Med shuttle busses in port

[38anchor]

Hi.

We will be going on Celebrity Silhouette to Holy Land and Med. This is our first Celebrity cruise and I've heard mention of free shuttle busses into the main towns whilst in port.

 

Can anyone tell us which ports of call provide a shuttle bus and which towns are easy to access from the port. Thanks.

 

Our ports are:-

 

Jersusalem (Ashdod) - I believe its about 1.5 hours journey so not expecting this to be free

Haifa, Israel

Mykanos, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Naples/Capri, Italy

[epixx]

I don't have first hand experience, but I doubt that the shuttles are free. In fact, I contacted Celebrity about the shuttle from the ship to the entrance of the Ashdod port, and I received an answer via e-mail stating that the cost of the shuttle would be $10 to $20 per person. I bet this means $20 per person. It seems like a lot of money just to get out of the port!

[CathyCruises]

We were shuttled into Mykonos for free; that's the only place I have ever had that happen. We were supposed to tender in but at the last minute we docked, so they had to get us there somehow.

[Jo and Rob]

Hi.

We will be going on Celebrity Silhouette to Holy Land and Med. This is our first Celebrity cruise and I've heard mention of free shuttle busses into the main towns whilst in port.

 

Can anyone tell us which ports of call provide a shuttle bus and which towns are easy to access from the port. Thanks.

 

Our ports are:-

 

Jersusalem (Ashdod) - I believe its about 1.5 hours journey so not expecting this to be free

Haifa, Israel

Mykanos, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Naples/Capri, Italy

 

Shuttle buses are free with P&O so maybe that is where you heard it. ;)

[emms]

We went on Celebrity Eclipse in the Med last summer. If it was too far to walk a shuttle bus service was supplied , it was not free however.

It is probably safer to use though as we were ripped off terribly by a taxi driver in Lisbon .

[helpthejuggler]

I haven't seen any list of charges for shuttle bus or alternatives. It would be helpful to know in advance.

 

What does Celebrity charge if anything for shuttles in ports?

 

Barcelona

Civitivechhia/Rome

Naples

Laspezia/Florence

Dubrovnik

Venice

 

Please feel free to extend the list and add others...maybe it could become a sticky thread?

[Lsimon]

These will vary a lot by the port and what there is to do there.

 

At some ports, Dubrovnik and Venice are good examples, most cruisers just go the the heart of town about a mile or so away. A shuttle is a good idea at these ports although at some you can also take a taxi or walk (we usually save our walking until after we get to the city center)

 

At some of the ports listed, like Civitavecchia/Rome, and Florence the main cities are quite a distance, a trip of about an hour. At these ports there may be a port shuttle but it just transports you the short distance from the ship to the port entrance if that is too far to walk (as I think it is in Civitavecchia) and sometimes into the port town if it a bit away such as at Livorno (port town for Florence) where there is a fee. Some cruisers plan out ways to get to a train station and take a train to the main destination cities but I think the majority of cruisers take an excursion or planned tour. For these distant cities there is usually a "on your own" tour by Celebrity which is sort like a shuttle. For example the Florence on your own tour is about $75. They transport you to Florence and a guide gives a modest amount of information on the way the escorts you from the parking area into the heart of Florence and shows you where you'll meet at a certain time that afternoon for the return trip.

 

At other ports, for example Barcelona, there is a shuttle at a modest cost but you really need to decide if where the shuttle is taking you is where you want to go. You might be better off taking a taxi if you want to go to a certain tourist area.

 

The bottom line is that you really need to decide what you want to do and have a little information about what to do at each port before you decide if you even need a shuttle.

 

The best place to figure all of this out is on the Cruise Critic port of call forums where you can read posts, and ask questions, about specific port cities.

 

On our last Cruise we stopped at Salerno, Venice, Split, Dubrovnik, Rome(Civitavecchia), Florence (Livorno) and Toulon. The ship had shuttle service only at:

Venice ($19/day $35 for both days)

Dubrovnik ($10)

Florence Livorno $7 to city center of Livorno or $18 to train station

[macro duck]

I paid $8 pp for the shuttle into Livorno earlier this month.

[MonDreamr1]

Hi.

We will be going on Celebrity Silhouette to Holy Land and Med. This is our first Celebrity cruise and I've heard mention of free shuttle busses into the main towns whilst in port.

 

Can anyone tell us which ports of call provide a shuttle bus and which towns are easy to access from the port. Thanks.

 

Our ports are:-

 

Jersusalem (Ashdod) - I believe its about 1.5 hours journey so not expecting this to be free

Haifa, Israel

Mykanos, Greece

Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Naples/Capri, Italy

 

Athens - you can take the Metro into the city - it is about a 15 minute walk (the taxi drivers don't really want to drive you to the stop) If you keep the port on your left and follow the fence around you'll get to the bridge to cross over to the Metro. It was a euro each way on the Metro. Just be aware of your surroundings and watch out for the pickpockets on the train - it was more prevalent on our way back than our way in. We were in a group and no one lost anything, but 2/6 did catch the attempts. One caught a guy with his hand in his pocket - another caught a guy trying to get in her purse. Neither one of them had anything of real value in either location. The purse had water and some the souvenirs she'd purchased and his pocket had tissues. An older couple at our M&M, lost $400 euros - he had all of his cash in his wallet in his back pocket. :confused:

[junglejane]

We were on the June 6 Equinox cruise. In Mykonos we had to pay $10pp to be shuttled from the new port to the old port.

[geepmaley]

We were shuttled into Mykonos for free; that's the only place I have ever had that happen. We were supposed to tender in but at the last minute we docked, so they had to get us there somehow.

 

How did you get free? We were with Jungle Jane and the same thing happened to us, but the shuttle (the only option available besides walking on a dangerous road) was $10 pp on Mykonos

[billie5]

As far as Ashdod goes, the port is IMMENSE. To give you an idea, the private tour buses and limos which make it to the ship routinely get lost trying to exit the port area (I kid you not)! In any case, the port authority will not allow anyone to hike from the ship to the gate of the port; you must use a shuttle or a private tour conveyance.

 

Incidentally, the reason the port is so large is that it is the principal transshipment port for all new vehicles being shipped to Europe (generally they are unable to use the Canal). As you exit, you will see yards full of new vehicles as far as the eye can see!

 

Bill

[helpthejuggler]

As far as Ashdod goes, the port is IMMENSE. To give you an idea, the private tour buses and limos which make it to the ship routinely get lost trying to exit the port area (I kid you not)! In any case, the port authority will not allow anyone to hike from the ship to the gate of the port; you must use a shuttle or a private tour conveyance.

 

Incidentally, the reason the port is so large is that it is the principal transshipment port for all new vehicles being shipped to Europe (generally they are unable to use the Canal). As you exit, you will see yards full of new vehicles as far as the eye can see!

 

Bill

 

This is the kind of situation I was thinking of where it is not practical/not permitted to walk out of the port. Or even when thr port is some distance from the town and there is an unexpected and unavoidable cost to reach town.

 

I read recently that in one large port a complementary bus is available but Celebrity rejected this so that they could charge for one instead. This is deplorable if accurate in my opinion.

 

I wasn't thinking of where the port is far from the main sights like Rome, Florence, since it is clear that you need to make plans. But in those ports the might charge a fee in which case it is helpful to know in advance as my experience is that info is not readily available to the pax...