Private Tours

[schoolman]

I have been reading lots about private tours at ports and wondered if it is necessary to prebook. I have heard there are tour companies waiting at the piers just waiting to take cruisers on tour. Would this be risky? Would this be cheaper? Any opinions???

[NautiqueBelle]

The highly reputable tour operators are booked well in advance for your cruise. The "tour operators" you might see waiting at the ports are no more than taxi drivers trying to get an all-day fare out of you. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. Basiclly, the cost difference in hiring a reputable company vs hiring a taxi is not always a huge difference...though in some ports, it is.

 

It also depends on what city you want to do a private tour in. Most places you are looking for a bit more than just the tranportation. If you ONLY want to get from the Port to the City, a taxi might work fine.

 

There are some excellent tour guides in the Med. I'm sure you've seen their names listed on many threads. If you are unsure, go to some other roll calls and see what that group is doing.

 

On CC, you need to specifically ASK for a tour guide reference. We are not allowed to just spout them off without your request. :) Many people will be pleased to help you.. Just ask for what you need to know.

[inco]

I have been reading lots about private tours at ports and wondered if it is necessary to prebook. I have heard there are tour companies waiting at the piers just waiting to take cruisers on tour. Would this be risky? Would this be cheaper? Any opinions???

 

 

I was just looking over one of the tour companies proposal for their tour and wondered if the only thing we are really paying for is just a driver to take us to and from?

 

Here I'm thinking of a Pisa / Florence tour where they take us to Pisa and let us do our things and then take us into Florence via a few sites along the way and then leave us to discover things on our own. After we do the museums etc on our own they take us back to the ship.

 

Makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better to just hire a taxi, but having your own car and driver isn't a bad idea too I suppose because of the flexibility. Have not priced out the taxi thing, but one tour we looked at is about 70 Euros each for up to eight people.