Oceania's Free Shuttles List

[roothy123]

Truly nothing worth seeing and safety is a problem (at least one robbery and others were warned by local people to turn around and venture no further). Some people didn't get off the shuttle bus before returning back to the ships, others who got off couldn't get back on fast enough.

I truly could find nothing redeeming in this port and by listeng and talking with others, I was not alone. One can only hope that the newly found oil (and it's revenues) will revitalize this city in the future.

 

Oh boy! Thanks!

 

As to the comment about Oceania marking ports with shuttles on their itineraries, if I owned a cruise line, I'd be afraid to do that, given that so many cities or ports operate the shuttles, and providing them is at the discretion of the city/port and subject to a lot of change.

 

Now on lines like Celebrity, which seem to do a lot of repeat itineraries week after week and (I think) year after year (at least in the Caribbean) perhaps things are stable and predictable enough to take a chance on printing shuttle information early on! Of course, then if a port or city is unable to provide a shuttle, the cruise line would likely get some flak....

[nettarj]

I have a friend traveling on May cruise on Nautica. It is their first time on Oceania and they are going to ports we have not been to.

Can anyone tell me about shuttles in Ajaccio, Marseille, and Cannes. Can you do all of these cities on your own without an excursion?

[canuck.qc]

I have a friend traveling on May cruise on Nautica. It is their first time on Oceania and they are going to ports we have not been to.

Can anyone tell me about shuttles in Ajaccio, Marseille, and Cannes. Can you do all of these cities on your own without an excursion?

Hi Carol,

We've done 2 of the 3 ports, Marseille & Cannes

Marseille: large city, an excursion would be a good idea. We booked a tour and visited Aix & Les Baux & the Luberon hills.

Cannes: tenders near downtown-the town itself is easily walkable. There are several excursions they can take from there if the ship is in port late..the countryside is beautiful, StPauldeVence, Villa Ephrussi Rothschild, Antibes, Nice etc.. We used DreamTours they are very popular they should book ASAP.

They should establish a 'must see' list and decide from that if they need a tour or if they just want to play it by ear. I prefer to have a plan at each port.

Nice talking to you!

L

[CintiPam]

I have a friend traveling on May cruise on Nautica. It is their first time on Oceania and they are going to ports we have not been to.

Can anyone tell me about shuttles in Ajaccio, Marseille, and Cannes. Can you do all of these cities on your own without an excursion?

 

Marseilles is a great port from which to visit some of the lovely towns of Provence, easily accessible on your own by train from Marseilles. Last time, we spent the day in Arles, famous for its Roman ruins and vestiges of vanGogh. On our next visit, we will take the train to Avignon. The Rick Steves' guidebook for Provence and the French Riviera supplies a lot of helpful information for exploring this region on your own.

[YoHoHo]

Walk to town?

 

Answer is no - town centre is not comfortable walking distance and the walk through the port is rough unpaved road in much of it. Take the free shuttle that drops off on the main promenade close to the main centre.

 

If you take a taxi from the dock as we did, make sure you get a map from the Tourist Information rep on board marking the spot where the shuttle bus will be waiting for the return trip. In hindsight this is very obvious.

 

Also if traveling in summer take a hat as there is very little shade in the waiting area for the return bus trip.

 

Note the lineup for bus from the dock to town was very long and the bus not very frequent. Taxi is not expensive. bus back is fine.

[YoHoHo]

Saw this on another thread so thought I'd add it here. CC's search did not find anything in this thread for this port (but the search has been having trouble lately)

 

There is a port shuttle for Cartegena but it is poorly organized. One bus, long lines and the bus never showed up to bring us back to the ship. We took a taxi and returned quickly and for not much money. There is no way you can walk to the town center from the dock in Cartegena. It is pretty far.

[nettarj]

Want to keep this post on first page for people wanting to know about shuttles.

[beachchairs2]

is there a shuttle for casablanca? recife and salvador brazil?

[Fetchpeople]

I took a O cruise to those ports in April 2010. There were no shuttles provided in either port.

[beachchairs2]

maybe they do now...and also maybe they are very close to dock...

[Sambrielle]

Thank you!

 

BTW , Lucca is one of my favorite places ever.....great memories.

 

Kim

 

Kim- I agree! I was in Lucca last fall and loved the city. We had so much fun exploring the city on our bikes.

 

Cyndi

[Host Sharon]

I am on Nautica in August - my first Oceania cruise. Just wondered about free shuttles in the UK ports - Rosyth, Invergordon, Belfast, Dublin and Cobh.

 

Thanks for any info.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Host Sharon

[sitraveler]

Most of the O port shuttles are provided by the port. We have been advised in some ports that there is a shuttle, but we docked in town and didn't have/need

a shuttle. We had shuttles in Ibiza, Haifa, Ashdod and Crete.

[Fan4Fathom]

Does anyone know about the ports in the above towns? Or a website to research? Any free shuttles or can you just walk off the ship and into town?

 

Thank you...

[roothy123]

Fan4, it sounds like you're going to a number of my top "want to see" places on your cruise! Of those ports, I have only been to Santorini, and I believe we were tendered to the island. There are only a few ways to get up to the area you'll want to see. One is by the cable car of sorts (fairly quick, reasonably priced, can be crowded with a queue). Another is to take a donkey up the winding path. Another is to walk up that same path. We took the cable car.

Edited April 3, 2013 by roothy123

[roothy123]

I am on Nautica in August - my first Oceania cruise. Just wondered about free shuttles in the UK ports - Rosyth, Invergordon, Belfast, Dublin and Cobh.

 

Thanks for any info.

 

I'm on a similar cruise (on Marina) in very early August. I guess if you're going to Rosyth, that's for Edinburgh - I think? We go into South Queensferry. I was told that last year there was a coach available to take people into Edinburgh from South Queensferry. For Cobh, make sure (by checking portofcork.ie) you're actually going to Cobh. The port has now assigned us to Ringaskiddy, which isn't far from Cobh (or Cork) but certainly less well-placed for touring on your own if you want to go to Cork. At Cobh, I've been told the train to Cork (short ride) is less than a 10 minute walk from the port.

Edited April 3, 2013 by roothy123

[Fan4Fathom]

Thank you, Roothy123. We'll be on the Riviera for 10 days in May--Venice to Athens and can hardly wait! Have always wanted to see these places. Thanks for the info on Santorini. Yes, of the 3, we'll do the cable car. Good to know our options.

[kywhiskey]

Hi...anyone know what ports in Baltics Oceania offers free shuttle to town? Thanks!

[YoHoHo]

Does anyone know about the ports in the above towns? Or a website to research? Any free shuttles or can you just walk off the ship and into town?

 

Thank you...

FYI: CC search seems to be working again. At the top of the thread just below the page navigation box is the search tool to where you can search this thread for the ports you are interested in. You must be logged in to see the search box

 

Try this one:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=31277038&highlight=dubrovnik#post31277038

Edited April 4, 2013 by YoHoHo

[roothy123]

Hi...anyone know what ports in Baltics Oceania offers free shuttle to town? Thanks!

 

I provided input on this in post 106.

[Host Sharon]

I'm on a similar cruise (on Marina) in very early August. I guess if you're going to Rosyth, that's for Edinburgh - I think? We go into South Queensferry. I was told that last year there was a coach available to take people into Edinburgh from South Queensferry. For Cobh, make sure (by checking portofcork.ie) you're actually going to Cobh. The port has now assigned us to Ringaskiddy, which isn't far from Cobh (or Cork) but certainly less well-placed for touring on your own if you want to go to Cork. At Cobh, I've been told the train to Cork (short ride) is less than a 10 minute walk from the port.

 

Thanks for the info. We will certainly get the shuttle from Rosyth and then plan the HoHo bus in Edinburgh to HMY Britannia etc. We are going to Cork from Cobh in a week or two on Discovery so will check out different options to do later in August then.

[marilynfaye]

Thanks for the info. We will certainly get the shuttle from Rosyth and then plan the HoHo bus in Edinburgh to HMY Britannia etc. We are going to Cork from Cobh in a week or two on Discovery so will check out different options to do later in August then.

 

Hi Sharon:

 

I think the "shuttle" that Ruth was referring to is a private coach that runs from South Queensberry. She is on Marina, which is larger, and is docking there.

 

The information I have so far is that we can get a taxi to either Ferrytoll, which is a Park & Ride and from there, there are frequent buses to Edinburgh City Center. http://www.ferrytoll.co.uk/ or Inverkeithing train station.

 

I just checked the port information for Cobh. We, too, are docking in Ringaskiddy. I am so disappointed. Since the day there is rather short, I was planning to just stay in Cobh. I had no idea we weren't docking there. I look forward to hearing what you learn when you are there on Discovery.

 

Marilyn

[roothy123]

Hi Sharon:

 

I think the "shuttle" that Ruth was referring to is a private coach that runs from South Queensberry. She is on Marina, which is larger, and is docking there.

 

The information I have so far is that we can get a taxi to either Ferrytoll, which is a Park & Ride and from there, there are frequent buses to Edinburgh City Center. http://www.ferrytoll.co.uk/ or Inverkeithing train station.

 

I just checked the port information for Cobh. We, too, are docking in Ringaskiddy. I am so disappointed. Since the day there is rather short, I was planning to just stay in Cobh. I had no idea we weren't docking there. I look forward to hearing what you learn when you are there on Discovery.

 

Marilyn

 

Yes, the shuttle I was talking about (a coach) is for South Queensferry, not Rosyth and not Leith. (There are 3 docking possibilities for Edinburgh - whew!)

 

As to Ringaskiddy, here's what I have in my notes so far (unverified info, but might at least give you an idea of what to expect):

 

Ringaskiddy is 15 kms from Cork on western side of Cork harbor and south of Cobh. Vessels over 130 metres in length must be piloted once they have passed within 2.5 nautical miles of the harbor entrance, while pilotage is compulsory for all vessels between Spit Bank Lighthouse and City Quays. If no shuttle to Cork, I’d have to catch a 9:10 bus (Eireann.ie) which gets to Cork’s Parnell Station at 10. Come back at 1:30; get back 2:10. Bus 223. http://www.portofcork.ie/index.cfm/page/cruiseschedule2010 Cork resident says,” Ringaskiddy to Cork city will take about 20/30 minutes by shuttle bus (if provided). There is also a ferry across the water north of Ringaskiddy."

-----------------------------

From Ringaskiddy, I'm probably going to go to Cork and thereabouts, however, there may be a bus to Cobh (eireann.ie) if that's your intended destination, plus cabs. However, there is NOT a train between Ringaskiddy and Cobh. I've heard you can at least see Cobh from the water (on the ship) as it turns to go to Ringaskiddy.

 

I forget who's going on which ship, and when, but I notice that for Oceania pax, the schedule for Cobh/Ringaskiddy shows:

 

June 8 - Marina (larger ship - although not the 12.8K the port site shows!!) - Cobh

July 2 - Nautica (smaller ship) - Cobh

August 8 - Marina - Ringaskiddy

August 25 - Nautica - Ringaskiddy

Edited April 7, 2013 by roothy123

[marilynfaye]

Do appreciate the additional information on Ringaskiddy. We are on the August Nautica cruise. Obviously, in this case, size is not the determining factor.

 

My plan had been that this would be an easy, laid back, day . . . get off the ship at our leisure, wander around the small town of Cobh. This does change things.

 

Marilyn

[Host Sharon]

Do appreciate the additional information on Ringaskiddy. We are on the August Nautica cruise. Obviously, in this case, size is not the determining factor.

 

My plan had been that this would be an easy, laid back, day . . . get off the ship at our leisure, wander around the small town of Cobh. This does change things.

 

Marilyn

 

That's a bummer. Oh well - we'll check out Cobh/Cork the week after next and see what there is to do from Ringaskiddy if we can.