Regent Seven Seas Splendor - Mediterranean Cruise Excursions

[MissPhoeb]

Hello,

Very excited to be sailing on Regent Seven Seas for the first time in fall 2024.  Will be my first time on a cruise that offers so many options for included excursions.  I can begin booking excursions the end of this month and have found it totally overwhelming with so many choices.  I'm interested in hearing from travelers, preferably those who have sailed on Regent, on your favorite included (free) excursions in the following ports:  Salerno, Sicily, Ephesus, Santorini and Mykonos.  I've found it so overwhelming with all of the choices that I'm tempted to pass on booking anything and just "wing it" on our own, but I don't want to miss out on anything.  I'm traveling with my husband and another couple.  We're in our 60's and 70's and slightly mobility challenged so we wouldn't want to do any level higher than "Moderate" activity.  We are not first time cruisers (this will be our 12th), but newbies to Regent, so any other tips or recommendations you can add would be most appreciated!

[RetiredandTravel]

We have only done land based vacations to Italy.  If you haven't been I would highly recommend going to Pompeii.   Pompeii is exceptional to see.  We've travelled quite a bit and its one of the coolest trips we've ever done.  Enjoy!!

Edited December 5, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[Golfwife1]

We were on our first Regent (Splendor) western med trip October 8-21, so no help on your specific ports. However, do bite the bullet and book your excursions and your dining when your time opens up! On tours: you can always cancel and do your own thing or book a non-Regent private tour (as we did in Rome) especially since you will have 4 people to split the cost. If there is an excursion you wanted but it was closed, you can get on the wait list; go to Destination Services once on board to make a switch; or go the theatre right before the excursion on day of and see if there have been cancellations. 

 

Best tip: Start reading the Regent comments. I daily started reading the posts before we booked, up until we departed, and I still read them every morning with my coffee!  This board answered nearly any question I could dream up and provided loads of tips. If you would like to correspond off the board, please free free to contact me  dksuse at comcast dot net   

 

Also sign up for your roll call so you can correspond with people on your cruise. 

 

Very excited for your trip! You will have a marvelous time.   Kimberly

[newlondon]

In Ephesus the tour of the city will cover everything and is not too strenuous. Try and find one that includes a carpet shop, they are fun even if you don't buy anything.

[Marie515]

4 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

We have only done land based vacations to Italy.  If you haven't been I would highly recommend going to Pompeii.   Pompeii is exceptional to see.  We've travelled quite a bit and its one of the coolest trips we've ever done.  Enjoy!!

How demanding is the Pompeii excursion?  Do you need a walking stick?  We are 74 and 68 and in relatively good health but a little worried about this being termed "demanding".

 

[newlondon]

You absolutely need a walking stick. Pray that it is not too hot as there is very little shade. That being said it is a don't miss site.

[curmudgeon98]

Ephesus tours are generally very similar.  A fair bit of walking and steps.  Some add in the more recently uncovered "terrace houses", which can be interesting but add a fair bit to the walking.   

 

Mykonos is a cute town to wander around, shop, and get lunch, though a bit of "Beverly Hills goes to Greece".  I don't think you need or want a guide.  There are tours that go to the beaches, or deeper into the island, or over to Delos, but for a first visit I'd just wander the town.  

 

Santorini is another spot rather overrun by tourism.  If you hit a day with five or six cruise ships there, it can be a zoo, especially getting down from the town by the cable car in the afternoon (you don't want to walk the donkey path).  Beautiful, though.  If there are several big ships on your day (I look at cruisemapper site), I might think about trying to do a caldera boat tour rather than going up into the towns.  Ship schedules do change here more than most ports, since nobody gets dock space, so sometimes smaller ships will try to tweak their timing to avoid congestion.

[MissPhoeb]

7 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

We have only done land based vacations to Italy.  If you haven't been I would highly recommend going to Pompeii.   Pompeii is exceptional to see.  We've travelled quite a bit and its one of the coolest trips we've ever done.  Enjoy!!

Thank you!  Pompeii is one of the offered excursions and I will take a look at it.

[MissPhoeb]

7 hours ago, Golfwife1 said:

We were on our first Regent (Splendor) western med trip October 8-21, so no help on your specific ports. However, do bite the bullet and book your excursions and your dining when your time opens up! On tours: you can always cancel and do your own thing or book a non-Regent private tour (as we did in Rome) especially since you will have 4 people to split the cost. If there is an excursion you wanted but it was closed, you can get on the wait list; go to Destination Services once on board to make a switch; or go the theatre right before the excursion on day of and see if there have been cancellations. 

 

Best tip: Start reading the Regent comments. I daily started reading the posts before we booked, up until we departed, and I still read them every morning with my coffee!  This board answered nearly any question I could dream up and provided loads of tips. If you would like to correspond off the board, please free free to contact me  dksuse at comcast dot net   

 

Also sign up for your roll call so you can correspond with people on your cruise. 

 

Very excited for your trip! You will have a marvelous time.   Kimberly

Thank you so much Kimberly!  That's great advice, especially about booking a private tour.  I will paying close attention to the comments in this board and if I still have unanswered questions, I may be reaching out.

[curmudgeon98]

We've only done one Regent cruise (in Western Med), so no expert, but a few other points to keep in mind...   1) there will most likely be additional spots opening up around final payment date (90 days before?) of the cruise, as that is a point when there is a fair amount of cancellation, so if you want to change your mind, that's a good time.  2) the included excursions will typically be much the same as excursions offered by other cruise lines (for a fee), but the Regent ones were less crowded (half-full buses).  3) Guides are a bit of "luck of the draw" from local tourist agencies; we had some great ones and some mediocre ones.  4) in some cases, if you are a bit bored with the guide or tour, you can make arrangement to meet back at the bus, or find your own way back to the ship; just make sure that the timing or circumstances are clear.

 

Excursions do fill up.  Sometimes space will open up later, sometimes not, so grab at least a decent placeholder.

Edited December 6, 2023 by curmudgeon98
clarify

[RetiredandTravel]

16 hours ago, Marie515 said:

How demanding is the Pompeii excursion?  Do you need a walking stick?  We are 74 and 68 and in relatively good health but a little worried about this being termed "demanding".

 

 

We had a private tour from Positano, it wasn't from a ship.  My recollection is it was about 3-4 hours of walking.   Some of the walking is on uneven terrain with some inclines.  There is little or no shade and the summers can be very hot.  We are similar ages, both fit but my wife has arthritis in her knee and I think we would be fine.   If you google "pompeii walking" etc there is a lot of information on the stress level.

 

Mount Vesuvius erupted 79 AD and the lava preserved a large part of Pompeii, it is absolutely amazing.  This is one that I think would be worth the cost of a private tour. 

 

Our guide also took us to a small Italian restuarant (8 tables) in Ravello owned by an Italian lady.  She came over to the table and said let me select the food for you.  One of the best Italian meals we have ever had.  

 

 

[CardowMD]

If available try to upgrade to Small Group tours..usually smaller buses. Gets you closer to the end destination and not so many people. Otherwise, large coaches have to park far away and when it’s hot, that can be quite a trek to where tour starts.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Just did many of these ports last month. Unfortunately, hurt my knee on the first day of the pre-cruise (inexperienced use of walking sticks), and also had trouble with the new shoes I brought, so was much more mobility limited than I expected to be. I still was able to visit almost all sites I wanted at the "moderate" level of excursions. Make sure to check activity level on the excursions once you board the ship in the provided excursion description booklet that they put in your cabin, as many had been raised on our cruise.

 

My hints:

Get very comfortable using your walking sticks before you travel. Bring both kinds of tips, as the rubber ones are the ones you want on any marble sites.

Not all stairs have hand rails.

Bring two pairs of good walking shoes.

Lots of cobblestones everywhere.

 

For Ephesus, I recommend the "Ephesus with Less Walking Tour". This includes all the walking of the lower site, and a bus tour of the upper site.

 

 

[labonnevie]

On 12/5/2023 at 6:42 AM, MissPhoeb said:

Hello,

Very excited to be sailing on Regent Seven Seas for the first time in fall 2024.  Will be my first time on a cruise that offers so many options for included excursions.  I can begin booking excursions the end of this month and have found it totally overwhelming with so many choices.  I'm interested in hearing from travelers, preferably those who have sailed on Regent, on your favorite included (free) excursions in the following ports:  Salerno, Sicily, Ephesus, Santorini and Mykonos.  I've found it so overwhelming with all of the choices that I'm tempted to pass on booking anything and just "wing it" on our own, but I don't want to miss out on anything.  I'm traveling with my husband and another couple.  We're in our 60's and 70's and slightly mobility challenged so we wouldn't want to do any level higher than "Moderate" activity.  We are not first time cruisers (this will be our 12th), but newbies to Regent, so any other tips or recommendations you can add would be most appreciated!

Recently did KSA-018, Ephesus with Less Walking as I have some mobility issues as well. I could handle the walking involved, the monsoon we encountered not so much!

[loriva]

On 12/5/2023 at 9:42 AM, MissPhoeb said:

Hello,

Very excited to be sailing on Regent Seven Seas for the first time in fall 2024.  Will be my first time on a cruise that offers so many options for included excursions.  I can begin booking excursions the end of this month and have found it totally overwhelming with so many choices.  I'm interested in hearing from travelers, preferably those who have sailed on Regent, on your favorite included (free) excursions in the following ports:  Salerno, Sicily, Ephesus, Santorini and Mykonos.  I've found it so overwhelming with all of the choices that I'm tempted to pass on booking anything and just "wing it" on our own, but I don't want to miss out on anything.  I'm traveling with my husband and another couple.  We're in our 60's and 70's and slightly mobility challenged so we wouldn't want to do any level higher than "Moderate" activity.  We are not first time cruisers (this will be our 12th), but newbies to Regent, so any other tips or recommendations you can add would be most appreciated!

 

You might also want to check tour destinations on Google Maps.  Some ports are located a long way from the sites, so you'll face a long bus ride.  And Regent is not always good on remembering its demographic and including rest room stops.  Some buses will have a toilet, but not all.  And even on those that do, you'll find it locked and the driver and guide will discourage use unless in an emergency.  Destination Services won't know the details of the schedules, but you can always ask the guide when you board the bus--and maybe get them thinking of a stop if none is planned.

 

And another reason to consider an upcharge "small group" tour.  Regent does not always pay the local tour companies to include an QuietVox-type system for guides so it can be a struggle to hear what they are saying when in a large group.

 

As others have said, guides are the luck of the draw.  Some are great, some not so.  Since all cruise lines use local companies, this is not any different from any others you may have experienced.

 

Something that might be, however, is Regent's mid-cruise survey.  If you experience any issues, take some quick notes and then put them on the survey sheet you receive in your cabin.  Ship management does pay attention to these and respond, although Destination Services remains the department registering the largest number of negative comments on these boards.

[MissPhoeb]

On 12/7/2023 at 11:17 AM, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

Just did many of these ports last month. Unfortunately, hurt my knee on the first day of the pre-cruise (inexperienced use of walking sticks), and also had trouble with the new shoes I brought, so was much more mobility limited than I expected to be. I still was able to visit almost all sites I wanted at the "moderate" level of excursions. Make sure to check activity level on the excursions once you board the ship in the provided excursion description booklet that they put in your cabin, as many had been raised on our cruise.

 

My hints:

Get very comfortable using your walking sticks before you travel. Bring both kinds of tips, as the rubber ones are the ones you want on any marble sites.

Not all stairs have hand rails.

Bring two pairs of good walking shoes.

Lots of cobblestones everywhere.

 

For Ephesus, I recommend the "Ephesus with Less Walking Tour". This includes all the walking of the lower site, and a bus tour of the upper site.

 

 

Thank you for this advice!  This is the excursion that I signed us up for.