Newbie shore excursion question

[victoriaw]

Hi everyone, I have been devouring all information in preparation for our upcoming voyage on Explorer but have a basic question...

If one does not choose a Regent shore excursion for a given port are there always shuttles to and from port to independently visit at ones own leisure? If a shore excursion is for a half day can you stay on for free time and still catch transport back later?

thankyou in advance 😊

[flossie009]

Impossible to give you a definitive answer on this one, sorry.

In our experience, sometimes there is a shuttle into the nearest town; sometimes there is just a shuttle to the port gates; sometimes there is no shuttle.

The shuttles are often provided by the local port authority rather than by Regent. In some ports the taxi drivers object to shuttles being provided as it is denying them trade.

 

If you are on an excursion you can ask the guide to drop you in the town, but you will have to make your own arrangements to get back to the ship if there is no shuttle running. 

[victoriaw]

Thank you Flossie, it was worth asking the question then 😊

[UUNetBill]

Geez - you'd think Flossie had been on a few Regent cruises judging by her answer.   

 

I can't add much to that other than it seems to depend on what region of the world you're in as well as where you dock.  Some ports you'll tie up close to the center of things, other times you may be berthed somewhere in a working container port where there's no real way to tell how to get into town.  And sometimes the port is miles away from anything even remotely touristy.  So yes, it's hit and miss.  

 

But we've found that you can usually find something interesting to do, either with an included shuttle or with (usually) inexpensive taxis.  My advice is to make some friends in Destination Services on day 1 and they can often give you some non-organized excursion options.

[ronrick1943]

For us when we don't tour, even if they have a bus the schedule isn't always that good so we use taxis.  Should we take the bus into town, once we're ready to go back just jump into a taxi (no having to go back to the pickup location, no waiting around for the bus to leave).  It's just easier.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yeah, it really matters where the main attraction is with respect to the port, and where specifically the ship is docked.  If it's a city but the ship docks further away, there's often a shuttle taking you to some central location (Plaza Commercial in Lisbon comes to mind), but if the city's far away, like Rome or Florence, or Lima for instance, then no there won't be more than a shuttle to the port gate, you'd have to book an "on your own"-style excursion.

[Toofarfromthesea]

11 hours ago, victoriaw said:

Hi everyone, I have been devouring all information in preparation for our upcoming voyage on Explorer but have a basic question...

If one does not choose a Regent shore excursion for a given port are there always shuttles to and from port to independently visit at ones own leisure? If a shore excursion is for a half day can you stay on for free time and still catch transport back later?

thankyou in advance 😊

What ports?

[Paulchili]

If time allows can one book an AM & PM "free" excursion on same day?

[UUNetBill]

2 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

If time allows can one book an AM & PM "free" excursion on same day?

As long as there's adequate time between the excursions - it used to be 60 minutes but I've heard it was increased to 90.  Even when it was 60, there were times we had to call Regent directly to book.

 

But yes, it's possible.

 

[Paulchili]

14 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

As long as there's adequate time between the excursions - it used to be 60 minutes but I've heard it was increased to 90.  Even when it was 60, there were times we had to call Regent directly to book.

 

But yes, it's possible.

 

Thank you.

That makes sense as they can run late. Then there is this thing called lunch 

[victoriaw]

Thank you everyone, it seems it is quite variable. We are on Venice to Rome next month and have shore excursions booked every day except Gaeta (which we did have but the SG has just been cancelled.) Just thought if the pace becomes too hectic and we decide to do our own thing, how easy that would be 😊

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

Thank you.

That makes sense as they can run late. Then there is this thing called lunch 

And you can avoid that issue either booking one of these excursions:   with an included meal or just grab lunch on your own.  Both good options. 

 

 

[poss]

Back in the day, it was a frequent occurrence that we were able to enjoy two included excursions in one port.    In the past 3-4 years or so (maybe longer), it's hardly ever possible; timing is just not set up for that these days.   This doesn't matter much to us now, since we don't have the energy or legs/back to keep going, but we sure did enjoy those double treats in former years.

 

[SWFLAOK]

We haven't seen many excursions offered twice in one day, allowing you to take 2. When these are offered, they often show up after boarding because they have sold out and a second excursion has been added. I wouldn't count on being able to do 2 excursions on the same day.

And when it comes to looking at what there is to do in a port, check whether you're at the dock or at anchor. Getting to the dock when at anchor will take you a significantly longer time, and the dock you're dropped off at may not give you easy access to anything other than the ship's excursions.

[UUNetBill]

I seem to recall it being easier to do multiple excursions a few years ago, but I'd put it down to me just getting a bit older and slower.

 

It also depends on where you are, too - in the Med and the Baltic, most tours tend to be a bit longer so it's just not possible to squeeze in two a day, but our last trip to the Caribbean it was possible to do two a day in a few of the ports.

 

My motto:  "Be nice to the DS staff and the DS staff will be nice to you."   

[Travelcat2]

Most people find, especially on port intensive itineraries, that one excursion per day is more than enough.  Also, on longer itineraries, people start cancelling excursions as it is simply too much to do.  If extended time in a port is something that anyone wants, IMO, it would be far better (and much less expensive) to do it on a land vacation.  We have done both and since we began luxury cruising, we make certain that we have at least as much time on the ship as on excursions.  ]

 

Just my 2 cents!

[UUNetBill]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Most people find, especially on port intensive itineraries, that one excursion per day is more than enough.  Also, on longer itineraries, people start cancelling excursions as it is simply too much to do.  If extended time in a port is something that anyone wants, IMO, it would be far better (and much less expensive) to do it on a land vacation.  We have done both and since we began luxury cruising, we make certain that we have at least as much time on the ship as on excursions.  ]

 

Just my 2 cents!

Jackie - DW and I started cruising about 10 years ago when we were both in our 40s (me on the extreme upper end and she a mere newbie to the decade) and we always tried to maximize our time ashore.  We wanted to do EVERYTHING!  And yes, this included quite a few ports with multiple excursions, or at least a long excursion followed by some "us" time ashore.  We were appalled that people could be in these beautiful areas and want to stay on the ship!!

 

Here we are a decade and a few cruises later, and guess what?  We get it now.  Although we still love to experience new ports and new things, there are times we just want to hang out and be pampered.  Port days on board can be amazing, as you have that nice big ship pretty much to yourself.  Yep, we get it...

[OCruisers]

Just adding ....  By trying to do too much at a port of call and concerns about the timing, we didn't fully enjoy anything.  

[Paulchili]

It also depends on the nature of excursions. For example, if one of the 2 excursions is a sightseeing bus tour (or a short river cruise) and the other a little more active than it shouldn’t be too taxing taking both - no worse than a full day 7 or 8 hour tour.

JMO.

[UUNetBill]

And then there are the Monster Excursions - two that stand out are the "Roman Death March" (my name, not Regent's) and the "High-Speed Train to Moscow That Feels Like It Spans Three Days".  Some of those have you praying for a sea day just to recover (but I don't regret doing either one).

 

The Moscow trip is listed at 18 hours and it's every bit of that.  The Rome tours run 10-10.5 hours for most of the 'all-over' tours, and between the heat and the crowds they'll take it out of you.  But like I said, I'm still glad we did them...

[Floridiana]

14 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

 the "Roman Death March"

We did one of those last summer, different ship, with a short guide who used a pink umbrella instead of the long car antenna that all the other guides had. Do you know how many Chinese tourists in Rome also use pink umbrellas? And then we walked 10 km instead of the advertised 5 km.

 

 

[UUNetBill]

3 hours ago, Floridiana said:

Q:  Do you know how many Chinese tourists in Rome also use pink umbrellas? 

     

     A:  All of them.

[Floridiana]

Correct!