Hop On Hop Off Tours

[JMorris271]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 11:59 AM, John Bull said:

 

Lisbon. Yes, ho-ho is a good choice.

There are two places that ships usually berth 

- up-stream close to the city centre. Nearest ho-ho stop is only a 5-minute walk.

- downstream, near the Belem Tower & a little remote from the city centre, you'll need transport of some sort whatever you plan to do. Ho-ho's stop at the pier, which kills two birds with one stone.

There are (or at least were about 3 years ago) two competing ho-ho's. One includes the historic tram in the city centre, so if that appeals choose that one. I think both main ho-ho routes are identical, but check that - and frequency - with staff at the bus stop.

 

Funchal. I've not done the ho-ho, but it has a stop at the cruise terminal..

Instead we opted to take a little "antique" shuttlebus (similar to those in Yellowstone and Glacier NPs) to the cablecar, up to the intermediate cablecar station, then down on Funchal's famous toboggans - great fun. 

 

 

JB Our toboggan ride was Great! Highly recommend it .

 

[olemissreb]

On 3/22/2019 at 10:59 AM, John Bull said:

 

Lisbon. Yes, ho-ho is a good choice.

There are two places that ships usually berth 

- up-stream close to the city centre. Nearest ho-ho stop is only a 5-minute walk.

- downstream, near the Belem Tower & a little remote from the city centre, you'll need transport of some sort whatever you plan to do. Ho-ho's stop at the pier, which kills two birds with one stone.

There are (or at least were about 3 years ago) two competing ho-ho's. One includes the historic tram in the city centre, so if that appeals choose that one. I think both main ho-ho routes are identical, but check that - and frequency - with staff at the bus stop.

 

Funchal. I've not done the ho-ho, but it has a stop at the cruise terminal..

Instead we opted to take a little "antique" shuttlebus (similar to those in Yellowstone and Glacier NPs) to the cablecar, up to the intermediate cablecar station, then down on Funchal's famous toboggans - great fun. 

 

 

JB 

WOW that looks like so much fun! Although sometimes it looked like they got a little too close to some of those cars and walls!  YIKES!

[MicCanberra]

Yeah, my wife wouldn't enjoy that ride.

[buchhalm]

In pretty much all cities where they have a HoHo bus, or even a few different companies, they will be by the port when ships are in.

The port may not be on their usual routes, but of course they will swing when there are potential customers.

We never pre-book a HoHo bus. We prefer to go with the flow.

Also, a pre-paid ticket won't give you the right to go to the front of the line to board the bus!

In case there IS a line, one of us joins the queue and the other buys the ticket.

 

Finally, we tend to pass the day ticket on to someone else when we get back to the ship. There is usually enough time left for someone to do at least a full lap on the bus.  

[MicCanberra]

Good points.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

We used HOHO during  our Baltic  cruise last year

 We used them in Helsinki and Stockholm.  We could  have used them in Tallinn, but chose  to walk to the  Old Town as it wasn't far and the weather was glorious.

 

In Helsinki we prebought on the ship, and in Stockholm  we paid on the bus. In all 3 ports (inc Tallinn) the  port was included as a stop.

 

I remarked at the  time that  the fare paid to the bus was markedly lower  than that  paid to the ship.

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, Sancho_proudfoot said:

We used HOHO during  our Baltic  cruise last year

 We used them in Helsinki and Stockholm.  We could  have used them in Tallinn, but chose  to walk to the  Old Town as it wasn't far and the weather was glorious.

 

In Helsinki we prebought on the ship, and in Stockholm  we paid on the bus. In all 3 ports (inc Tallinn) the  port was included as a stop.

 

I remarked at the  time that  the fare paid to the bus was markedly lower  than that  paid to the ship.

Right - booking through the actual bus company is cheaper than booking through your ship. 

Regarding Tallinn, I would not recommend the HOHO as the bus cannot enter the old walled city (which is, IMHO, the highlight of Tallinn).

[John Bull]

11 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

 

Regarding Tallinn, I would not recommend the HOHO as the bus cannot enter the old walled city (which is, IMHO, the highlight of Tallinn).

 

 

My thoughts exactly.

Even though I'm a fan of ho-hos.

 

JB 

[Sancho_proudfoot]

40 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Right - booking through the actual bus company is cheaper than booking through your ship. 

Regarding Tallinn, I would not recommend the HOHO as the bus cannot enter the old walled city (which is, IMHO, the highlight of Tallinn).

So glad we did walk it, a lovely spring day and the Old Town became one of my favourite spots.

[BarbinMich]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:59 AM, Schoifmom said:

IME, most excursions purchased through the cruise line includes transportation from the port (with some minor exceptions).  

 

For example, HOHO tour in Boston is one that can be purchased on your own, but if you purchased through Carnival, they picked you up and returned you to the port.

As I recall, when we stopped in Boston (Falcon cruise terminal), the HOHO bus came right out there and we bought our tickets on it, not thru the cruiseline (Celebrity).