Thomson Cruise Excursions for the Adriatic - Times and Advice please!

Apologies if this question has been asked before, I have searched the Thomson Forum but can't find it so here goes - Can anyone guide me to where I can find the departure times for Thomsons Shore Excursions please?

We are travelling on the Spirit on 15th June for Adriatic Affair followed by Taste of the Adriatic. We have only just booked so keen to get my excursions sorted out but I cannot seem to find any departure times for the excursions. On previous cruises with other cruise lines the online pages where you book the excursions show the departure times so you can work out if you have enough time to do both a morning and an afternoon tour or alternatively enough time to walk around indeprendently after the excursion.

Also any advice or tips for which excursions are a 'must' or which ones are a waste of money for the following ports would be fantastic thanks as don't have a lot of time to do all the research I normally would!

Koper - Thinking of doing independent trip to Skojcan Caves or Bus to Piran

Venice - Thinking of walking around independently as have been to Venice twice before, or maybe a trip that is something a bit different?

Pula - Undecided!

Zadar - Thinking of Plitvice Lakes as heard it's a must see

Split - Maybe Krka Waterfalls ( but possibly similar to Plitvice?)

Dubrovnik - Thinking of walking around independently

Valletta - Undecided

Messina - Was thinking of doing Etna but have seen threads below saying the excursion was rubbish!

Taranto - Thinking of doing trip to Trulli

Igoumenitsa - Undecided

Kotor - Undecided

I think you will only be informed of times when on board unless someone who goes before you has the details, its a lovely cruise you have chose.

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Sometimes excursions if half day can be both morning or afternoon and we have never found out til we got on board

You can book and then visit destination services as soon as you get on board and I do know you can change them as our friends ended up on a morning beach trip and we were on the afternoon one and they were able to change it so they could come with us.

Can't help with the times but I can recommend the Krka waterfalls, Valletta is easy to look around yourself, Messina I would highly recommend a trip to Taormina, it is not easy to get to on your own but is well worth a visit and you can see Mount Etna from there.....Kotor is also easy to wander the old town, Dubrovnik is also easy to wander after shuttle or taxi into the old town......if you're fit walk the walls for some amazing sights!!

We have been to almost all these ports, some more than once, some several times. Hope some of the following useful.

Koper. Very small, easy bus to Piran on our second visit, also quite small but much prettier than Koper. First visit we did the Ljubljana/Lake Bled shorex, some did Ljublljana only. Has to be the prettiest city in Europe and compact. Recommend you look at the Lake/ city combo or the city alone option.

Venice. If you already did the top sights and Murano/Burano, recommend you look at sestieri walks. We do a different one each time, sometimes adapting two sestieri into one shorter version to suit ourselves. Most recent was Cannaregio, previous was Dorsoduro. Easy to find online, google (name of Sestieri) walking tour or similar. Usually lots of DIY options which you can print off. I think Cannaregio was our favourite overall. You see a totally different Venice, mostly free of tourists, quiet, tranquil, scenic in a very different way.

PULA Not been there but I looked at your shorex options. We tendered into Rovinj itself and had a full day there, but you have a shorex which visits. Very very attractive, so much so we thought about taking a land holiday there sometime. Not sure why the shorex doesn't give you a full day there on its own but at least you would spend some time there.

TARANTO Not been there. We had Bari instead and although some of your shorex the same as ours, we went to Matera which isn't one of your options.

ZADAR Should have maybe opted for a shorex but didn't. We stayed in town, not a lot there, but we then sat for a couple of hours at a promenade cafe enjoying chilled beers whilst listening to the Sea Organ and watching the activity on the promenade and on the sea. It was very hot that day. We docked out of town and were shuttled in and back.

SPLIT. Been twice. First time took bus to Trogir in the morning, explored Split in the afternoon, but that was rushed. Second time explored Split more fully and sat at a promenade cafe. Again a very hot day. With a city map you can DIY a walking tour.The croatiatraveller website is only one site with DIY walking tours.

DUBROVNIK. Easy DIY. Walk the walls, (best thing there) explore the old town. And if you are into GOT Dubrovnik and Split should interest you.

VALLETTA. Multiple options for Valletta and Malta in general. If first visit you need to read to help you decide.

MESSINA Usually on a first visit the favourite is Taormina. Can recommend The Godfather villages too.

IGOUMENITSA We were there last year. Definitely do SOMETHING here. Nothing in the town itself. We had already visited Meteora with a different cruiseline and from a different port, so didn't want to repeat, but Meteora is the reason for the stop here. That was a fabulous trip but could have been spoiled had the weather not been so good. On a good day, just fabulous. Really special and different. Read reviews online.

Kotor. No real need to shorex here if first visit. Get up early for the fabulous sail-in. The early morning light is much better than the late afternoon light. So clear, so calm. Explore on foot. As they say, "small but perfectly formed". If you must do something, on our second visit we took the local bus to Perast which you pass on the way in. Can visit the tiny island from there. Back to ship for lunch, strolled Kotor in the pm.

Be aware that summer in those ports is hot hot hot! Think 35C plus. Really draining, exhausting. If anything, under rather than over plan.

Plenty of info on CC Destinations section, also the individual CC Europe boards (use the search on each forum) also Tripadvisor, Tourist Office sites for each etc.

Lovely itinerary. Thomson do Croatia very well. We did similar but different in July and Oct 2015 and July 2016. Some other ports we visited over the years with different cruiselines.

Apologies.

This:

Thomson do Croatia very well.

Should have read:

Thomson do the Adriatic very well.

Wow thanks everyone for all your help, this is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for!

Have much more of an idea now what we are going to do :)