Friends told of 3 hour bus trips at ports for sightseeing, typical on Oceania?

My husband and I have not traveled on Oceania but would like to soon. Does anyone have an itinerary to suggest which allows easy access to ports rather than long bus rides? We were spoiled on a River cruise with walk on walk off accessibility. Thanks.

Most Caribbean ports are very close to downtown. Many in New Zealand and Australia are also close to town so itineraries with those locations would be good.

Oceania offers free shuttles in many ports where town is not easy walking.

An ocean cruise is a different animal from a river boat cruise! One of the big advantages of the river boats is that indeed they dock right in town. That's not always true for the big ships. (Compared to a river boat even an "R" ship is a big ship!)

That doesn't mean it always takes 3 hours to get into town! Sometimes it does ... An itinerary that says Le Havre is the same as Paris isn't telling the truth. A Baltic port isn't Berlin. Those transfers can take 3-4 yours.

But most ocean ports are a few minutes from town and as has been said the ship (or the port) often provide transport.

A scheduled ship's sightseeing tour might be 3 hours or more in duration! But descriptions of the tours are quite clear.

I went on about this because I wasn't sure from the OP's question whether the question dealt with actual ship's tours or transfer from the dock to the port in question.

Mura

On any cruise line you are should be fully aware what tours you are booking and travel distances involved. There are normally multiple excursions to choose from. Unfortunately some sites are inland from ports.

Not sure what your goal is

Do you just want to wander in the port area ?

Most attractions are away from the port itself

Maybe Canada/New England cruise would work if you just want some sights with in walking distance of the ports

If you want details on ports, location in relation to the town, maps, ship schedules and specific docks,etc., look at this internet site: https://www.whatsinport.com

My husband and I have not traveled on Oceania but would like to soon. Does anyone have an itinerary to suggest which allows easy access to ports rather than long bus rides? We were spoiled on a River cruise with walk on walk off accessibility. Thanks.

When we sailed on two of O's small ships - Nautica and Regatta - in the Med, our port for Bordeaux was right in front of the city hall! :D And the same for Barcelona, right at the foot of La Rambla! Such a treat.

Welcome to Oceania. The length of sightseeing excursions is dependent on geography which has dictated in most cases the location of the sites to see. The docking location is usually as close as feasible. For example the port of Tianjin is about two hours ride from Beijing.

As was said by others there are shuttle busses available to get cruisers downtown in many locations.

Pick an itinerary and make a judgement based on these factors. If you still have a question for a particular cruise post here and I am sure you will get an answer.

Definitely post your itinerary for feedback on how far away the must see attractions are.

Most of the Baltic ports are close. The main exception is Warnemunde - some people go to Berlin. We didn't and thoroughly enjoyed our day.

Tallinn, Helsinki, Riga are all within walking distance.

For Asia, Hong Kong is a snap!

The bottom line - the difference is between river cruises and ocean cruises. And Oceania with its smaller ships can be closer in than mega-ships.

Thank you to all. We are considering the

1. 7 night Coastal Mediterranian with Ports of Call:

• Amalfi/Positano, Italy •
  
• Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy •
  
• Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands •
  
• Marseille (Provence), France •
  
• Antibes, France•
  
• Monte Carlo, Monaco on
  

• 2. 7 Night Enchanting Mediterranean with
  

Ports of Call:

• St. Tropez, France •
  
• Ajaccio, Corsica, France •
  
• Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy •
  
• Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands •
  
• Ibiza, Balearic Islands •
  
• Valencia, Spain •
  
• Barcelona, Spain
  
• 
  
  • 3. 10 night Glamorous Riviera with
    

Ports of Call:

• Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy •
  
• Portofino, Italy •
  
• Monte Carlo, Monaco •
  
• St. Tropez, France •
  
• Marseille (Provence), France •
  
• Barcelona, Spain •
  
• Ibiza, Balearic Islands •
  
• Amalfi/Positano, Italy
  
• 
  
  • Any comments on these specific ports and ease touring/distance to tourist sights? Thank you.
    

>Does anyone have an itinerary to suggest which allows easy access to ports rather than long bus rides?

There are too many to list.

You have to do a little homework or work with a TA.

For instance, you have to know that a ship scheduled to dock in Florence will actually be in Livorno. Ships don't dock in Rome, they stop in Civitavecchea. Le Havre is the port for Paris. etc.

Looking at a map can be quite helpful.

Ira

Fair enough. I guess we really need to do our homework. It is just a little overwhelming. Thank you.

Maggie,

We have been at some of these ports and I can give you some advice if you want to email me privately.

For the most part you do NOT have a 3 hour trip to get to the real "port". Yes, if the itinerary says "Paris", "Berlin", "Beijing", "Hanoi" -- you're going to have a long trip to get there. For the most part that isn't true.

Even if you have to tender (as in Sorrento, for example) the main waiting time is for the tender. When we were there on Marina a few years ago we had an 8 hour tour to Pompei and the Amalfi Coast ... there was no problem getting back to the ship in time.

I still am not clear on whether your friends were complaining about driving time to the city listed on their itinerary as opposed to tour times ... there is a difference!

That's why we don't do Berlin or Paris on a cruise! You DO spend most of the day traveling to and from ... for cities like that I do a land tour and spend at least a few days. Our first trips to Prague and Berlin were 7 days each ... that's the time you really need to see these places in depth.

Mura

I agree totally with the comment to work with a travel agent. Cruise companies differ greatly as do itineraries and why grab something online when you can consult with someone who knows their business.

I'll attempt the ones I know

Thank you to all. We are considering the

1. 7 night Coastal Mediterranian with Ports of Call:

• Amalfi/Positano, Italy • Tender, right into town
  
• Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy •
  
• Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands • shuttle or taxi short distance.
  
• Marseille (Provence), France • It depends, but if you want to tour the Provence region you'll need a tour. Depending on where you want to go you'll be in the car for a while.
  
• Antibes, France•
  
• Monte Carlo, Monaco on Dock or tender right in town. Walk or do a Hop on Hop off
  

• 2. 7 Night Enchanting Mediterranean with
  

Ports of Call:

• St. Tropez, France • Tender right in town
  
• Ajaccio, Corsica, France •
  
• Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy •
  
• Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands • see above
  
• Ibiza, Balearic Islands •
  
• Valencia, Spain •
  
• Barcelona, Spain depends on which ship, but you'll be right in town either way.
  
• 
  
  • 3. 10 night Glamorous Riviera with
    

Ports of Call:

• Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy • bus or train ride into either. Not much at Livorno
  
• Portofino, Italy • Tender(I think) right into town.
  
• Monte Carlo, Monaco •see above
  
• St. Tropez, France • see above
  
• Marseille (Provence), France •...
  
• Barcelona, Spain •........
  
• Ibiza, Balearic Islands •
  
• Amalfi/Positano, Italy........
  
• 
  
  • Any comments on these specific ports and ease touring/distance to tourist sights? Thank you.
    

Let me add about Cagliari ...

When we were there on Marina in Oct '11 there were NO private guides available. They'd all been hired by Oceania. So we did a ship's tour which was okay but no more than okay. The problem was the guide's English. Have you noticed that many Italians who speak good English happen to aspirate the last consonant in the word? This really bugged us. The guide knew her territory, we just found her difficult to understand.

Here's where I have a complaint about the new format ... the old format let us go "down" to see former questions. Now we don't seem to be able to. NOT an improvement. Should I have to sign in again to see the other questions?

Sure,. I could have said "quote" but in the past I didn't HAVE to ... Right now I'm very frustrated with Capital One Bank's website which is just carrying over here, I suppose ...

In the meantime, even trying to sign in anew so as to see prior posts here ... I can't find it!

So I won't say any more than I already have about Cagliari.

SO FRUSTRATING.

(And no, I'm not new to the internet. I just don't like this new format.)

If I can figure it out later, I may add to this ...

Mura

Just to add:

Ajaccio - short walk to centre, recommend the road train tour.

Marseille - a 20 minute shuttle bus ride to city centre

Barcelona - depends where you dock, either right at bottom of Ramblas or a five minute bus ride away.

To add Valenecia: Oceania ran a shuttle into the old town.

Thank you so much for the feedback on the ports- that makes me feel much more comfortable.

Good to know about Cagliari. Thanks.

Thanks for your comments. My friends were on a two week Baltic Cruise and must have taken all long excursions because they were talking about 2-3 hour bus rides to get to the tourist site and that it was so tiring. I am ok with 1 or 2 days that require trips to get to a special area but just don't want to do it every day.

I am a bit frustrated with the travel agents that I have used before because I felt like they just wanted me to know exactly which cruise I wanted and then they would book it. Maybe I should start another thread to ask for recommendations on travel agents. Thanks again.

Thanks for your comments. My friends were on a two week Baltic Cruise and must have taken all long excursions because they were talking about 2-3 hour bus rides to get to the tourist site and that it was so tiring. I am ok with 1 or 2 days that require trips to get to a special area but just don't want to do it every day.

 

I am a bit frustrated with the travel agents that I have used before because I felt like they just wanted me to know exactly which cruise I wanted and then they would book it. Maybe I should start another thread to ask for recommendations on travel agents. Thanks again.

Cruise Critic rules prohibit us from naming or recommending travel agents or agencies.

It will of course be tiring if you book excursions which involve long bus journeys. However the tour description always tells you the travel times, so it is up to you to read carefully and make a considered decision on whether or not to book that particular excursion. A good old fashioned atlas to look at the ports in relation to cities would be useful.

I think it is really up to you to choose which itinerary appeals to you the most. A travel agent cannot know your personal preferences for say small quaint villages or large cities or scenery, not to mention where you have been before.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks.