Opinions on Nautica's Shore Excursions for Enchanted Escapade

[bettyahe]

Hi,

 

If anyone has cruised Oceania's Nautica 12 day Enchanted Escapade with the following ports, could you please give me your opinion on the most worthwhile shore excursions?

 

Rome (I have been before)

Portofino, Italy

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Florence/Pisa (Livorno) Italy

Amalfi/Positano, Italy

Sorrento/Capri, Italy

Taormina (Sicily) Italy

Valletta, Malta

Santorini, Greece

Rhodes, Greece

Delos, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

 

This is our first Oceania Cruise (my 60th b'day and 39th wedding anniv. gifts). Our sailing date is Aug. 16, 2009.

 

Thanks for your assistance! Betty:)

[CateW]

We did the the Med with "O" last summer. We decided early on that we didn't want to be on a bus with 50 others so arranged for private tours with a driver in most ports. I posed it on the roll call for our trip and ended up doing most ports with one other couple (comfortably) in a Mercedes van or car. This gives you the flexibility of staying at different places longer (or not) and getting to see things that you wouldn't necessarily get to on a bus. We did the 14 day Mediterranean Tapestry and there are a couple of different ports than you are doing and some the same. I would strongly suggest a private driver in Florence/Amalfi/Sorrento and Santorini. You could easily do Portafino on your own as well as Monte Carlo. Whatever you decide, have a great trip, it was one of the best trips we've ever done.

[bruinbob95]

I agree with CateW -- smaller tours are the way to go. I have arranged in advance small, private tours in Amalfi/Positano and Santorini. I am in the process of trying to set one up in Valleta, Malta. We may want to add two more people to the Malta tour -- if you're interested, send me an email at rlkeys@comcast.net. My wife and I are on the same tour as you and we're traveling with two friends. We're all 54-57 years old and very active tennis players.

 

Also, if you haven't found the role call web site for your cruise, you should definitely check it out: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=927395

 

See you in August,

 

Bob