ship's tours?

[Sue4LSU]

Any reasons not to just book the ship's tours? We're on the RCI Brilliance in November. Never been to the Mediterranean, and a bit overwhelmed to plan private tours on stops! Info appreciated! 2 adults/ 2 seniors

[Susan-M]

We rely on ship's tours when the logistics of doing a port on our own is too complicated ... which is rare. However, some people only do ship's tours because of the convenience of planning and the security in port. The "best" way for someone else may be the "worst" way for you, so it's important to choose the method of touring that you are most comfortable with.

 

A few drawbacks of ship's excursions are the large numbers in the groups, the 'hit and miss' guides, and the shopping stops. If you do a private tour, you can pick drivers and/or guides based on recommendations here, you can customize your tour to go to the places you want to see rather than what's on the ship's excursion itinerary, you can eliminate the shopping stops if you wish, and lunch can be your choice of a lengthy, relaxing sit-down meal, or a sandwich on the go to take advantage of more touring time. If you have 6 or 8 in your private tour, pricing should be comparable to (or less than) the ship's bus tour. If anyone in your group has special needs or can't keep up with a group of 30 people, the flexibility of a private tour will be a lot more enjoyable.

 

If one of your stops is Naples or Sorrento, and you are doing the Amalfi coast, a van can get into the town of Positano, whereas a tour bus can't.

 

If private tours are appealing to you, have a look at your roll call to see if anyone is looking for additional people to join their groups. That would give you a chance to mix up your touring between bus tours and private tours.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We do a combination of both in the past, and which is what we are doing on our upcoming Med cruise. My only complaint about ships tours is that:

1. they use larger vehicles and therefore can't go to the places a small van can

 

2. When, for instance there is free time and the guide say to be back at a certain time someone usually always abuses it and returns late, infuruating those who followed instructions.

 

3. They often stop somewhere like a pottery factory, cameo factory, rug factory, etc. for a shopping stop and I get the distinct feeling that kickbacks are made to the driver and/or cruiseline. I don't mind a stop where multiple shops are vying for your business, but those that involve a stop at one shop get my suspicions up!!

 

That being said, sometimes the cruise line excursions are less expensive or difficult to duplicate-that is why we have several booked on our upcoming cruise. Our privately booked excursions on this trip were done as we have 8 folks so can do more for less and cover more ground. I generally find the guides of the private excursions to be a little better too.

[cruisemom42]

I posted this in another thread below, but it's such a good illustration of the things that are wrong with ship's tours (other than the expense, which is often much higher than it should be):

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=25102071&postcount=59

 

The same poster had a similar experience in Istanbul, where their ship's tour spent so much time at the carpet demonstration that they only had TEN MINUTES in Haghia Sophia. That's just criminal.

 

Yes, DIY and private tours require more planning, but you will see and experience more and usually pay less.

 

You don't have to arrange things for every port. Some are quite easy (just get off and walk around, or take a local bus into town); others require a good amount of research and willingness to pay attention to detail.

 

After a couple of experiences of my own that were similar to the link given, I will never take a ship's tour if there is any other reasonable alternative.

[MercedMike]

Ship's excursions are usually excellent and include the most popular stops. They are designed to appeal to everyone and the mix of shopping, museums, photo stops and historical sites may or may not be to your own taste. But by and large they will do a great job for you. Their big advantage is that they are convenient, safe, and dependable. If you are not into doing LOTS of research, they are probably the best way to go. We use them very often and almost always have a great time.

 

Booking with independent vendors requires a lot of time and research, but it can work out very well. We usually do it when we have special things we want to see that are off the ship's tours, or when my slight mobility limitations need special consideration. This board will give you great recommendations for reliable operators in almost every port.

 

Some people will also just DIY -- get off the ship, grab a taxi or local transportation, and follow their guidebook. We have done this on a few occasions and it can work well, but it is high stress traveling for me. I much prefer to leave it up to an experienced guide.

 

You can check out our Med cruises and see our experiences with all three kinds of tours at

http://www.bully4.us/med.html

http://www.bully4.us/holyland.html

http://www.bully4.us/blacksea.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Keith1010]

I think since this is your first time to the Mediterranean it is far easier to stick with the ships tours. I know there are quite a few people who prefer to see these places on their own or on a private tour but the majorit of the people on most ships take the ships tour.

 

Keith

[chipmaster]

There is no universally right answer here.

 

On our first few cruises we were naive and the we thought the cruise was an ends with the ports as bonus and did little ahead planning. Saw that their were tons of port options for tours some pricey some less so. After that, I did more research and found that for some ports independent is very wise both from price and getting the best excursion. In many other places sometimes cruise ship is the smart or only option, and only research and your own comfort level can finally determine what is best.

 

The Med IMHO is all about DIY or private. Even with two adults and 2 seniors if they are not mobility limited DIY or Private. 4 is the minimum for getting a private car and break even compared to the cruise ship big bus.

 

I recenlty did a cruise ship big bus with 40+ people. Between waiting for the last person to sit down to leave, waiting for the last person to get back on the bus can't imagine what a slow process that would be if we had multiple stops like we do in the Med. You will waste much time just in the boarding/unboarding and catering to the slowest and lowest common denominator on your tour. The cruiseline also gets a minimum of 20-30% of the cut, so be definition you are going big bus or paying more for a private vehicle. Not saying its going to be bad, it is what it is big buss tour, lots of people following a guide, fewer stops with the cruiseline taking a huge cut of the payment.

 

If you do research for the price of a big bus you can go private driver/car. It really is worth it IMO in many ports based on my experience above. A private tour, they will meet you and drive you from attraction to attraction with no wait for anyone but YOU, change plans as the day goes and your interest. Another important detail in Europe is that the roads are narrow, parking is limited so busses often park far away from attractions and you hike in. Hiking in = being held up by the slowest person your tour.

 

Again if convenience and safety of the ship tour is what you are comfortable with go with that. If you are more independent and don't mind doing research you will absolutely rewarded for that time investment.

 

In Athens we used Paul of Greektaxi, very good. For what it is worth, my Med cruise was our first to that region and every port and the first time I didn all independent. So I was not a veteran of using private or the ports, but it worked out very well.

 

Good luck!

 

Any reasons not to just book the ship's tours? We're on the RCI Brilliance in November. Never been to the Mediterranean, and a bit overwhelmed to plan private tours on stops! Info appreciated! 2 adults/ 2 seniors

[Rocket4Oh]

Any reasons not to just book the ship's tours? We're on the RCI Brilliance in November. Never been to the Mediterranean, and a bit overwhelmed to plan private tours on stops! Info appreciated! 2 adults/ 2 seniors

Anmother option is to join your cruise's Roll Call. I believe your criuse eparts from Barcelona on 30 October. If that is correct here is the link to your cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1083889

On it you will be able to "chat" with others who will be with you for the 13 days. Some have probably set up private tour arrangements and are looking for others to join with them. In any case, you will get loads of info.

Enjoy your trip.

[Onessa]

Any reasons not to just book the ship's tours? We're on the RCI Brilliance in November. Never been to the Mediterranean, and a bit overwhelmed to plan private tours on stops! Info appreciated! 2 adults/ 2 seniors

 

Can you say "moo"? We've done both. Many times the first time we are somewhere we will take a ship's excursion, and then the next time we are there we'll do it "on our own". Everytime we do that we chastise ourselves for having used the ship's tour on the earlier trip.

 

Sometimes the "on your own" tours through the ship can be cost effective and allow you to avoid the herd issues. But as others have said even on a "Florence on your own" we were sentenced to an hour wasted in a Leather "outlet" store on the outskirts of town -- so be careful if you want to maximize your time in the ports.

 

On the upside, our tablemates on our last cruise took the ship's excursion to Capri. The hydrofoil had mechanical problems midway back on the trip back to Naples -- since it was a ship's excursion, our sailaway from Naples was delayed for the hour and a half it took to get them all back -- a private excursion -- well it would have been the pax responsibility to get themselves to Rome :eek:! Our trivia game mates on another cruise were on a delayed train and missed the ship in Rome -- and the hotel overnight, the flight to Messina, and the taxi to the port was not cheap (plus their time in Messina was cut very short)!

 

If you like the security of the ship's excursions and don't want to do your own research and are ok with the hit-or-miss quality of the tour guides, ship's excursions will suit you fine. If you don't want to be always in a crowd and held hostage with stops at trinket shops, try some ports on your own.

[siouxcitysue]

I will chime in as we completed a 10 day cruise in May where we did no ship tours at all. This was our 16th cruise and we are tired of always having to wait for the slowest passenger to get on the bus. Too much of our valuable time waiting for people we didn't know. With a private driver, there is very little wasted time. We used Dennis at http://www.toursofathens.com for Athens and Ekol for Ephesus. Enjoy whatever you decide to do. You will have a great vacation!

[ibfern]

If you take ship tours, keep your expectations low because ship tours cater to the lowest common denominator in the group and this impacts how much info you learn and how much territory you cover. They are always more expensive so bring a lot more cash/credit and know that in addition to the cost of the tour, you will be spending a lot of time in "factories" having educational "demonstrations" where you will then be offered the "deals of a lifetime to commemorate the trip of a lifetime" type of items you probably want to buy anyway.

 

Pick and choose your ship tours carefully, pay attention to wording, go to the port lectures, and bug the excursion people with questions so you know what to expect on a tour. Sometimes there will be two tours that seem the same but one is more expensive, that is because it probably does not go to as much shopping (less commissions) and that is always the better tour. Did I tell you to ask questions?

 

Leave at least one port open for you to explore on your own, its an adventure and it can be very relaxing and very rewarding.

[MercedMike]

you will be spending a lot of time in "factories" having educational "demonstrations" where you will then be offered the "deals of a lifetime to commemorate the trip of a lifetime" type of items you probably want to buy anyway.

 

 

Well, we have been on a lot of tours that include those educational "demonstrations" in "factories" that seem to bother you. We have almost universally found them to be very interesting parts of the trip. We have toured carpet factories, ceramic factories, soap factories, fossil item factories, glass factories, aloe factories, rum factories, papyrus factories and a whole bunch more, and enjoyed almost every one of them, and bought stuff at a few of them.

 

Somehow people get all worried about whether the guide is getting a commission and for some reason this makes them cynical about the experience. I am sure our guide got commission on everything we bought ... why should that bother me? We enjoyed the experiences immensely and the few things we did buy are in constant use in our house.

[Onessa]

Somehow people get all worried about whether the guide is getting a commission and for some reason this makes them cynical about the experience. I am sure our guide got commission on everything we bought ... why should that bother me? We enjoyed the experiences immensely and the few things we did buy are in constant use in our house.

 

If the cruise line discloses that you will be stopping at a "factory", or an outlet, or where ever; you can make up your own mind as to whether you want to spend your time there or not. But when the line does not bother to tell you about these planned hostage-holding sessions, it is a problem. Thus it pays to ask at the excursion desk, whether a tour includes such stops -- this way you can make up your own mind rather than being stranded for an hour somewhere when you could either be back on board relaxing or in Florence or in Athens or whereever.

 

If the tour ends in Kusadasi (where your ship is docked) and the "recommend" a particular rug factory or allow you to go off, it is one thing -- but when your bus stops for an hour plus 10 or more miles from the intended drop off point, it is quite another!

 

It is these unadvertised stops in an "on-you-own" tour that cut your time "on-your-own" in port short.

[ibfern]

Well, we have been on a lot of tours that include those educational "demonstrations" in "factories" that seem to bother you. We have almost universally found them to be very interesting parts of the trip. We have toured carpet factories, ceramic factories, soap factories, fossil item factories, glass factories, aloe factories, rum factories, papyrus factories and a whole bunch more, and enjoyed almost every one of them, and bought stuff at a few of them.

 

Somehow people get all worried about whether the guide is getting a commission and for some reason this makes them cynical about the experience. I am sure our guide got commission on everything we bought ... why should that bother me? We enjoyed the experiences immensely and the few things we did buy are in constant use in our house.

 

I'm not dissing these demos Mike, but when I go to great lengths to travel to Egypt and all I have is two days I don't want to shop. I find those demos boring and want to go to the sights instead but if I had been to all the sights then I would love to learn how Papyrus is made.

 

Having said that, I am planning on buying a Turkish rug in Kusadasi because if your going to buy a rug do it in Kusadasi. :D

[MercedMike]

If the cruise line discloses that you will be stopping at a "factory", or an outlet, or where ever; you can make up your own mind as to whether you want to spend your time there or not. But when the line does not bother to tell you about these planned hostage-holding sessions, it is a problem. Thus it pays to ask at the excursion desk, whether a tour includes such stops -- this way you can make up your own mind rather than being stranded for an hour somewhere when you could either be back on board relaxing or in Florence or in Athens or whereever.

 

If the tour ends in Kusadasi (where your ship is docked) and the "recommend" a particular rug factory or allow you to go off, it is one thing -- but when your bus stops for an hour plus 10 or more miles from the intended drop off point, it is quite another!

 

It is these unadvertised stops in an "on-you-own" tour that cut your time "on-your-own" in port short.

 

Most shore excursion descriptions are VERY specific about exactly what will be done, and normally the guide follows the description slavishly. In fact some cruise lines have a special "shopping" icon next to some of their tours! I have even seen descriptions that particularly warn, "limited shopping opportunities." The simple fact is that many tourists, my DW included, like to shop so it is frequently included in the tour, and if you read carefully you will see it in there.

 

Here are some HAL descriptions of Kusadasi tours

 

" At the end of the day, you will have time for a carpet demonstration and shopping in Kusadasi."

 

"Return to Kusadasi to enjoy the traditional Turkish experience of sipping apple tea while watching a myriad of colors unfold before your eyes during a carpet demonstration. Those interested in purchasing a carpet can do so with confidence. Those not wishing to stay can transfer directly back to the ship, or remain in town for browsing in the shops. "

 

" After your lunch enjoy a carpet demonstration which will give you an insight into the ageold tradition of handmade Turkish rugs."

 

So you can certainly not say you are being "held hostage" at something you were not told about in advance.

 

If it is really particularly bothersome to you, then the simple answer is to book a private tour with a local guide and let him know you don't want to shop! Now in our case, on our second trip to Istanbul we booked with Kagan and he designed an all day tour of the markets for us! My wife was in ecstasy! :D Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/blacksea.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise, whether you shop or not!

[hubofhockey]

Athens private tours are not overly expensive and cheap compared to what any ship will charge. You are the boss on private and even group tours. If you want to see the changing of the guards, you do it. You decide how much time to spend at the Acropolis, the New Acropolis Museum, original olympic stadium, Plaka, etc. If you know exactly what you want to see and don't need guidance, the DIY posts on the Med ports of call are a big help too. Of course, you can choose to wear a headset and ciruclar sticker with a number identifying your motorcoach group and pay through the nose for a ship's tour with the standard itinerary.

[Onessa]

Most shore excursion descriptions are VERY specific about exactly what will be done, and normally the guide follows the description slavishly.

 

Hooray for THOSE cruise lines and THOSE descriptions.

 

Again a word to the wise, not ALL lines are that specific and even on some lines that sometimes mention it they do not ALWAYS mention it. So if it IS important to you - ask!

 

" At the end of the day, you will have time for a carpet demonstration and shopping in Kusadasi." . . .

So you can certainly not say you are being "held hostage" at something you were not told about in advance. . .

 

Not all lines are quite as explicate, so ask! And as I've stated, sometime (such as in Kusadasi), the shopping is where they drop you off. Other times it is a special stop on the way somewhere so you don't have a choice - that is something you'll want to know to help you make your choice.

 

As a "shopper" myself, I do prescribe to the buyer-be-ware theory. If you are taking an organized tour - get yourself informed about all stops and expectations so that you are not disappointed.

[caripoo]

We have done both, but I think in the BIG important ports, book on your own. If you are going to Turkey, Athens, Rome, Venice and any other MAJOR port, also St. Petersburg. Book your own tours, you plan your day the way YOU want it, you get more done, no waiting, less people and for ALOT less $$$. You form a relationship with the guide. If you are in Copenhagen and want to ride bikes for a couple of hours, do the cruise line. Smaller ports, you can do so much on your own. Hope this helps. ENJOY!!!:p:p

[xcomet]

We just returned from our med cruise, 2 adults, 4 teens. Although it took alot of time and planning we are so happy to have done private tours.The reasons:

Less expensive, we passed the tour bus made it to the site, before the crowds.Got to sleep later.Were not hearded into the lounge given bright blue number stickers, and kept waiting for the last four people to stroll in half hour late,and again to board the bus because 3 people were getting their last souvenir, regarless of the fact that 100 people were waiting for them! When we were tired, we went back to the ship. We adjusted our tour to how we felt at the moment. We didnt see the things we did NOT want to see, and spent the amount of time, we wanted to wherever WE wanted. We actually heard what the guide said, and had a conversation about local customs and their everyday life. We had a full authentic lunch, and not a brown bag with a juice, crackers , an apple and a stale sandwich! I could go on.............