Princess Mediterranean Shore Excursions

[omaljoann]

Do you feel adequate time is allowed to enjoy the sites and shopping when using the Princess Excursions?

[CruiserBruce]

If you go over to the Princess boards, people who may have been on the excursions are more likely to see your question and provide the answers you need.

[cruisemom42]

It greatly depends on the excursion. If you choose one that visits 4-5 major sites over a day (and also includes time to and from the ship, which can be an hour enroute to Rome, for example, or 90 minutes to Florence), you will definitely find yourself shorted on time.

 

Unfortunately, many full-day tours also include leisurely sit-down lunches and "forced" shopping stops that can also eat into sightseeing time.

 

The last private tour I took on Princess was in Istanbul and after bad traffic, a looonngg hotel lunch and a visit to a carpet showroom, we only had about 20 minutes left at the tail end of the day to visit the wonderful Haghia Sophia. I was not a happy camper. :( I now try to do almost all my sightseeing on my own or by private tour.

 

This is not unique to Princess, by the way.......as far as I can tell, the excursions on all of the major mass-market cruise lines are pretty similar.

[Hlitner]

Ship excursions are designed to please the masses (and also make a hefty profit). Whether you like an excursion or dislike is an individual thing. You can hear two folks finishing the same excursion which one describes as wonderful and the other says it sucks. Some folks enjoy being part of a large group being herded from place to place (to me it sounds like a cattle herd) while others prefer to go where they want, when they want, with whom they went (that would be DW and myself). When we go off on our own (which we always do anywhere in Europe) we have the freedom to eat lunch at at cute little outdoor cafes, stop in a shop if we want or walk by if we please, spend more time in a museum or less as we please, etc etc. Folks that get together and arrange private tours (this often happens on the various Roll Call boards) have a lot of control over their day but the cruise line excursions give you very little control. So just go with what you feel is the right for you and most of the time you will have made the right decision.

 

Hank

[aohkay]

The Med is a busy itinerary. Period.

 

On our 12-day cruise, we alternated our excursions, depending on the port. We limited our paid excursions to 1/2 days. One reason was for budget, the other reason is that we also wanted to relax and spend some time on the ship.

 

On other days, we toured on our own. Sometimes we took the hop on - hop off bus...sometimes we just walked around town. It's amazing how far one can get walking a brisk pace. :p

[janina]

It greatly depends on the excursion. If you choose one that visits 4-5 major sites over a day (and also includes time to and from the ship, which can be an hour enroute to Rome, for example, or 90 minutes to Florence), you will definitely find yourself shorted on time.

 

Unfortunately, many full-day tours also include leisurely sit-down lunches and "forced" shopping stops that can also eat into sightseeing time.

 

The last private tour I took on Princess was in Istanbul and after bad traffic, a looonngg hotel lunch and a visit to a carpet showroom, we only had about 20 minutes left at the tail end of the day to visit the wonderful Haghia Sophia. I was not a happy camper. :( I now try to do almost all my sightseeing on my own or by private tour.

 

This is not unique to Princess, by the way.......as far as I can tell, the excursions on all of the major mass-market cruise lines are pretty similar.

I definately agree with Cynthia. I would book private tours with members on your rollcall or just with your group. You get to see what you want to see and definately avoid the "set up" tourist stores. You do not have to try to stay with 40 other people.