Shore Excursions - When do they start?

[Martin Pickering]

G'Day, I'm Martin from Melbourne, Australia.

We are cruising the Eastern Mediterranean on the MSC Armonia from 29/4/23 to 6/5/23.

We're trying to plan ahead by booking shore excursions well in advance.

As first time cruisers we've decided to initially stick with the MSC sponsored shore excursions.

We've noticed that the shore excursions don't seem to have any start times which makes it difficult to plan.

For example, we're arriving in Mykonos at 9AM on 2/5 and don't depart until 2AM on the 3/5.

We plan to book the MSC shore excursion to Delos which takes 3.5 hours but the shore excursion details don't specify what time it starts?

Not knowing when a shore excursion starts makes it difficult to book any other shore excursions and given we're at Mykonos for 17 hours we'd like to do more than just visit Delos.

Do we have to wait until much closer to the cruise date to find out when shore excursions actually start?

How do experienced travellers plan their shore excursions when staying in port for the majority of a day?

Thanks,

Martin

[mom says]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  Questions that are specific to your ship or cruiseline are best asked on that line's  subforum.  The one for MSC is here:   https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/

 

While I've never sailed MSC, I've done ship shorexes on several other lines. Usually once you start the booking process,  the times for the excursions will be listed, since some have more than 1 per day. Try doing a dummy booking, stopping before payment, and see if the times and/or excursion duration show up.

[jsn55]

Agree ... the ShoreEx details start popping up closer to the cruise date.  If there's something you absolutely HAVE to see/do (like a Zodiac whale watching trip on Maui where we saw 30+ Humpbacks) book it right away.  Otherwise, pick the ones you like and be ready to book them as soon as the times are released.  But be warned ... you'll probably not get more than "AM or PM", there are too many loose ends to tie up.  

[Hlitner]

While we will not be critical of your reliance on cruise ship excursions, you must understand that you are at the complete mercy of the cruise line and their local tour providers...for better or worse.  As to Delos, it must be a morning excursion since Delos is generally closed in the afternoons (it gets too hot).

 

Most cruise lines do post details of their offered excursions within the itinerary of the tour.  MSC "marches to its own drum" so who knows.  We love cruising in MSC's Yacht Club, but would not even consider booking one of their excursions.  Right or wrong it is just our own best judgement.  If you intend to book MSC excursions, just go with the program and accept what happens.

 

Hank

[sparks1093]

In our experience we've only been able to book one shore excursion while in any given port and that is generally enough. 

[sparks1093]

5 hours ago, Hlitner said:

While we will not be critical of your reliance on cruise ship excursions, you must understand that you are at the complete mercy of the cruise line and their local tour providers...for better or worse.  As to Delos, it must be a morning excursion since Delos is generally closed in the afternoons (it gets too hot).

 

Most cruise lines do post details of their offered excursions within the itinerary of the tour.  MSC "marches to its own drum" so who knows.  We love cruising in MSC's Yacht Club, but would not even consider booking one of their excursions.  Right or wrong it is just our own best judgement.  If you intend to book MSC excursions, just go with the program and accept what happens.

 

Hank

I consider myself at the mercy of the cruise line for the trip, so being at their mercy for a few hours on a shore excursion isn't a big deal. They've researched the tour provider so I don't have to and I don't have to waste time trying to find something that works and be at the mercy of the internet and all of it's 100% accurate information 😉. Everyone does what works for them and there is nothing wrong with that.

[Essiesmom]

Mykonos is a lovely place to just wander, so after you return from Delos, wander until you find a restaurant or bar that suits your fancy, sit down and relax…and enjoy the scenery.  EM

[wcook]

While there is no way to know for sure, excursions tend to fall into three groups:

 

1. Excursions that start close to the time the ship docks. This is the majority of excursions. In the absence of other info, you can guess this is the starting time. So I’d assume you have the evening free in your case and research what you want to do. Just don’t go putting down a big deposit or anything. 
 

2. Basic city bus tour. These are the shortest and usually cheapest tour. These tend to be scheduled throughout the stop so you really have to clue until you see what time you are assigned. 
 

3. Tours for a specific time. A “sunset sail” “dinner experience” etc.