Excursions and tours

[kawonnek]

We are new to cruising. Our cruise of 11 nights from Barcelona to Venice is port intensive with a stop everyday except one and an overnighter in Venice. We've never been to Europe and want to see as much as we can. We're in our early sixties. We've been told that excursions through the cruise line, Azamara, are expensive and we could get quality tours elsewhere for less. While we don't mind paying the going rate, I wouldn't mind saving a few dollars either if there are tours of comparable quality and value from other providers. My first thought is that we would probably go with the Azamara tours in Florence and Rome since I understand that these are all day excursions and I wouldn't want to get stuck and miss the evening departure (I'm assuming the ship would wait a little longer for a tour they set up).

Does anyone have any suggestions? Should we just bite the bullet and set up our tours with Azamara? Are there reputable tour companies that you recommend? What tours should we not miss?

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thanks

 

[Susan-M]

Welcome to Cruise Critic and congratulations on your first cruise ... I think you'll become addicted after this cruise because you've chosen a great itinerary and a wonderful cruise line!:)

 

Private tours are very popular amongst CC members. On the Europe/Med forum you'll find recommendations for reputable companies that other CC members have had great experiences with. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=234 This is also a good place to find out what activities others recommend in various ports.

 

I would also recommend going to your Cruise Critic Roll Call (a forum with other CC members who are on your sailing), and seeing what other people are planning in the way of private tours, and whether they are looking for others to join them. The savings in doing private tours usually results from having a group of 4 or 6 people sharing the cost. This is the link for Azamara Quest roll calls: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=438

 

If you think that you might want to explore on your own (Monte Carlo is a good port for this if you want to explore Monte Carlo and Monaco), this website has good info on Med Ports: http://www.europeportreviews.com/MonteCarlo.htm (for other ports, google the port name & europe port reviews)

 

Cruise critic also has very helpful information on ports ... go to "Ports" in the yellow tab at the top of the page, and choose "Western Med Ports" ... from the list of ports given, click on the names of the ports that you'll be visiting and you be linked to an info page on that port, with practical info as well as highlights of sites to visit.

 

Good luck with your plans and enjoy your cruise!

[kawonnek]

Thanks for the info. I'll hit the links you suggested and start our planning.

[lisiamc]

I agree with Susan that you've made an excellent choice for your first cruise. You might enjoy getting Rick Steves' guides to Venice and Florence, especially if you are tempted to do Florence by yourself or with the "on your own" option where Azamara provides the transport. Great guides with loads of useful information, and step-by-step self-guided tours.

 

Lisa

[capecodder2]

The discussion between private vs ship excursions is always interesting as so many just seem to fuss about cost of ship excursions. There are definitely pros and cons to both. We are veterans of many, many cruises, believe me, we have had some wonderful excursions by both means. On the other side, some really disastrous private tours with folks we didn't know (I seldom do those any more) and some so-so ship excursions. I think that cost is the least reason to choose one or the other. As suggested above, do a lot of research into what you want to see, what is important to you before you choose. Some ports are great for just walking around or using public transport to see what you want. Others, as you mentioned are an all day long trip and a ship excursion gives you confidence that you will not miss the ship departure plus a detailed itinerary as to what you will see and do. Sometimes you get what you pay for, you can buy a cheapie tour with a small group and see nothing worthwhile, getting stuck with a bunch who just want to shop ("oh, I forgot to mention we love shopping", said one "leader"), or have to smoke every time the van stops and before it leaves, leaving the van reeking with stale smoke from their clothes, hair and skin. You pay good money for a cruise, take your time in choosing what to do with the half that gives you time to see the land part. We love cruising, we hope that you do, too.

[Susan-M]

I was going to include a recommendation for Sorrento (got a little long winded in my post above and forgot to include it) .... we used Salvatore of DriveAmalfi (he is very popular with other CC members on the Europe forum).

Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast are highlights here ... and the town of Sorrento is lovely as well. The island of Capri is also popular, but if you haven't been to this area before, my choice would be Pompeii/Amalfi Coast.

 

Agree with Lisa on the recommendation for Rick Steves guidebooks ... his Italy book would be very helpful to you since so many of your ports are in that country.

[Susan-M]

Capecodder2 ... a good point about making sure that you are in a cohesive group for private shore excursions ... being on the same wavelength with the others in your group re shopping, smoking, and sights that you want to visit, are all important and worth discussing before committing to a tour.

[greeneg]

Just add a small caution here. You will have to make a choice between either limiting yourselves to doing fewer sites in greater detail, or more sites with less detail. Particularly in Italy, where there is simply so very much to see and experience, it is very easy to achieve "burnout", where everything after that just becomes a blur. You might want to even think of this trip as a "scouting expedition" where your main goal is to identify those things that you really want to come back to again and add detail. The biggest pitfall to avoid is trying to be too ambitious and finding when it's all over, that everything has just run together.

 

One other suggestion, perhaps less commonly done in Venice, but available to you since your ship overnights there: try and attend a Vivaldi Concert in one of the Baroque Chapels in the City ( google: concerts in Venice -- you should find several choices). I can guarantee that listing to Venice's Music in those surroundings is a Magic Moment that you will remember.

 

Again, just to emphasize, the more planning that you do in advance, the bigger the reward that you'll get during your cruise. AND, join and participate in your cruise's roll call--it's an unbelievably useful source of information.

 

Hope that's useful.

[Bob and Peg]

"I'm assuming the ship would wait a little longer for a tour they set up"

 

Yes, the ship will wait if one of their tours is delayed. This has happened to us more than once; most recently on our Oceania Panama Canal cruise. The pilot of the private plane that was flying us back to our ship decided to land in Guatamala City (in the center of the country) rather than all the way back to the port. Luckily, we had the ship's tour director with us; she had to arrange for a bus to pick us up and drive us the 2 - 3 hours back to the ship. Needless to say, we were very glad that we had opted for a ship's excursion in this case.

 

I hope you love cruising as much as we do. I agree with one of the other posters; with all that there is do & see in Italy, don't try to do it all on one trip. Hit the highlights & decided where you'll want to go back for more in-depth touring.

 

Peggy