Italian and French shore excursions

We are doing the Western Mediterranean cruise in July aboard EPIC NCL. My question is, do you recommend buying the shore excursions at the pier or should we buy it in advance?

Is the trade off between the convenience of advance booking and the on the pier money saving well worth it?

The ports of calls are: Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Marseille

We are doing the Western Mediterranean cruise in July aboard EPIC NCL. My question is, do you recommend buying the shore excursions at the pier or should we buy it in advance?

Is the trade off between the convenience of advance booking and the on the pier money saving well worth it?

The ports of calls are: Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Marseille

I would recommend that you have a very good idea of where you want to go and what you want to see. You can start reading reviews now and look at the ports of call forum to see the opportunities available. Trips available by taxi at the port may not be the best option for you. They certainly will not be the cheapest option - in most cases that is public transport.

When you get off the ship in Naples for example, taxi drivers will come and ask you if you want a trip to Pompeii, but there are other options: Vesuvius, Sorrento and Capri and these are reached best by public transport. The Amalfi coast is apparently wonderful (another trip for me) but it would be expensive to do in a taxi from the port. When we went two weeks ago we decided that we would do a walking tour of Naples and eat pizzza. That did not involve any transport at all.

The other four ports offer similar decisions.

Sure, DIY options are often better value than the ship tours but you need to decide what you want to do and plan ahead.

Have a great cruise, the itinerary really is interesting. Every port is a star port.

I would recommend that you have a very good idea of where you want to go and what you want to see.

Absolutely. More than any other cruise, these Western Med ones need some planning so you have an idea of what you want to do. There is so many options in Naples (some of which are a fair distance from the port), and Rome and Florence are so far away from the port that you may find your options limited if you wait.

For example, if you want to go to Rome then you need to be on your way soon after docking, not wasting time deciding and negotiating.

If you are going to do that research then you may as well make bookings as well if you have decided what you want to do. That will be the cheapest way of getting a private excursion.

In addition, whilst there may be distances involved, they are all ports which can be done by public transport to save a lot of money. If that is something you may consider then you really need to have done your research.

I'd only consider trying my luck at the port if I had no intention of going into either Rome or Florence and aren't fussed about things like Capri or the Amalfi Coast in Naples. You could get away with Pisa and Pompeii, although I suspect you'd pay over the odds compared to a shared tour in your roll call, and a lot more than getting the train.

I did the western Med a few years ago, and I would definitely recommend preplanning somehow for at the very least Civitavecchia (Rome) and Livorno (Florence/Pisa). The cities there are quite a ways from the port, and the options for getting to Rome and Florence for less than a small fortune are limited. There MAY be some tour operators (non-NCL) that can give you cheaper options than NCL, but I just went ahead and booked through the cruise line...the slightly higher cost was offset by the fact that I knew the ship wouldn't leave without me!

Naples, Marseilles, Majorca, and Barcelona you can be a little more flexible on, as the ship docks right in town. I did do a cab tour of Barcelona that was terrific. I negotiated a flat fee to drive me to Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas...my driver spoke really good English, and was very friendly. In Majorca, I just walked around Palma de Majorca; it's a small city, and very interesting. I did do excursions in Naples and Marseilles, but I think you could get around town cheaper if you know what you want.

My experience with some shore excursions through the ships is that some tend to get cancelled on a 24 hours notice because they don't get the minimum number of participants. I want to see Orvieto last summer, and this happened.

If you do book them, don't rely on them, have a plan B.

Join your ROLL CALL !!!! Hook up on private excursions with those on your sailing, many will have seats available in vans that need to be filled. YOU WILL SAVE a lot of money on these!!

We are doing the Western Mediterranean cruise in July aboard EPIC NCL. My question is, do you recommend buying the shore excursions at the pier or should we buy it in advance?

Is the trade off between the convenience of advance booking and the on the pier money saving well worth it?

The ports of calls are: Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Marseille

In Europe, you will not typically find vendors selling excursions at the pier like you can find in the Caribbean. You may be able to arrange a taxi to take you somewhere (usually for quite a hefty price), and there MAY be some locals selling sightseeing services, but it is not all that commonly done. Make your arrangements in advance either thru the ship or via 3rd party or figure out doing it on your own.

I would recommend doing your own excursions, because they are smaller in size and more intimate. We did them exclusively when we did the W. Med last spring, and every tour guide made sure to get us back to the ship with plenty of time to spare. Definitely join your roll call and check on groups already in progress. If their tours are booked, you can contact the tour operator to see about setting up another group. We did that in Livorno (aka Florence) (and I have the name of our fabulous guide there if you need it).

In Naples, we walked to the train station (it was a bit of a hike (25 minutes?) because we got a little lost) and bought tickets to Pompeii. The train ride was short (30-45 mins) but very crowded. You can do Pompeii on your own in 4-5 hours, round trip.

In Barcelona, we bought a 10-ride subway ticket (I think it cost 10 EU and can be shared by multiple people). The train station is a 10 minute walk from the shuttle that the ship sells, so took the subway to Sagrada Familia and then the Picasso Museum. 10 rides may a bit overkill, but it ends up being such a cheap way to travel around the city. Another couple we travelled with gave their unused card to a young couple at the train station, and they were so surprised and happy.

In Cannes, you can catch a cheap and fast train to Nice, which is a very interesting city with lots of history and great views.

Regardless what you decide to do, download Rick Steve's app on iTunes/Google Play store. Rick is a famous US travel writer, and he has dozens of free walking tours that you can download and listen to. It's like getting your own personal tour guide in places such as Rome (Colosseum/Forum, Vatican, St. Mark's), Florence (walking tour of the city, Michelangelo's David), Naples (Pompeii). It was a fun and cheap alternative to hiring a guide at these famous sites.

We are doing the Western Mediterranean cruise in July aboard EPIC NCL. My question is, do you recommend buying the shore excursions at the pier or should we buy it in advance?

 

Is the trade off between the convenience of advance booking and the on the pier money saving well worth it?

 

The ports of calls are: Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Marseille

Buying on the pier doesn't exactly occur in the Med like in the Carib

You sound new to Med cruising so you should know that Livorno and civiitavecchia are very far from Florence and Rome

Naples is easy if you just want to hop over to Capri but if you want Positano/amalfi coast/Pompeii it will take planning Walking around Naples is ok for some but I wouldn't bother with that for several reasons.

Marseille I've no clue

Cannes is nice if you want to stay there but if you want Nice Monaco Eze or St. Paul those places require planning

Start looking into Ncl tour/private driver/train schedules/group tours (which are available thru other sources than Ncl btw) just look for operators who offer small group tours and you can book that

You could see if the roll call is putting stuff together but honestly you can get yourself on a 14 person tour without the hassle of arranging it yourself or dealing with other pax

Google is your friend here

My experience with some shore excursions through the ships is that some tend to get cancelled on a 24 hours notice because they don't get the minimum number of participants. I want to see Orvieto last summer, and this happened.

 

 

 

If you do book them, don't rely on them, have a plan B.

IMHO if you want to do something like Orvieto from a port where Rome or Florence is the main draw then that tells me you are very well traveled!!!

Lol

Our last trip we had already done pre cruise Rome so we hired Stefano of Rome cabs to meet us at our civiitavecchia stop as we embarked in Venice and we did lake bracciano ceveteri Ceri and the Etruscan tombs among other stops with him

We are a family of 6 so pricing is what we know to expect

I knew the ships tour would not be for us and wouldn't do this tour how we wanted it also there are never any worries getting back to the ship especially with Stefano at the helm

Not sure is pax realize that when doing port stops with the very reputable very popular and very professional tour companies of which Rome cabs is certainly part of....that they guarantee to get you to the ship on time or will get you to the next port to meet it and arrange what ever you need

That's easy when the next port is only a few hours away by car as in Naples/Rome/Florence and slightly more difficult when it's a sea day or further.....but I certainly recall reading about their next port guarantee

They are so good though I doubt they miss the ship ever. Lol

We were on ruby princess btw

We are doing the Western Mediterranean cruise in July aboard EPIC NCL. My question is, do you recommend buying the shore excursions at the pier or should we buy it in advance?

Is the trade off between the convenience of advance booking and the on the pier money saving well worth it?

The ports of calls are: Naples, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Cannes and Marseille

Buy in advance, but not through NCL.

Use top rated firms on CC's sister site, Trip Advisor.

Personal favourites:

Catherine D'Antuono, Tour Designer (Aix en Provence, for Marseille)

My Best Tour: Rome in a Golf Cart (from Civitavecchia)

See Amalfi Coast; Naples/environs