Oceania's Free Shuttles List

Koper - no shuttle but town is right there. we took the city bus last June to Piran a lovely old beach village.

Kotor - tiny town right at port.

Sorrento - there is an elevator to the top of the town,little publicized and cheap,right near the tender dock instead of waiting for a shuttle. We were taking an early train to Pompeii

Taormina - took a local bus into town and a taxi back

Koper - no shuttle but town is right there. we took the city bus last June to Piran a lovely old beach village.

Kotor - tiny town right at port.

Sorrento - there is an elevator to the top of the town,little publicized and cheap,right near the tender dock instead of waiting for a shuttle. We were taking an early train to Pompeii

Taormina - took a local bus into town and a taxi back

Thank you! We too are trying to get to Pompeii on an early train and the elevator sounds like a great idea - hadn't realized the steep level change up from the dock area. I think in Taormina we will grab a cab in both directions then, appreciate your help :)

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can post the free shuttle list based on their experience for the ports below. (Nautica 7/7/15)

I've called Oceania and they can't provide this.

Thank you in advance.

Bruges (Zeebrugge), Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Stockholm, Sweden

Helsinki, Finland

Tallinn, Estonia

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland

Thanks!

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can post the free shuttle list based on their experience for the ports below. (Nautica 7/7/15)

I've called Oceania and they can't provide this.

Thank you in advance.

 

Bruges (Zeebrugge), Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

 

Stockholm, Sweden

Helsinki, Finland

 

Tallinn, Estonia

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland

 

Thanks!

No, they don't know that info very much in advance as it changes a lot.

Two years ago in September on Marina we used a shuttle in Helsinki (pay attention to hours; 2 hour lunch break), Tallinn (to a spot where you can walk easily (though uphill) to old Tallinn area), and Gdynia (to a point in central Gdynia, not Gdansk. I took a commuter train to Gdansk, but it took some pre-planning. Cab was pricey.) We disembarked in Stockholm, so no shuttle offered to us there and I have no info for the other cities you mention. No cost for shuttles; generally they ran every half hour or so, with last one generally running back to the ship about an hour before the on-board time.

Thanks!

No, they don't know that info very much in advance as it changes a lot.

 

Two years ago in September on Marina we used a shuttle in Helsinki (pay attention to hours; 2 hour lunch break), Tallinn (to a spot where you can walk easily (though uphill) to old Tallinn area), and Gdynia (to a point in central Gdynia, not Gdansk. I took a commuter train to Gdansk, but it took some pre-planning. Cab was pricey.) We disembarked in Stockholm, so no shuttle offered to us there and I have no info for the other cities you mention. No cost for shuttles; generally they ran every half hour or so, with last one generally running back to the ship about an hour before the on-board time.

When we travelled with Oceania several years ago there was no shuttle to Bruge. Had to hire a cab service to take us there and pick us up. Highly recommend you go to Bruge it is wonderful. Company was called Bruge Taxi Service. Made arrangements ahead of time. had a van that was able to take 8 people.

Carol

Carol

Just back from BTB Barcelona to Venice here are the shuttle details. Valencia shuttle to old town same in Palma de Mallorca. We missed Marseille due to high seas. Hop on hop off bus is right by tender dock in Monte Carlo so we took it as transportation as it is every 15mins. Missed Portofino but docked in Genoa no shuttle but two tour bus options Make sure you get the HOHO if you want to get on and off as the other company only has one stop. In La Spezia you are right in town There was a free shuttle in both Livorno and Civitavecchia, There was a free shuttle in Sorrento. In Taormina we took a cab. It was 25 euro each way per cab and was well worth it as we were a group of 4. In Argostli you are docked right in the downtown area as you are in Kotor In Zadar there was a free shuttlebus but a cab was only 20Euro and if there is a long wait for a shuttle it was worth it in. There was no need to get Kuna they took euros. In Koper there is a free elevator to the old town and it is about 50yards from the ship. In Venice we were right by a vaporetto or Agiluna stop both of which stopped at St Marks square . We took it to Murano as there were 7 ships in and St Marks was very crowded, It was 18 Euro round trip

Does anyone know if there are shuttles in any of the following ports. Cruising with Oceania in October.

Singapore

Sihanoukville

Bangkok

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh

Hue/DaNang

Hanoi/Halong Bay

Hong Kong

Does anyone know if there are shuttles in any of the following ports. Cruising with Oceania in October.

Singapore

Sihanoukville

Bangkok

Saigon/Ho Chi Minh

Hue/DaNang

Hanoi/Halong Bay

Hong Kong

We took cruise in 2011 on Nautica. Bangkok no shuttle needed we were right there, Saigon docks right in the city, Ko Samui able to walk to the town, Hanoi we docked in Ha Long Bay and were three hours from Hanoi however they did have a shuttle from the dock to a little market place and where you can take a tour of Ha Long Bay

We boarded in Singapore and docked in Hong Kong but had no overnights at either of these ports.

Carol

So I searched this thread and came up empty for this port. Is anyone aware of whether Oceania has a shuttle into town? I understand it's a steep walk, which would be OK if the day happens to be cool, but not so much on a hot day. ;)

Erin, I visited your blog, having recently returned from Cusco/Machu Picchu I enjoyed your photos very much.

Rian

Thanks Carol.

For Taormina...we took the ships walking tour and had a ride TO Taormina. We opted to stay longer..such a pretty place..and then went to go back to the ship and they had a big elevator outside the Taormina gate that would take you down right where the taxis were parked...so we just KNEW that if we did that we could get a taxi at a much better price! HA! There were no taxis and after about a 20 minute wait we took the elevator back up and got a taxi back down!!! Plenty of taxis at the entrance to town! Enjoy! Sherry

So I searched this thread and came up empty for this port. Is anyone aware of whether Oceania has a shuttle into town? I understand it's a steep walk, which would be OK if the day happens to be cool, but not so much on a hot day. ;)

Evidently there is now an elevator.

http://www.visitmalta.com/en/upperbarrakkalift

Someone on Tripadvisor says it is 1 euro to ascend and free to descend.

Anyone know about port shuttles in:

Trapani, Sicily

Sardinia

Crete

Santorini

Mykonos

Athens

Ephesus

Thanks!

In Santorini, the ship anchors and you're tendered to one of two places. If you're taking an excursion, you'll be taken to the area of the ferry port, where the buses come down to get passengers. If you're going on your own around the island, you'll need to take one of the following to get up to the top of the cliff: cable car (short ride, not expensive, quickest and easiest, runs pretty much all day), donkey (actually a mule), or long walk up the mule path. At the top is the town of Fira, where you can stay in town, walk a little ways south to get a cab or bus to other location on the island, or rent a scooter, ATV or car. If you rent a car, you'll need an international driver's license.

I've been to Mykonos and Athens, but it has been a while, so have no reliable info to offer. If there's no shuttle in Athens (you'll dock in Piraeus, a 20-30 minute ride to Athens) you can take a cab or find the X80 express bus to center city Athens. You can also walk or bus a little way to the metro and take that into the city. In Mykonos, we were tendered, but I hear there's now a port, so some ships tender and some dock. If you are scheduled to tender, they'll probably drop you right there in the town. It's easy to walk around there - no shuttle needed.

I have only just discovered this thread so I am sorry if I am seeking information that has already been supplied. We will be on Nautica next March from Beijing to Hong Kong. Any information on shuttles in the following ports would be appreciated:

Hiroshima

Kobe (Kyoto)

Tokyo

Shanghai

Xiamen

Thank you.

Meg

So I searched this thread and came up empty for this port. Is anyone aware of whether Oceania has a shuttle into town? I understand it's a steep walk, which would be OK if the day happens to be cool, but not so much on a hot day. ;)

Evidently there is now an elevator. http://www.visitmalta.com/en/upperbarrakkalift Someone on Tripadvisor says it is 1 euro to ascend and free to descend.

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can post the free shuttle list based on their experience for the ports below. (Nautica 7/7/15)

I've called Oceania and they can't provide this.

Thank you in advance.

 

Bruges (Zeebrugge), Belgium

Amsterdam, Netherlands

 

Stockholm, Sweden

Helsinki, Finland

 

Tallinn, Estonia

Klaipeda, Lithuania

Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland

 

Thanks!

In Zeebruge, you can walk 15 mins to the train station or follow the crew members to a local shuttle bus that will drive you to the station for a couple of Euros, and then take the local train into Bruges. In Stockholm, you can take a city bus from the pier into town - when we told the driver all we had were Euros and hadn't exchanged any Krona yet, he kindly waived us aboard. Helsinki and Tallinn are walkable from pierside, and in Helsinki, I highly recommend the nearby ferry ride to the island of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO Heritage Site (and Finland is on the Euro system).

Amsterdam's Centraal Station is a 10-minute walk from the pier, or you can take the 26 tram one stop to Centraal - look for the Muziekgebouw-Bimhuis signs in the passenger terminal and take the cross-over bridge to the eponymous station. Buy the one-day transit pass, and from Central Station, you can take the 2 or 5 tram to the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. You can also take the 16 or 24 tram out to the Heineken Brewery if you have the time and the inclination (of which we had neither!) or the 13 or 17 tram two stops to the Anne Frank house (during peak season you'll need to pre-purchase your tickets, which we did not).

Haven't been to the last two stops on your itinerary - yet! - so others will need to weigh in.

In Zeebruge, you can walk 15 mins to the train station or follow the crew members to a local shuttle bus that will drive you to the station for a couple of Euros, and then take the local train into Bruges. In Stockholm, you can take a city bus from the pier into town - when we told the driver all we had were Euros and hadn't exchanged any Krona yet, he kindly waived us aboard. Helsinki and Tallinn are walkable from pierside, and in Helsinki, I highly recommend the nearby ferry ride to the island of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO Heritage Site (and Finland is on the Euro system).

 

Amsterdam's Centraal Station is a 10-minute walk from the pier, or you can take the 26 tram one stop to Centraal - look for the Muziekgebouw-Bimhuis signs in the passenger terminal and take the cross-over bridge to the eponymous station. Buy the one-day transit pass, and from Central Station, you can take the 2 or 5 tram to the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. You can also take the 16 or 24 tram out to the Heineken Brewery if you have the time and the inclination (of which we had neither!) or the 13 or 17 tram two stops to the Anne Frank house (during peak season you'll need to pre-purchase your tickets, which we did not).

 

Haven't been to the last two stops on your itinerary - yet! - so others will need to weigh in.

We were on Marina in the Baltics 8/14-21; here's what we experienced for shuttles:

Warnemunde: we docked at the Rostock Cargo Terminal (P31) not the Warnemunde Cruise Center. There was a free ferry boat to/from Warnemunde, a (about a 20 minute journey) although it did not run on time. Once in Warnemunde, it was an easy walk to the train station or the beach.

Tallinn: I believe there was a shuttle bus, but it's an easy walk into the old town.

Helsinki: there was a shuttle bus. We planned to board the second one scheduled, but gave up on it after waiting a half hour beyond it's sheduled time. (also, the line for it was very long, and I doubt that everyone waiting would have been able to board) So, we walked through the terminal planning to share a taxi wih another couple. The HOHO bus was there so we took that instead.

We used taxis for embarkation in Copenhagen, and debarkation in Stockholm, and took an Alla tour in St Petersburgh, so I can not commnt on those ports.

In Zeebruge, you can walk 15 mins to the train station or follow the crew members to a local shuttle bus that will drive you to the station for a couple of Euros, and then take the local train into Bruges. In Stockholm, you can take a city bus from the pier into town - when we told the driver all we had were Euros and hadn't exchanged any Krona yet, he kindly waived us aboard. Helsinki and Tallinn are walkable from pierside, and in Helsinki, I highly recommend the nearby ferry ride to the island of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO Heritage Site (and Finland is on the Euro system).

 

Amsterdam's Centraal Station is a 10-minute walk from the pier, or you can take the 26 tram one stop to Centraal - look for the Muziekgebouw-Bimhuis signs in the passenger terminal and take the cross-over bridge to the eponymous station. Buy the one-day transit pass, and from Central Station, you can take the 2 or 5 tram to the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. You can also take the 16 or 24 tram out to the Heineken Brewery if you have the time and the inclination (of which we had neither!) or the 13 or 17 tram two stops to the Anne Frank house (during peak season you'll need to pre-purchase your tickets, which we did not).

 

Haven't been to the last two stops on your itinerary - yet! - so others will need to weigh in.

Klaipeda is a short walk (5-10 minutes) from the pier into the central town square. Due to the narrowness of the streets the shuttle we took on a recent RSSC took longer than the walk back. The city provides free WiFi so many members of the crew walk into town to Skype with family back home and can point you in the right direction.

Agree that Tallinn and Helsinki are both walkable from the pier. Disembarkation in Stockholm had a convenient taxi stand with both regular taxis as well as a generous number of vans.

We took cruise in 2011 on Nautica. Bangkok no shuttle needed we were right there, Saigon docks right in the city, Ko Samui able to walk to the town, Hanoi we docked in Ha Long Bay and were three hours from Hanoi however they did have a shuttle from the dock to a little market place and where you can take a tour of Ha Long Bay

 

We boarded in Singapore and docked in Hong Kong but had no overnights at either of these ports.

 

Carol

We will also be on that cruise on Insignia in October 2015 between Singapore and Hong Kong and would like to know which port in Bangkok Oceania uses. The Laem Chabang port seems along way from the city (2 hours each way) when Oceania are offering 4 1/2 hour tours from the ship to the city.

I'm not the poster above, so cannot help with Saigon, etc. However, I think it's good to keep in mind that port assignments are made by the port, not the cruise line, and can be different from visit to visit. They're also not always made in advance, except perhaps in the case of ships doing a turnaround (disembarking and then embarking passengers on the same visit). I try to find the official port website to see if there's a location noted, plus what other ships are at the port that day. Sometimes if I have a lot of time, I'll go to Marinetraffic.com in the summer or other peak cruising time to see where (what port area) ships are docking and their general size. It gives me clues as to where we'll dock, but of course, not a real answer of where we'll dock.

Marseille has a shuttle from port to town. I believe Barcelona has one to the Ramblas (there may be a nominal fee?)

Anyone been to Marseille this year know about the shuttle there? Thinking about actually checking it out this time instead of a Provence tour. Last 3 times there have done tours.

We will also be on that cruise on Insignia in October 2015 between Singapore and Hong Kong and would like to know which port in Bangkok Oceania uses. The Laem Chabang port seems along way from the city (2 hours each way) when Oceania are offering 4 1/2 hour tours from the ship to the city.

Found this info for you on website called Whatsinport.

Star Princess docked at the Laem Chabang Cruise Terminal, Thailand. Larger cruise ships dock here, 50 miles (80km) south east from Bangkok's center. Some smaller ships sail up the Chao Phraya River and dock at Khlong Toei port, just 5 miles (8km) south east from the city center.

Since we were on Nautica we docked at the closer port and it was close to everything.

any favorites in Luca? Have a private tour arranged...but would love some suggestions.

Thanks,