Ships tours required in Italy?

[KS&JW]

I have one of the first Oceania Mediterranean cruises this spring and have booked my own excursions in Italy.

Reading on the Italy boards it seems like you are required to take the ships tours.

I emailed Italy Day Tours to ask them about this and if they expected the rules to change by spring.

They said it was a ship requirement and not an Italy requirement.

 

Can anyone who took an Oceania cruise this past fall  that stopped in Italy tell me what you were able to do?

[basor]

45 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

I have one of the first Oceania Mediterranean cruises this spring and have booked my own excursions in Italy.

Reading on the Italy boards it seems like you are required to take the ships tours.

I emailed Italy Day Tours to ask them about this and if they expected the rules to change by spring.

They said it was a ship requirement and not an Italy requirement.

 

Can anyone who took an Oceania cruise this past fall  that stopped in Italy tell me what you were able to do?

We sailed on Marina boarding in Trieste on the 09NOV.....we could expolore independently prior to the cruise during our pre-cruise stay but once onboard,  Italy only allowed cruise passengers to come ashore on a ship sponsored excursion.  We could go ashore independently in all other countire. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

I have one of the first Oceania Mediterranean cruises this spring and have booked my own excursions in Italy.

Reading on the Italy boards it seems like you are required to take the ships tours.

I emailed Italy Day Tours to ask them about this and if they expected the rules to change by spring.

They said it was a ship requirement and not an Italy requirement.

I can tell you from October that it is definitely an Italy requirement, not a ship requirement.  I was on Noble Caledonia, which includes all shore excursions in the fare – so they have no incentive to prevent private touring – and I saw them tearing their hair trying to get us even a little free time as part of their tours.  Italy was very strict.  I don't know why the tour companies keep putting out this false information, unless it is to keep your booking in the hope that Italy will relent.

[Harters]

Europeans will be hopeful that the Omicron threat will have passed by spring. But, in the meantime, it's a dire time for us. Like many countries, Italy is experiencing record daily infections and deaths are at the level of last spring. I can't see the country significantly relaxing its restrictions in the immediate future. The opposite seems more likely to me.

[KS&JW]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I can tell you from October that it is definitely an Italy requirement, not a ship requirement.  I was on Noble Caledonia, which includes all shore excursions in the fare – so they have no incentive to prevent private touring – and I saw them tearing their hair trying to get us even a little free time as part of their tours.  Italy was very strict.  I don't know why the tour companies keep putting out this false information, unless it is to keep your booking in the hope that Italy will relent.

 

I can easily keep the booking as I have just a 1 Euro deposit down and if things change before April, then I will have my preferred excursion.  However, to reserve an Oceania excursion, I need to pay for the  excursion in full. I am trying to decide if it is worth paying to have a backup plan.   Not pleased that Italy Day tours is lying to me. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

What I did on my Jan. 14 Oceania cruise (9 days and counting!) was to reserve Oceania excursions in every port that had anything of interest [Caribbean, so many ports don't...] and double book private excursions if I found a better alternative.  I will cancel the Oceania tours just before deadline if private tours are allowed.

[CruisingIGo]

Does anyone have an "official" Italian link that details cruise excursion (ship and private) rules?  I have looked and can't find anything.

We have a cruise in April and I have also had a private guide tell me that private tours are permitted.

TIA!

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, CruisingIGo said:

Does anyone have an "official" Italian link that details cruise excursion (ship and private) rules?  I have looked and can't find anything.

We have a cruise in April and I have also had a private guide tell me that private tours are permitted.

TIA!

No one has been able to find it.  But they are definitely enforcing it.

[mjox32]

10 hours ago, CruisingIGo said:

Does anyone have an "official" Italian link that details cruise excursion (ship and private) rules?  I have looked and can't find anything.

We have a cruise in April and I have also had a private guide tell me that private tours are permitted.

TIA!

 

I don't have an official Italian link but on our cruise in Oct/November we could only do ship excursion.  It was printed in the Currents for all our port stops in Italy.   We went to Italy a week early and boarded in Trieste.  We were allowed to do any private tour before we boarded the ship.  So yes, private tours are permitted but not once you board the ship.  

 

Hope this helps.