Mediterranean Cruise--How Much Are Land Costs

[Reggiefan]

As noted in the thread below, I am considering a November Mediterranean cruise. Any thoughts on how much more the average person on such a cruise will spend on land visiting the destinations where the ship stops.

 

I realize that a person could spend a large amount, especially if the crusie line excursions are bought and a number of meals ashore are eaten. I am trying to get some rough idea for budget purposes--especially with the current exchange rate--how much most spend on the trip in addition to airfare and the cruise line charges.

[potterhill]

I don't think there is an average. Some people book excursions in every port. Some do a few or none. When we did the Med we took the ship's excursion to Rome so we didn't have to worry about missing the ship in Rome as the next day was a sea day and the following day was Dubrovnik( and the ship had our passports).

 

In most ports we were content to wander on our own. In Marseille we took the bus to Aix en Provence. So I'm guessing we spent well under $1000 including any food, shopping, etc. But it could easily reach several thousand on a two week cruise. It's really up to you.

 

Mo

[WaterView2]

I also think it's hard to generalize, but if you toured in the major cities, Venice, Rome, Florence, Monaco, Barcelona, etc I think it would total a couple of thousand dollars with meals and incidentals. The dollar is very weak and that makes everything you pay for in euros seem ultra pricey. The ship's tours are not inexpensive either but at least you pay in dollars.

[Bruin Steve]

As noted in the thread below, I am considering a November Mediterranean cruise. Any thoughts on how much more the average person on such a cruise will spend on land visiting the destinations where the ship stops.

 

I realize that a person could spend a large amount, especially if the crusie line excursions are bought and a number of meals ashore are eaten. I am trying to get some rough idea for budget purposes--especially with the current exchange rate--how much most spend on the trip in addition to airfare and the cruise line charges.

 

I think you really have to just start your own spread sheet...

List your ports...then decide what you're likely to do in each of them...

If it's a full day cruise line shore excursion, figure it's going to cost around $300-350 for two...but, lunch and admission charges are generally included, so, aside from any shopping purchases, that's going to be about it...

 

If you're going to hire a private excursion, you might want to figure a little more money...and lunch and admissions are usually extra...but you can cut these costs if you can find partners to make it a tour for 6 or 8...

 

If there are ports you can do on your own, figure you may just be paying for lunch and some minor costs if it's a small port (Mykonos, Dubrovnik, Rhodes, etc.), but you'll have to throw a little more into your budget for transportation and logistics if it's a large city or someplace where the ship docks far from the sites (Naples, Livorno, Rome, Villefranche, etc.)--though I'd opt for the tour or excursion in those places...

 

Then figure a budget for pre-cruise or post cruise...I recommend staying a few (at least two nights) days pre-cruise wherever you're flying in to--just to get over jet lag, travel fatigue and time zone changes...and to hedge against delays and missed connections...and, if your end port is different, plan on staying over there as well--to get some time in for that city...Check hotel prices for those cities on tripadvisor.com...depednding on the city, it could be pricey--but figure at least $200 per night for a decent hotel anywhere (and that will take some hunting) and at least $100 per day for food--if you eat fairly cheap--like you have a hotel with breakfast included and stick to dinner and snacks the rest of the day...

 

Also remember to budget for tips, bar tab and other costs onboard...and for ground transportation to and from and between airports, hotels and ship...

 

From our typically 14 night cruises, I've found we generally spend about $2000 to $2500 on tours and excursions (We prefer to get tours rather than to make our way around on our own) and spend about another $400 per day for pre- and post-cruise days...We really don't spend that much other than for the tours while in port...but will somehow fritter away another $500 or so on snacks, souvenirs, T-Shirts and other incidental shopping over the course of the cruise...

 

So, for a typical 14 night cruise, we'll add (after cruise fare, air and transfers)another 4 to 7 nights of pre- and post-cruise and have a total cost of around $4000 to $5000 above and beyond the cruise and air...

 

Let's test this with my upcoming cruise: For our July Baltic cruise, we are taking a private tour in St. Petersburg ($730 + tips for two) and shore excursions in six ports for a total of $980 for two...Add some for tips and other spending while on the tours and figure that's around $2000...We have the Hilton booked in Stockholm for 3 nights pre-cruise at $200 per night and the Park Plaza in London post-cruise for 3 nights at (including tax) around $200 per night as well...So, $1200 for six nights of hotels...Figure $100 per day pre and post-cruise for meals and incidentals, so add $600...add about $200 for ground transportation and logistics, $300 for tips on the ship, and, say $700 more for bar bill, snacks, incidentals, etc. and we're right at the $5000 mark...that's above and beyond our cruise fare, air and transfers...

 

...but, of course, your lifestyle may differ, so your costs may differ...

[Saga Ruby]

I don't think you have to fall on your financial sword to find decent food prices onshore. There are so many local cafes, restaurants, food stands, that can sell you something fresh, hot, tasty - food popular with the natives. And, in Europe, you're not going to be accidentially eating crickets or organ meat.

 

I have traveled internationally all my life as a solo traveler. In the past decade, I have specialized in watching where the hotel staff eats their meals, where the cab drivers stop, where the tour guides go after dropping us off at the franchise hotel. I've never gotten sick "off the street" and enjoyed so many local cuisines and favourites.

 

In Phang Nga Bay in Phuket, my guide asked if I were ready to eat lunch. I asked where we would go for our meal and was totally unsurprised when Tookta pointed down the road to the white hotel where all the tour buses were parked. I asked Tookta what she would be doing for lunch. In our parking lot close to a hut, she pointed to the white-hot iron kettle which was full of freshly sliced plaintain chips which were frying merrily in the hot oil. I said I wanted some of those and would "host" her and the driver for lunch. We all laughed.

As we tooled down the road back to Phuket, we chatted about the tsunami which had struck Phuket. After Tookta finished some fine stories, she grew quiet then said, "I have told you only the good stories." I nodded gravely and said, "Yes, I know."

 

You don't get that kind of experience in a buffet line and my attitude is that another meal surely awaits me on the ship. When I stay at The Peninsula in Hong Kong, I eat on the street and hop doubledecker buses at random. It's a marvelous adventure.

 

Ruby

[nparmelee]

A lot also depends on which ports. Some ports are wonderful to just wander around and explore even if you're there all day and you may end up only spending a little bit, others can be more costly, it also depends on what sites you want to go to and if you want to hire drivers/guides or do ship excursions. I always do a spreadsheet of our ports and then try to plan out roughly what we're going to be doing on that day and that gives us a rough idea of the cost. For me the spreadsheet also helps to note if certain sites are closed on a specific day or day of the week so we can just plan around that. We know that we'll have days that will cost us almost nothing extra and others that will be quite pricey.

[PMJ]

We're going on a Med cruise in August. It seems like half days tours start around $99 and up. Some whole day tours are $179 (Egypt). It's a little cheaper to find another couple or two and do private tours. Some of our private tours are like 45 euros per hour (Rhodes), split with another couple. Not sure if this helps, but it is some concrete info.

[happy cruzer]

I think Bruin Steve's advice is very good. I think he travels alot but it would appear to be a reasonable budget for anyone who really wants to see alot or considers this may be their one big trip for a long time. When I was planning my recent transatlantic I noticed that many of the Med cruisers were only planning to maybe do it one time and wanted to really see alot so that definitely requires a bigger budget. They weren't going to pick just walking around in the port city, they wanted to see everything which may make sense if this is your one big trip.

 

So as everyone has said "It depends". We did stay 4 days extra in Barcelona and spent about $150 per night for the hotel (out of the tourist area), breakfast was from a supermercado, lite lunch ran about $30 for two and dinner with wine (which is a bargain) ran about $75 for two. One or two museums a day ran about $40 per day pp. We used the Metro T10 tickets, I think that ran us about $30 total. But if all the things I listed above had been the "best or the once in a lifetime" variety our costs would have doubled.

 

Go and enjoy!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree it all depends, most particularly on the country, or what you're doing that day--driving through the countryside is cheaper than bopping around Rome visiting sites (depending on how far you drive, of course!)

 

I think $100 a day for food is low for the UK, especially London, where you will be very lucky to get out of a pub for lunch under $50. On the other hand, $100 would be fine for, say, Portugal or probably Greece.

[hezzy]

I am a new cruiser but some of our experience was that the ships tours (sometimes) were a good value because you could pay for those in dollars. I think that the high value of the Euro is a problem in comparing these costs.

Santorini-4 couples shared a driver-$56. Euros each-total 112. euros per couple. Monte Carlo-private driver - 40 Euros per hour, we only used him for 4 hours. Rome- Private driver $150 euros for 1/2 day. We arranged our Vatican tour on our own for the afternoon. It was $26 euros each + 14 euro each admission to the Vatican. Valletta Malta, we went on our own and just walked around and toured the Knights of St. John Church and Palace. Our ship was unable to tender in Amalfi because of high seas, so that tour was cancelled. We went on to Sorrento.

 

Rhodes-ships tour to Lindos and ruins- $99. per person-excellent tour 1/2 day, the remainder of the day spent in Rhodes Old Town. We used the ships tour for Pompeii (out of Sorrento), $99. each, but you can do that on you own using the train. It is very easy.

 

For a 12 day cruise, we spent about $2000. for tours, meals, etc on shore. The value of the dollar against the euro really affects spending. We had estimated that we would spend about $1500. for two people. We did pretty much what we wanted, but were not extravagant. It is just expensive in Europe now.