Little Rascal Posted October 27, 2010 #1 Share Posted October 27, 2010 My husband and I have booked a 10 day cruise on the Marina in April from Rome to Venice. The excursions seem expensive even for a city tour. Are they worth the cost? Do most folks book through the cruise ship? Also, when the ship is docked is there a way to get into town if you have not booked an excursion? Do they offer excursion packages? I had seen some packages offered on other Oceania cruises. Any comments would be appreciated.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 27, 2010 #2 Share Posted October 27, 2010 A lot of people do private tours or find out ahead of time by researching the ports to find the best way to go into town Some ports may have shuttles but do your homework before you go. As far as the cost only you can decide if it is worth it to you. They do have Discovery & Explorer excursion packages that give a short tour in each port but you cannot deviate from those excursions so be sure to check ALL the excursions offered before you commit It should have them listed in the brochure. Join the Roll Call for your cruise to meet other on the sailing http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1160513 enjoy the cruise Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aohkay Posted October 27, 2010 #3 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Also, when the ship is docked is there a way to get into town if you have not booked an excursion? We did a Lisbon - Rome cruise recently. Most of the towns are very close to the port and are within walking distance. There was only one port that we had to take a shuttle to town, and I'm sorry, I can't recall which port it was. Depending on what ports you are visiting, you may be tendered. You do not have to be on an organized tour to take the tender. On our 12 day cruise, we booked 3 x 1/2 day wine tours that Oceania offered and found them to be quite reasonable. The rest of the ports we did on our own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddmel Posted October 28, 2010 #4 Share Posted October 28, 2010 My husband and I have booked a 10 day cruise on the Marina in April from Rome to Venice. The excursions seem expensive even for a city tour. Are they worth the cost? Do most folks book through the cruise ship? Also, when the ship is docked is there a way to get into town if you have not booked an excursion? Do they offer excursion packages? I had seen some packages offered on other Oceania cruises. Any comments would be appreciated.:) Research in advance is the key. We sometimes have only taken O excursions at half the destinations. We have been pleased with the quality of O excursions despite the cost. The convenience of booking O excursions is also a factor for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKS Posted October 28, 2010 #5 Share Posted October 28, 2010 I agree O's excursions are more expensive, typically, than private tours. However, if the tour operator cannot return you to to the ship in time for sailing, O will hold the ship if you're on one of their tours, while you're on your own if you are on a private tour - O will NOT hold the ship. In some ports that factor could make a difference, especially if the tour is long and you will be cutting it fairly close to return to the ship in time for departure. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe O wants you on board at least an hour prior to departure. Kay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted October 28, 2010 #6 Share Posted October 28, 2010 My husband and I have booked a 10 day cruise on the Marina in April from Rome to Venice. The excursions seem expensive even for a city tour. Are they worth the cost? Do most folks book through the cruise ship? Also, when the ship is docked is there a way to get into town if you have not booked an excursion? Do they offer excursion packages? I had seen some packages offered on other Oceania cruises. Any comments would be appreciated.:) I have found O's shorexes to be slightly more expensive than similar shorexes on, say, Celebrity...but really not that much...mostly economy of scale, I assume... But price is not the only concern in choosing shorex, private tour or "on one's own"... I tend to do a little of each... If a port is relatively convenient to the sites, then, often, "on your own" is simple...It gets more complicated when you need to go some distance using taxis and/or public transportation...You have a lot more freedom, but you lose the advantages of having a knowledgeable and organized guide... Shorexes work well for me in some ports where, perhaps, good and reasonably priced guides are hard to find... or where hours in port are short. I prefer, in many ports, to hook up with others from the roll call and find a private guide. I have generally found that, in most ports, I can at least break roughly even on price with the shorexes by putting together a party of six...and beat the price with 8 or more...And touring in a van with 6 or 8 people easily beats touring in a bus with 30 or 40...and you tend to see more because it's more efficient... I am currently planning out private tours in some ports for my August 10 Marina cruise...and, in the four ports I've researched so far, I have generally beaten the shorex price by 20 to 40% each time (though some of that cost fills back in since the private tours typically don't include lunch or admissions fees)...But, figure it for at least a "break even"...and the tours I've worked out cover more than the shorexes... OTOH, in some ports, we still may take shorexes...Overall, the price really doesn't matter all that much...We take them for the convenience...and to have Oceania do the planning and coordination rather than me do it myself... Good luck... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 29, 2010 #7 Share Posted October 29, 2010 Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe O wants you on board at least an hour prior to departure. Kay It is usually 30 minutes prior to sailing except on embarkation day then earlier Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchorman Posted October 31, 2010 #8 Share Posted October 31, 2010 My wife and I have cruised on Oceania's Regatta twice (Barcelona > Venice 14 days and Copenhagen > Southampton 14 days). On all of those cruises we used the cruise line's tours. The first cruise, as newbees, I think it was the best way to go, as it was on our Alaskan cruise on Princess. On the second cruise, however, we found the planned tours lacking. We didn't see very much and the cost was about the same as it would have cost four of us to hire a car and driver. The best tour we ever had was the one time we booked our own car and driver. It was in Rome and we saw an amazing amount in 8 hours. We booked that through our travel agent. Since we've always traveled with another couple, this is what we're going to do from now on. A driver who knows what he's doing will get you back to the ship at whatever time you want....just don't be tempted to cut it too close. (I think the on-board time was 60 minutes before departure on our two Oceania cruises). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted November 1, 2010 #9 Share Posted November 1, 2010 On my three Oceania cruises, you had to be back 30 minutes before sailing, as per Lyn's post above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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