Italy shore excursions are restricted to cruise guided excursions.

[steamboats]

17 hours ago, mcdeane said:

The cruise we are on next year in Italy offers you to get a private van/car for a shore excursion.  Does anyone know if this would qualify as a ship excursion since it is booked through the ship?  I have reached out to our cruise line and am waiting on a response.  Just wondering if anyone has currently experienced this and if a private tour booked through the cruise line is still considered a cruise excursion.  Thanks!

 

Yes, this is regarded as a ship sponsored tour.

 

steamboats

[ECCruise]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think the answer is that since Italy is generally open to tourists [e.g. during your pre-cruise stay], the only place they check is at the port.  If everybody leaves together on a bus, and everybody comes back on the bus – who's to know what they did once the bus was out of sight?  But it satisfies the bureaucrats, who are sipping espresso in their offices in Rome...

That is not the current situation in Italy by any stretch.  No one could possibly know how things will be 6 months from now. 

 

On all the tours we took in Italy in the last 10 days, although there was a VERY limited amount of free time on most of them (like 10 or 20 minutes) and more time within the confines of Pompeii, guides kept close tabs on you when touring. No way they would let you roam freely between the time the coach left and returned to the port. 

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Yes, this is regarded as a ship sponsored tour.

 

steamboats

 

And often a quite expensive option unless you have a larger group.

[cruise kitty]

15 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think the answer is that since Italy is generally open to tourists [e.g. during your pre-cruise stay], the only place they check is at the port.  If everybody leaves together on a bus, and everybody comes back on the bus – who's to know what they did once the bus was out of sight?  But it satisfies the bureaucrats, who are sipping espresso in their offices in Rome...

In the past Celebrity has often offered a paid shuttle service into towns, I'm hoping at the very least they will do that & it will qualify as a ship's tour...  right now, I'm not going to worry about what I can't change, will have a ship's "on your own" plan as well as a true walk off the ship on our own plan 🙂 

[cruise kitty]

6 hours ago, ECCruise said:

That is not the current situation in Italy by any stretch.  No one could possibly know how things will be 6 months from now. 

 

On all the tours we took in Italy in the last 10 days, although there was a VERY limited amount of free time on most of them (like 10 or 20 minutes) and more time within the confines of Pompeii, guides kept close tabs on you when touring. No way they would let you roam freely between the time the coach left and returned to the port. 

I"m expecting things to be bad in Europe & the U.S. this winter, & for them to get better when the weather warms, similar to last year, mostly amongst communities with low V numbers...  then again some surprise could come along & throw a spanner into the works, which is why we're restarting our international travel now, even though it's difficult.  Not willing to lose more of our prime traveling years.  🙂

 

Enjoy your trip!  

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, cruise kitty said:

I"m expecting things to be bad in Europe & the U.S. this winter, & for them to get better when the weather warms, similar to last year, mostly amongst communities with low V numbers...  then again some surprise could come along & throw a spanner into the works, which is why we're restarting our international travel now, even though it's difficult.  Not willing to lose more of our prime traveling years.  🙂

 

Enjoy your trip!  

Exactly my thoughts!

[steamboats]

12 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

In the past Celebrity has often offered a paid shuttle service into towns, I'm hoping at the very least they will do that & it will qualify as a ship's tour...  right now, I'm not going to worry about what I can't change, will have a ship's "on your own" plan as well as a true walk off the ship on our own plan 🙂 

 

Under the current regulations in Italy a shuttle bus is not sufficient as this is no guided tour. You´re not allowed to stroll around on your own. Doesn´t matter whether a shuttle bus gets you anywhere or whether you step ashore directly from the ship.

 

steamboats

[cruise kitty]

47 minutes ago, steamboats said:

 

Under the current regulations in Italy a shuttle bus is not sufficient as this is no guided tour. You´re not allowed to stroll around on your own. Doesn´t matter whether a shuttle bus gets you anywhere or whether you step ashore directly from the ship.

 

steamboats

I completely understand that these are the current restrictions...   🙂 hopeful things will change by May...  if not, we have plenty of pre cruise land travel in Italy, & many port days in countries that will allow us to leave the ship unescorted.  

 

I'm not going to base any decisions off of what the current guidelines are... I fully expect things to get bad from now through early March, & then slowly get better, with hopefully more opening up in Spring  🙂

 

[zdcatc12]

On 12/11/2021 at 2:26 AM, cruise kitty said:

I'm not going to base any decisions off of what the current guidelines are... I fully expect things to get bad from now through early March, & then slowly get better, with hopefully more opening up in Spring  🙂

 

I thought that last year before our Med cruise and we know how that turned out, i.e. masked required on board and ship excursions only in Italy. 

[cruise kitty]

23 minutes ago, zdcatc12 said:

I thought that last year before our Med cruise and we know how that turned out, i.e. masked required on board and ship excursions only in Italy. 

If that's what happens, I'll roll with that.  So far we've enjoyed all our cruises this past year, masked or not.. 

 

If we were booked on a cruise that was mainly going to Italian ports I would probably feel differently

My attitude is one of making the best of the current situation... to be able to travel for enjoyment during a global pandemic puts all of us in the pretty damn lucky category .

 

🙂

 

[zdcatc12]

7 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

If that's what happens, I'll roll with that.  So far we've enjoyed all our cruises this past year, masked or not.. 

 

If we were booked on a cruise that was mainly going to Italian ports I would probably feel differently

My attitude is one of making the best of the current situation... to be able to travel for enjoyment during a global pandemic puts all of us in the pretty damn lucky category .

 

🙂

 

Yes, I agree with you as that is what we did. Also, we went out of Rome instead of Barcelona, so we had unrestricted time in Rome before and after the cruise. Also, in southern Italy we were allowed about two hours on our own after our tour, though that wasn't the case for Florence and Sardinia.

[cluso]

On 12/15/2021 at 12:53 PM, cruise kitty said:

 

My attitude is one of making the best of the current situation... to be able to travel for enjoyment during a global pandemic puts all of us in the pretty damn lucky category .

 

🙂

 

 

Hmmm...not so sure about "all of us" because that includes everyone you come into contact with.  Hard decisions, we have 2 cruises planned (April and October), but time will tell.  Trying not to be negative, just trying to be smart for the overall health of everyone. Safe travels.  😷

[Vineyard View]

Cluso we are in similar thinking. We have a B2B in May. Final payment is mid January. We are hoping to be able to extend that payment out a bit, or we may rebook at a later date. It’s very unpredictable how travel will look with all the latest outbreaks in the world. Now that cruise ships are visiting the U.S. there sure are a number of ships that are in the yellow - and some in the orange categories on the CDC website. This indicates Covid cases detected.  

[cruise kitty]

15 hours ago, cluso said:

 

Hmmm...not so sure about "all of us" because that includes everyone you come into contact with.  Hard decisions, we have 2 cruises planned (April and October), but time will tell.  Trying not to be negative, just trying to be smart for the overall health of everyone. Safe travels.  😷

Safe travels to you as well 🙂. 

[Vineyard View]

Just curious as to what everyone is thinking it will look like this spring cruising in Italy and surrounding countries (Croatia, Slovakia, etc). I am imagining full masking required….but cruise bubbles?  Do you all think that will be a requirement without options for DIY? 
 

I sincerely hope that Omicron will be in our rear view mirrors by the. I also am fairly certain that Covid will not.  Do you believe that ports will accept ships, people will be able to disembark on their own…..or more of the same that we are currently seeing in other parts of our world? 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Vineyard View

[steamboats]

There were signs that the bubble tours may be history by March regarding Italy. But currently they are still on and some cruise lines have switched back to strict bubble tours only even for non Italian ports. Bobody can tell you what the Italian government will decide and whether the bubble tours will be skipped soon or not. Just as a reminder Italy did only allow bubble tours since the restart of cruising in Italy in August 2020.

 

steamboats

[Vineyard View]

Thank you Steamboats. I am more concerned about Croatia as we had planned on going into Italy early. For the most part, we are not cruise excursions people and feeling like Spring May still be that in many places. 

[steamboats]

In Croatia it depended on the situation. So there were times when individual tours and times with bubble tours only. It also depends on the cruise line. Some have stricter protocols. But right now nobody can tell you anything about next May.

 

steamboats

[Vineyard View]

Thank you for that further information. It is really quite helpful. We are scheduled to sail on Azamara, which is highly recommending ship excursions and no longer offering shuttles. It’s strange to me to think that the concept of packing into a bus for a paid excursion, with people who may have been exposed in their travels to the ship, is considered “safe”, while the idea of walking around (fully faxed and boosted) independently, or taking an independent excursion for two, is less safe. But I do not make the rules. 

[Marykatesmom]

I have a Viking Italy cruise booked for the first week in March.  We change ports every day except the last night.  That leaves us with limited time in port and I feel much more comfortable doing the ship's excursions as the timing is so tight.  The bubbles will not affect our cruise except for the last night.  We are planning on disembarking early when we arrive in Venice and skipping the last night on the ship.  We have a beautiful room booked and would rather move there for two nights.

 

Has anyone disembarked a day early?

[ECCruise]

23 minutes ago, Marykatesmom said:

I have a Viking Italy cruise booked for the first week in March.  We change ports every day except the last night.  That leaves us with limited time in port and I feel much more comfortable doing the ship's excursions as the timing is so tight.  The bubbles will not affect our cruise except for the last night.  We are planning on disembarking early when we arrive in Venice and skipping the last night on the ship.  We have a beautiful room booked and would rather move there for two nights.

 

Has anyone disembarked a day early?

Many people have on many different cruise lines.

 

But that is something you need to clear with Viking before you sail.  I would not wait until you get on the ship to inform them.

[marazul]

5 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

It’s strange to me to think that the concept of packing into a bus for a paid excursion, with people who may have been exposed in their travels to the ship, is considered “safe”, while the idea of walking around (fully faxed and boosted) independently, or taking an independent excursion for two, is less safe. But I do not make the rules. 

The rules are made by the country.  They are meant to keep their citizens safe, not the tourists.  They view foreigners as potential carriers of more disease or new strains into their country, but they still need the income from tourism.  So they keep the tourists in a bubble to keep their citizens safe from the tourists.  At least, that is the intention.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, marazul said:

The rules are made by the country.  They are meant to keep their citizens safe, not the tourists.  They view foreigners as potential carriers of more disease or new strains into their country, but they still need the income from tourism.  So they keep the tourists in a bubble to keep their citizens safe from the tourists.  At least, that is the intention.

 

I posted something very similar but it seems to not be showing up.

 

At any rate, yes -- the restrictions are per country, not per the cruise line. And while they are somewhat based on previous conditions (pre-vaccine, pre-omicron), if you look at it as an attempt to prevent spread of disease to a country's citizens, it makes a bit more sense.

 

[cruisemom42]

5 hours ago, Marykatesmom said:

We are planning on disembarking early when we arrive in Venice and skipping the last night on the ship.  We have a beautiful room booked and would rather move there for two nights.

 

Has anyone disembarked a day early?

 

I do not think cruises are allowed into Venice any longer. Have you checked with Viking regarding where you'll actually be disembarking?

[Vineyard View]

4 hours ago, marazul said:

The rules are made by the country.  They are meant to keep their citizens safe, not the tourists.  They view foreigners as potential carriers of more disease or new strains into their country, but they still need the income from tourism.  So they keep the tourists in a bubble to keep their citizens safe from the tourists.  At least, that is the intention.

I truly do understand that is the thinking and the reason behind it. I am not arguing that countries, cruise lines, passengers - are all trying to do the right things. That said, there is ongoing discussions on boards right now around the fact that bus drivers and tour guides in many places are not required to be vaxed - and that passengers have been exposed on cruise bubbles as a result. So if the countries don’t want tourists to bring Covid there, then their people who are inside said bus with tourists, should be required to be vaxed as well.
My other thought was that if you have a bus of 40 people all traveling in a group, who is to say that one of those people doesn’t have Covid from their travels to the ship (after all, they tested negative to get on the ship)? Who is to say the tour operator isn’t vaxed and exposes the bubble?. Having read all that, I am just not convinced that bubbles are as safe as they could be. Maybe the bigger question is whether the lines are requiring the tour operators to protect you as well by being vaccinated?
 I don’t know the answer by any means. All of  this just my opinion - and there are many opinions about this. As a result, people make traveling choices based on what their gut tells them is right for them.