Oceania destinations

Hello all,

We are going on an Oceania cruise from Rome to Venice and I am trying to figure out the advantages to booking their excursions. It Seems like all the ones offered through Oceania leave the main towns we dock in. I was just wondering if anyone knows if it’s worth it to leave the area or stick around the cute towns we dock at?

Hello all,

 

We are going on an Oceania cruise from Rome to Venice and I am trying to figure out the advantages to booking their excursions. It Seems like all the ones offered through Oceania leave the main towns we dock in. I was just wondering if anyone knows if it’s worth it to leave the area or stick around the cute towns we dock at?

And the ports in between are ............?

Hello all,

We are going on an Oceania cruise from Rome to Venice and I am trying to figure out the advantages to booking their excursions. It Seems like all the ones offered through Oceania leave the main towns we dock in. I was just wondering if anyone knows if it’s worth it to leave the area or stick around the cute towns we dock at?

Obviously, the answer to that question lies in:

A) Your personal preferences, i.e. are you interested in knowing what you are looking at or will cute scenery suffice?

B) Whether you have visited the region before, or plan to ever again

That said, most Americans will be unfamiliar enough with the history of Italy that a Guided Tour is something of a must. You will get SO MUCH MORE out of your trip.

I am sorry I should have included our ports....I was just confused because it seems like the majority of the excursions are away from the towns we dock in/near. Our ports our:

Sorrento, Italy

Catania, Italy

Valletta, Malta

Katakolon, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Koper, SLovenia

Split, Croatia

We have been on a Viking river cruise and loved their basic included tours. I really don't like "scenic" rides to other areas if the place we dock at is interesting. We loved Viking but have children under 18 years old, so their ocean cruises were not an option due to age restrictions.

I am sorry I should have included our ports....I was just confused because it seems like the majority of the excursions are away from the towns we dock in/near. Our ports our:

 

Sorrento, Italy

Catania, Italy

Valletta, Malta

Katakolon, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Koper, SLovenia

Split, Croatia

 

We have been on a Viking river cruise and loved their basic included tours. I really don't like "scenic" rides to other areas if the place we dock at is interesting. We loved Viking but have children under 18 years old, so their ocean cruises were not an option due to age restrictions.

Of that list, the only one which I think really needs you to do an excursion is Katakolon, which is a very small place which ships call at to visit Olympia. The other ports are all ones where you could happily spend a day without going anywhere else. Koper and Catania are possibles for tours perhaps, warranting probably only a half-day each. Try whatsinport.com for details of each port.

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Here are the ones I've been to -

Sorrento - lovely town to walk round, get the lift up from the beach front beside the harbour, or take the ferry to Capri or one of the other islands.

Valletta - you dock in the Grand Harbour right in the middle of the city, the red Ho Ho stops just outside the harbour if you want to see the old capital of Medina, a medieval walled town.

Kotor - walk round the town and the climb the path up to the Citadel to get a fantastic view over the town and fjord.

Dubrovnik - Do the walk round the city walls, great sights and restaurants, or take a bus or ferry to the delightful Cavtat.

As previously said the Whatsinport site is full of info, or the Ports section on CC

Thank you so much I love this site!

toms port guides .com are also good. Has pictures and maps with big arrows and annotations which are helpful for getting oriented.

I am sorry I should have included our ports....I was just confused because it seems like the majority of the excursions are away from the towns we dock in/near. Our ports our:

 

Sorrento, Italy

Catania, Italy

Valletta, Malta

Katakolon, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Koper, SLovenia

Split, Croatia

 

We have been on a Viking river cruise and loved their basic included tours. I really don't like "scenic" rides to other areas if the place we dock at is interesting. We loved Viking but have children under 18 years old, so their ocean cruises were not an option due to age restrictions.

O tours are a step above the Viking cattel tours. THey are priced excessively and it is far better for you to book your own, and do a bit of research Koper y,Valetta, Dubrovnick you can do on your own Katakolon is tour time The other ports you can pick up a taxi or arrange a tour easily for 1/2 to 1/3 the O price....... As other said, do some reading see what interests you. Use that as a guide O's tours are really bus rides, see stuff, stop as a few tourist stores, back to the ship... You can do better

Going to Olympia from Katakolon is a must. Apparently there is a train but I have painful knees so I took a ship's tour (from Queen Elizabeth) in order to save my walking capacity for the Olympia site.

It sounds like you have children or young adults along so do not want to take the Oceania tours. They are very expensive and priced per person and have a lot of people - many who may be traveling at a slower pace then you. Try your roll call to hook up with others on private tours or arrange your own. You can do the research and try trip advisor, viator or the port sections on Cruise Critic for advice.

Sorrento, Italy - you can walk around on your own. It is a lovely town. You can also take the bus down to Amalfi and the coastal towns. We did this and it was lovely. You can also ferry over to Capri if the weather permits and timing allows.

Catania, Italy we used an included tour with Oceania but I am sure you can find one on viator.

Valletta, Malta - lovely place. We used maltatourguide.com and it was the best excursion ever. We saw so much and it was fantastic.

Katakolon, Greece = never been there

Kotor, Montenegro - we were there several times on cruises. You can walk the town and up the hill to the Citadel (it's a hike) or take a bus and go up the coast to Perast. Our last time we used monttravelers.com and took a tour down the coast and up the mountain.Very good guide.

Dubrovnik, Croatia - walk around, do the walls or take a ferry to Cavtat if Dubrovnik is crowded with cruise ship tourists and then come back to town later and tour.

Koper, SLovenia - we booked a tour to the Postojna Caves via Istanka.is. The caves were wonderful and the ride up the mountains very nice.

Split, Croatia - we used an included tour with Oceania to do the coastal towns. I am sure you can find the exact tour on your own. Upon our return we toured the town on our own and the ancient Diocleatian's Palace which is within walking distance from the ship.

Enjoy.

Re Split this past May we booked a walking tour with a Jewish emphasis through Ante Batarelo (privateguidescroatia@gmail.com) which was highly recommended at Trip Advisor.

Ante was already booked a year in advance for a week long trek so he passed us along to a young lady whose father happened to be the V.P. of the Jewish congregation. She was excellent. When we arrived at the schul at the end of the tour there were several other passengers from Riviera who'd been lucky enough to pass by the schul as it was opening for us and so they benefited from an interesting talk by Lea giving the Jewish history of the city.

PrivateGuidesCroatia has other options available, not just walking tours. Based on our experience, I'd recommend you check them out for Split. We had been there in 1977 and literally did not recognize it.

I also agree that walking the walls in Dubrovnik is a highlight. (Our visit there also goes back to 1977.)

In Kotor we did a ship's tour up the mountain (due to oLife tours) and this was excellent also. A friend of mine was just there on a Royal Caribbean cruise and it sounded like RC was using the same tour agent for their ship's tour. I haven't heard back from Sharon as to how it went.

From Catania we booked a tour to Mt. Etna and Taormina through Joe Bananas. Our guide was excellent, and I've not seen ANY negative reports about this agency since -- except for one who complained that there was too much driving when they did our tour (although I'm not sure from which port). It's true -- there's a lot of driving, but we didn't find it too much. It does depend on the tour you choose!

In Valetta I always recommend visiting the Hypogeum (underground prehistoric caves) which can be booked online. It's easy enough to catch a cab to the site. You DO need to book ahead because tour size is limited. We happened to share a private tour with another couple that took us there, and then on to the Mdina and back to Valetta. We returned to the ship on our own. It was an easy walk downhill to the port.

On our first visit to Sorrento we booked a private tour to Pompeii and the Amalfi coast with Drive Amalfi. Also highly recommended. If you tour Amalfi, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you hire a local guide through the site. The cost then (and I believe now) is 100EUR for your group. But it's well worth it.

I agree that with a large group ship's tours would be an exorbitant cost UNLESS you *all* have the oLife tour options. We tend to prefer private tours to ship's tours, but the ship's tours we've taken since oLife offered "free" ones (although the cost comparison between "cruise only" and "oLife" keeps escalating) were all very good. Most of them were not as crowded as ship's tours have been in the past, but a couple on the May cruise were pretty much up to capacity.

Mura

Thank you all so very much for the information.

I am sorry I should have included our ports....I was just confused because it seems like the majority of the excursions are away from the towns we dock in/near. Our ports our:

 

Sorrento, Italy

Catania, Italy

Valletta, Malta

Katakolon, Greece

Kotor, Montenegro

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Koper, SLovenia

Split, Croatia

I hope these port photos/maps/tips will give you a decent idea of what could be available to you.

Everyone travels differently, and there's so much to to do in each port.

Kotor

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44377718&highlight=Our+Lady+of+the+Rocks#post44377718

Dubrovnik

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44452500&highlight=a+full+day+of+Dubrovnik#post44452500

Catania ... train or transfer to Taormina

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44342562&highlight=taormina#post44342562

Valetta

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44354005&highlight=Valetta#post44354005

Katakolon

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=54170968&highlight=taxi+to+Olympia#post54170968