Suggestions for excursions in Athens, Santorini, and Sicily

[cdclay81]

We will be on our first cruise in the Mediterranean later this summer. Having cruised many times in the Caribbean, we are familiar with the vast choices for excursions at each port of call. Are there similar options in the Mediterranean at the ports or should excursions be booked ahead of time through Viator, TripAdvisor, etc.? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations. 

[Host Kat]

22 minutes ago, cdclay81 said:

We will be on our first cruise in the Mediterranean later this summer. Having cruised many times in the Caribbean, we are familiar with the vast choices for excursions at each port of call. Are there similar options in the Mediterranean at the ports or should excursions be booked ahead of time through Viator, TripAdvisor, etc.? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations. 

 

Howdy and welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards!

 

Thank you for your new thread on the Ask a Cruise Question forum! However, it is the forum for general questions regarding cruising. Your inquiry concerns specific ports and is off topic there.

 

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[Wishing on a star]

Have you looked at the ships excursions?

It seems that you do not yet have a good idea on what to plan or book.

I am thinking that you might want to do some more preliminary research to get a feel for the options.  And, yes, there are many of them!

 

Also, we really do not know what your interests are at these ports.

 

I am thinking that you are coming in a bit late, as many people already have all of this booked far in advance.

 

If you look at each port, and then decide what seems to be the most appealing type of thing to do, then maybe you could get some better advice and information.

 

In general, I do not like to use the big sites like Viator and Tripadvisor.

Sometimes you can figure out what company the provider of that excursion is, and then go to them direct.

 

In Athens we are considering a tour with PK Tours.  They seem highly recommended.

In Santorini, we are considering a private driver/tour thru a site like Tours By Locals, and are also considering Golden Ibex to book a half-day.

[marazul]

In Europe there are no tour operators offering tours quayside like in the Caribbean.  You do need to book your excursions ahead of time.  Do look at your cruise line offerings for ideas on what's available.  Look through this board for many suggestions on excursions and tour operators.  Look at your cruise's roll call in Cruise Critic to join others in private excursions.  You are better off booking directly with a tour operator rather than through a consolidator like Viator.

Get a guide book on the areas you are visiting or simply google "[name of place] tourism" like "Santorini tourism."  And come back to this forum with more specific questions to help you narrow down your choices. 

[ninjacat123]

I booked many of my excursions using TripAdvisor to search what was available for our Amsterdam/Paris land trip last summer and had great success doing so.  This October my DH (dear husband) and I will be flying into Rome, traveling by train to Venice, then Florence, then back to Rome and then a 10 day cruise to Greece.  I have booked some excursions using TripAdvisor's search engine for tours and I also booked excursions through my cruise line website.  The ones I have booked through the cruise line are excursions that either could be tight on time getting us back to the ship or it was the most expedient way to access an island, like Santorini.  I have been working on this trip since last year so I would suggest doing your research as soon as possible.  A great guide book is "Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports". 

I hope you have a wonderful trip and cruise!

[cdclay81]

Thanks for the input. I have done plenty of research on our trip and I understand the booking process for excursions through the cruise line as well as through other companies, having cruised over 30 times. My only question was whether there are tour operators at some of the ports in the Mediterranean, similar to those in the Caribbean and other ports throughout North America. We've made all of our arrangements and are looking forward to the adventures ahead.