Rating RCI Med Ship Excursions

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

We have friends traveling on Splendour R/T Venice at the end of October. They are very active and capable travellers but insist on doing only ship excursions. We have done the Med but with private tours only and have been very satisfied so we are of no help with regard to ships tours. We did one ship's tour in Gdansk Poland on our recent Baltic cruise and were very unhappy with the quality of the tour/tour guide. Can anyone provide comments - positives and negatives regarding specific RCL ships tours in the Med? They are visiting Dubrovnik. Kusadasi, Santorini and Corfu.

 

Thanks so much!!

[Mines]

We did the ship's all-day tour of Ephusus in Kusadasi when we were on Navigator of the Seas. It was an excellent tour that also called at Maria's house, St. John's church and the museum. Lunch was given at a five-star hotel on the way back.

 

For anyone who has not been to Ephusus, I would certainly recommend the tours.

 

For the other locations, taking a tour is not really worth while - you can enjoy the ports just strolling around town or taking a taxi to see the countryside.

[Hlitner]

We did the ship's all-day tour of Ephusus in Kusadasi when we were on Navigator of the Seas. It was an excellent tour that also called at Maria's house, St. John's church and the museum. Lunch was given at a five-star hotel on the way back.

 

For anyone who has not been to Ephusus, I would certainly recommend the tours.

 

For the other locations, taking a tour is not really worth while - you can enjoy the ports just strolling around town or taking a taxi to see the countryside.

 

We post a lot of info on Kusadasi and Ephesus on appropriate port forum (Ephesus is in Turkey) which is "Other Med.... Ports" and always strongly argue against taking most cruise line tours here. The problem is that the cruise line excursions do not normally include a visit to the "Terrace Houses" which are an absolute "do not miss" part of the ruins of Ephesus. Hence, many folks who have experience at that port strongly recommend a private tour...pre-arranged online before your trip. The cost is about the same (or less) then comparable cruise tours, you will be in a much smaller group (we hired our own guide for just two of us) and you can specify a visit to the Terrace Houses. Seeing Ephseus without a visit to the Terrace Houses is like gettting on a ship and not ever seeing the sea!

 

Hank

[texancruzer]

I can only comment on one port that you have listed as far as a ship tour - Corfu.

 

One note: we normally do private tours or DIY - but our first Med cruise we ended up booking VERY close to our sail date so ran out of time to research and book etc.... so just "bit the bullet" and did quite a few ships tours. We actually were very happy with them for the most part. FYI: We did Dubrovnik (old town) on our own with a shuttle ticket from Celebrity, Kusadasi we used Ekol tours (very very good) and Santorini we also did on our own with a taxi to Oia and back.

 

Now, the tour we did on Corfu with the ship was pretty darn good. We went to the monastary, then thru the mountains and visited a couple of villages, then down to the coast for lunch in a seaside village, then back to Corfu town for some "free time". You could take the bus back to the ship or stay longer and get back on your own. We just took the bus back.

For those who just can't get out of their comfort zone and do DIY or private - a ship tour fits the bill. We thought the one we took was a good value for the $$ as lunch was included and we were out almost all day. Bus was full but everyone was good about returning promptly and it all went smooth. Hope this info helps.

[uktraveller]

I wouldn't recommend the Paleokastris, Lakones and wine tour on Corfu. We did this tour from Brilliance OTS and opted for the morning excursion. Because it was so early in the morning most of the places we visited were deserted, and the shops etc still closed. It may have been a better experience later in the day but we really felt we wasted our money on that excursion.

 

In Dubrovnik, you really don't need a tour. The ship runs a shuttle which drops you off a few feet from one of the entrances to the city walls. You can fill an amazing day there just on foot.