

 

Tallinn is easy to do on your own. Try to get off early before all the cruise passengers clog the compact old town

[Nebr.cruiser]

The amount of people who miss the cruise ship without drinking and/or negligence on their part being involved is really, really low. I've actually never seen an account on here that the ship was missed because an independent excursion was late. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened--but I have never heard of it.

 

Riding back to the ship on a trolley in St. Thomas 2 years ago we were talking with the other passengers. One couple said they were on the NCL Epic. Another passenger said, "Isn't that your ship sailing out?"

 

Indeed it was. Come to find out they had no idea what time the ship was sailing or when to be on board????Who does that? I wish I knew the end of the story as they ran pell mell toward the dock; The Epic was almost out of the bay.

[buggins0402]

We spent the day in Rostock when we ported there. Google Warnemunde Rostock port to get an idea if your ship will be in Warnemunde or the Rostock commercial port. If it's Rostock, there will be a shuttle into that town.

 

Originally, I had thought we'd be in Warnemunde and planned to check out the town and rent bikes for a seaside ride. Then I found out our port would be Rostock...changed plans and just focused on that town. We enjoyed our day there. Note...we had spent 5 days in Berlin just the year before. An excursion there would just be a drive-by of sites which doesn't sound like your travel style.

 

Tallin is easy peasy. From port, just walk toward the Fat Margaret tower to old town. Stockholm is very walkable. Since you are not actually porting there, you could check to see if the ship has a "transportation only" tour and DIY so you are not stuck with a herd.

[Hlitner]

Lots of great answers. Regarding Nynashamn there are usually about 2 trains per hour and the trip takes about 1 hour. The cost varies (depending on age and type of ticket) but you are talking about $10 (or less) round trip per person. I think they also may sell a 1 day ticket that would include transportation around Stockholm....but we have not explored this option in a few years. So compare that to the cruise line excursion price and draw your own conclusion. Trains in Sweden are reliable and this is more like a regional commuter train then a regular train. If something were to happen to the trains (unlikely) a one-way taxi should cost you no more than $100...which is the Plan B option seldom to ever used :).

 

We agree that St Petersburg is best handled by a tour which includes your Visas. IMHO the recommended private tour operators (TJ Tours, Alla, etc) offer many advantages to the over crowded cruise ship excursions. Since you are traveling with a small family group it makes sense to arrange your own private "family" tour where its just your group, guide and driver. We are fans of TJ Tours but know of quite a few others that have the same thoughts about Alla. You can easily deal with either company online and via e-mail and even have your tour customized to your own demands.

 

All your other ports do lend themselves to DIY. As to Warnemunde you can walk around the port area/town on your own and easily hop a train over to nearby Rostock. An option you might want to explore is called the Molli Steam Train (you can Google about this tour).

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

I started out traveling with my parents at an early age -- we did a mix of tours (to Europe), DIY and cruises. Over the years I've discovered that I tend to have more meaningful travel experiences if I do things on my own and if I do a lot of research in advance. Not everyone likes to travel that way -- some are in it just for the casual highlights and others just want to relax/enjoy/party during their vacations.

 

I seem to have the public transportation "gene" and enjoy figuring out how to use trains, buses and metro systems in the large cities of Europe, which generally tend to work pretty well to get people around efficiently.

 

About 10 years ago I did a Baltics cruise with my son who was a young teen at the time. We did DIY in every port except for St. Petersburg and it was really pretty painless. Northern Europe is well organized and almost everyone speaks English or at least understands it. We hired (together with two other people) a private guide for the two days in St. Petersburg. It was worth it especially for my son who at that age was more likely to listen to a guide than to his mom. If I ever go back I will do it on my own though. :cool:

[calliopecruiser]

 

I'm interested in knowing generally what caused people to prefer tours/excursions over going DIY and what they thought of their choice (ie was it the right one or not)?

 

I am generally a DIY traveler, no matter what routes of travel I take. So, when I cruise, I also generally take a DIY approach to port visits. Why? I like to often see things that are different than many, and I like to spend time at things that are different than many - I've learned that from decades of travel. I often don't like to see the common sites, but I often do like to wander around or sit in a cafe and just watch people around me. I might want to take extra time to photograph small details, or I might want to walk up a particular street to get a unique view through an archway.

 

 

A few years ago, my cruise stopped in Honolulu, and I rented a car for the day and drove around the west half of the island. I had no interest in seeing pagodas, churches, pineapple orchards, or Pearl Harbour. I wanted to see beaches and surfing, so I found a way to get myself to the South Shore (sadly, though it was surfing season and a competition was scheduled, it was crystal-calm that day). Along the way I stopped at random beaches, enjoyed lovely scenery, and had a great burger for lunch. The next time my ship stopped in Honolulu, I took a public bus on the several-hours journey around the island.....there's no better way to see "local" than to take public transit! I have not been disappointed with my choices of DIY travel anywhere and wish I'd been in a group; on the other hand, I have taken tours and been disappointed I was not on my own wandering around.

 

 

There are exceptions: I would not visit some primarily-Muslim places without a tour group, because of the constantly-changing acceptance and safety of women traveling alone.....especially if those have an unstable government. And I have discovered a company that offers small (max 6 person) walking tours with a specific focus, lead by someone who has special knowledge of that subject, and the one I took was excellent -- I would not hesitate to book more of those in the future. (For instance, my building/architecture tour in Tokyo was led by someone currently getting his PhD in architecture at the university there.) And, there are a few places that are poorly served by public transit and rather than hiring a private car, I might take a tour to get there (I'm particularly thinking of a specific castle in Italy, but I'm sure there are other such situations).

[Heidi13]

During our Baltic Cruise last year, we arranged tours with Alla Tours, in every port except Berlin, where we used the ship due to the 3 hr drive.

 

With respect to ship tours, private tours or DIY, we make a decision based on all risks pertaining to personal safety, ability to return to the ship on time and we also give some consideration to language. A previous poster I believe mentioned it is rare that pax miss the ship and they weren't aware of any. I used to work on cruise ships and while it is a small percentage, it isn't that rare. Remember all the p/a announcements for pax before departure.

 

Our preference is probably small tour groups, with a guide, similar to our Alla tours. In St Petersburg we had 10 and Tallinn we had only 5. We will also consider hiring a local guide for a predominantly walking tour of the city, or hire a taxi driver at a fixed rate. Years ago we had an excellent taxi driver in Singapore. In less reputable areas of the world we avoid taxis to go any distance from the ship, as have heard of too many that break down, but are quickly fixed after paying more money.

 

On our upcoming WC, we visit India and Egypt and will only use ship tours in these ports. Also in some Indonesia ports, we will also use the ship tours, as they receive police escorts to avoid traffic.

 

In larger cities, we frequently check out Ho-Ho buses, which give an excellent insight in a short period.

[LHT28]

I'm still figuring out how to post (I thought I was posting in the New to Cruising forum but now I have no idea where I posted) so apologies for any protocol violations.

you have gotten lots of good advice for you to sift through

Take notes ;)

One thing I will mention you can find previous posts by clicking on your CC I.D. top right then click on USER CONTROL PANEL

or click on find all posts by "your id"

 

enjoy

[John Bull]

The amount of people who miss the cruise ship without drinking and/or negligence on their part being involved is really, really low. I've actually never seen an account on here that the ship was missed because an independent excursion was late. Doesn't mean it hasn't happened--but I have never heard of it.

.

 

A previous poster I believe mentioned it is rare that pax miss the ship and they weren't aware of any. I used to work on cruise ships and while it is a small percentage, it isn't that rare. Remember all the p/a announcements for pax before departure.

 

.

 

Hi, Heidi.

 

Yes, we all hear those announcements shortly after all-aboard time - "Will Mr & Mrs Twit of cabin 123 and Mr Idiot of cabin 666 please telephone customer services". And there are plenty who don't phone customer services, because instead of being aboard they're horizontal in some backstreet bar, or still shopping oblivious of the impending sailing, or at a bus-stop anxiously re-scanning the timetable to figure how they got it so wrong.

As per the pier runners videos, some cut it very fine and some don't make it. I find it hilarious - not just schadenfreude, because its a problem of their own making. Darwin's "natural selection" ;)

 

But Nebraska Cruiser was referring to folk on organised private tours.

And I too have never heard of anyone on a tour missing their sailing.

That would wreck that tour operator's reputation cos you can bet that if a Cruise Critic member had missed a sailing because of a tour organiser, they'd be on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor and any other review site they could find, rightly slating that operator.

One day, but it hasn't happened yet :)

 

JB :)

[Freshycat]

you have gotten lots of good advice for you to sift through

Take notes ;)

One thing I will mention you can find previous posts by clicking on your CC I.D. top right then click on USER CONTROL PANEL

or click on find all posts by "your id"

 

enjoy

 

Lol, yes, I have gotten some excellent advice. Thanks to everyone!

 

It sounds like going DIY by train from Nynashamn to Stockholm is definitely worth the risk. There is not only a Plan A (train there and back), but Plan B (taxi back in the event we miss the train), Plan C (overnight ferry to Talinn in a cabin with dinner) and Plan D (fly).

 

Given the cost of the cruise shuttle is about the same as the overnight ferry, it seems the major risk is the ferry is full. But if it's not, you get to stay longer in Stockholm and then sail past the archipelago, which I don't think will happen if our giant cruise ship docks at Nynashamn. I'm almost tempted to plan to miss the cruise ship! :D Is that allowed or does the ship penalize passengers for going AWOL?

 

@John Bull Lol, yes, Canada is 16 inches away from Berlin to Britain's 4, a considerable distance. But yes, I think Berlin can be on a future itinerary. I was there as 15-year-old with my high school German class, I would love to go back for a week. Maybe a couple of years after, if the kids aren't too cool by then to travel with us (or maybe without them).

Edited June 5, 2018 by Freshycat
typo

[buggins0402]

But yes, I think Berlin can be on a future itinerary. I was there as 15-year-old with my high school German class, I would love to go back for a week. Maybe a couple of years after, if the kids aren't too cool by then to travel with us (or maybe without them).

 

Actually, Berlin is so cool, it is a perfect place for teens and young adults. :D